In our new world of always constant criticism from social media on everything that you do, there was a profound argument being made about the "correct" percentage to tip waitstaff for waiting services at a full-service restaurant.


The tip amount to go off of, IMHO, is the subtotal, not the total with tax. The tax is the tip we pay to the government. The business, nor the employee doesn't get that money, so why should it be included as a part of me tipping someone?

Every etiquette reference I looked up on the internet was that the tip amount is the "pre-tax" total in around the 15%-20% range. Is this correct in your opinion?

Spot the error?

[This message has been edited by Wichita (edited 01-20-2023).]

Honestly, I do 15% from the grand total. Sometimes I over-tip if the food and service was good.

quote Originally posted by Wichita: Every etiquette reference I looked up on the internet was that the tip amount is the "pre-tax" total in around the 15%-20% range.

A tip was also originally to be applied only to food items at a restaurant... not to alcohol. That seems to have been hushed up and conveniently overlooked the last couple of decades or so.

I hate tipping. Why should people in the service industry expect a tip? Because their wages suck? Too bad. I worked at plenty of different jobs as a young guy (a long time ago) for crappy wages, and never ever expected/never ever received a tip.

[EDIT] I just remembered that one evening during a break in a night school class I was teaching, one of the students bought and brought back to the classroom an (unrequested) can of pop for me. I was flabbergasted that she had done that for me. In the grand scheme of things, it was a token gesture... but never having had anything given to me by a member of the public while "on the job" in four decades or so, I was humbled.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-20-2023).]

"Plant your corn early this year" is tip enough.

But yes, a % of the pre-tax amount.
15% used to be standard but I've noticed in the last 18 months, some places have a 'suggested' tip scale beginning at 20%.

Early-mid 2000s, My father used to tip a quarter no matter how much it was and got on my ass one day for leaving $2 on a $8 breakfast.
"You put that back in your pocket. That's ok for you to do because you're going home tonight but I'm in here twice-3 times and day and if I ever do it these girls'll get to expecting it every time"

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 01-20-2023).]

I generally always do 20%... and I do it on the total (which includes Tax, even though I know I'm not really supposed to do that). I'm more and more wondering why I'm even doing that though. For many situations, when I do actually tip, it's for something where there isn't even someone waiting on me... like when I order from a kiosk or something... I know the person isn't a waiter, and is getting paid a normal hourly wage.

I never got tips when I worked at McDonalds, and when I did, or when someone tipped me at CompUSA or Scotty's Hardware, I was absolutely adamant about not accepting it because if I was extra helpful, I was being paid for it anyway, and it's because I liked being helpful.

Lately, with the cost of everything, I've been paying money like a drunken sailor, and even though I don't have any debt, it's not leading a good example for my daughter. I think I'm going to start doing 20% for people who actually serve me, and on the rare occasion I go to a buffet (where I'm doing everything myself), I'll do 10%. If the service is basically blah... and I have to keep asking for things, 15%. If the service is spectacular, then 25% as I usually do. But if I'm buying a coffee or a magazine from an airport vendor, then I'm not going to tip. Literally I got everything myself... why am I hitting the tip button?

quote Originally posted by Patrick: A tip was also originally to be applied only to food items at a restaurant... not to alcohol. That seems to have been hushed up and conveniently overlooked the last couple of decades or so.

I have never heard that. Who makes tipping laws ?

quote Originally posted by Patrick: I hate tipping. Why should people in the service industry expect a tip? Because their wages suck? Too bad. I worked at plenty of different jobs as a young guy (a long time ago) for crappy wages, and never ever expected/never ever received a tip.

I agree. Tippers enable the establishment to offer crappy wages.
The service industry ? Does anybody tip the auto mechanic ? The lawn guy ? The Doctor ?

I do have to say that I tip, despite my feelings. More so now because food and beverages joints can barely get an employee. Many are obviously overworked. Also, when you go to eat, you only eat (and tip) one time. At a busy drinking establishment, you want the bar's waitresses (or the bartender) to never let your drink go dry.

Waitstaff are making a lot more than they did just a few years ago.
Average McDonald's Fast Food Attendant hourly pay (tips excluded) in Texas is approximately $12.23, which is 8% above the national average.

As of Jan 15, 2023, the average annual pay for the Chick FIL jobs category in Texas is $32,679 a year. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $15.71 an hour.

Food preparation workers (cooks) wages haven't increased nearly as much tho.
90% of the tip should (IMO) go to the kitchen guys/girls.

[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 01-22-2023).]

quote Originally posted by cliffw: I have never heard that.

It was back in the mid 1970's that I first began buying alcoholic beverages with a meal while out at a restaurant. It appeared to be common practice at that time here, and/or with the people I associated with, to only tip on the food portion of a meal, not on the alcohol. I have no recollection of a server ever challenging the amount of a tip that I left.

Keeping in mind that this was almost 50 years ago, trying to find online evidence of this tipping practice is now next to impossible. However, the fact that the question of whether to tip on the alcohol or not is still asked/found at online forums indicates to me that not tipping for alcoholic beverages ordered with a meal was perhaps indeed much more prevalent at one time. And I'm obviously not referring to buying drinks at a bar.

quote Originally posted by cliffw: Who makes tipping laws ?

I suspect restaurant associations are the ones responsible for promoting tipping "laws" at their establishments. It's to their benefit to brainwash the general public into thinking that their patrons need to subsidize the relatively low wages they pay their staff. 10% used to be the norm. Now we're being told it's at least 20%. Such BS.

I don't like being waited on, and I don't like the expectation of needing to tip. The end result is that I don't bother going out to eat very often. On the rare occasion that I do go out to a restaurant, I'll tip 15% on the entire bill... but it pisses me off each time that I've succumbed to the pressure.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 01-22-2023).]

quote Originally posted by Patrick: It was back in the mid 1970's that I first began buying alcoholic beverages with a meal while out at a restaurant. It appeared to be common practice at that time here, and/or with the people I associated with, to only tip on the food portion of a meal, not on the alcohol. I have no recollection of a server ever challenging the amount of a tip that I left.

Perhaps we both drank our first alcoholic beverage on the same day. Did you also have a fake ID, ?

I never complained about anything free. This crap about automatic tipping on the bill, is bullshit.[/quote]

quote Originally posted by Patrick: I don't like being waited on ...

Perhaps I should tip my wife, again.