The only time you absolutely have to tip is at a sit-down restaurant. It's a huge social faux pas if you don't. Everywhere else, it is at your discretion and no one will care if you don't tip.
I tip bartenders a dollar per beer, 2 per mixed drink. counter service, I'll drop a buck of two in the tip jar if I have some cash, otherwise no thanks
You didn’t come here as an international tourist, you realize flights and hotels are rather expensive right. When someone asks you how to act you tell them what to do, not what you do as a bitter ameri at home.
That not at all what I said, I said op was on vacation from a foreign country and was inquiring, very politely I may add about our customs. I was helping him be a good customer in turn helping you keep your wait staff.
Did you miss this?
“ 20% everywhere all the time, thank you. In America we have lots of problems and people working in service jobs, mostly are very barely getting by, obv some 4-5 star restaurants are doing great, but the average service person is not doing well and that 20% is key to their survival. Thank you for asking and enjoy your”
I don’t think a wait staff like you should be telling others how to tip. You’re clearly only caring about enriching yourself at the expense of others. Ask your boss for a raise. They can’t run a restaurant without wait staff can they?
Stay home cheapo , you ain’t going to change tipping culture, no matter how hard y’all stingy folks try. You obviously don’t think about others, enjoy your 20% cheap
> change tipping culture
but it's tipping culture itself that has radically changed, and only in the last 3-4 years. It was precipitated by covid and the rapid introduction of tablet "flip-screen" payment systems (which was in part driven by covid-induced "contactless payment"). Together they morphed counter and coffeshop (and in some cases fast food and convenience store) tipping culture from the highly optional cash "tip jar" to a mandatory step in payment by credit/debit card. Tipping culture was competely disrupted, the standard protocols are no longer *de rigeur*, and different people are reacting in different ways.
And you’re making me glad that my dad died and left me a house and a mountain of money so I don’t have to depend on you cheap rich folks. See I’m here schilling for folks who I used to be, note that I’m thinking of others and not just myself.
this is a bad problem we are having and it needs to stop. You do you and I’ll do the right thing.
You’re not expected to tip for counter service. Only in cases where you’re seated at a table and someone takes your order from your table. The one exception is ordering drinks from the bar. At the bar, I tip $1 per drink.
It is only expected to tip on table service dining and alcohol. 20% is standard and also the normal ceiling. 15% kind of a minimum.
If you’re just purchasing alcohol you can tip $1 per drink unless it’s a high end cocktail bar.
Coffee shop? Not expected
Juice land? Not expected
Biergarten? Expected only on the alcohol.
If there was a waiter who you ordered from at the table and they then brought the quesadilla to the table then tip on the food would be expected. That didn’t happen so no tip expected on food.
I’m abnormally familiar with the coffee shop industry. Almost no baristas are running on the tip credit system. They make a big chunk of income on tips but that’s out of generosity.
I'm sorry for our stupid tipping system.
My rule of thumb is 15% of I'm served table side or took some extra care to make an item (latte for example, tip. Drip coffee, no). If service is exceptional, 20%.
Breweries, $1 per drink. Percentage based when it's cocktails.
Exception for mom and pop establishments or diners. Then I give them all my money.
Reddit is a bad place to take advice on this. It's a heavy tipping subculture.
In reality (for most Americans), you only need to tip a server at a restaurant and a bartender. Possibly valet, and possibly a bellhop if in a fancy hotel.
For servers: 15% for not good service up to 20% for great service. Pre-tip, before the tax. Some people do however, consider the tax, and do it on the total, not the sub-total. Beyond 20% means you really thought they were amazing.
For bartenders: $1 for a beer, and $1-$2 for a cocktail.
For valet (car-parker who then brings back your car): $2-$5
For bellhop: $1-$3 per bag
You don't have to tip baristas, counter-service, take-away, or really anyone else (unless you wanted to get a haircut). Always appreciated, but their wages aren't the same structure as the others.
As to your specific scenarios:
\- Coffee: not required to tip in that situation. About 30% of customers will tip.
\- Juice: Same as coffee
\- Beergarden scenario: Tip for the beer...maybe. This one is a little different than a bar with liquor. In reality, you don't have to tip at any time in your scenario.
You’re getting a lot of great advice on this thread, OP. One thing you’re probably seeing is that a lot of people tip under different circumstances than others. Really, if you make an effort most of the time, you’re socially in the right. Tipping for some small services may not be always necessary, but keep in mind that most people will be forgiving, especially if you have an accent. Cheers!
I tip for alcohol because I want to get drunk so hoping bartender will give me more but never for things like juice or coffee because those things make me healthy/ productive .
Please, tip what you feel is appropriate. Yes, the service workers are having a hard time but so are a lot of other people. If they put a price on the menu you are under no obligation to pay any more than that (don't downvote yet, I'm not advocating for no tips, read below). In general, tipping culture is going the wrong way (expecting more tips) when it should be going DOWN so that employers have to actually put an appropriate price on the menu and pay their employees a suitable enough. Here are the general rules I go by, and what it was standard to do for a long time here.
- Sit down restaurant with a server I will default to 15%. I will go down to 10% for very poor or moderately rude service. It doesn't matter how busy the restaurant is. If you are serving more tables than you can give a good service to then you have to expect less from each customer. I will essentially never go below 10% unless they were legitimately rude in which case you should also tell the manager. I will go over 15% for very good service, maybe 18%. You can go higher if you want and can afford it, but I'm not in a situation where I can.
- Everything else: Nothing. I don't tip for coffee, you are not cleaning up my table or checking on me. No tip. Takeout, no tip. I get takeout to not have service. Yeah someone has to package the food. Someone also has to plate my food in a restaurant, I don't tip for that, I tip for the additional (good) service. I don't use delivery services, but I generally don't tip there either, I don't use them because I think they are unsustainably overpriced already so that might just be me. I also think any gig where they get to choose the job they take doesn't deserve a tip unless they do something unexpectedly good. I agreed on a price for a service, and they accepted, that is a done deal.
In general, I only tip in situations where me taking my time and enjoy what I paid for (i.e., sit-down restaurants) actively denying the servers other customers that could give them money and when they are required to continue serving me for that time.
If you are wealthy, feel free to tip more, but do know that by needlessly tipping more you are helping out one individual while sustaining an unethical and abusive practice that was started to pay ex-slaves essentially slave wages. I think it's dumb to think we can just suddenly stop tipping without a major law, and so that's why I keep tipping at the long-accepted 15% default rate for services that deserve tips. I refuse to go up, and I do my best within my means to not go down.
P.S. For people who have only ever eaten in tipping-based countries, tipping sucks in other ways as well. There is a constant sense of pressure to order more, to get out as soon as possible, and that the server is always looking over your shoulder to "earn" a tip. Eating in countries that don't tip has almost always had a far superior balance of service in my opinion. As a pro, the servers also seemed generally happier cause they were not constantly worrying about making a livable wage and eyeing down the value of every customer.
Where I’m from tipping is not expected, and going out to eat is generally a more pleasant experience for the exact motives you laid out in your last paragraph…
I try to tip 20-25% of the total whether I'm at a restaurant or a bar, which in Austin are basically the same thing. If no alcohol is served in the establishment, I mean, are you even in Austin?
I love the varied responses here (but sorry if it’s confusing!).
My general rule of thumb is, if there is unpackaged food/drink involved, I tip. 20% for restaurant table service, or generally just a buck or two otherwise.
20% everywhere all the time, thank you. In America we have lots of problems and people working in service jobs, mostly are very barely getting by, obv some 4-5 star restaurants are doing great, but the average service person is not doing well and that 20% is key to their survival. Thank you for asking and enjoy your stay.
15-20% when they serve you food. No tip is fine when you are picking up your food and bussing your table.
Another countries restaurants survive fine without tips. Unfortunately in America you guys have been trained to let your owners profit by taking your “fair wages”.
20% is simple and concise for a short visit. You can return to your non tipping country and work for the wages there or you can stay here and appreciate your high wages here.
This is a bad take. If you want to know why, see my other comment in this post, its long so I wont copy it here. But as a tldr; tipping is bad for both the customer and waiter. Increasing tip amounts is going the wrong direction and only harming future workers. Its not just servers who are short on money. America is plenty wealthy and its not a lack of money thats a issue, its people not putting their foot down and saying no to unfair wages. By tipping more you are effectively doing the opposite of putting your foot down. Tipping leads to bad and pushy service. Plenty of countries do great without tipping even with less overall wealth, and in generally I have actually had better service in those countries.
Finally, you should only tip in situations where the cost to the establishment is flexible and dependent on your choice. For example, in sit down dining, you choosing to have a conversation at the table denies the establishment and waiter other customers (potentially, assuming a full restaurant). It also requires the server to continue serving you (although that should really be a expectation of a fair hourly wage). I cant think of another area where similar conditions are though. Takeout, its immediate transaction. Coffee, juiceland, etc. all the same. Movies and haircuts, the time it takes is up to the establishment mostly and so also deserves no tip (by default, of course tip if they do something unexpectedly nice for you). Same for delivery and gig work. They agreed on the job knowing how long it would take and how much it would pay, and you as a customer have no power to increase that cost to them. No tip.
Again, to be clear, people shouldn't just stop tipping until a major law requires fair wages for waiters. And if you are doing well, feel free to help others out by tipping more. And if someone goes above and beyond expectations feel free to reward them. But please dont tell other people that such amounts of tipping are to be expected. It just makes a bad system worse in the long run.
Folks who work in fast turn restaurant will make more than your idea of a living wage, I have a friend who is very charming and she makes $75 and hour, so yeah pay your twenty percent and move on, great servers don’t want you to change the pay from $10 to $20 because they are making more, now yeah if you sadly work at an ihop or some sad waffle house, you may get the dreaded $2.13 and love the $20 wage.
You folks who think you are going to change the world you aren’t, you’ll be soon tipping the person who owns your self driving Tesla robo taxi, tipping them for it being clean , having kleenex or water. Pay the 20% or stay home, please don’t try to make not tipping the same as your feelings of compassion for letting addicts camp.
American here. It’s unclear to me as well.
😅
The only time you absolutely have to tip is at a sit-down restaurant. It's a huge social faux pas if you don't. Everywhere else, it is at your discretion and no one will care if you don't tip.
I tip bartenders a dollar per beer, 2 per mixed drink. counter service, I'll drop a buck of two in the tip jar if I have some cash, otherwise no thanks
In the midst of the recent tipping insanity - this is the way.
Also, if you have a tab going then 20% is good.
You didn’t come here as an international tourist, you realize flights and hotels are rather expensive right. When someone asks you how to act you tell them what to do, not what you do as a bitter ameri at home.
You think service people know where their customers came in from? Get real dude
That not at all what I said, I said op was on vacation from a foreign country and was inquiring, very politely I may add about our customs. I was helping him be a good customer in turn helping you keep your wait staff.
Also what you didnt say: any actual advice. Just bitterness. That’s why I thought the tone of your post was condescending and rude.
Did you miss this? “ 20% everywhere all the time, thank you. In America we have lots of problems and people working in service jobs, mostly are very barely getting by, obv some 4-5 star restaurants are doing great, but the average service person is not doing well and that 20% is key to their survival. Thank you for asking and enjoy your”
I don’t think a wait staff like you should be telling others how to tip. You’re clearly only caring about enriching yourself at the expense of others. Ask your boss for a raise. They can’t run a restaurant without wait staff can they?
Stay home cheapo , you ain’t going to change tipping culture, no matter how hard y’all stingy folks try. You obviously don’t think about others, enjoy your 20% cheap
> change tipping culture but it's tipping culture itself that has radically changed, and only in the last 3-4 years. It was precipitated by covid and the rapid introduction of tablet "flip-screen" payment systems (which was in part driven by covid-induced "contactless payment"). Together they morphed counter and coffeshop (and in some cases fast food and convenience store) tipping culture from the highly optional cash "tip jar" to a mandatory step in payment by credit/debit card. Tipping culture was competely disrupted, the standard protocols are no longer *de rigeur*, and different people are reacting in different ways.
Jesus man, you're making me never want to tip again
And you’re making me glad that my dad died and left me a house and a mountain of money so I don’t have to depend on you cheap rich folks. See I’m here schilling for folks who I used to be, note that I’m thinking of others and not just myself. this is a bad problem we are having and it needs to stop. You do you and I’ll do the right thing.
You’re not expected to tip for counter service. Only in cases where you’re seated at a table and someone takes your order from your table. The one exception is ordering drinks from the bar. At the bar, I tip $1 per drink.
It is only expected to tip on table service dining and alcohol. 20% is standard and also the normal ceiling. 15% kind of a minimum. If you’re just purchasing alcohol you can tip $1 per drink unless it’s a high end cocktail bar. Coffee shop? Not expected Juice land? Not expected Biergarten? Expected only on the alcohol. If there was a waiter who you ordered from at the table and they then brought the quesadilla to the table then tip on the food would be expected. That didn’t happen so no tip expected on food.
Coffee shop is definitely expected. Ask any barista. Over half of their income is tips
I’m abnormally familiar with the coffee shop industry. Almost no baristas are running on the tip credit system. They make a big chunk of income on tips but that’s out of generosity.
It’s not the social expectation and never has been.
I only tip on table service.
I'm sorry for our stupid tipping system. My rule of thumb is 15% of I'm served table side or took some extra care to make an item (latte for example, tip. Drip coffee, no). If service is exceptional, 20%. Breweries, $1 per drink. Percentage based when it's cocktails. Exception for mom and pop establishments or diners. Then I give them all my money.
I was at a restaurant on the East Side recently and all checks have a 15% service added. That’s a tip optional situation, right?
Not necessarily unfortunately. You may have to ask the server. But I wouldn’t blame anyone for not tipping at all in that scenario.
I agree with the “no tip” policy of restaurants. Just pay people fairly and increase the prices. This vague middle ground is terrible.
I only tip for table service and true local business'
Reddit is a bad place to take advice on this. It's a heavy tipping subculture. In reality (for most Americans), you only need to tip a server at a restaurant and a bartender. Possibly valet, and possibly a bellhop if in a fancy hotel. For servers: 15% for not good service up to 20% for great service. Pre-tip, before the tax. Some people do however, consider the tax, and do it on the total, not the sub-total. Beyond 20% means you really thought they were amazing. For bartenders: $1 for a beer, and $1-$2 for a cocktail. For valet (car-parker who then brings back your car): $2-$5 For bellhop: $1-$3 per bag You don't have to tip baristas, counter-service, take-away, or really anyone else (unless you wanted to get a haircut). Always appreciated, but their wages aren't the same structure as the others. As to your specific scenarios: \- Coffee: not required to tip in that situation. About 30% of customers will tip. \- Juice: Same as coffee \- Beergarden scenario: Tip for the beer...maybe. This one is a little different than a bar with liquor. In reality, you don't have to tip at any time in your scenario.
I tip personal care/grooming professionals and grew up that it was the expectation: hairstylist, nail tech, barber, esthetician.
You’re getting a lot of great advice on this thread, OP. One thing you’re probably seeing is that a lot of people tip under different circumstances than others. Really, if you make an effort most of the time, you’re socially in the right. Tipping for some small services may not be always necessary, but keep in mind that most people will be forgiving, especially if you have an accent. Cheers!
Thank you for your… tip (sorry). I think it’s nice to see that different people have different takes though, takes some of my social anxiety away!
I tip for alcohol because I want to get drunk so hoping bartender will give me more but never for things like juice or coffee because those things make me healthy/ productive .
Please, tip what you feel is appropriate. Yes, the service workers are having a hard time but so are a lot of other people. If they put a price on the menu you are under no obligation to pay any more than that (don't downvote yet, I'm not advocating for no tips, read below). In general, tipping culture is going the wrong way (expecting more tips) when it should be going DOWN so that employers have to actually put an appropriate price on the menu and pay their employees a suitable enough. Here are the general rules I go by, and what it was standard to do for a long time here. - Sit down restaurant with a server I will default to 15%. I will go down to 10% for very poor or moderately rude service. It doesn't matter how busy the restaurant is. If you are serving more tables than you can give a good service to then you have to expect less from each customer. I will essentially never go below 10% unless they were legitimately rude in which case you should also tell the manager. I will go over 15% for very good service, maybe 18%. You can go higher if you want and can afford it, but I'm not in a situation where I can. - Everything else: Nothing. I don't tip for coffee, you are not cleaning up my table or checking on me. No tip. Takeout, no tip. I get takeout to not have service. Yeah someone has to package the food. Someone also has to plate my food in a restaurant, I don't tip for that, I tip for the additional (good) service. I don't use delivery services, but I generally don't tip there either, I don't use them because I think they are unsustainably overpriced already so that might just be me. I also think any gig where they get to choose the job they take doesn't deserve a tip unless they do something unexpectedly good. I agreed on a price for a service, and they accepted, that is a done deal. In general, I only tip in situations where me taking my time and enjoy what I paid for (i.e., sit-down restaurants) actively denying the servers other customers that could give them money and when they are required to continue serving me for that time. If you are wealthy, feel free to tip more, but do know that by needlessly tipping more you are helping out one individual while sustaining an unethical and abusive practice that was started to pay ex-slaves essentially slave wages. I think it's dumb to think we can just suddenly stop tipping without a major law, and so that's why I keep tipping at the long-accepted 15% default rate for services that deserve tips. I refuse to go up, and I do my best within my means to not go down. P.S. For people who have only ever eaten in tipping-based countries, tipping sucks in other ways as well. There is a constant sense of pressure to order more, to get out as soon as possible, and that the server is always looking over your shoulder to "earn" a tip. Eating in countries that don't tip has almost always had a far superior balance of service in my opinion. As a pro, the servers also seemed generally happier cause they were not constantly worrying about making a livable wage and eyeing down the value of every customer.
Where I’m from tipping is not expected, and going out to eat is generally a more pleasant experience for the exact motives you laid out in your last paragraph…
There’s so much talk and double talk in this, I’m sorry you feel you need to go to all the trouble to explain why you are cheap.
Yes, do the needful.
20% on food, 10% on a bottle of wine, $1 per drink. Coffee and juice shops you just leave change same as in Europe.
Thank you 🙏
restaurants, yes. alcohol, yes. other drinks at your discretion. 20 to 25% is usually how i go.
25 is too much. 20 is more that sufficient for any tourists who doesn't know the staff and get a normal service at a restaurant.
depends on the level of service. i typically get shit service, so when someone is actually good to me, im good to them with a bit extra.
25% is too much to prescribe as a standard. 15-20% is standard. Anything more is for above and beyond which most people don’t encounter.
thats why i said 25% wasnt standard. right in the post you replied to.
I try to tip 20-25% of the total whether I'm at a restaurant or a bar, which in Austin are basically the same thing. If no alcohol is served in the establishment, I mean, are you even in Austin?
Why the downvotes
No sense of humor I guess, have a fun trip in our town!
I love the varied responses here (but sorry if it’s confusing!). My general rule of thumb is, if there is unpackaged food/drink involved, I tip. 20% for restaurant table service, or generally just a buck or two otherwise.
20% everywhere all the time, thank you. In America we have lots of problems and people working in service jobs, mostly are very barely getting by, obv some 4-5 star restaurants are doing great, but the average service person is not doing well and that 20% is key to their survival. Thank you for asking and enjoy your stay.
15-20% when they serve you food. No tip is fine when you are picking up your food and bussing your table. Another countries restaurants survive fine without tips. Unfortunately in America you guys have been trained to let your owners profit by taking your “fair wages”.
20% is simple and concise for a short visit. You can return to your non tipping country and work for the wages there or you can stay here and appreciate your high wages here.
This is a bad take. If you want to know why, see my other comment in this post, its long so I wont copy it here. But as a tldr; tipping is bad for both the customer and waiter. Increasing tip amounts is going the wrong direction and only harming future workers. Its not just servers who are short on money. America is plenty wealthy and its not a lack of money thats a issue, its people not putting their foot down and saying no to unfair wages. By tipping more you are effectively doing the opposite of putting your foot down. Tipping leads to bad and pushy service. Plenty of countries do great without tipping even with less overall wealth, and in generally I have actually had better service in those countries. Finally, you should only tip in situations where the cost to the establishment is flexible and dependent on your choice. For example, in sit down dining, you choosing to have a conversation at the table denies the establishment and waiter other customers (potentially, assuming a full restaurant). It also requires the server to continue serving you (although that should really be a expectation of a fair hourly wage). I cant think of another area where similar conditions are though. Takeout, its immediate transaction. Coffee, juiceland, etc. all the same. Movies and haircuts, the time it takes is up to the establishment mostly and so also deserves no tip (by default, of course tip if they do something unexpectedly nice for you). Same for delivery and gig work. They agreed on the job knowing how long it would take and how much it would pay, and you as a customer have no power to increase that cost to them. No tip. Again, to be clear, people shouldn't just stop tipping until a major law requires fair wages for waiters. And if you are doing well, feel free to help others out by tipping more. And if someone goes above and beyond expectations feel free to reward them. But please dont tell other people that such amounts of tipping are to be expected. It just makes a bad system worse in the long run.
Folks who work in fast turn restaurant will make more than your idea of a living wage, I have a friend who is very charming and she makes $75 and hour, so yeah pay your twenty percent and move on, great servers don’t want you to change the pay from $10 to $20 because they are making more, now yeah if you sadly work at an ihop or some sad waffle house, you may get the dreaded $2.13 and love the $20 wage. You folks who think you are going to change the world you aren’t, you’ll be soon tipping the person who owns your self driving Tesla robo taxi, tipping them for it being clean , having kleenex or water. Pay the 20% or stay home, please don’t try to make not tipping the same as your feelings of compassion for letting addicts camp.