1. #1
    High Overlord Twiggy's Avatar
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    Who exactly are you tipping for a good meal?

    Not too long ago, there was a thread about how well you tipped. But why you tip at a restaurant? and who do you wish would receive it?

    I've been cooking for only a handful of years - started at 15, nearly 22 now - and there has always been a gray area in each and every restaurant I've worked in.

    Should the waitresses keep 100% of their tips?
    Should the cooks, head chef, dish monkey, bartender or even management get a portion?

    For the most part I believe when people tip, they're tipping based upon their entire experience of the restaurant.

    Did you have to send your food back at any point?
    Was the food served hot & quickly?
    Were the dishes clean?
    Did the waiting staff attend to your questions & needs?


    I think all of these attribute to how much of a tip is left behind. So naturally, everyone involved should get some portion.

    There are many people who have been working as servers for varying amounts of years that firmly believe that having to split any amount of their tips with anyone (even the cooks, the people that their job depends on) is borderline theft. I guess I have a bit of bias.

    What do you think?
    Last edited by Twiggy; 2011-02-13 at 08:52 AM.

  2. #2
    IMO it's for waitresses providing good service.

    I work in a restaurant as a Pizza Chef. I would feel rude taking waitresses chips.

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  3. #3
    In Finland we rarely if ever tip anyone. The tip is usually included in the check.
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  4. #4
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    I live in Sweden and I have never given a tip in my life!
    I guess that's because we have taxes so we hold on to our money! ;p

  5. #5
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    Yea, same as the Swedish guy above, dont really tip as its included in the bill. But once I'm out travelling I always give some tip to the waiter, and only the waiter. Usually they make the worst salery in the business.

  6. #6
    In the US, it's your server. Although, in some places like where I worked at during college a portion of their daily earnings made up a "Tip Out." The Tip Out was given to the Bartender (if that server had any alcoholic drinks made), the Hostess, and the salad bar attendant. This amount was given along with an hourly wage, but the hourly wage matched that of a server's (around 2.15/hr--the tip out averaged in usually made it so you made on average minimum wage which was 5.30/hr when I was working there before they finally raised everything to $8 something).

    In Europe and Canada, you don't tip because it's included in the bill. However, if you are in the US you better give a damn tip to your server. Nothing is worse serving people from freaking Canada (or Europeans) and they run you ragged only for them to stiff you of a tip, or give you maybe one dollar! If you travel somewhere, you should read up on common social practices for that area (such as tipping) anyways.

    To answer your question though, it's entirely up to the place that you're working for (in my opinion). Like the place I worked for and described, hell yeah I wanted my cut from the Tip Out if I was a hostess because we made the same hourly wages as servers. Now, if you're working in a place where Busers, To-go people, Bartenders, and Hosts all get a legitimate hourly wage (and you don't depend off of tips) then no, the tip should go solely to the server. As always, I tip using a general criteria but it's not influenced at all by who all actually gets a cut of the tip (because most of the time you don't know). Unless you did really piss-poor in my book you don't get lower than 25% of the bill (which is the standard for nowadays, fyi--too many people think that it's STILL 15% starting, you're living in the '90's!)
    Last edited by Melodi; 2011-02-13 at 09:41 AM.
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  7. #7
    High Overlord Aamu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MoeMm View Post
    In Finland we rarely if ever tip anyone. The tip is usually included in the check.
    In Finland I usually tip on depending the service.

  8. #8
    As a server I would love to split my tips with all involved in the dining experience but that would require a complete revamp of the payment system. I live in the US and everyone but the waiters/waitresses and bartenders make the same hourly wage and have the same regular work week with regular pay regardless of season, sales, or rate of business. Servers and bartenders on the other hand have very irregular schedules and irregular pay (basically the tips only) based on how many customers decide to eat on a given day due to the day of the week, type of weather, or season. I get paid a measly $2.13 per hour (min wage in my state is $7.25) to cater to a customer's every need and absolutely expect a tip for the service. I do believe that people partially for the overall dining experience but I'm the only one dealing directly with the person at the table. The cooks and dishwashers make it all possible but a cook is going to make the same food day in and day out without regards for who is ordering it and as such gets paid a normal hourly wage. They work for a regular, even paycheck; I work for a paycheck that says VOID in the amount box. I wish tips were included in the bill, split out or not depending on design or servers simply paid by the establishment but with the current system here, it just isn't so.

    Edit: We do also have a "Tip Out" that Melodi mentioned. 3% of our sales is pulled from our tips from the shift and split out evenly between the bussers, food runners, bartenders and host staff who worked that day. It doesn't sound like a whole lot but it adds up. If we get a 18% tip, we see 15%; a 10% tip, we see 7% and if we don't get a tip, we in essence pay 3% of your bill for you to eat. This portion of the staff gets 4.25/hour - with tip share usually just above minimum wage. It is a shame they, or us servers, don't see more from the restaurant that is raking in the money.
    Last edited by lildave151; 2011-02-13 at 09:52 AM.
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  9. #9
    Warchief SoulPoetry's Avatar
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    while i have no idea what actually goes on, having not worked in restaurants, i was under the impression that when you ask for your bill and leave your money, it just all goes into the cash register. a waiter or waitress pocketting the extra tip could, and should, be considered theft as the tip is for the restaurant services as a whole.

    in a bar though, its a lot more common to just tip a waitress who is pretty etc so they keep it then obviously.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by lildave151 View Post
    As a server I would love to split my tips with all involved in the dining experience but that would require a complete revamp of the payment system. I live in the US and everyone but the waiters/waitresses and bartenders make the same hourly wage and have the same regular work week with regular pay regardless of season, sales, or rate of business. Servers and bartenders on the other hand have very irregular schedules and irregular pay (basically the tips only) based on how many customers decide to eat on a given day due to the day of the week, type of weather, or season. I get paid a measly $2.13 per hour (min wage in my state is $7.25) to cater to a customer's every need and absolutely expect a tip for the service. I do believe that people partially for the overall dining experience but I'm the only one dealing directly with the person at the table. The cooks and dishwashers make it all possible but a cook is going to make the same food day in and day out without regards for who is ordering it and as such gets paid a normal hourly wage. They work for a regular, even paycheck; I work for a paycheck that says VOID in the amount box. I wish tips were included in the bill, split out or not depending on design or servers simply paid by the establishment but with the current system here, it just isn't so.
    Agreed, wholeheartedly! I wish that they'd include a standard tip amount in the bill so regardless of season, time of month, and weather servers would get a steady source of income. With a standard always built-in tip, you could assure they made the state's minimum wage. This would eliminate the tip out system and let everyone who works there just work for minimum wage, instead of taking a percentage out of every server's paycheck. Which in my experience, when I served and was a hostess people would gripe and moan about how they had to give money to the hostess, bartender, and salad bar attendant every day.

    while i have no idea what actually goes on, having not worked in restaurants, i was under the impression that when you ask for your bill and leave your money, it just all goes into the cash register. a waiter or waitress pocketting the extra tip could, and should, be considered theft as the tip is for the restaurant services as a whole.

    in a bar though, its a lot more common to just tip a waitress who is pretty etc so they keep it then obviously.
    Yeah, it's apparent you never worked in a restaurant as that's not even remotely close to what happens. The server keeping the tip is just that, a tip for them. Extra money for going above and beyond the stated bill that you're handed for their service to the customer. This is not theft, this is their means to making money from their job. As it's been stated in other posts, most servers make an hourly wage of $2.10-$2.15/hr (note that this is not remotely close to the MINIMUM wage for any state). This is done because servers are expected to make the majority of their money off of tips, not the hourly wage. Usually, on a decent day, a server's tips and hourly wages averaged together will equal approximately the same as if you were in a regular minimum wage job. However, a server's income solely depends on how many people they serve in a day, so their earnings fluctuate A LOT. So, think about that when you stiff someone a tip. You are severely hurting their earnings for the day when you think about what they actually make hourly.
    Last edited by Melodi; 2011-02-13 at 10:05 AM. Reason: Explaining how tips actually work
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  11. #11
    A tipped employee engages in an occupation in which he or she customarily and regularly receives more than $30 per month in tips. An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage. If the employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. Many states, however, require higher direct wage amounts for tipped employees.
    -U.S. Department of Labor
    Not tipping can hurt the business, but at the end of the day everyone is making at least minimum wage.

  12. #12
    Thank you everyone for convincing me that I should not be providing tips at restaurants. The system in the United States is convoluted and I will no longer participate.

  13. #13
    I think a lot of people take tipping to mean the wrong thing. When your food is bad... its not your waiter/ess' fault. The cooks cook the food. waiters fill drinks take orders and do everything they can to make you happy.. besides cooking the food. i ussually stick with 10% give or take not judged by the food unless i know cooks share tips.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Fathunter View Post
    A tipped employee engages in an occupation in which he or she customarily and regularly receives more than $30 per month in tips. An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 per hour in direct wages if that amount combined with the tips received at least equals the federal minimum wage. If the employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. Many states, however, require higher direct wage amounts for tipped employees.
    -U.S. Department of Labor
    Not tipping can hurt the business, but at the end of the day everyone is making at least minimum wage.
    While this may be true: Please people, don't be a jerk. If service by the waiter/waitress is outstanding, tip. Don't use this as a reason to be cheap. Minimum wage isn't a great living wage nowadays, and we still need these guys if we ever want to go out to eat. Just because you think they're just waiters, doesn't mean some don't do their job well and deserve a tad more of a paycheck.

  15. #15
    We tip the waiter/waitress because they make like 2 bucks an hour otherwise. I've never worked in a restaurant, but I'm pretty sure the cooks get regular hourly wages no lower than state minimums?

    ---------- Post added 2011-02-13 at 09:52 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Koryn View Post
    I think a lot of people take tipping to mean the wrong thing. When your food is bad... its not your waiter/ess' fault. The cooks cook the food. waiters fill drinks take orders and do everything they can to make you happy.. besides cooking the food. i ussually stick with 10% give or take not judged by the food unless i know cooks share tips.
    When the food is bad it's not their fault no, but if you sit through an entire meal and are never able to even contact your waitress if you need something, it's definitely their fault. I remember one time in particular when we walked out of a restaurant before even ordering after sitting there for 30 min waiting for someone to come and take our order. And no, the restaurant was not busy at the time. It's just an example but you get the idea. 99% of the time I leave a normal tip. If the service is really, really bad though (like I prob wont be coming back bad) then I leave less or nothing.
    Last edited by Bearshield; 2011-02-13 at 04:54 PM.

  16. #16
    Never tipped anyone in my life, all though, if we had a hooters here in Norway i guess i`d start tipping

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