Originally Posted by
DenverF9Flier
Sorry but I believe that leaving a 10% tip after getting what you described as good service at a high-end restaurant is not polite... it may not make sense to you but the tip DOES depend on how much you spend. Keep in mind that the waitstaff at a higher-end establishment will be serving fewer tables than at a cheaper place, so as to provide you with a level of service appropriate to the higher bill. If everyone tipped 10% on higher bills then a waiter at Per Se could end up taking home less pay in a night than a waiter at Applebees.
Being very generous I'd say the average bill at an Applebee's is $40. 15% tip is $6/table.
Let's say the waiter at an upscale joint has 1/2 the tables as the waiter at Applebee's (to offer that better service) and gets 10% vs 15%. The only way your statement would be true is if the average bill at the high end restaurant were less than $120 which is highly unlikely given the previous poster spent $480.