≤15%

month

February 2013

0 posts

Why should you or anyone have to sit here and give people reasons to tip? The reasons are obvious! If you don’t know why you are supposed to tip a server or delivery driver, you probably don’t know why you are expected to give up your seat on the bus to elderly/handicapped/pregnant people. Use your common sense! People who indiscriminately neglect tipping are rude, narcissistic,...

June 2012

1 post

October 2011

1 post

May 2011

78 posts

Submitted by Kara

Above and Beyond

Something that people don’t realize who have never worked in this industry is that the percentage tip is merely a launch pad. You should always tip 15 or 20% for excellent service, but remember that sometimes, you really need to tip more. For example, if there are 4 of you, and you are eating 2 entrées, a 20% tip is not probably going to cover the work that the server had to do to keep you...

Anonymous asked: How much do we tip to make the roaming musicians, singers, entertainers, etc. stay the fuck away from our table?

Saw a post where it said “You don’t tip on pickup.” Do you think that order just magically put itself together? The second someone picks up the phone to take your order a service begins and it ends with your food packaged with all the extra sh*t you aksed for. You would tip a bartender for cracking a beer but yet where I work it’s routine for corporate douchebags...

Anonymous asked: My wife insists on tipping based on the regular price of a meal/drinks when getting a happy hour or some other discount. For example, if a happy hour with discounts off appetizers and drinks and would normally cost $20 and the bill comes out to $15, she wants to base the tip off of the $20. Does it make me cheap to just pay the 20% on the lower price?

British Indiana Jones

I was working in the French Alps four years ago as a private chef in a holiday chalet. One week, a large family came to stay, the dad was the most obnoxious guy you could imagine, and insisted on wearing some lame Indiana Jones style hat all the time. After a week of cooking Breakfast, Lunch and Five course Evening meal for this family; beginning work at 6am and finishing in the evening at...

Anonymous asked: Firstly I would like to thank you for this blog! I am an Aussie who has recently re-located to Manhattan and the minefield that is tipping! Coming from the service industry back home I can certainly appreciate a good tip, but in Aus tipping is not really the done thing so here I am with a million questions on the etiquette of tipping! I have two main dilemmas at the moment:

1) Do I...

Anonymous asked: What do you say to the argument that servers should be tipped a higher percentage than delivery persons? Most times, this argument amounts to multitasking, smiling, refilling beverages, checking up on people, etc. and that delivery people "only" bring the food.

Just curious as to your take. Thanks.

I once left a $20 tip for some girl at ihop for a $15 order. Just b/c I was feeling generous. Submitted by tippy

Anonymous asked: why don't you talk about how this site got your fired?

TIPS - "GRATUITY"

Submitted by TIPS Comics, check out more at tipscomix.com. Enjoy!

Anonymous asked: can you post more pictures? I'm really only attracted to the posts with pictures, so yeah....

Anonymous asked: What would be considered a reasonable tip for an ice cream shop, especially Cold Stone, where they sing when they get tipped?

Deliveries in Detroit

I have a couple of points to make. First, no matter where I’m at, I will always tip for delivery or table service - how can you not? It’s a service being performed because I’m too lazy to make food or I’m in a situation where it isn’t feasible. Second, I’m in Detroit, and anyone who’s willing to make deliveries in some of our neighborhoods deserves a...

As a delivery driver I want to let people know that if you are a bad tipper we don’t forget. If you ask for extras and still charge ,but we won’t give to it to you because we know you won’t notice, and you will be put on the bottom of our delivery list on multiple runs. On the other hand if you are a good tipper and you ask for extras we will give you the extras and won’t...

Online delivery services

I order from online delivery services (seamlessweb, delivery.com). I always add a 15-20% tip on the order before I place it. Now that I’m reading this site, how much of that 15-20% tip actually goes to the delivery person? I normally don’t carry cash, but if you tell me that only a fraction goes to the delivery person, I will start tipping in cash. That tip goes to us, those...

adamwgarland asked: In response to the barista question.

I work full time as a barista. I generally tip, for pretty much everything, including just a plain ole coffee at other shops. Barista's, including some Starbucks baristas do know what they are doing and do it quite well. I appreciate it so much if someone drops a quarter in there whenever I grab them a coffee.

However.

The Dining Rule

I am a firm believer in the rule of buying what you can pay for, in all aspects, but especially when eating out. If you are buying $200 worth of food and drink between 3 people then clearly you have enough money that evening to be equally as ‘spend’y towards the individual(s) who worked to make your night as good as it was. Shitty service? Well then by all means, make it known with a...

Shitty Tippers Make Bad Dates

I’m a paycheck-to-paycheck single mom, and I always, always, ALWAYS tip. Period. I just build it into the budget for eating/drinking out. So I have little (okay NO) sympathy for non-tippers or bad tippers (NTBT). And here’s a little “tip” for you NTBTs: Being a crappy tipper and/or being in ANY way rude to your server is a deal-breaker on a first, or any, date. Get over...

If you work for a corporate deal, you only get a small fraction of the delivery fee, and it is reduced per delivery you make on a run. Ex.: 1st delivery you get $.90, second delivery on same run you get $.60, and third you get $.40, while the company charges the same $1.50 FOR EACH DELIVERY. If that wasn’t sheisty enough, you are discouraged from making multiple drops on a run for...

Everyone should be forced to watch the movie “Waiting”. After seeing that, everyone should be happy to tip well and treat their servers like GODS!

“Now to get to the karma thing: You make yourself so vulnerable by not tipping...”

– Tim Gunn (Excerpt from Gunn’s Golden Rules)

Just Leave a Good Tip.

I am glad to see this site. I served food to the public for over twelve years before I gave up the fight and decided to go back to school. I have known many people in my life through work, and the best of those people worked in food service. Now in Utah, tipped employees don’t make minimum wage, same with some other states. I started serving in 1995, and I was paid $1.85 an hour. I lived on...

My way to tip....

Submitted by aaron Tip more where it is important to you…. Favorite bar? Buck a drink is normal even if it is $1 beer night. Pizza place you like? I Overtip since I like extra things like “Heavy on the Feta” on my Greek salad… and never have to ask anymore (and get like 4x more feta cheese)… Coffee? more complicated… I do Venti chai Latte… drive thru =...

The Starbucks Problem

Submitted by Frank I don’t carry cash and haven’t in years. I use credit cards because they’re easy and keep great records for budgeting and taxes. Starbucks doesn’t allow tipping on credit card receipts and despite the fact that I tip 20% or more everywhere I go to eat, I’m not going to search out an ATM just so I can tip on the 30 seconds worth of work it took...

underratedddd asked: WE ARE IN A RECESSION. i dont do this, but some people just cant afford to give good tips these days. i read a post in here that said "if you cant afford a tip dont buy the product" that is the dumbest thing i have ever heard. you are already spending money on the item you are buying. tipping is optional. sure its unfair to you but its unfair for those people to loose their job/stability...

Submitted by Anonymous Now, I work in film, and want to let you in on a little secret. Many of these big film and television productions have it written in the “rule book/code of conduct” that you are only allowed to tip 5% on deliveries. Actually, the sad thing is that you can tip more to your taxi driver than you can to a food delivery guy. I make an attempt to throw a couple...

To the person asking about a barista’s tips: I work at Starbucks and the tips are counted and divided weekly. Each barista is given a certain amount depending on how many hours they work. Everybody who is working there on a specific day is putting in the same amount of work as everybody else. The person who is “on bar” or making drinks typically switches every couple hours to...

What's wrong with non-tippers?

Submitted by Raeesah This site is so great. I never understand when people don’t tip, especially for delivery. I think its important to learn about tipping and the importance of valuing someone’s work. My dad instilled this in me when I was younger and would tell me his stories of being a busboy or a waiter when he immigrated to America in the ’80s. From him, I learned to tip...

Submitted by Bo Mark Why bother creating a blog that whines about bad tippers? Why didn’t you create a blog that praises good tippers instead? You seem to be a very angry person and I’m a little concerned about the fact you server people food for a living. Do you really think Gothamist would have picked up a blog congratulating people? I’m actually extremely laid back and...

I guess it’s time for this… This blog is in no way affiliated with any one restaurant or establishment. The posts on this blog are submissions from readers, unless otherwise stated. Larry

Anonymous asked: Don't you ever get tipped more than 15-20%? Doesn't that kind of cancel out the times you get less than 15%? The cheap tippers are the price you pay for the ones that go above and beyond and, frankly, give you way more than you deserve. It all evens out.

A Delivery Person Saved My Life

I order delivery only when I’m at the end of my rope…stressed out, beaten down, sick as hell. When that delivery person shows up, I have at least 20% waiting for them…usually more so it rounds up to the next even dollar so we don’t have to jingle change (including food, delivery charge AND the 20%+ tip). AND, I have it counted out BEFORE the deliveryperson arrives. The way...

I can only speak for the baristas out there, but I worked my way through undergrad as a barista and here’s the deal: $1 tip per drink is minimum. I grew up in the NW (Seattle/Portland) and when I moved out to the NE (Boston/NYC), I kept noticing that people don’t tip AT ALL??? I’m no longer in the service industry, but if I see you do this, I’m going to spill my latte on...

Going live on CJAD 800 radio in Montreal with Dan...

Right now, check it if your in Canada!

Anonymous asked: This isn't really a question, but just something to consider.

Tipping really depends on where you live. In Canada, you typically only tip 10%. In Europe, there are some countries where they don't expect you to tip at all. Where you grow up, you expect this to be the norm. So when you go to New York (whether it's for a trip, or you suddenly got a job/school there), you...

Anonymous asked: Is it rude to make a delivery person climb up 4 flights of stairs to deliver your food to your apartment door? If not, how much extra tip (above a 15-20% base) would a delivery person expect for that inconvenience?

Submitted by CHI When a delivery driver brings your food, you have to remember a few things: Tip a MINIMUM of $5.00. There is no reason why somebody two blocks away who tips $5 to your 2 miles and $2 should tip better than you. They are taking a risk to deliver your lazy ass food. They can get robbed, get into an accident on bike or while driving, get parking tickets, etc. Especially in foul...