tips should follow this:

bad service-15%

average service-20%

good service-btw 20-25%

great service-upwards of 25%

If one day we dont have to tip and the restaurant is responsible for the wage, I am sure the service will be bad. if i am the server, I wouldnt care how mad customers get when their drinks r not filled or food r not good. Who cares? I dont get tip from it. just know that we all get bad service. I have been to countries like that where servers dont really take care of their table until customers ask for them to return.

This is ridiculous. Why do you only tip at restaurants ? Why don't tip at supermarkets, or at the bank ?

I'm lucky NOT to live in your country!

It's really easy to lay the blame on a restaurant to pay it's employee's fairly.

We live in a very competitive market which has certain price standards for dining. A midrange restaurant wants to remain affordable, yet still cover the expenses of gas, electricity, food costs, payroll, rent, taxes, advertising, and a multitude of other costs that the average consumer doesn't think about.

Unless you're dining in a cafeteria setting, where you serve yourself and bus your own table, you have other people taking care of you.

Either the entire system changes, or nothing changes. Everyone wants a cheap meal, so everyone should expect to tip for services rendered. It's the motivation of said tip that keeps your server attending to your wants and needs. If you come in, tip poorly, and come back another time, the server will know that running all around the restaurant for you is a waste of their time.

So tip well. If you don't like the way it works, try getting the same level of service for the same price in Europe. Prepare to be disappointed.

I'm sympathetic to the fact that a server receiving less than about 8% is theoretically paying to serve the customer, but that's really not the customer's problem. The customer is buying goods and services from the restaurant, and the restaurant is employing the waitstaff. If the waitstaff are not being paid appropriately, it's the fault of the restaurant, not the customer. Even though waitstaff are allowed to be paid an hourly rate less than the minimum wage, the employer is required to make up the difference should tips not be enough to cover it. They should never end up making less than the full minimum wage (gross, of course).

I'm perfectly happy to tip, and to be generous with good service, and in fact have never not tipped at least 15%. But I find that the guilt-trip entries here are better directed to the restaurateur and not the customer

A $100 tip. A $1000 bottle of wine. Are you people out of your minds. I am broke. I can't cook as good as a professional chef, and if I want to I will still take my wife out to a nice dinner on our anniversary. There are jerks on here who will call me cheap and poor, but to hell with them. It is not as if they have made the dinner, or the wine. If anything, the chef or the wine maker should be tipped. Crappy food and great service still make for a poor experience.

I don't have money to support you and your family. Regardless of the inflated prices at restaurants these days, I have a point at which 20% becomes ridiculous. No matter what, I will never tip $100.

To anon9307,

If all the wait staff quit, a new system more to their likely would have to be established in order to entice them to come back to being wait staff. This is how a free market works and why unions are so successful. If the grantor doesn’t like his job, then I would most definitely recommend that he find another job more to his liking. If that means all the janitors find another job, then a janitorial position will suddenly become a high commodity and janitors will find them selves making a higher wadge.

But that brings us to this statement "anyone is looking to hire starting at 300-500 dollars a week for 4 or 5 days (20-35 hours a week) to someone with no degree or specific training, i know a hell of a lot of college students and single mothers who would love to apply." By your own admission you are stating that making 300-500 dollars for a 20-35 hours a week job, when you have the constraint of a busy schedule and no skills, is a salary no one else is offering, then it would seem wait staff are making the best salary they can despite the cheapskates and hard work they do. This is a good thing not a bad thing. Because if these jobs didn’t exist, then you wouldn't be making your 300-500 dollars a week. Why complain about it?

Also 5% unemployment is not high unemployment.

Further still your customer is not your boss and is not making your schedule, in fact the person sitting at the table is not your customer at all, it's your establishment's customer. Complaining to them or about them or what have you wont change a thing.

"If I wanted to worry about how much you make I'd go into the restaurant business." ~ anon8097

I loved this line, because it is completely correct. I'm the type of person who over tips and I won't be changing this practice because of some of the bad and entitlement attitudes expressed by some servers here, because I know not all servers are as unreasonable.

The truth is every single server who takes the job that they do, knows going in that they will be making a dynamic wage and that this wage depends on what their establishment pays them and what a particular customer is willing to give them in a tip. There is no minimum that has to be given in a tip, the guidelines are there so that the good hearted among us can do the right thing on our own, not because we "have to", but because we "want to". I hate being told what I have to do, even if under other circumstances I would agree that it is something I would otherwise want to do. The presumption of someone thinking they can tell me what I have to do is a big turn off. As anon8097 very well put it, if a particular server does not like this arrangement then they should take it up with their employer or, I'll add, get another job. There are things I don’t like about my job, but every one of them I accept as being part of my job and do not complain to others about how unfair they are. When and if they do become too unfair I simply get another job. That’s how life works.

The only other alternative is to enter into an agreement with your customer on how much you want to be paid for your service before the service is rendered, like every other service job in this world. To which they may accept or reject your offer. Otherwise what you are getting is a "tip" for services rendered and a tip can be any ware from 1cent to no maximum limit depending on the person giving the tip and you have no say in it except to provide the best service you wish to give to make the tipper happy.

As to the original article, I think it’s a good one. There is nothing wrong with "recommending" to people what a good tip is so that they know in case they did not, it's when you tell them what you "expect" that is wrong.

If an average server working in an average restaurant in average sized city with an average cost of living index served an average of 10 patrons per hour, who ran up an average bill of $10 per person, and paid an average of 15% tip for an average level of service provided, that average server would collect an average of $15/hour, or the equivalent of $30,000/year if the server were to work 40 hours per week.

Earning $30,000/year (before base pay is added or taxes deducted) for that level of work in that environment seems more than fair to me. As such I have a hard time feeling sympathy for those who complain about receiving a 15% tip for average service.

having never been a server, my sympathy is purely out of compassion for my fellow man! my husband did work as a waiter through college, and it was very hard to have him come home with stories of rude customers who didn't even pay him for the service he provided him. one of the things i notice about people is how they treat servers in restaurants (or anyone providing them a service for that matter). it's a huge turn off to see a normally nice person turn into a tyrannical, rude person--it's almost like they're on a power trip. it's usually these types who don't tip either. remember, they're also getting taxed on their small paychecks ($2.15/hour) for the tips that you're not giving them. is it fair for them to serve you for free? would you do your job for free? do you expect a fair wage? i'm still a bit old school in believing that 15% is still appropriate for average service...i do however tend to tip on average from 20% to 25%.

To the "customer" who may be inclined to tip less and any other cheap-skate, i ask you this, "why do you go out to a restaurant or bar?" If you don't think you should have to tip the person who just takes your order why not just go to McDonalds's or Burger King? Your food will come out faster and you won't have to worry about being ridiculed for your cheapness. And yes, this makes you cheap. And to all of you who say, "why not just get another job?" If anyone is looking to hire starting at 300-500 dollars a week for 4 or 5 days (20-35 hours a week) to someone with no degree or specific training, i know a hell of a lot of college students and single mothers who would love to apply. This is America, with a high unemployment, remember? And also if we were all to quit to get better paying jobs, who would serve you your food? If you hear a janitor complaining about cleaning up your kid's puke would u tell him/her to just throw down the mop and get another job? Or a teacher who is tired of babysitting your kids all day, not to complain about starting at 24 thousand dollars a year even after they have anywhere from 4 to 8 years (often more) of collegiate education under their belt?

But i digress. Back to the issue at hand and the tipping. Yes, most servers get paid 2.13 an hour. Yes, we expect an 18 to 20 percent tip. But how many of you are the "perfect table"? I'll make it easy for you. How many of you go out to eat and require 0 refills, no questions about the menu, never change your mind after ordering even after the server gave you time and suggestions prior to ordering, never require multiple trips to the back (to get condiments, sweetener, honey, heating baby bottles, extra glasses of ice, multiple drinks at one time for one person, i.e. "i want a coke and a glass a water"), never complain about the wait time for your meal when it's obviously not the servers fault, never sit at a table for longer than 10 minutes after the meal is completed, never order a steak well done and complain that it's dry, burnt, hard, or tough. If any among you dine in an establishment i happen to be employed and i'm lucky enough to wait on you. feel free to tip me 3% because that's how much i tip out per check and i'll be happy since i did 0 work i'll take 0 pay. This may just seem like just a bunch of complaining but think about how often you are looking at the clock and ready to get off after a long day, then imagine you have to sit around an extra 20 minutes, 30 minutes, sometimes 2 hours waiting on someone to finish talking to their wife they're going home with anyway so you can clean the table and go home and you're not getting paid for this time.

I have just read all of these comments from everyone, both from people in the industry and not in the industry. To the people not in the industry, how dare you say that when you go out to eat you don't feel you have to tip because it is the restaurant owner responsibility to pay their employees!!!!! Since I have been alive for my 36 years, I have never known that when you go out to eat that you do not leave a tip! Expect to tip when you go out, and expect to pay a 20% tip..that is the usual and customary standard these days. Guess what? If you can't afford the 20% tip, then you cannot afford to go out to eat! I have been in the industry now for a long time putting myself through college as a single mom. It is not the most glamorous job in the world, but the hours are great and the money is easy, when we get tipped appropriately. So, to all of you that do not tip appropriately, here's a little secret...we know who you are, you are talked about, and when you come to the restaurant the next time and get crappy service, this is why! We do want to make your experience an enjoyable one and we pride ourselves in giving exceptional service, so please tip 20%...10-15% is literally unacceptable and non-existent nowadays!

As a customer, it is not my job to pay the server's salary. That is the job of the restaurant owner. I really take offense to all of these servers who feel entitled to a minimum of 20% when service in general has declined significantly over the years. To the person who suggests that tip percentages should adjust to inflation, don't restaurants adjust their prices as costs rise? Isn't 20% of a $125 meal going to net you more than 20% of the meal when it only cost $100? This sense of entitlement is why service these days is so poor. Why give good service when you expect to get 20% just for taking the order and delivering the food? I always tip a minimum of 20%, but after reading many of these comments I'm actually inclined to tip less, not more. If you want to complain about how much (or how little) you make, complain to the industry, not the customer. If I wanted to worry about how much you make I'd go into the restaurant business.

to the person who complains about tipping...if the restaurant started paying a higher wage, and people stopped tipping, then you'll probably see higher prices in food. it always gets passed along to the customer!!!

I cannot believe that tips are expected as a right. A tip is an expression of gratitude from the customer for exceptionally good service!!! It should not be expected as a matter of course. Nothing is more annoying than having service included in a bill and still being expected to tip - for what??? - is it because the establishment does not pay a fair wage? Then that is not my fault.

If nobody tipped then the following would happen:

1 Establishments would have to pay a proper wage

2 People would not be taxed on what they did not earn

3 Customers could still leave a 'tip' for exceptionally good service above and beyond the call of duty - and for nothing else!!!

What several people fail to take into account when they tip is the amount of time and effort that their server has actually dedicated to their meal. An average shift at a restaurant is between six an ten hours. During this time the server does not just wait tables. They spend a considerable amount of time preparing all the items required for the meal: the silverware, glassware, cleaning the tables, setting up the condiments, plates, napkins, beverages, candles, etc. Think about how long it would take you to prepare the same experience at home. It is not unusual for me to spend several hours preparing a good meal at home. Just because you only see your server for an hour and half during your meal it does not mean that is all the effort they have dedicated to providing you with a good experience. Also realize that in most restaurants today require their servers to turn over as much as 8% of their gross sales (which include tax, discounts, and complimentaries) to the restaurant to be split between the support staff (bussers, server assistants, hosts, bartenders). This means that when you leave a 15% tip the server only gets to keep half that money.

As one the posts mentioned, servers do NOT receive paychecks in most states. They are completely dependent on tips as their source of income. The average tip for good service should be 20% and even poor service should never be under 10%. Just as you expect to be fairly compensated at your job for the work you do, so too should you pay your server for the service they provide you.

One of the theories the origin of tipping has it as a way to ease the guilt of the diner toward the person who is doing the serving.

I can only speak for myself -- the politics of tipping and the tyranny of the blue collar worker have me staying out of restaurants and picking up my own pizzas. I hope that others will join me. Until then, have fun duking it out.

The rule nowadays is 20% is an average, tip, 15% is a horrible tip, and 25%+ is a good tip, no matter where you're at.

The IRS taxes a server based on how much they sell AND then on how much of their tip income they report. Meaning if you do not tip a server, it just cost them money to serve you (albeit probably less than a dollar) and I don't know about you, but I really don't enjoy working for negative money.

About the wine rantings, yes, wine knowledge is good and all, but it in no way means that you should be tipped 20%+ on an expensive bottle of wine. Think about what you REALLY did to sell that bottle of wine? You might have talked about it, matched it up with what they were eating. Great job, now, say you end up selling them a 600 dollar bottle of wine, you just spent MAYBE 5 minutes making 60 dollars if they tip you 10%, which is what would be a reasonable tip on an expensive bottle of wine.

Really, tips need to be done both on a good/bad service rating, and then also on what kind of work was actually done at the table rating. I am a server myself, and when I get tipped 20% by a table which I did absolutely nothing at except got their order and brought it to them, meaning they needed no drink refills, asked for nothing extra, were all in all great people, I consider it to be a really high tip, considering they made me do NO work. If I receive the same 20% tip on a table who ordered the exact same food and drinks, but were constantly needy and were making me run around the entire time they were there, also making me be able to pay less attention to my other tables, I'll feel like I got a horrible tip.

I'm also saying all of this because really, tipping in America has gotten out of hand. Some people still believe 10% is a good tip, some believe the 10-15-20 crap that has been going around forever, and very few know that nowadays, just like how they get raises due to inflation and cost of living going up, the %'s have to go up again so servers can live, 15-20-25 is better.

NEVER TIP A SERVER NOTHING. It costs them money if you do that. We get taxed from the IRS for approximately 8-10% of your total sales receipts, depending on where you live. This basically means that no matter what we do, we do not get a paycheck. The average server around the country makes 2.13/hr + tips.

Even if you're the most wonderful customer ever, unless your server is a saint, they aren't having a good time waiting on you, they're probably faking it and counting down the seconds until their shift ends. So pay them for their hard work, and if you think serving is an easy job and they don't deserve it, go get a part time job at a restaurant and see if you can handle it, maybe you'll respect them a little bit more then.

On a side note that is my theory, you do NOT have the right to talk about tipping in any sense until you've actually worked in that job, or talked to the people who have, a lot.

Whenever I get horrible service, I go out of my way to make sure the server knows they are getting nothing- I will actually write in "0.00" in the tip portion of the bill

Many people don't know that servers have to tip out 30 percent of the tips that they earn during each shift to the bussers and the bartenders. If the service is good at a nice restaurant, one should tip at least 18 to 20 percent; if excellent then over 20. If a server makes 100 dollars total in tips for a night they will only walk with 69 dollars. they do not make any money per hour because the 3 dollars they make results in void pay checks. Customers need to realize that 30 percent of what they choose to tip is not all going to their server.

To the rebuttal about my comments on wine: it just depends on the restaurant in which you work. I totally agree that many patrons know their wine, but it takes a damned savvy customer to beat out somebody who has tried literally every bottle on the list in a great restaurant. A casual drinker, even one who drinks a lot of different things, probably does not bother to taste carefully and of course cannot be expected to know every ingredient in every dish the chef has painstakingly prepared. Matching up flavors is the job of an excellent server.

Take the French Laundry, one of the best restaurants in the USA. This was recently acknowledged as having one of the 10 best wine lists in the world as well. People come prepared to spend big money, and they anticipate that wine will be part of this cost. They also come, no doubt, to feel fancy and pampered even if they don't know a whole lot about wine. I don't work at the French Laundry (I'd love to) but I work at a similar establishment that shall remain unnamed. I have definitely "hand-sold" bottles that cost many hundreds of dollars. In our house, this sort of thing is par for the course in a given night. I have been able to come by my knowledge of these wines by invitation from customers to sample, or from damned, blessed fools who leave some in the decanter and take off after the bill is paid. Such samples are split amongst the staff for educational pleasure.

I love my job, but it is not something I do strictly for kicks. I expect to be paid for the services I provide. That means a great tip, and to me a great tip is almost never any less than 20% of the total bill. I am completely content with a $100 tip on any bottle of wine over $1000, plus the tip for my efforts on the food and other aspects of service.

To the person talking about "selling" a $100 or even $1,000 bottle of wine and how much knowledge it takes. Most people who order wine that is north of $100 (without restaurant markups) most likely knows much more about wine then the server. To expect a 20% tip on a 300% markup by the restaurant for a bottle of wine is nuts!

I found $5 the other day outside some B-B-Q joint in Phoenix, AZ. It took me 5 seconds to bend over, pick it up, and put it in my pocket. So for that 5 seconds of work I made $3,600 per hour.

Anonymous is mistaking a peak earning rate for an average rate. The waitress in the example also works when the restaurant isn't as busy, when the patrons aren't in a good mood, and when the tips aren't as good.

A party of 16 at a lets say some B-B-Q joint in Phoenix, Az. will bring a total of about $280.00 to the total bill so at 20% thats a tip of $56.00 We were there for about 1.5 hours and the waitress has waited on 5 other tables totaling 24 other people who's bill was about $420.00 for a tip of $85.00 so for that 1.5 hours she will have made about $100 dollars per hour. I'm in the wrong business!!!!

What year was this article written. My guess is 1972. Tipping is expected in the modern world, perhaps before I was born there was world where tossing someone who provided a service for you a couple extra dollars was a gracious gesture of appreciation to an hourly paid employee. I have never lived in this world, the world I live in allows servers to be paid often less than min. wage, about $2-$3 dollars per hour because tips are expected as supplemental income. This labor loop hole as been calculated by federal and state governments, providing a formula based on, guess what,- THE SALES of the server. Meaning that each state for income and tax purposes deem a certain percentage of the total bill as the minimum standard and expectation for tipped income. As a server I'm deeply offend that when provided so much as a satisfactory service, that the idea of a tip is not to be expected.

Now that I got that off my chest, I'd just like say that the world is filled with many types of people and as servers we encounter them all, the rude, the impatient, the "we're in a rush group" and the "don't rush me group". And believe me we desperately try to please you all as our livelihood depends on it. I know some people are cheap and that's the way it goes. But don't kid yourself that you're not. For those of you who want the inside scoop 20% is the golden rule, and for those who go above & beyond that, we know who are, and you will always be treated like a god!

A $10 bottle of wine? What fine restaurant offers bottles this inexpensively? I work in a very nice restaurant, and our wines average about $50 a bottle.

This article fails to take into account the fact that selling a good bottle of wine often falls to a server rather than a wine steward, even in the classiest establishments - it is often only when a server is poorly prepared to answer questions about wines that they need to call the steward.

It takes a good server literally years to become sufficiently well-acquainted with all the wines a restaurant has to offer. Moreover, servers must often purchase bottles for him or herself to take home in order to gain this knowledge - a luscious requirement, but expensive, too! Yet the right wine recommendation within the price range of the customer, something that goes well with their meals and enhances the dining experience, is part of great service. As such, a server who sells a fine bottle of wine, i.e., $100 or more, deserves to be tipped better than 10-15%.

If a bottle is over $1000, as it can be in many good restaurants, a smaller tip may be appropriate, but this article fails to take into account the fact that most wine is far more expensive than $10, and requires a lot of knowledge and experience to sell successfully. A tip of less than 20% of the entire bill, wine and all, will make an excellent server worry about what he or she did to offend.