Tipping / Gratuity

[lifesaver]

Last night I was headded over to a buddys house to chill. I didnt feel like cooking, and didnt want fast food. So I called up Chilli's for take-out. My bill was only $7.50, and I tipped the kid $2.00.

Question is this: Are you supposed to tip at take-away. I did because it wasnt the hostess that handeled my order, it was waitstaff. What are ya'lls thoughts?

[33girl]

I never do - considering I got in the car and went to pick it up. Part of the whole point of takeout is that you don't have to tip.

[Tom Earp]

You tip for service by an individual. Life you should have tipped yourself the 2.00 bucks!

[Jadey28]

This was a major pet peeve of mine.....

While working as a bartender at a restaurant, we were supposed to take carry out orders. Fine, no big deal. But, the carry out sales were added to our total sales, which meant that we (as the bartender) got taxed on in-restaurant sales as well as carry out sales. So, in answer to your question, you should be tipping the carry out person in a restaurant. Other carry out places (like sub shops or whatever) don't follow traditional restaurant rules. Well, I think that you should anyway.

[AOIIBrandi]

I don't know the rule, but unless the "take-out" person does something extra for me (like actually check the order, help me carry it to the car if it's a lot...) I don't tip them.

[Imthechamp]

I never tip because it is their JOB to serve me and bring me refills on my drink.

[KSigkid]

Originally posted by Imthechamp
I never tip because it is their JOB to serve me and bring me refills on my drink.

You sound like Steve Buscemi in "Reservoir Dogs."

[Imthechamp]

Holy shit dude.

I haven't seen the movie, but I just bought the "Pink" Dvd with Buscemi on the cover.

Gonna watch it tonight.

[valkyrie]

I think it depends on the kind of restaurant. When I used to get take out lunch orders from a reasonably nice restaurant downtown, I tipped the bartender who was the one who gave me my food and rang up the order. I figured he did as much as he would have done had I ordered a drink, and I would've tipped him then.

When I get carryout orders from a local deli, though, it never occurred to me to tip -- until I charged it and they have a line for "tip" on the receipt. I'll usually put on $1 or $2 then. I feel bad putting only $1, but if I'm getting a $4 sandwich, I guess that's enough. If I'm paying cash, though, I generally don't.

[Kevlar281]

If you’re going to a restaurant where you would normally tip if you sat down for service then yes you should tip. I used to do ‘to-go orders’ and it sucks when you bag up some huge order for a family of five and get stiffed. It was always the after work commuters who would tip. Many restaurants have people that specifically do ‘to-go orders’ so if you don’t want to tip then I suggest you go get some fast-food so your not wasting anyone else’s time but your own.

[FAB*SpiceySpice]

Originally posted by KSigkid


You sound like Steve Buscemi in "Reservoir Dogs."

Hahaha I read that and thought the *exact* same thing.....good movie!

[Lady Pi Phi]

I don't see the tip as something that a person should receive, but as something they earn. I almost always tip about 15% at a restaurant. The times I won't are when the service is outstanding and then I will always give more. There aren't too many people that are outstanding waitstaff and I feel they deserve more than the 15%. The other time is when the service has been so bad then I don't give them anything. A tip is a privilage, not a right.

[33girl]

Originally posted by Jadey28
This was a major pet peeve of mine.....

While working as a bartender at a restaurant, we were supposed to take carry out orders. Fine, no big deal. But, the carry out sales were added to our total sales, which meant that we (as the bartender) got taxed on in-restaurant sales as well as carry out sales.

See, I had no idea of that. I don't think that is fair that those sales would go under an individual's sales to be taxed...they should be "house sales" or something like that. I think everything would just be a hell of a lot easier if they paid waitstaff & bartenders normal wages like everyone else.

[ZTAngel]

I usually tip about 18-20%. A lot of the servers around here are college students just like me who are trying to make money to pay their tuition. Serving is not in their future career plans. I've never worked as a server but, in my opinion, I see it as one of the most difficult and thankless jobs. Working in retail, I've seen customers who will get angry over things that aren't your fault or take their stress from a bad day of work out on you. I can only imagine it being 10 times worse in the restaurant business since you're dealing with people's food. If the server was absolutely horrible, I will tip 12-15%.
Servers live off tips. Their wage is only $2 an hour plus tips. Yuck!
As for the to-go people...I will usually tip 15% since all they did was just wrapped up my food. Usually being the key word. I had some horrible service at Chili's To-Go last month. This girl was so mean and rude that I actually told her to her face, "I refuse to tip you" and I drove off (as fast as I could ).

[SilverTurtle]

I waited tables for 2 years in college. It sucks. If the person handing you your take out order is also the person waiting on tables (i.e. a server), then they are the one who rang in your order, and those sales go on their sales. Which means they have to claim a tip on them whether they got one or not.

Most restaurants (I'm not talking about really nice ones.. I don't know much about their inner workings) work like this: Servers and bartenders get tips from their customers. Bartenders are required to tip out their busboy/barback and food runners. Servers tip out their busboys, bartenders, and food runners. (If a different person is bringing food to most of the tables than the person waiting on them, that's the food runner). So if you tip your server 15%, after their tipouts they usually take home about 8% of that, which, at least in OH, is the MINIMUM they can claim they made off of their sales. I never met a server that didn't claim at least 10%, just to keep themselves safe from any IRS audits, etc. Which means they are often claiming more than they actually made that night. (Although I admit there are exceptions, and some nights they claim less. It usually balances out from the weekend nights and weekdays).

And yes, servers do make less than $3/hour from the restaurant. (Bartenders usually make a little more). I think if they should just be paid normal wages, too. And then tips would be "extras" for great service, like their original intention.

I tip 20%, unless the service is poor. Then I tip 15%, because I know they'll see about 1/2 of that. If it's exceptional, I'll tip more.

There used to be a great site called bitterwaitress, but I don't know if it's still up.