for all the waiters/ waitresses: tipping?

Question

i'm writing a 1-2 pages long paper for my english class about tipping. i would like to hear your opinions about it.
1. where do you work? fancy restaurant? pizza place? cafe? etc?
2. how much is the appropriate tip?
3. is tip a must for you?
4. have you ever had experience where the customers were so cheap? or were very generous with tipping? can you please tell me your experience?

Answer 1

I've been waiting table for 20 years and I think everyone should read this article from the New Yorker. It really makes you understand that serving is really a branch of the entertainment industry.

http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/09/05/050905ta_talk_surowiecki

Now, to answer your question...

Webster's Dictionary defines "tip" as "a gift or sum of money tendered for a service performed or anticipated; a gratuity".
Many people in the United States feel tipping a server for the "anticipated" service they provide is a good and fair way to conduct business. Others don't agree. They feel, as you will read on this very site, that it is not their "fault" or "problem" that servers get paid half of the legal minimum wage and that the customer is "expected" to make up the difference in that server's wage. And, to some extent, I agree with them. However, what those detractors don't understand is that if tipping were abolished they would still pay the tip, just in a different form, the price of their meal would go up to compensate the restaurant having to now pay a higher wage. Personally, I would prefer to keep the control of how and on what I spend my money. Because as it is now with tipping I can spend the money I want on the service I recieve, leaving a good tip, 20%-25% of the bill, for good service, or a bad tip, 10%, for bad service. If there was no tipping, just higher prices for my food to pay higher wages to servers, I would be paying that tip regardless of the service I got.
Now that we've established that it's actually in the customers best interest to have a tipping system, let's move on to tips and are they "a must for you"...the answer is simple...Yes. If I am only being paid half of the legal minimum wage, then I have to have tips to compensate my wage. And really that's what I live on. The hourly wage I recieve, $3.25 per hour, is really just a means for me to pay my taxes on my tips and pay for my health insurance through the company I work for (I work for Applebee's). Every 2 weeks I get a paycheck. It ranges between $15 and $45 dollars...yes that's for 2 weeks pay. You may wonder why it's so low. Well, I work an average of 38 hours per week@3.25 per hourX2 weeks=$247...take out 30% for taxes on the hourly wage and your left with $172.90. Now how do you go from $172.90 to $45 dollars...you have to pay taxes on the tips you recieve...and the one's you DON'T recieve. I know that doesn't make sense but it's true. If someone just doesn't believe in tipping so they don't leave a tip on a $20 check, the government doesn't care, In fact they make a server claim that they made at least an 8% tip on that bill even though they didn't. So the hourly wage a server makes is really not what they live on and in fact doesn't really amount to more than gas money every two weeks.
Now you asked the question of "times a customer was cheap/ generous. There have been a few times over the course of my 20 years that guests have been generous but the cheap one's far, far out weigh the generous. Most of those people that were "cheap" I really think don't understand the service industry. People in the restaurant business equate it to "show business", the entertainment business...people even place "dining out" in the "entertainment" column of their monthly budgets. They don't see it as what it is...work, real work, done for a wage, meaning a tip. Those people don't see all that goes on behind the scene or in the back-of-the-house (interestingly those are both terms used in the restaurant business and theater). They just think they order their food and I guess "magic" makes and delivers it. Plus, they don't see that the server keeps their restaurant clean and that eventhough their server may be having a bad day, just like they have, they still put on that "showbusiness smile" and take care of them.
I know some people here will rebut my position by saying, "What about all those 'bad' servers'?" Every restaurant, just like every other business, has bad, and good, employees. They should find the good servers at their favorite restaurant and request them when they go in. If they build a rapport with a server and tip them 20%, even a bad server will become a good one for them.

Anyway...I could go on for days...actually I wish I had to write your paper. I am curious why your teacher chose the topic. Good luck...sorry this was so long.

Answer 2

All depends on the restaurant and its policy. If it's a small restaurant where the waiter does everything then probably not. But in most restaurant chains or larger or pricer restaurant, they have waiters that takes the order then they have food servers who brings you the food. The waiter will have to tip out to them and given them a certain amount depending on how much tip was made that day. They may have to tip out to the bartender and the busboy too. Some small independent restaurant may not make enough tip for the wait staff and so the owner may keep all the tip and pay the staff a certain amount for the shift.

Answer 3

I worked in steakhouses, bar and grills, fine dining, and a cocktail lounge with food. I got my best tips at the steakhouses and bar and grills. The people were cheap in the area, so I was lucky to get $3 on a $40 meal. They could shell out money for the food and drinks, just not the 15-20% (at the time, now it's 18-25%). I believe that a tip of any kind is a must, we servers gauge our customers on how they tip, and how we think we did. Unfortunately sometimes you're having a bad day and it shows in the service, then I know I'm not getting a good tip but sometimes have been pleasantly surprised! Other times I just knew I aced the table and thought I was going to get a great tip...and there was $1.

I once waited hand and foot on a party of 9 and they constantly kept me running and were so demanding, yet nice. I was so glad the restaurant had a mandatory tip of 15% tacked on to a bill of 6 or more. They not only paid the bill, but everyone left me money at their seat, and the head of the party slipped me a $20(!!!) and said thank you, everything was wonderful, sorry we kept you running so much. I explained the tip was on the bill, and he said no, this is for YOU for everything you did.

A friend of mine worked at a Denny's during the night shift while she was in college. There was always a lonely elderly man who came in just for coffee. She always chatted with him since it was slow at the time and found out he had lost his wife. Well my friend had to tell him one night that it was her last since she was moving for a better job. He left $100 under his coffee mug and a note that said good luck and how she always made him smile.

So there are the horror stories, but there can also be the wonderful experiences that rarely get heard. You always hear the bad.

Good luck on the paper!

Answer 4

My fiance works for Mimi's Cafe and I used to be in the business. Tipping is essential because most servers in sit down restaurants only make 3.38 and hour+ tips. The ideal tip USED to be 15% of the bill if you had great service. However the cost of living has gone up and the ideal tip is now 18-20% Of course you get morons who want to run you around and tip nothing or very little which ends up costing the server money after tax and tipping out the busboy, bartender, host and usually the expidtor. Just like any job you may have off days the only difference as a server that means less tips. Some people tip less if their food is not cooked right even though it is out of the servers control. They dont do it. Not to mention it is one of the most physically demanding jobs you can have as well as mentally challenging. Some people are just CHEAP and dont tip anyone.

Answer 5

I have worked as a waitress for three years and I can tell you that this answer can be very complicated.

One thing that many people do not consider is tip share ( I have to tip out the bartender for making my drinks, and the host/ess, and the also the table tender)

So typically yes at least 15% should be expected, but think about it, Say you have ate $100 worth of food and you leave me 15% ($15) Then I have to tip out 6% of that. Your table has sat with me for say 2 hours, and i would make $9 off taking care of you. Which is fine, good even.

But think about this, say that $100 worth of food was from 15 kids, kids meals at even more expensive places aren't that much. And kids leave a much bigger price. So i am now making $9.00 for feeding, entertaining, and cleaning up for 15 kids. Thats a huge mess... not worth $9.00

Or even think about lunch time. Many places run lunch prices that amount to maybe 7 bucks per a person. I don't have to do half the amount of work, but your meal is half of the price. So based on that 15% generalized tip amount, I may make 2 bucks off of your table... before tip share.


It does all even out in the long run, I will make really good tips when I think I screwed up, and I will make really bad tips when I know I did nothing wrong.

So tipping really is complicated. If your server does a good job, and/or a lot of work for you, compensate them. And if they screw up (which I know I have before) then tip them accordingly... I don't expect a big tip when I know it was my fault. ( Something being cooked wrong, or a long ticket time is not your servers fault.)

Oh and for your question about a tip being a must... yes it is a must. The government says our employer has to pay us $2.13 an hour, and trust me... thats what they pay us. ( servers didn't get a minimum wage increase when the rest of the working population did) That $2.13 an hour that my employer pays me (Carino's Italian Grille) generally doesnt ever even make it my way because the government takes it all for taxes. Thus my only source of income is the customer. And if you don't leave me a tip, I still have to pay out tip share for your table because tip share comes from my total sales. That means if you don't leave me a tip, I have to pay to work for you. That stinks :( Its only happened to me once, but that is one of the most degrading things in the world.

Hope I helped!!!

Jenny : )

Answer 6

Full service restuant Yes!! 20% is appopiate..
self serve Buffet I'd usally leave 10% some one cleans up after you, Fast food I'd never tip they should makin" at least $10.00 hr.
Most resturants pay around $2.75 an hr. because the waiters/waitress leave on tips...
Bartenders that treat you right (not waters down) should recieve aleast 29%
Show houses (stipclubs0 no Tip to drinks or bartenders they share!!! with dancers!!!

Answer 7

I worked at family restaurant's -IHOP--and even a Fancy cafe---it just depends on if its Tourist are --and just all around area...For me as far asd tipping goes---my bill could be $10..and maybe leave the waitress $5.00-----or if my bill is $100...and still leave them $5..MY OPINION is--its all ON service....you can't all ways judge on the food--BECAUSE WE DO NOT cook it.......its all on how the waitress TREATS you as a customer!!

Answer 8

There is one thing above all others that increase the size of a tip, personality...personality..personality even if the food tastes like crap, if you have a winning smile and good personality you can do well. I knew an older waitress in Detroit that talked like a truck driver and could kid with her customers. We loved her and would always try to sit at her tables. In 1980-4 she was making $1800.00 a week. She had personality.

Answer 9

it depends on the waiter if he is good i will give him/her a high tip and if he/she sucks i will give him 5 to 10$

Answer 10

15% of the total bill is a standard tip.