How much should you tip a waiter or waitress?

Answer 1

Generally it is 10-15% of the bill. However as many people do not earn an hourly wage and get paid only by tips I think you should adjust the amout of tip by how many people are in your party, how the service was and the amount of your bill. Im dating a waiter and his only pay is in tips. Waiters work hard so I always try to leave no less than $5 even if I eat alone.

Answer 2

15% in the US. In other places overseas 10% is more than enough because waiters get a real salary (in the US waiters live off the tips). In addition, if you go to a buffet, since you are serving your own food, but if the waitress brings you water or tea or whatever, most people leaves at lease 1 dollar per person.

Answer 3

At least a dollar per person depending on the restaurant, service, and how much food was ordered. Rule of thumb is 15 - 20 % but I've had less and I've had more. I worked at a sit down casual restaurant so we expected at least a dollar per person even though it didn't always work like that but at a ritzy restaurant you should do more. Servers work very hard especially the good ones and we need to be paid accordingly. Sometimes we're not just serving food sometimes we have to make it so we know that it's right, prep food and sometimes wash out our dishes if the other employees are slacking. The servers are what usually keeps the restaurant alive. and at only $2.13 per hour plus tips we work our butts off for those tips so please don't stiff us.

Answer 4

I think 15%-20% is OK but if the waiter or waitress is horrible I will not leave that much. (good service gets more $$)

Answer 5

I think 10-20% sometimes nothing if the service is particularly bad. Also, if service is really good you can tip larger I took my mother out for her birthday and the young lady that was our waitress was so good I tipped her 30$ on a maybe 45$ bill.

Answer 6

Tipping is difficult for some people to justify, especially if the service isn't very good. But, I figure that if I cannot afford to tip, I cannot afford to eat at a restaurant.

15% is a standard tip, though some consider 20% more like it. Of course, you can work from 15% up, depending on the quality of service, and your generosity.

I was a waitress many, many years ago. The place I worked paid WELL below the minumum wage, but took out taxes as if they had paid us ABOVE the minumum wage. Their logic was that we were getting plenty of tips and that they had to withold taxes accordingly. Some now say that everyone pays above minumum wage, but I've heard otherwise. Bottom line is that waitresses and waiters will not make enough to get by, unless you tip.

I consider 20% standard for average service. If someone keeps my drink, and water, above 1/3 full at all times. If my order was taken in good time, delivered well and in good time, the area was very clean, and I was asked in good time whether I needed more of something, dessert, take home supplies, and so on, I'll tip more. There is an art to being a great waitress/waiter. The customer never has to wait to ask for something, yet the customer is not burdened by a server always in your face. You are there to get away and relax, yet not have to seek out anything. a great waitress/waiter has been known to get 30-to maybe one time 50% from me. I cannot afford to tip that much, but because of that, I don't go out often. If someone only brings a drink once, and you have to find them to ask for everything, including your bill to leave, it is very difficult to pay the 15%. I may have not done so once or twice, but I REALLY have to been badly served for that.

I remember once being out with my parents, at a time when I was still waitressing, and our waitress was doing a poor job and looked a wreck. My dad, (now deceased), was asking me what I thought about her service. We agreed it was terrible, but were trying to understand why. I suggested that she was desperate and looked about to quit. He left her a tip as large as our meal. I needed the money really badly, and knew it would cost me, but agreed. As we were leaving, she came to us transformed, tears were smiles. She said she had been about to quit because of the low pay, and her heart was just not in it. I was never more proud of my dad.

Once, though I got several very large tips from a gentleman I was serving. When the night was over, and we were closing down, he insisted I leave with him. He asked, "Why do you think I was giving you such big tips?" There is such a thing as tipping TOO much. There should be NO STRINGS ATTACHED. It is just pay for the meal or drinks delivered. No more. Don't pay so much you impose obligation on your waitress/waiter. An experienced, older waitress at that time helped me, by saying, "Honey, he paid it, it's yours, you owe him nothing. That was for sevice he got while sitting there, no more."

15% for average service, 20% for better.

$14 meal =$ 2.80 tip
$35 meal = $7.00 tip 20%
$27drinks= $5.40 tip

Happy night out !

Answer 7

double the tax. It usually works out to about 15%.
Here our taxes are 14%, so we basically repeat the tax.

If dinner is $100, then taxes are an additional $14. We leave about 14 on the table for a tip. (usually a ten and a five will do it)

If service was crappy, leave less at your discretion. If it was spectacular, of course you can leave more. AND be sure to comment to whomever needed that your service was great, it might help your server get a raise, promotion, etc.

Answer 8

I believe a minimum of $2 for small orders and the 20% rule for the rest of the time. A little more for great service is always okay too. This applies to "sit down" restaurants (not carry out's with buckets at the counter).

Answer 9

normally a 10-15% tip of the total meal cost should be considered. Even for poor service i tend to leave a small tip of at least a dollar because a lot of them live off their tips. a small tip will at least show them that they we're not giving good service but be somewhat decent.

Answer 10

Depends on the service. I'm probably cheap, but I usually tip 10-15%. Higher % for breakfast tabs, which tend to be low cost and lower % for more expensive meals where I feel like I'm getting ripped off.