How do you tip at WDW buffet restaurants?

[luckytso]

We always tip 15-20% while some of my collegues think that is way too much. They tip $1-$2 per person at buffet restaurants.

How do you tip?

 

[ducklite]

If they are only tipping $1-2 at a dinner buffet, that is only a 4-8% tip--or less if they also order any add-on's or alcohol. That's beyond cheap, it's downright ignorant IMHO.

If I were a server and someone left me that cheap of a tip, I'd probably hand it back and tell them to keep it, they obviously need it more than I do.

Unless the service was so bad as to warrant it, that's truly insulting to a server.

Anne

 

[luckytso]

I hear you. They are not cheap tippers othewise. However, they strongly feel that since you get your own food and the servers do little, they feel $1-$2 is adequate. So I started wondering if we have been tipping too much all along.

 

[Kimberlyfamilyfv]

Well this is a question that my friends and I have often debated.

My question is this... If you fill your own plate, and pick up your own silverware. And the only only thing your waitress does is refill your drinks and bus your table? Should you tip them the same as a full service restaurant?

My feeling is no! If they only do half the work as a waitress in a full service restaurant does then they should only get 10 to 15 percent of the tip instead of my usual 20percent. If I have to get my own drinks and they do nothing more than bus the tables I will leave a small tip.

If I go to a full service restaurant and I get full service. I believe in tipping well. And I do.

However, the exception to this rule is if you go to a restaurant where the waitress caters to your every need. But there is also a salad or appetizer buffet. In this case I would tip according to his/her service and percentage of bill.



These are my opinions. And my personal way of dealing with the whole tip situation.

 

[becka]

We tip 10-15% at buffets depending on the level of service. 10% if it was just adequate and 15% if the server was really good.

At full service places we tip 15-25%. 15% is the minimum for adequate service, 20% is for good service and 25% for excellent servers who go above and beyond (unfortunately or fortunately this happens quite a bit at WDW restaurants ).

 

[ducklite]

I think the servers at a buffet do more than bring drinks and bus tables.

They answer questions about the buffet. They generally remove plates a lot more times than they would if it was a "regular meal", and need to keep a closer eye on the tables because people don't have quite the same patterns to their eating.

They bring add-on's such as specialty drinks and crab legs, etc. They sometimes provide entertainment. Have you ever run in to some of the "characters" at Donalds? And I'm not talking about the ones dressed as mice, dogs and ducks.

Anne

 

[>>^..^<<]

I go through several plates at a buffet - not because I overeat! because I don't like to mix foods on the same plate, blech!

I will have one plate for salad, one plate for bread/rolls.. one for soup, one for a pasta if they have it.. another one for the main meat & potatoes etc.. one for going back for anything I forgot to try and one (or 2) for desserts maybe one for fresh fruit.

I won't go back to the buffet with a dirty plate.. ewww.

Imagine if everyone is like me? ~ that is many plates to efficiently clear away with a smile. These servers work hard ~ I tip them accordingly the full 20%

Once at 1900 park Fare I felt the service was atrocious and told the waiter so, our dirty dishes were piled up and he was no where to be found for a drink or coffee... I left 10 % after he profusely apologized that they were short staffed etc... but had he been snarky with me he would have received el-zippo.

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[DrTomorrow]

They answer questions about the buffet. They generally remove plates a lot more times than they would if it was a "regular meal", and need to keep a closer eye on the tables because people don't have quite the same patterns to their eating.

Just got back from Las Vegas, the land of buffets. We had dinner one night at Outback Steakhouse (yeah, I know, what an adventurous palate we have). Waitress' table trips: took drink order; brought drinks took app & dinner order; brought bread; brought app;cleared app; brought a second drink; brought dinner; asked if all was OK; cleared dinner asked about dessert; bought check took credit card; returned credit card. Total = 11 trips. Had dinner another night at Mirage buffet. Server table trips: took drink order; brought drinks; refilled drinks and cleared plates; cleared plates; cleared plates after we left. Total = 5. No one brought us crab legs; no one made suggestions. Not only did the full service waitress make a lot more trips, IMO she did a lot more heavy lifting - bringing full, piping hot plates is a lot tougher than bussing empty ones. At Outback, bill was around $50 - I tipped $13 - waitress was prompt and sociable. Mirage, bill was around $35-40, I tipped $2 ($1x2) - server was slow with refill and never said a word other than "More drinks?".
If you want an eye-opener, check out the tipping threads at alt.vacation.las-vegas (Usenet newsgroup); many folks claim to have asked buffet servers what they're happy with and they say $1-2 (hearsay warning - YMMV).
I will toss in an extra buck or two if the buffet server goes above and beyond, but I just don't see how a glorified bus-boy deserves a %10-15 tip.

 

[hockey mom]

As a server I hated doing the buffets. Twice as much work for half the tip. There are alot more plates to clear, kids (and some adults) can totally destroy a table in 10 minutes with food they thought they might like but never eat, and you never seem to know when a family has finished or not. Then the final kicker is the tip because everyone feels they just did it all themselves.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Hockey mom said: Twice as much work for half the tip.

In a post above, I laid out two meals I had - one buffet, one full service - and the full service appeared not only make over twice as many table trips, but also did more work. I can see that if some folks burn through 4-5 plates it can up the table trips a few, but still - what is more work about bussing tables and providing beverages? I'm fairly familiar with full service - I've cooked and managed, and DW was a CW and FW - but honestly have never worked in a buffet environment - what extra work am I missing? I do believe in rewarding tipped employees, and usually tip well, but I am one of those who sees a buffet server as a glorified busboy - and by that I mean that I've eaten in restaurants where the busboy cleared all the dishes and kept water glasses, coffee cups, etc. filled.

Thanks.

 

[>>^..^<<]

DrTomorrow... you seem to have a good base of dining out experience.

My question to you is this - How many years have you been giving $1.00 per person as a tip to buffet servers?

If you find yourself saying 5, 10, 15 years + .. maybe it's time to give them a raise?

I prefer the percentage tip - year to year to decade it is a fair amount - a percentage of the total cost. Not this flat amount that never changes for the same amount of work.


Dr.Tomorrow are you stuck in the past? LOL

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[DrTomorrow]

You mean to tell me that that $.25 tip I've been giving at valet parking just isn't enough anymore?

OK, I could be wrong ( a slight shudder goes through the Internet ) - you make a good point about fixed amounts. But I still don't equate full service with buffet service. Hmmmm. How about this: 15-20% for full service, 10-15% for buffet. That allows for inflation yet keeps the service-type difference.

Hey, I just had my opinion changed by a polite and rational discussion on the Internet - do I have to notify somebody or something?

 

[>>^..^<<]

LOL DrTommorrow ~ you are indeed a man before his time.




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[cinmell]

For buffets, we tip 15% - 20%, probably closer to 20%.

 

[ducklite]

Dr. Tomorrow--I think that 10-15% for a buffet is much more in line with todays' norms. If you feel the server is nothing more than a glorified busboy--then yes, 10%. but As I said previously, many of these servers do a lot more than clear plates and refill drinks. If you order alcohol they have to go to the bar. If you order an add-on (like crab legs at the Cape May) they have to make extra trips to the kitchen. At some of the buffets the servers are part of the entertainment.

Of course if the plates pile up and the glasses run dry, then a lower or no tip is appropriate.

On the topic of 25 cents for valet's...one problem with that. Iif we all tipped them in change they'd be so weighted down it would take hours to run to the cars and retrieve them...that's a good case for using bills if I ever heard one

Anne

 

[goofy4tink]

I was all set to very self-rightously defend the $1-2 pp tip for buffet service. I thought that maybe 10-15% was a little excessive for bussing a table. Then I did my math...there are 3 of us. At a buffet we will usually leave $2 pp. So $6. Now, if my bill comes to $70, then 10% will be $7. (yes, I know...high finance). So, I'm already pretty close to the 10-15% mark. I think I will adhere to that rate this August. It will be 15% if the server is good, and less if they give lesser service. Thanks for giving me something to think about.

 

[kdibattista]

We always tip 20% at buffets and closer to 25% - 30% for sit down meals. Both of us are former bartenders and know that they rely heavily on these tips. We just feel that it's not that much money to leave an extra few bucks and it may make someone's day a little better. On the flip side, if we have horrible service then we leave next to nothing. Don't get me wrong, it takes a lot to get to that point but I don't believe in tipping if it is not deserved.

 

[caitycaity]

we also tip 10-15% at buffets. i also don't believe in tipping if it is not deserved. though i can count the number of times we have left without leaving a tip on one hand, it has happened.

 

[DrTomorrow]

ducklite - I confess that I've never been to a Disney buffet (or if I have, it's lost in the fog of time), but all the buffets I've been to, the server did little else than clear and fill. I assure you that, if a buffet server does more - a special request, brings refills before asked, heimlich manuver, etc - I'll gladly bump them to the full-service tip rate.

goofy4tink - I did the math too; for a $10 Las Vegas buffet, the $2 I leave was 20%. So that's two of us who considered the other side's opinion instead of an automatic defense. Do you think that the Mods will step in soon due to the reasonableness and civility in this thread?

 

[>>^..^<<]

Originally posted by DrTomorrow

heimlich manuver, etc - I'll gladly bump them to the full-service tip rate.

ROFL

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