Do I Need to tip the to-go person at Olive Garden?

Question

When I paid for my to-go order the waiter expected me to tip him.

Answer 1

I don't. A lot of restaurants just send your food out with whatever waiter is back there at the time. Why should they get a tip? A lot of pizza places expect you to tip also, when you come in a pick up your own pizza. I don't do this either. You tip a waiter because they wait on you. They take your order, they bring you drinks, they bring you food, they check on you several times during your dinner (usually when your mouth is full) and they offer you dessert.

Also, if you know the waiter expected a tip, that means he implied he wanted one... and that right there is worth not tipping, even if you are sitting in the restaurant. I actually had a waiter mumble to another waiter something about wanting a good tip... and he didnt get one. A tip is something a waiter earns.

Answer 2

Olive Garden Take Out

Answer 3

Most of our Olive Garden To-Go People make more then minimum wage, and rarely get tipped. If you order was more then 4 large bags, and this person helped to carry out, or you were on the phone ordering for more then 20 minutes, or made it more complicated then it should have been, you could throw them a few. Other then that, they dont have to rely on tips for a living, like the Servers.

So you understand what To-Go people do to prepare your order, here is a quick list.

1.Take Order, Enter Into POS.
2. Wait for Order, Put Lids On Dishes, and Put in Large Bag.
3. Put Bread in Breadbags. Fill Soup or get salad and put into Bag.
4. Add Condiments and Serving Utensils.
5. Cash Out Order.

On larger orders, with Soup for 6, or Salad for 12, Or for 20 or more people, this can be quite a large pain in the ***. For small orders, this MAYBE takes 7-8 minutes of acual work.

Answer 4

Olive Garden To Go

Answer 5

I personally don't see the need to tip when you have driven yourself to the restaurant and you are walking in to get the food. You're not really being waited on. If someone brought it out to your car, then I think a couple of bucks would be in order, but I don't think it's the same as a delivery person or a server waiting on you at a table. Some people probably think they're entitled no matter what. Sounds like your guy at the Olive Garden is one of those folks.

Answer 6

Let me tell you guys something, I work at Outback Steakhouse as a to-go server. It is my only, and I stress ONLY, position at the place. I do make $7.15/hr, but that just barely pays the bills. Only about 50% of the people who order take-out actually tip, and when they do, it's a pittance. I do agree that we are not offering the full dining experience, so we should not be tipped along those lines, however, we work just as hard, if not harder than the dining-room servers. We not only have to answer the phone (and promptly- 30 seconds or less is our rule), we are in charge of boxing up all the orders neatly and accurately, meaning we have to take care to check all the food to see that it's presentable and made to customer satisfaction, and boxed in a way that ensures that the food stays in the condition it needs to be (hot or cold) for the whole ride home. We also make sure all orders go out when they are supposed to, which is ten times harder when the kitchen is slow to make our food (they often leave it until last, because they have in-house food to make), and we have to nag them to get it out on time, plus we have to wait for people to show up to get their food, and they're often late, which means while we're still getting other orders and making sure those are being efficiently processed, we have to keep checking to make sure the first people aren't left out there waiting when they're 20 min. late picking up their food. Then we get people who show up and keep us running back and forth for things they forgot to ask for on the phone, which takes even more time, and we get almost zero help from the management or the other servers, whose idea of helping is to tell me my orders are getting cold on the counter while I've got two orders on the phone and three cars outside. I love my job, so please don't think I'm bitching just for the heck of it, because my point is that for those of you who think we don't do much and therefore don't deserve a tip, we work our butts off, and often don't get half the payout the servers do, when they have tons of help; they have a person to prepare their food to make it presentable, some other server runs it, the busser cleans their tables, and the bartender makes their drinks and some other server can run those, too. They still do a lot more than to-go servers do, so they deserve higher tips, but to-go servers deserve something also. Keep in mind, too that the person bringing out your food often isn't working alone, they have to split tips when more than one to-go server is on, so that $2 that seems generous to you may not be worth so much when they split it between three people. I will say that, on the whole, we appreciate any tip, but $2 on a $100 check is WAY below what you should give, even for take-out. Plus, it chaps my behind when I see a Mercedes or a Lexus pull up and they stiff me, especially since those people are the ones who typically order a lot of food, then they leave me zero on a $60 bill. Better service begets better tips, I'll give you that, but I hate seeing an obviously well-off person act like a cheapskate.

Answer 7

Its like the Starbucks people. I usually tip them a $1 per drink ordered. Since the to go person packed up your order, I probably would have tipped a little something. Especially if it was a large order. I'm sure it would've been appreciated.

Answer 8

You have absolutely no idea whether or not the person preparing your to-go order relies on tips or not. In many instances he/she does. In order to keep prices low, most employers (local and nationwide) pay as little as possible at every position. Makes sense, right?
The guy/girl working at Olive Garden expects a tip because they are making a terrible hourly rate. Tips are expected in that position.
As a rule of thumb, any place that employs servers also pays the to-go person horribly. Please don't take it upon yourself to give that person a pay cut just because you don't know how the system works.

Answer 9

The answer to this was addressed 3 months ago.

But as a reminder, I'll again give my answer. The to-go person is usually paid minimum wage - not server minimum wage unless this person is also a server or bartender. Sometimes, a restaurant will bestow them with a great salary of $7.00 $8.00 per hour if they also do other non-waiter duties. I would leave a couple bucks. Especially if your order was large and/or complicated, give them some dough for getting it right.

Answer 10

The take-out persons hourly wage will almost always be below minimum wage, usually between 2.50 (ours is 2.62) and 4 dollars an hour. The kitchen will do nothing but cook your food and the take-out person is responsible for everything from making sure your requests are honored, boxing/bagging your food, making sure you have condiments/utensils/bread, answering other take-out orders, etc... although, they will not have to tip-out other stations (bartender, bussers, food-runner, host staff) they do pay taxes on your bill and that amount will be withheld from their paycheck. I think it's great that you are seeking information on this and I hope I have helped you and that you have helped others.