Comments on: Tipping in America: How To Do It and What To Expect If You Don’t

By: Choices, Choices: How to Navigate American Restaurant Menus | Mind The Gap | BBC America

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:24:38 +0000

[...] world is literally your oyster.As Jean-Paul Sartre once said, “We are our choices!”See also: how to tip in an American restaurant.Have you found yourself in a scenario like this? Follow @mindthegap_bbc Share on Tumblr [...]

By: 10 Things Brits Don’t Realize Are Offensive to Americans | Mind The Gap | BBC America

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 17:15:22 +0000

[...] you’ll embarrass any American diners in your party. If you’re the person picking up the check, never stint on service unless everyone at your table agrees that the experience was shoddy enough to merit a tiny [...]

By: Daemon

Daemon — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 05:02:00 +0000

What I learned is if they bring you your meal, drinks, etc. you tip 15% plus or minus depending on service. If it is one of those serve yourself but we will take care of your dishes never tip. Anywhere else dependiing on service given and amount of effort tip something.

By: willy

willy — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 00:15:00 +0000

Tipping should not be a percentage of the meal rather a fixed amount based on number of people in your party.
I don’t pay a percentage if I order expensive food, the waiter does the same amount of work regardless of what I eat. The restaurants are required to pay minimum wage if the waiter doesn’t earn enough in tips.
I think about the fact that the farmers that grew the food the servers carry to a table work a million times harder for less income. They don’t get rewarded for shoveling shit with a happy face they do their job.

By: So You Want to Marry an American… | Mind The Gap | BBC America

So You Want to Marry an American… | Mind The Gap | BBC America — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 17:19:07 +0000

[...] you might not ask for anything but hot water for your tea bag to stew in, you must remember that tipping is pretty much obligatory. It’s the #1 complaint about Brits, so if you’re looking to be a regular at a restaurant or bar [...]

By: Guinnesses

Guinnesses — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 07:25:00 +0000

If you can’t afford to tip, then don’t go out to eat at a dine in restaurant. End of story. By not tipping, or thinking that 5 – 10 percent is an adequate gratuity, you’re wasting your server’s time that he or she could be spending on someone else that appreciates and understands the hard work they’re putting in to make sure that you have a good dining experience.

Of course I cannot justify tipping someone if the service was truly horrible, as not every server is going to be the best server you’ve ever had or even good for that matter. But if drinks are always full, there were no mistakes with the food and they managed to keep a smile on the whole time or even engage in conversation, then there isn’t any real reason for you to leave less than 20 percent of the bill. It’s atrocious that some people are taught that $5 is a reasonable tip no matter what the check amount is. I’ve seen servers left $5 on $200 when absolutely nothing was wrong and that table needed something different brought to them very frequently.

As a server I will warn you all of this: We remember the good tippers, but we remember the bad ones just a little bit better. If you notoriously go into the same restaurant leaving sub-par or zero tip, we will give you sub-par or zero service. And if you just do that at every restaurant you go to, I hope you can live with the fact that you’re a scumbag and every waiter you stiff wishes many bad things upon you.

By: nolson

nolson — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:29:00 +0000

Tip your movers. Seriously. Average is around $7/man/hour.

By: John Cowan

John Cowan — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:01:00 +0000

I’ve had waiters chase after me twice; once because I forgot the tip and once because I hadn’t paid the bill. In the first case, I was having a heavy conversation with a co-worker and simply forgot it. I apologized profusely. The second time, after an hour wait for the food on a tight deadline and no servers in sight, I simply left the restaurant. I told the waiter who caught up with me several blocks away that I wasn’t paying for food I never received.

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 21:24:00 +0000

If you don’t tip and you come in again, be sure that we will remember you and let whoever your current server is know that you don’t tip so don’t do anything too over the top when it comes to serving you. However, if the service was absolutely horrid, as in some of the worst service that you have ever received, leave a nickel. In the service industry this is an insult and will let your server know that the service the provided was less than subpar.

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 21:21:00 +0000

It is the status quo because our patrons technically pay our wages. On a good night I can make $21/hour in tips and nearly 3 times that amount an hour on holidays like Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. Because we are receiving this kind of compensation, the company we work for is not required to pay us anything more than $2.13/hr. However, if there is a week where for some reason what I made in tips does not equal the general state minimum wage ($7.50/hr where I’m from) then the restaurant is required to make up the difference so that legally I did make at least minimum wage.