Tipping for a full service dinner?

[psimon]

Tipping a a subjective thing... how you were feeling at the time, how the food was, how friendly your server was, etc. Usually we all start with an estimate of what the tip should be and then add or subtract based on how the meal went. I have heard that tipping rates have gone up and 15-20% is not the norm any more.

What do you use as a basis for calculating a tip for sit down, full service meals?

 

[Uncleromulus]

I still think 20% is well within the acceptable tip range--.
If the service was "good" that's what we usually tip.It takes pretty poor service for Uncleromulus to tip below 20%. A server just going thru the motions might do it, or a pure unfriendly server. But we encounter those few and far between..

 

[scrump]

I think the national average has moved up to 18%, at least that's what I've seen printed on menus in big cities (Atlanta, Chicago, New York). I round up to 20% for convenience, though.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I haven't heard that tipping has gone up, we always aim for 15-20 if service was good. (in our area, we double the tax and then add just a bit more, since tax is around 8%).

We tip at Disney the same way we tip at every other restaurant.

 

[HANKSCOZZ]

15% for passable service, 20% for very good service, 25% for outstanding service.

 

[webray]

20% is still the acceptable amount. We use that as a base and go up or down from there.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

We tip 15-25% depending on the service-the better the service the better we tip and we tip the same at home as we do in Disney.

 

[cityofweasels]

15% is the baseline for me and average service at an average restaurant (if I don't get at least the usual greeting -> drinks -> order -> food arrives -> verification -> dessert or check? progression at a casual place, it goes down.) I usually end up closer to 20%. At the nicer restaurants with professional waitstaff, of course, expect to tip more.

 

[DebbieB]

I usually double the total and move the decimal point, rounding up. So $30 = $6 tip.

I don't know about tipping a higher % at a nicer restaurant. By the fact that their prices are higher they get more. A waiter on a $50 check works just as hard as a waiter on a $100 check but the higher price restaurant waiter gets twice as much if you use the same %. I base my tip more on actual service rather than the type of restaurant.

 

[mjmcca]

An easy way to figure out a 20% tip is to tip $1 for every $5 of the bill.

 

[psimon]

But are these tips based on the price of your meal, the price of your meal plus alcohol, or the price of the meal, drinks and tax?

To me, the price of alcohol can be way out of line, so I base the tip on just the meal. Especially at Disney, food by itself can get pretty expensive, I don't need to compound it with the other stuff.

Thoughts?

---Paul in Southern NJ

 

[SeaSpray]

But are these tips based on the price of your meal, the price of your meal plus alcohol, or the price of the meal, drinks and tax?

To me, the price of alcohol can be way out of line, so I base the tip on just the meal. Especially at Disney, food by itself can get pretty expensive, I don't need to compound it with the other stuff.

Thoughts?

---Paul in Southern NJ

We start at 20%, based on the total of the bill, including the meal, drinks, and tax. We rarely tip below 20%, and that's only if the service was not good. We often tip a bit over 20% because fortunately the waiters/waitresses/servers we've been encountering have been pretty good.

While at Disney, or anywhere else, we tip the same way.

 

[Uncleromulus]

We go by the total bill (drinks, tax, etc) also. Whatever we order--that's what we tip on.
Too generous? I don't think so myself. Most servers make very little by way of salary and I happen to think most work very hard for that money. I know (having seen some of the customer behavior they need to put up with, the # of tables they need to work,etc) I wouldn't last one evening as a server!!

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I heard from somewhere an easy way to calculate a tip is to double the tax. Anyone ever done that??

I tip 15% baseline, if the service was really good, I tip more.

 

[canwegosoon]

I heard from somewhere an easy way to calculate a tip is to double the tax. Anyone ever done that??

I tip 15% baseline, if the service was really good, I tip more.

This is fine as long as your tax rate is at least 7.5%. Also I do not believe the waiter/tress should be tiped on the tax (just the sub total..the tax has nothing to do with the service). I understand that people include it because it seems easier. IMO 15-18% for good service in a reg. restaurant is a good starting point. I think people like to feel good so they tip more. Personally I think a standard tip of 20% for avg service is going down a road I don't want to do. I use the tip caculator on my cell phone if I am having trouble figuring it out. I do include alchol in my tip.

 

[Gymbomom]

We are 20% tippers as well. If our service was terrible we might go down to 15%.
But we define poor service as someone with a bad attitude.
Not, bad food, slow service because the server is so busy, or a server making mistakes.

 

[becka]

We include the meal and drinks. I start with a 15-18% baseline and adjust from there. In very rare cases we will leave 10% if the service was not good or the waiter was rude (has never happened at WDW) but usually it ends up in the 18-20% range.

 

[eeyore45]

I tip not because of service, but because of guilt, and expectations. I feel guilty that the waitstaff only get paid a couple bucks an hour. I resent that I have to pay thier wages.

I also do not get tipping 20% at a buffet.Not that we eat at buffets often, but really, what's the point? Oh that's right, they DEPEND on my measly 20% (and you'd better not do less than that) for their living..

Yep, I used to double the tax, I used to tip the standard 15 or 18% ( it did go up) and I didnt tip on the wine, but not anymore... I dont want to be the cause of ruining a poor waitstaffs day...

(and yep, I used to wait in my high school days, bussed tables, dh was a fry cook at a Big Boy place... it was a kinder gentler world.. I am now Old, and hardened, and just do what I'm told!!)

 

[Lewisc]

Most people say you don't have to tip on the tax. When you double the tax you're not tipping on the tax. You definitely should be tipping on your drinks. A few people cap their tip on expensive wine, more than $100/bottle, at something like $10 or $20 per bottle.

 

[scouthawkk]

But are these tips based on the price of your meal, the price of your meal plus alcohol, or the price of the meal, drinks and tax?

To me, the price of alcohol can be way out of line, so I base the tip on just the meal. Especially at Disney, food by itself can get pretty expensive, I don't need to compound it with the other stuff.

Thoughts?

---Paul in Southern NJ

we tip 20% as base for the entire bill, and up or down according to service. don't normally calculate for poor food unless we believe the server didn't get it from the kitchen before it got cold. if food is bad, we usually consider that a fault of the cook(s), not the server. we don't think it fair to base their tips on mistakes by the person preparing the food. buffet is a bit different. it all depends on how much attention the "server" gives (ie. takes away used plates, brings clean ones, or whatever). not much attention gets only a couple bucks, more attention gets a bit more left...and yes, we always tip on alcohol drinks and wine. at most places with bar/bartender, servers have to share a % of their tips with the bartender if alcohol is involved in the checks. and at a nice restaurant that has a wine specialist (my dh like to call them the wine weenie) they, too get a percentage if a full bottle of wine is involved...even if they did nothing to help present it at the table. not always fair, but a fact of life. also, if a discount/free meal or some perk along those lines is involved, we always tip on what the full amount of the bill would have been had that perk not ben taken advantage of.