Tipping

[OUpearlgirl]

When I was a server, I made $3.25/hour. That's $26 for an eight hour shift.

I made $2.15 but NEVER saw a paycheck. Our tips were automatically reported so it all went towards taxes. In the restaurant I was a server we HAD to tip 5% of our food sales that was split between the bartenders, bus staff, and greeters and on busy nights an additional 1% to a food runner. Also, people, tip BEFORE the discount if you use a coupon. You are already saving money so don't punish the server.

My experience was exatly the same. If someone didn't tip me I didn't make a dime. In fact, I lost money because I still had to tip out to bartenders, bus staff, and hostesses.

 

[meresal]

I'm not sure if all the states are the same, but in Texas it is illegal to make less than min wage... so our situatiuon was like this:

I made $2.15/hour
I input my tips into the computer at the end of each shift

At the end of our 2 week work period, the computer goes in and calculates our hourly rate plus our tips and divides it by the hours we worked... if that number wasn't higher than the minimum wage rate, we would have "automatically" received minimum wage, NOT the $2.15/hour.

 

[makemepretty]

We tip 15% of the whole bill, rounded to a whole number. The kids usually get to figure that out since it's good for their math skills. I've never tipped for carryout. I also have decided to stop putting tips in tip jars, too many places have decided to add a tip jar by their cash register. Handing me something I just purchased doesn't deserve a tip in my opinion.

 

[Strawdermangrl]

We often hear people say 15% or 20%... but 15% or 20% of what?

Food before drinks and tax?
Food and drinks before tax?
Food and drink after tax?

It makes a big difference.

I waited tables all through college, both times. 20% if the service is great. on the total of the bill. Say the bill is $200- you had great service start at $40.00- we paid out 3% on each table, so when we got tipped only on the food or if the tax was doubled, we always ended up short. Also, when hosting guest from overseas- the tipping is different there than in the States. Servers (or at least everywhere I waited) only make $2.13 an hour, which gets wiped based on how much you end up bringing in tips. Never get a paycheck, LOL, it comes out as "VOID- This is NOT a check". So those tips go a LONG way. I have heard, please correct me if I am wrong, that overseas servers are on a salary and there for tipping is customary 8-10% if the service is stellar. We only see about 5% of that after we pay tip out on our tables here. There is a big conference in Houston every year- Off shore Technology. I know that waiters at the high end restaurants refer to this as 'roulette' week. You either win big or go home empty handed. I had one night that I walked with $20 after tipping out and my sales were over 1k. It was a rough night, also, the place I worked didn't include tip EVER- so some people didn't leave anything because we were not allowed to say anything UNLESS we were SPECIFICALLY asked if gratuity was included. Not once, not if you had a party of 40 or 4- NEVER did gratuity. So, if you have a great server and they do a job worthy of praise, let the manager know and also leave 20%. That is all I have to throw in.

 

[chemgirl]

Wow, $2.15/hour is crazy. I'm from Ontario and servers were payed 5.25/hour when I was in school. I think its 8.15 now. Its still lower than minimum wage, but not 2.15! Now I understand why people tip more in the US.

 

[ts44]

18% of the total bill is where I start. I go up or down depending on service.

Where I waited tables, I had to tip out to the bartender's a percentage of my sales, so if you tipped me and didn't count in the drinks that would be a bit of a hit to my earnings for the evening.

My mother does 10%, doesn't tip on drinks and calculates pre-tax and it absolutely drives me crazy. She is the stingiest tipper on the planet! I can't understand it, she used to waitress when she was younger and knows how much servers make, plus she's definitely not in straitened circumstances. She's also not an easy customer to deal with, has (imaginary) dietary restrictions, and reinvents the menu every time.

I always tip on the total bill. If my sister and I can't wrest the bill from her and pay instead when we are out to dinner, we have to hope she goes to the bathroom before the server comes to pick the final reckoning up and pad the tip with whatever cash we have in our wallets!