Buffet tipping versus full service tipping?

[dqpowell]

I've heard every argument in the book for not tipping well.

You missed the entire point of the discussion. I'm not arguing for "not tipping well." I'm arguing that 10% = "tipping fairly" at buffets, and that anything beyond that must be earned through excellent service. I "tip well" when the server deserves it.

Just yesterday my group of 6 tipped over 30% at a traditional table service restaurant (in my hometown). The waitress was outstanding, and deserved the tip. I did not base that tip on any assumptions about whether other diners were undertipping. I did not base it on any assumptions about whether she could "pay her bills." I based that 30+% tip on the fact that our glasses were never empty, she was friendly and attentive to our needs, and because a screw-up with my order was fixed immediately at her own insistence (I would have just lived with it).

David

 

[slug]

Disneyfan2kids, your numbers are significantly low. One of my relatives worked at a popular restaurant north of Orlando (not Disney, obviously). He told me he was bringing home $200 - $240 in tips alone on a 5-hour dinner shift. Now that's a regular table service restaurant, so let's assume he averaged 20% tips (which is high, but makes the math easy). If he worked at a buffet instead and only averaged 10% tips, that would be $100 - $120 for five hours, or between $20 and $24 an hour. That's a pretty good wage for doing work that doesn't require a college degree. The Disney restaurants are "dinner shift" busy for a lot more than 5 hours a day too, and the meals cost considerably more than most popular Orlando-area restaurants. So I figure even at 10%, a Disney buffet server is going to bring home $150 - $200 in a six-hour "shift."

David

No, I think those numbers are VERY accurate. Keep in mind that a buffet meal at the CP would cost much less than a comparable meal at a "regular" restaurant that also offered a full bar - that adds to the bill and the tip.

I think making $108 on a shift before tipping out the others is realistic.

Also, you keep mentioning that you are doing 1/2 of the work. The only work you're doing is picking up the food yourself. Evertything else is being handled by the server. And I choose to view a buffet as an opportunity to sample a wider variety of foods, not as a venue that requires me to get my own food. The only difference is that instead of selecting one choice from a menu, you are choosing anything you'd like and the quantities of each. Why that impacts the tip in any way is beyond me. But whatever it takes to justify it.

 

[dqpowell]

I think making $108 on a shift before tipping out the others is realistic.

Think whatever you want. I'm basing my numbers on what was reported to me by somebody who worked three years as a server in college.

Also, you keep mentioning that you are doing 1/2 of the work. The only work you're doing is picking up the food yourself. Evertything else is being handled by the server.

What do you think "everything else" is? They're bringing me some drinks, and clearing away dirty dishes. I think paying somebody $10 to do that (assuming a $100 meal) is more than fair.

David

 

[slug]

Think whatever you want. I'm basing my numbers on what was reported to me by somebody who worked three years as a server in college. What do you think "everything else" is? They're bringing me some drinks, and clearing away dirty dishes. I think paying somebody $10 to do that (assuming a $100 meal) is more than fair.

David

Well you're speaking now with someone who was a waiter and who has also been a bartender. I don't pretend to know the numbers of employees at WDW, but I do think I know some of the realities of being a waiter / server. And while your numbers are based on discussions you've apparently had with someone who at one time did this type of work, my number are coming from someone who has actually done the work, myself.

Tip what you like. But don't justify your frugality on the fact that you are doing "half" the work, when in reality, you're really not doing much at all. The fact that you are able to get up as many times as you'd like and choose from a variety of foods is an advantage of a buffet and really shouldn't be used as an excuse for you to try to save 5 bucks at the expense of another person.

 

[dqpowell]

But don't justify your frugality on the fact that you are doing "half" the work, when in reality, you're really not doing much at all.

And the wait staff at a buffet is not doing much at all either.

The fact that you are able to get up as many times as you'd like and choose from a variety of foods is an advantage of a buffet and really shouldn't be used as an excuse for you to try to save 5 bucks at the expense of another person.

Good grief... what are you going on about? The wait staff at the buffet are not responsible for the variety or quantity of foods available to me. I tip based on the service rendered by the wait staff. And the fact is that the server at a non-buffet restaurant is doing more work than the server at a buffet restaurant.

Following your logic, a supermarket offers even greater variety and quantity of food. Heck, I can walk a mile in the aisles and get so much and so many types of food it puts any buffet restaurant to shame. Should I tip the cashier 20%, even though I did all the work of gathering and transporting the food?

David

 

[klinlin]

I have worked in the restaurant business in some capacity for over 15 years in NY. I would feel safe saying that 90% of servers are making no where near $200 in a 5 hour shift. Justify your tip on the quality of the service received, not how much you think servers make or should make.

And just my 2 cents.... Buffets are often harder work than regular table service. There are many more plates to clear, the pace can be quite hectic, and even if there is a runner, you have to keep an eye on the food so you can let the kitchen know what they need. Outside of Disney, many of the customers who choose buffets are there to eat all they can. Being a server is a hard job, but it can also make or break your dining experience.

 

[dqpowell]

I have worked in the restaurant business in some capacity for over 15 years in NY. I would feel safe saying that 90% of servers are making no where near $200 in a 5 hour shift.

Where in upstate NY are you? You could be the waitress I tipped 30% last night.

Justify your tip on the quality of the service received, not how much you think servers make or should make.

What I think servers make has nothing to do with what I tip them. As I think I have made very clear, I tip based on the service. Somebody else was trying to justify large tips based on the idea that wait staff don't make much money. You'd have a hard time convincing my cousin of that.

David

 

[disneyfan2kids]

We're going to have to "agree to disagree" on this one.

I feel strongly that servers (everywhere) work their butts off (moreso at WDW) and do ALOT more than bring me water and take my plate away.

You feel differently... that's OK.

I will continue to tip as much as necessary so that servers get paid well, in case of the possibility that a patron at another table will tip less based on the presumption that they should be "happy" with a few dollars an hour when they don't have a college degree.

I didn't have a college degree once... I was a server. I didn't make much money, but worked my butt off. The little money I did make helped me pay my way through both college AND graduate school (along with LOTS of school loans.) Now that I have a college degree (several actually) I feel just as strongly the servers should be paid a decent wage.

 

[PrincessMinnie28]

In Florida I tip buffet servers and table service servers equalily. As much as I hate it the state of Florida and the Florida restaurant industry have decided that they should pay their servers (both table service and buffet) a sub-minimum wage - I believe it is now about $3.50 per hour. The law expects that patrons will tip the server accordingly and "bump" them up to at least minimum wage. Therefore, I don't think it is right of me to tip the buffet server less.

Hey, $3.50 is livin' large... I made $2.63 as a server (and that was earlier this year)!

 

[doctorhead]

Hey, $3.50 is livin' large... I made $2.63 as a server (and that was earlier this year)!

i was told that i would get $2.15/hour. when i looked at my packcheck, i was really getting $2.149/hour. how cheap do they have to be to give you a tenth of a cent less than the legal minimum wage? it's criminal.

 

[disneyfan2kids]

$2.149/hour

That's just odd...?!

 

[klinlin]

I worked one summer in North Carolina and the server wage was $2.13. I am almost finished with my second Master's degree, and it makes me crazy when people say servers should get a better job or an education etc... Many people believe 10% is an acceptable tip, I am just not one of them. Do some servers make great money some nights at some restaurants, absolutely. Are most of them bringing home $200 every night? Not a chance.

Unfortunately, I was not the recipient of your 30% tip! I do not waitress any longer. It is really physical work, and I'm getting old for that! I work at a high school, but I still bartend occassionally. Most bar customers work hard for aliving themselves and tip well.

 

[dqpowell]

Unfortunately, I was not the recipient of your 30% tip! I do not waitress any longer.

I realized it couldn't have been you when I noticed your name... the waitress we had was named Laura.

David

 

[grumpymakesmehappy]

I generally tip 20% either way. The only way I tip less is if the service was horrible, and then I try to take into account that the server may have just had a long tiring day. My sister waited tables in college for a little extra spending money, and I gained a new found respect for her. So for the people only tipping a dollar, you should be ashamed of yourself. I hope no one you know and love are forced to wait tables to make a living and have customers like you. Seriously, 1.00? You have got to be kidding me?

 

[dqpowell]

So for the people only tipping a dollar, you should be ashamed of yourself. I hope no one you know and love are forced to wait tables to make a living and have customers like you. Seriously, 1.00? You have got to be kidding me?

They said they tip $1 per person in the dining party at buffets. So a family of four at Boma would tip $4, I guess.

Now even I, the cheap, uncaring curmudgeon (if you believe some of the others here) tip higher than that. At Boma, with three others, I'd tip around $9, which would be about 10%.

David

 

[disneyfan2kids]

Now even I, the cheap, uncaring curmudgeon (if you believe some of the others here) tip higher than that. At Boma, with three others, I'd tip around $9, which would be about 10%.

David

Now, I never said that .... I'm just defending my stance that they deserve more than 10%.

 

[2angelsinheaven]

We normally tip 18 - 20% at buffets, believe it or not I see the waitresses here do loads more work than most of the table service places we dine in everyday life. Most times someone else brings out the food, someone else cleans up after you, etc. I feel if a waitress/waiter is taking my drink orders, clearing my table time after time and what not they deserve a decent tip.

We had an excellent server once at Ohana's and left the 20% plus about $10 more. To me if you make my dinner one we will remember than I will remember you when it comes to the tip. =o)

Even if we have had really terrible service I normally leave something, just not the normal 20%+, I know that more than just the server shares in the tip. Why stiff the host, bus boy, etc as well.

 

[gina2000]

You missed the entire point of the discussion. I'm not arguing for "not tipping well." I'm arguing that 10% = "tipping fairly" at buffets, and that anything beyond that must be earned through excellent service. I "tip well" when the server deserves it.David

I haven't missed any point in the discussion. The standard tip for buffets had been 10% forever. Times are changing. In major metropolitan areas, tipping is no longer 10% for buffets and 15% for sit down dining.

 

[TiffanyW1]

Do you tip the same at a buffet as at full service? To me it would not make sense. The bill could be the same at both but at the buffet all they do is bring you drinks. But...I also don't want to be a jerk, so tell me what the accepted practice is.

I think it really depends on the service. Some buffet servers are more attentive than the full service restaurants. They also get paid the same ($2.83 an hour)

 

[wendy46001]

I haven't missed any point in the discussion. The standard tip for buffets had been 10% forever. Times are changing. In major metropolitan areas, tipping is no longer 10% for buffets and 15% for sit down dining.

But 10% and 15% are still standard...its up to the patron give more. I think that is the whole point….and living in florida I’d argue with calling this a major metro area….even though the prices want us to believe we live in a city....