Dining Etiquette

medtran49 said:
20% or $5 at minimum, whichever is greater, up to 30% for great service.
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I'm just about the same. If I get outstanding service, I tip very well. If I get lousy service, I still tip decently, unless the waitperson was personally rude or combative. Then there are no rules - I might actually pick their pocket. :laugh:

I also tip extraordinarily well around the holidays, because I just feel like it. :)
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
I have seen this at times, but I didn’t know that there was a bit of a history to the “table crumbers”:

A Brief History of the Table Crumber, the Unsung Hero of Fine Dining
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I'm still not used to your new picture so I imagine you in the other one all suited up in fine attire with a list on your arm delicately displaying all the facts and figures and history of each dining tidbit across all nationalities. I know I can always count on you to find the smallest detail about any subject we bring up around here. ;-)
 
flyinglentris said:
I suppose that tipping in restaurants is part of dining etiquette. Some restaurants take the tip out automatically and ensure that some signage or info is provided to customers to inform them of that fact, so that they cannot be accused of theft or gouging to pay their staff. But where you are in control of tipping, what rule do you use?
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In the UK it's 5-10%, I tend to give at least 10%. Traditionally you leave a tip on the table after the bill is paid, that way you know the money will be picked up by the staff. Increasingly when you are handed a card reader there is an option to add a gratuity before keying in your number, I won't do it because the money goes straight to the account of the owner, especially dodgy when it's a chain. A few state at the bottom of the menu that a 10% service charge will be added to the bill, I just see this as a scam to make their food look cheaper on the carte.
The nicest one I ever saw on the menu stated something like "Any gratuities are entirely voluntary and never expected, be assured that any tips are never offset against wages and are equally shared amongst all our staff".
 
I rarely give tip out and most times only 1 or 2 euros. In my area it's normal to not give out tip to regular service, it may have some historical background, because the people here in Berlin didn't cared much about food hundred years ago.
Stay healthy
 
I can understand that some people with very low financial resources would not tip. That's something to be respected. Tipping is of course, a matter of choice, unless the establishment automatically docks diners for a tip amount or service charge.

On the other hand, it must be understood that the jobs of waitresses, waiters and bust boys are not high paying jobs and the folks taking those jobs are low income to begin with. So tipping for good service can be viewed as a matter of charity.
 
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flyinglentris said:
On the other hand, it must be understood that the jobs of waitresses, waiters and bust boys are not high paying jobs and the folks taking those jobs are low income to begin with.
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That's not true everywhere, though. In Europe, they're usually paid a living wage, which partially accounts for the smaller tipping seen by locals there (and for the remarks of Americans coming back from vacation, saying the waitstaff were so rude - it's because they don't have to kiss your butt to get a couple of extra coins in the pocket).

But yes, definitely in the US. Professor Google says minimum wage for a tipped worker in Ohio is a whopping $4.40/hour. They've actually got it good - our next-door neighbors in Pennsylvania...$2.83/hour. That's why, even if the service wasn't very good, I still tip.
 
flyinglentris said:
I suppose that tipping in restaurants is part of dining etiquette. Some restaurants take the tip out automatically and ensure that some signage or info is provided to customers to inform them of that fact, so that they cannot be accused of theft or gouging to pay their staff. But where you are in control of tipping, what rule do you use?
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If some place TELLS me how much to tip, that's what I tip. This typically only occurs if there are 6 or more people on a tab. Sometimes I'd like to provide more, but I don't really enjoy being told how much to tip.

If elsewhere, I am with Medtran49, and I tip 20% or I tip $4-5 dollars at a diner where I may have spent ten on the food. These folks work as hard as the waitstaff at fancier restaurants.

I am pretty forgiving with bad service, as it nearly always means being short-staffed - although I do recall one diner years ago where the waitstaff only had two tables to serve, and the b**** came by as seldom as possible, and didn't really want to be there that night. I left a quarter. It wasn't as if she didn't have anything else to do but chat with the cook, and she was rude when she did come over.

Yes, I know in many parts of the world tipping isn't expected or desired but in the US this is how most waitstaff get enough money to survive on.
 
We have short tipped on service a few times when we got exceptionally bad service, like the vanishing server that never comes around or the ones that have forgotten something and have to be reminded, several times on 1 occasion, to bring it.

We almost always tip in cash to make sure the server actually gets it. I even asked a server once if she had to share with kitchen staff because they had royally messed up my order. She said no. Otherwise, I was going to speak to manager and demand they not get any.

I've noticed more and more there are recommended tip amounts on the bill itself or on screen if you are paying electronically. Kind of ticks me off, but I guess it helps if you are mathematically challenged or from a country that doesn't normally tip.
 
flyinglentris said:
I can understand that some people with very low financial resources would not tip. That's something to be respected. Tipping is of course, a matter of choice, unless the establishment automatically docks diners for a tip amount or service charge.

On the other hand, it must be understood that the jobs of waitresses, waiters and bust boys are not high paying jobs and the folks taking those jobs are low income to begin with. So tipping for good service can be viewed as a matter of charity.
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I agree. I always tip and it goes up according to service.

There is a pizza place out here that I absolutely love (I can get real deep dish like I could in Chicago). My order came to a bit over $20. All I had was $20s so I gave the guy $40. He pretended that he left his wallet in his car and couldn't give me change. I told him to keep it but I will never order from there again. I understand he didn't want to get stiffed out of a tip but still. They've lost many times that amount in not having me as a customer.
 
mjd said:
I agree. I always tip and it goes up according to service.

There is a pizza place out here that I absolutely love (I can get real deep dish like I could in Chicago). My order came to a bit over $20. All I had was $20s so I gave the guy $40. He pretended that he left his wallet in his car and couldn't give me change. I told him to keep it but I will never order from there again. I understand he didn't want to get stiffed out of a tip but still. They've lost many times that amount in not having me as a customer.
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I think I would have given him a $20 and told him to leave the pizza and go.get his wallet and I certainly would have called the restaurant and spoken to a manager/owner.

We've got a gallon or more jar that change gets dumped in. We wait until it's full, then roll the money and use for something fun. There's usually more than $300 in it. It's also a bank if we don't have cash on us for delivery on the rare occasion we get it.
 
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No tipping in nz, but I do and I'm quite generous, I started after travelling and seeing tipping in Hawaii Canada and parts of Europe. I like to talk to our wait staff, one young girl named Amy worked at a fave of ours here called Sophie's. She was so bright and friendly she often got a $10 or $20 left under my empty plate so she got the tip. We ate there every Sunday night until,the earthquakes. I won't tip on lazy or sulky wait staff.
Aussies don't really tip but I do when there.
We don't see the napkin wrapped cutlery here hardly at all. Cheap joints more the go there.
My wife has sets of napkins of different materials and colours depending on our guests. Our fave is black, our table is set black right now. Dining chairs are black vinyl table is darl brown. My wife can't cook but she's good on setting and detail and presentation, it takes pressure off me.

Russ
 
mjd said:
Granted, I'm not an expert on horse riding but I'm pretty sure women don't ride horses halfway naked. ;-)
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Purely coincidental/serendipitous, my wife is tired after her shot and snoozing, leaving me in charge of the TV, so I randomly started a movie I have saved (on Tubi, my favorite streaming service), and the opening scene is...topless women on horseback!

It's a 1980's Jess Franco movie, about some militant Amazonian warrior women, so it's an appropriate scene, but I laughed out loud when it started. 😆
 
TastyReuben said:
Purely coincidental/serendipitous, my wife is tired after her shot and snoozing, leaving me in charge of the TV, so I randomly started a movie I have saved (on Tubi, my favorite streaming service), and the opening scene is...topless women on horseback!

It's a 1980's Jess Franco movie, about some militant Amazonian warrior women, so it's an appropriate scene, but I laughed out loud when it started. 😆
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Serendipity! ;-)

P.S. I hope Mrs. Tasty feels better after she's rested.
 
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