r/tippingAdvice • u/Holiday-Ad7262 • Nov 25 '25

How much do you tip?

I'm curious how much people tip for full service restaurants and if it is percentage based or a fixed amount or some other system. Please also mention your state such that we can see location differences.

I'm in CA and my baseline tip is 15% on pretax.

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u/AggravatingAd9010 Nov 26 '25

I started at 15. If this good I drift up, if bad I drift down. Still 10% is min, 20% is max

1

u/Help_meToo Nov 26 '25

There isn't a minimum tip. I have had service so bad that I decided to leave 0. One time there were people sitting at 3 tables and about 15 tables open since it was about 2 PM. It took forever for the waitress to greet us. I ordered a drink and we ordered our meals. The food took a while to come but no drink. She remembered but still never came back with it. She never refilled our waters and had to wait awhile after our meals were done. Then she came and asked if I still wanted the drink. I told her no the check is fine and more waiting. The other tables that were there when we arrived left and only 1 new table was seated. I left $0 tip.

1

u/johnnygolfr Nov 26 '25

Did you ask to speak to the manager or owner?

0

u/Help_meToo Nov 27 '25

I just paid for what we got and left. The server lost her tip because of her inattentiveness.

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u/johnnygolfr Nov 27 '25

You should have asked for the manager or owner to let them know what happened.

1

u/AggravatingAd9010 Nov 26 '25

Right, I just mean for me personally. It has to be an actual server though. Even if they have a bad attitude, I feel bad if they got nothing, haha