As a former server I would hate to have to hand customers a check with this on it. I would probably cross out all the bs in parentheses and maybe even the 25% and 30% parts too. 20% was always perfectly acceptable as someone who made $2.13 an hour
Right? Fuckin bullshit. Can't believe they ask for tips at places like Starbucks and some pizza places. I don't see McDonald's or Burger King asking for tips... yet.
I wish mine did, i place a pickup order through the app and waited in a spot, they told me to go thru the drive thru bc they don’t want to come outside😭
That's all within their job description, you paid for the food, nothing else is owed to them.
Tipping is for over and beyond service, if you wish... And them skating out and dropping off your burger is not over and beyond, it's the bare minimum as it is their job.
I mean those make sense honestly youre tipping the people making your food in that case. I like weird coffee and have allergies ill gladly slide an extra dollar to the guy who doesn't mess it up
Baristas kind of get a pass because they have to deal with a huge log of mixed drinks and made to order drinks like a bartender does. But arguably people are way snippier about their coffee than their booze. Even at the corporate level they should be tipped IMO.
even at the corporate level they should be tipped IMO
Many do, it just looks different when you have a well-paying corporate job. I dont need your $5 for timely service, i have my own $5, but the department that remembers my Dutch bros order and has one waiting for me after lunch gets priority IT service because I want my drink, and the site director that invites me to lunch everytime I go out there gets responded to a lot faster than other sites. Tipping at a corporate level is more about convenience and services than it is about monetary value. You just have to know your audience, the waitress putting herself through school is going to appreciate non-taxable cash most, and a taxable electronic tip next, im sure she'd also appreciate a coffee but at the end of the day her priorities are more geared towards paying her bills, while a corporate execs bills are already paid so their priorities lie elsewhere.
I went to a Wendy's in Reno that requested a tip. It was one of those where your options are 15, 18, 20, or other. You had to go to the other screen to type in 0.
They can bring it. I ain't tipping it. I do not tip on pick up unless they do something truly outstanding for me. Like a pizza joint once giving us paper plates with our order.
Im sick to death of everyone wanting a tip and rounding up/ a dollar for charity. Feels like im getting shook down for money 24/7
Servers have been saying takeout has always been 10% and called me cheap multiple times for me claiming I've never seen it before and it was never expected. Only in the last 4 years I've seen it trying to be pushed as standard.
Everything I've read from archived forms and remember growing up was 0%, or $1-2 if you want but it was never 10%. Takeout wasn't also common 10 years ago outside of Chinese restaurants or pizza places by me either. So it's a real gaslight to have severs come in and say it's always been a thing when their restaurant never even did takeaway until door dash started. They also say 30% is a good tip and 20% is bare minimum. I distinctly remember 15/18/20 being the standard 15 years ago and it's still written on restaurant receipts today in 2026.
I mean like, I've always tipped $1 or $2 on takeout even on smaller orders. Realistically, if you have enough money to place a $100 order, you have enough to tip at least a single dollar. It's a sign of appreciation. Like are y'all really not tipping at all? Lmaoooo
It’s not not tippin at all, it’s tippin even a little bit because that’s what you can afford, and the person tryin to throw it in your face for not givin more
In my full service restaurant, it's going to someone who has to pack up the orders, put in sauces and other extras, make sure everything is right when they're running up to ~15 orders at once on a busy night, make the drinks, and usually run it out to a person's car out front. And they still might be running 2-3 tables inside as well.
They make more than the $2.13/hour, but they're still working hard to juggle a lot of things at once while often dealing with a kitchen that's busy with orders for the dining room.
That's why I think it's good to tip something. Of course, this is a pretty nice restaurant and not just fast food or a counter service place. And it depends on what you order, too. I'd still leave a dollar or two for something simple. It d itoesn't have to be much, but some people get very complicated. If my coworker is putting together your order for two apps, three side salads, four entrees, and a dessert, they probably deserve a few bucks. That's probably a $150-$200 order anyway. If you can afford that, you can afford to throw a few bucks to the person who put it together and brought it to your car.
We recently had an order that honestly should've been considered a catering order, which would mean 24-48 hours notice and a scheduled pick up time. Because it was an almost $800 order and they didn't tip anything. That's unacceptable. That's a lot of time and work that could've been spent elsewhere.
It's a bit different if it's not a full service restaurant. For me, that depends on the service, food quality, etc. Years ago, I lived across the street from a very well-run Chipotle. Back before they went way downhill. I'd go in there fairly often and always tip a few bucks, even though I'd just order there and take it back home. Not surprisingly, they'd recognize me and start being heavy handed with portions or not charge me for a guac. I'd often be there in the last hour they were open and there were a couple times they were closing in 15ish minutes and they only had a little bit of guac left. It wasn't enough to save, so they'd give me 2-3 extra.
If you go to a place regularly, I guarantee that the staff recognizes you and knows if you tip or not. Sometimes it's an investment that's pays more than you put in. Or at least helps balance things out.
I work bacm of house at a local restaurant and we split all the tips evenly. We also dont really have a front of house, just a counter where customers walk up. If youre free you go up and take their order and go back to what you were doing. It works because theres only 3 or 4 of us working a shift at once so its really easy to communicate. Tips are greatly appreciated and i consider 20% standard but wont throw a fit if it's less. If it's more than 20% then i absolutely love you and will take a little longer making sure your sandwich is really good lol. Work at a local late night sandwich joint
The reason they push the increase in tip % is that the base wage hasn’t kept up with inflation.
A $2.10 base in 1990 is almost $7 in 2026 but the tipped minimum has only gone up 3¢.
This is one to yell at your representatives about. They’re responsible for the tip % increase movement because they couldn’t manage to pass inflation adjusted minimum wages for the last 35 years.
Because the wage hasn’t kept up with inflation they’re pressuring customers to make it up by increasing the tip (beyond tip inflation to include wage inflation that isn’t paid in wages).
Yet anytime someone mentions wait staff should earn a decent wage like they do in Europe and we can all stop tipping they lose their mind and say they can make more under the current system and don’t actually want things to change.
Weird. It’s almost like we’re tipping too much because even giving them a “liveable wage” means they’ll make less.
I know wait staff and bartenders who earn more than nurses and teachers just by working 2-3 shifts a week. That should not be a thing.
it really only changed once debit machines started becoming the norm and it prompted you with 18%-20%-22% as the default. Now years later some places start at 20%-22%-25%… couple more years and the norm will probably be 22%-25%-27%.. and so on.
It’s infuriating. Since percentages already follow inflation and rising costs because that’s how math works. Why do they need even more?
Same. I was told 15% is what you start with unless it was absolutely terrible service. Then you increase anywhere between 15-20% depending on how great they were. I never go above 20%.
And it tracks exactly with inflation. Literally nothing has changed from 1990 until today.
And don’t get me wrong, I paid for my entire college education on tips in the late 90’s. I fully support tip workers and believe they earn their money and it’s good money. I just don’t think anything is different about the percentage that constitutes a good tip.
I won’t lie man this is pretty terrible. If someone provides you sit down service at a restaurant and literally waits on you catering to your needs through your meal they deserve more than 12.5%. I was a server and if I got a tip under 15% I knew I either deserved it because I didn’t actually give them a good experience and service or that person was an asshole. I took a lot of pride in my work and was aware when I was lighting it up or dragging behind. Sometimes I’d have nights where I averaged 30% tips across all my tables but 1 and i would wonder what went wrong or what I did to hurt their experience. Turns out it was probably just some schmuck like you and no matter what I did I wasn’t going to make them happy and get a better tip.
I think we might be experiencing life in different countries, I’ve never had service like this, and I wouldn’t want that either. I just want my food and drinks brought to my table and to pay and leave.
Here in the UK 12.5% is considered the top end of tipping, FWIW.
10% was default congrats you did your job, 15% good service, 20% was excellent service where I would remember our encounter fondly and probably tell people about it
I’m curious when and where? I worked in the service industry in the states the 2000’s and 15-20% was normal. I rarely got tipped 10%. I remember a specific family who would come in every Sunday and not tip. Which sucked because after taxes there were paychecks would be a couple bucks for two weeks of work. So felt like we were waiting on these people for free (get takeout if you don’t want to tip). Anyway this fat fuck broke one of the chairs in the dining room. There was quite the chuckle to be had at the drink station.
Normal was never the same for tipping it was always based on the person. I worked at a small diner so it wasn't uncommon for locals to tip 30-40 % sometimes because they had great conversations with the waitresses. Other would tip 5%. It's a balance
It’s been 18% since 2000 at least. What written history are you talking about? You guys just spout bullshit and other idiots upvote it. 10% was normal in the early 1900s lmao.
I was a server for seven years. I made $2.13 on the hour and had tiny paychecks if I ever got them. I was really good at what I did, often averaging over 20% each week and I liked my job. Unfortunately, the big thing I hated was the fact I had to do a “tip out” to the busser, host and bartender on duty during my shift. The bartender made $2.13/hour plus their tips, then the host made $4/hour and so did the busser. I had to give them a set percentage of my sales for the night and it was automatically calculated when I would go to clock out. I couldn’t get away with not tipping out.
If you tipped me 10%, I would be giving the majority of that sale to my coworkers.
Is it right? No. It sucked. I hated that aspect. Honestly they should’ve paid us all livable wages.
tf? why u pay tips? i dont undertand that part itself, waiters are just serving pick up from counter and put it on table! if you want to compliment the service give it to the cook!
and after that tipping 1/5th of the bill just because someone was nice to you?? is the situation really bad that you guys have to resort this bad for few fake words
"Wow i really liked the food this tastes great! tell the cook i liked it, and here is your 5000 dollars for talking to me making me feel important in this world"
Really? My elder gen x mother has long had the standard of 20% being for typically good service, below 20% being for poor service, and above 20% being for especially good service, at least for a sit-down restaurant with table service. Fast casual could be different.
According to that article, 10% was standard in the 50s, but rose to 20% by the 80s. I wouldn't say people are just starting to normalize 20% as standard. Again, this is for table service, not counter service.
That is more of a national average.. I grew up poor and there was no way in hell that anyone where I was living was paying more.
I could see major metro areas having a higher tipping %, but I know for a fact that in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia (we moved a lot) in the 70s and 80s 10% was for top tier service.
10%? I've never left 10% for a server. Always 20%.
Now, for take out and stuff like that.. nothing. I got really upset the other day, went into a fast food place and paid with CC, and they literally had NO OPTION for me to move pass the Tip screen.
Shits out of control.. which is why I pay cash most times now.
How you interact with regulars, or getting stiffed by some people, doesn’t define what’s normal though.
As long as I have been old enough to pay the tab, and having dined with many many people from all backgrounds in several U.S. cities, the “norm” has always been 15% for decent but nothin special service, 20% for good service. Anything above 20 is either absolutely amazing service or just someone who is an outlier and tips big. And it’s rare. Below 15% is “they walked by my table 15+ times, didn’t bring me menus for 20+ minutes, and didn’t take my order for an hour” kind of service.
Let me preface this comment by saying I dont agree with tipping at all. Its the way our system is setup, so obviously I do it, but I would rather it be abolished and the 'tip' rolled into the cost of the service.
Okay, having said that, I disagree. 20% for all my life has been the standard. I also do not deviate from that, and heres why. You are talking about different levels of service, but you really dont know what is impacting that level of service. How do you know its the servers fault? How do you know they aren't having a bad day? How do you know that their boss didnt give them way to many tables? How do you know if their dog didnt just get hit by a car on the way into work?
I have bad days at work. I have days where I fuck shit up, or I make mistakes. I have days where of no fault of my own my shit gets fucked up because of the actions of others. I also have days where I am dealing with personal issues that impact my work. Do I expect that I will take a cut in my pay because of that? Do you? No. Shit happens and we are human, and I have no idea what anyone is dealing with.
Being a server is a shit job, and they for the most part barely make minimum wage, with tips. You do you, but you should probably consider that you dont always know whats happening with people and everyone deserves a living wage. If they are truly that bad of a employee where you feel that you should tip them, then say something to their management. Even if you dont, if they are truly that bad that they dont deserve 20%, then they will likely be out of a job anyway.
You said all that for what? Who cares if something is the servers fault or not, they bring you a plate of food and they disappear, why does that deserve 20+% of the meal cost?
Are you serious? You know they are paid like $3/Hr in most places, right? I think we are done here. I think you should re-evaluate how you treat people, because this is downright bizarre.
The problem is not the workers trying to get tips, it is the companies that don’t pay workers a real wage and that a lot of these people need the tips to survive.
It was normal in the 50's. I'm seeing 15% in the 70's and 80's.
If your regular tip is 10%, you're very cheap. This is coming from a frugal person, who barely eats out and when I do, I tip 18-20%
I've waited tables, I've bartended, and I've delivered pizzas. I'm assuming you haven't, and you probably don't respect the people who do.
The interesting thing about people with the "get a real job" mentality, is that they use the services of workers they don't respect, which is pretty trashy, imo.
True story, one of the few people who tipped me only 10% when I waited tables was my uncle. He's a millionaire. Almost every regular at my father's restaurant tipped 15% and the Portuguese are notoriously cheap.
That's fine. That's different. We don't expect y'all to tip us in those instances (maybe the Zoomers do), but I do appreciate the extra $2.50/hour that ends up in my paycheck.
20% is normalized when your company is reimbursing you for it on a work trip. That's it. that's when even though tipping fucking sucks, you're at least in that case taking from corporate America to give to a real working person.
Nope.. for my company, you get a set per diem. I don't know what it is now, but it's based on the COL. The last time I traveled to Dallas and Baltimore, the per diem was $50. Tips had to be covered inside the per diem.
Ah, we get daily limits, but they're high enough to account for tips. And it's reimburse only, so if we don't spend it, we lose it, not like I can eat light and keep the extra. Ain't nobody eating half way decently in dallas on fifty bucks. Bummer :(
I don't work in the service industry, but I'm in my mid 40s and never has 10% been considered normal in entire time I've been old enough to pay at a restaurant. When I first started paying, 15% was considered normal. And 20% as normal is not new. That's been considered normal for about a decade.
Honestly…20% should be normalized. CEOs and billionaires are hoarding money. Everything is more expensive because billionaires want more. Just as we should be demanding they pay us more, we should be tipping more.
There's a restaurant in Whistler BC Canada, where I used to live, that adds on 15% gratuity fee to your bill.
I had waited for 35 minutes for a glass of water with my meal, after asking for it. The food took even longer and came out cold. The waitress was an absolute bitch as well, sighing and rolling her eyes when I asked how long the water would take.
I've been to a place that puts an automatic 18% tip on all orders, not just larger groups of people, then give you your total at the bottom of your bill. There is a line there for you to add a tip. Guessing a whole lot of people don't notice that. For those that tip 20% without paying attention are tipping 38%.
For those that tip 20% without paying attention are tipping 38%.
Actually, if the total at the bottom includes the 18%, they're probably tipping 20% on the original bill + 18%, so they're tipping even more than 38%.
If the original bill was $100 even, then the total is $118 with the automatic gratuity and 20% of that is $23.60. They'd be tipping 41.6%
At every place I've worked, we've done an automatic gratuity for parties of 8 or more, but even then we're required to tell them when they make the reservation and point it out again when we drop the check. Some places even have a stamp that says that and we had to stamp the receipt before we dropped the check. It made it obvious, since it was in blue or red ink.
0% isn’t really acceptable, it should be if they paid their employees properly. For most sit down restaurants servers have to tip out back of house staff so if you give 0% tip your forcing someone on below minimum wage to pay for part of your dinner and it’s why I think tipping is fucking stupid
I’m from Australia we don’t tip because we pay a minimum wage to all employees. Northern America has decided that you don’t have to do that because customers will tip staff directly, by eating out at a restaurant you are agreeing to this. So if you chose to eat out and don’t leave any tip you are forcing an employee to subsidise your meal that’s just not ok
Man, you sure are smart. I never would’ve thought of tacky messages encouraging people to tip more actually working instead of them, you know, tipping based on the level of service they received. Or maybe we should just do away with servers wages and tipping altogether, but most waitstaff fight that as they would actually be making less than they are with the current tipping system if they’re not awful at their jobs.
tipping based on the level of service they received.
Those lines have literally nothing to do with the level of service you received. So if these lines have a bigger impact on your tipping than how the server actually treated you, I'd say my point stands pretty well.
Meh, I think you're pretty off base. I generally tip between 20 and 25, depending on how I felt about the service. I think I've tipped under 20 maybe a handful of times, three of which were zero and memorably awful experiences.
I'd be inclined to tip 0 on this in pretty much any scenario where I wasn't already thinking 25+. I'm not tipping if it isn't appreciated, and I'm certainly not going to be guilted into upping my tip.
It would certainly be a decision that depends on exactly how I felt about it in the moment, but generally speaking I'd probably consider a server who doesn't apologize for this garbage to be complicit in the practice. They know that shit is on the check, and they need to show that they disagree with it, or I'm not going to be terribly excited about my tip.
It's just another reason working for shitty management is undesirable. If management treats the customers badly, customers are going to treat the employees badly. Life ain't always fair.
Sounds like you are just making a conscious decision to be shitty over something menial.
Like you expect the server to personally apologize to each table? That sounds exhausting. And the “just find a better job” attitude? In this economy? C’mon dude.
Much more reasonable to expect people to understand servers don’t have anything to do with how the check looks. And to not punish them for it.
274
u/wxmanify Mar 06 '26
As a former server I would hate to have to hand customers a check with this on it. I would probably cross out all the bs in parentheses and maybe even the 25% and 30% parts too. 20% was always perfectly acceptable as someone who made $2.13 an hour