After the customers had gone, I went to clear the table and pick up the credit slip. I noticed that on top of the slip they had left a penny. I picked up the penny, thinking it was discarded spare change, only to find an aggressive dark slash in the space where a tip should have been written. The two cranky customers had made their point. Apparently, I was the worst server they had ever had.
I tried to understand their frustration. I replayed our entire interaction. I was the only one on shift, working triple duty in the afternoon as a server, cook, and bartender. So, I was a bit slow in getting everything to them when they wanted it. Still, I’d been attentive enough. Also, I hadn’t been told that a good deal of prep had been left undone and that there were a couple of menu items that needed to be 86’d. Items that they had ordered, of course. But I was apologetic. I even paid for a round of drinks.
I came to the conclusion that these people were just run of the mill entitled mother-fuckers. I had one hour left on my shift, and I was pissed.
I kept that penny, and it has informed my tipping policy ever since: twenty percent standard, fifteen if the service is underwhelming, and if you openly berate me… Then you get the penny. I have never had to give the penny.
But there is a tipping conundrum that I’ve always had difficulty figuring out: what the hell do you tip for takeout?
Recently Tom Sietsema, food critic for the Washington Post was asked the same question. His answer:
…I typically tip 10 percent of the bill for takeout, because even when you’re not eating in, someone has to handle your request.
Sounds reasonable. But should it be more? When I was a server, ever dollar of the tip I received for takeout was kicked back to the cook (if there was one on duty). Generally that tip would be measly, but every bit helped. Tips can often filter down through a kitchen staff—everyone gets a cut—but when the kitchen staff is doing most of the work in a takeout order, shouldn’t they receive more of the tip? And shouldn’t it be more than 10 percent?
Or, is it even necessary to leave a tip? After all, you’re not causing that much hassle. It’s not like you need your water refilled, or drinks made, or questions answered. You just want to get your Thai food and hit the road. Does the effort on the restaurants part even justify 10 percent?
Help me, Blogtown. You’re my only hope.
Before I say this, know this: since I worked in many restaurants in my teen years, and I’m doing OK lately, I tip 20-25% (whatever rounds to the next dollar, under the rationale that they can use that extra 40 cents more than me) for normal -> Great service. Substandard gets 15 -> 20. I don’t think I’ve ever had anything that justified stiffing someone.
However, I don’t tip for takeout. To me, tips are for sit-down service, plain and simple, and slopping my cooked food into a box or two and putting it in a bag is exactly what McDonald’s would do for me – and I don’t ever tip at McDonald’s.
My standard tip for all meals is 25-30% depending on the service. 20% if it’s just average, 15% if it’s obvious that the person doesn’t give a shit but tries hard to fake it. I think I’ve intentionally stiffed someone once.
For takeout, I typically do 10-15%
Oh, and by the way, while I would never endorse stiffing someone who is giving their best service to you despite restaurant circumstances beyond their control, the phrase “entitled motherfuckers” can apply just as easily in this town to as many servers as it does patrons.
I only tip for takeout at certain places where I take out regularly. I figure it’s just good business and encourages them to ensure my order is right. I might even do it at a place I’ve never been to but was just really nice to me. I should probably do it more because they do have to put the orders together.
I feel pretty good about my tipping in general. Nothing irks me more than going to dinner with some Mr Pink jackass. Screw that.
“Tips can often filter down through a kitchen staff—everyone gets a cut—but when the kitchen staff is doing most of the work in a takeout order, shouldn’t they receive more of the tip? And shouldn’t it be more than 10 percent?”
NOT TRUE.
Having worked in a number of food holes in this town I can say with certainty that servers DO NOT hand out their tips to the rest of the staff with any sense of responsibility to the people who do MOST of the work. SERVERS write down an order and then hand out the food and yet feel entitled to the lions share of tips for the squat they do. In Portland they make min wage ($7.95) AND tips. This is the only state I know of where you get that – and yet they are still greedy.
Only in America does this tipping guilt shit fly.
When I was in Spain a few years ago I tried to tip a bartender who had been serving me killer drinks all night and he laughed at me and made me take my tip back.
People should be paid better so they don’t have to beg for handouts.
For takeout 10% seems to be reasonable IF it is going to the cooks, cashier, busser and dishwasher.
10% for takeout? I think that’s way high. Most of the time I get takeout, I am dealing with the proprietor of the place I get it, the guy who owns the teriyaki place, etc… It seems silly to me to tip the business owner. Plus, it’s just takeout. But it totally depends on the experience. I have tipped a lot for takout, if it was a huge order, and perhaps had some unusual requests, or caused some extra effort. But a rule of thumb? No.
I used to tip 18-20% standard, but lately I’ve only been tipping 15% for sit-down meals unless the service is extraordinary. I get especially annoyed at places that add a tip in automatically (especially for smaller than 8 parties and/or if they don’t inform you about it when they give you the bill).
At a bar, I tip usually $1 per drink or if I am getting a few beers, $1 for the round. I only tip for takeout if it’s a local place that I frequent, and then usually only a $1 or $2 depending on how busy they are (and if my order was ready and correct when I came to pick it up).
We did this one already!
http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/2007/0…
I always throw a couple bucks on the tab, mostly ’cause I have service industry flashbacks whenever I see a tip line on a credit card. (Same reason I sometimes catch myself tipping on an Odwalla at the coffee shop.) When I think of it, and have cash, I’ll give $5 directly to the kitchen.
Tipping evolved as justification for paying slave wages to servers. But in Oregon, servers make the same minimum wage as everyone else, correct? Since I think they do, I don’t feel bad tipping someone 10%. But I usually go 15, unless it is fantastic service, then I’ll go 20.
True story: last summer I was at Fire on the Mountain on Interstate Ave. waiting for a mess of wings and fries. I heard “order up” and saw my order placed on the shelf where orders go. Just at that time, a friend of the pierced, tattooed, pigtailed server chick came in. They went outside and shared a cigarette. About 5 minutes later, she came in, didn’t wash her hands, picked up my plate and served it to me. On the credit slip I drew a frowney face 🙁 in the tip line. I doubt she noticed.
That’s the worst service experience I’ve had in this town, which is saying something. But goddamn those wings were good.
Tips are for service. When I cooked I never received any tips. I don’t tip for take out. Do you tip at McDonalds? That’s take out. So if all the service you receive is “your total is $XXX, thank you” do you really have to tip for that? No.
That said, my tipping scale is:
15% service = meh
20% decent to good
25% outstanding service
It depends on the take out. For instance, if it is a food cart that I go to often, I’ll tip, even though I know that it is the owner working behind the counter. If I’m picking up a keg, and they use the same credit card receipt for the kegs as for the regular bar customers, I’ll still won’t tip. (Even though the are a bartender most of the day, the service they provided was basically that of a loading dock, which, as far as I know, you don’t tip for.)
I think tipping is an archaic practice that needs to disappear with servers and bartenders receiving an hourly wage or salary instead.
i hate servers that lie to me. they get zero tip. don’t like to me motherfucker. i know you forgot my order. don’t give me that bullshit about just another minute and it’s almost ready.
i also hate servers more interested in their friends at the bar than paying customers. those assholes get zero tip too. if i pulled that crap at my job i wouldn’t have a job. that is bullshit.
otherwise 20% or over. eat in or take out.
When you’ve called the restaurant and asked some busy service person to read the whole menu out loud, had a bunch of crazy substitutions and special requests, called back 10 minutes later to change your order, and then demanded, when you come to pick up the stuff, that someone help you to your car with the two bags of take-out food, you should probably tip at least 10%. Take-out orders are often FAR more work than regular table service.
@ Alison
Ummm. Riiight. But I thought the answers might be different a year later. You know, because of the economy an’ shit.
Yeah. That’s it. Ahem.
I tip 20% for take-out. Am I really the only one?
I usually tip a buck or two, unless it’s some ridiculously large order, but I never make ridiculously large orders so. yeah. A buck or two. And there are certainly plenty of impatient, entitled assholes out there. I used to deal with them waiting tables, and now I deal with them as a KJ.
But as a KJ I get to tell them to fuck off. ; D
I tend to do throw down around $2 for a single meals worth of takeout, and an extra dollar for each additional meals worth. Then whatever coins are left.
i tip one dollar on any coffee, beer order or takeout meal, regardless of how many meals/coffees/beers i’m buying and i’ll probably throw in change if i have it.
at a restaurant, 15% is standard, unless the server exceeds expectations.
What about at Por Que No? There they make you wait in a big line, seat yourself, and then at the end bus your table and sort your discards into seven or eight different categories. (I’m not even getting into their incredibly slow service.) It’s pretty close to takeout even when you’re eating in. Yet I still feel that it would be rude/inappropriate/an invitation to spit in my food if I don’t tip the standard 20%. Is there any wiggle room in the standard tip scale to reflect more and less service?
If you don’t tip for takeout, you are an asshole. No fucking excuses you tight-assess. They don’t “make” your food at McDonalds. They slap some Soylent Green in a wrapper and hand it off. That is a lot different than cooking.
If someone makes your food for you, you tip. Don’t want to tip? Go home. Make your own fucking food, wash your own fucking dishes.
Think tipping someone who makes minimum wage isn’t fair? Then you obviously don’t know what it’s like to work 20 hours a week making minimum wage. Tips are the only way food service workers scrape by. Not tipping is nearly equivalent to stealing.
10-15% is totally fair for take-out. I don’t really eat much take-out, as I like eating my food while it’s still hot/cold/fresh/whatever, but I tip 10-20% depending on where I’m at, and if there are any “hiccups”.
Don’t be an asshole. Tip. Take-out, Dine-in, no exceptions.
this is ridiculous. tipping for takeout? it’s like paying a tribute to someone for taking your money. it’s the exact same reason i hate ticketmaster, because they demand it. no, better make that loathe.
i admire and tip well for good service, but that extends to dining in only(and NOT to those fast food joints who leave tip jars on the counter like i should be expecting to give them extra). 15-20% at least, unless i get shitty service/food. takeout, i almost never do, unless someone went out of their way to give me extra or actually gave ‘above and beyond’ service.
call me a scrooge, but please don’t think this should be a standard procedure.
I tip 10% takeout and double that for dine-in, unless service is crap.
The Por Que No question’s an interesting one. I’ve sometimes tipped there in hopes that I’ll get my chips before my meal or something. I don’t think it helps. $1 seems ok in that case. I wish no self-respecting restaurant would make me bus. I’m not eating out so I can do the dishes.
“Think tipping someone who makes minimum wage isn’t fair? Then you obviously don’t know what it’s like to work 20 hours a week making minimum wage.”
Boo fucking hoo. Do you tip courtesy clerks? Gas pumpers? The guy at the plaid pantry? Kid at the video store? There’s plenty of people working min wage jobs who don’t get the benefit of a tip. Sure, waiting tables is hard. So is standing over the deep fat fryer for 8 hours a day, or being held up at gunpoint working the graveyard shift at 7-11.
Take out is a dollar or two, period.
As others have mentioned, the idea of tipping simply keeps restaurant owners from having to pay a living wage. As a progressive community, we should abolish tipping in favor of regular wages, like every other country in the world. Of course, you wouldn’t get all of that tax-free cash every night, but thems the breaks.
Among other things, tipping is a form of communication. PAC’s story is a perfect illustration. He might not have reflected on the shift if everyone had left him 15-20% all night, but the penny caused some analysis, identified some possible causality (missing prep work, bad communication on 86’d items), and hopefully prompted him to talk with owner, cooks, et al about bringing their game up. If this happens, tips improve and customer sat goes up.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think I’ve ever stiffed anyone, but I have occasionally gone down into the 8% range to try and send a message about my experience. 15% unless berated – THAT’S entitlement.
Yeah, like CH said, no one ever tipped me when I was working at Radio Shack. They did, occasionally, throw hissy fits because obviously when your kid drives his RC car through the foot-deep mud puddle and breaks it, it’s my fault.
I generally tip around 10% for takeout, though, it seems like a reasonable compromise.
@zak: AMEN AMEN AMEN. i’m not a server. i’ve never been a server. but unless you’re an asshole tipping for takeout should be a no-brainer. we tip 15-25% always, dine-in or take-out. and we’re poor mother fuckers.
“If I’m picking up a keg, and they use the same credit card receipt for the kegs as for the regular bar customers, I’ll still won’t tip.”
Yeah, cuz hauling a 150 lb keg out to your car and lifting it in there for your lazy ass is much less deserving of a tip than someone pulling a tap for two seconds and handing you a pint. Yet when my gig involved hauling kegs, I still only got a tip maybe once every 50 customers. After a while I would just set it down by the customer’s car and stand there, especially if it was douchey frat-bags picking up Coors Light or some shit.
I don’t let them load the keg onto my bicycle trailer, they don’t know how to do it anyways. (And I’m awaiting your apology for calling me a lazy ass when I haul the 150 lb keg back home on the bicycle. Unlike the Frat boys that get the 30 lb keg of Coors Lite home in the biggest pickup truck they could find.)
No service, no tip. You tip your server because they put effort into making sure you had a good experience, which goes beyond the quality of the food. Tipping someone for running the cash register and handing you your food is just throwing your money away.
No service, no tip. When you tip your server, you’re thanking them for making your experience at the restaurant a good one, which goes beyond the quality of the food. Tipping someone for ringing up your order and handing you your food is a waste.