I say bravo to our English colleagues posting here, for some reasonable perspective on tipping in the US:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Globaliser:
Personally, I would rather it was $900 and no tip. I'd really rather know before I venture in that it was what I will be expected to pay, rather than have to struggle with guessing what the local custom is for a restaurant bill of that size.</font>
No one here is suggesting somehow cutting the wait staff off below minimum wage. In fact, they are injecting a reasonableness standard that seems, well, quite reasonable:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ScottC:
I'll do 20% of $200 tops, above that I'll round it up to say $50 or $60, there is no way I'm giving 20% of a $750 meal. No service in the world deserves $150 for a measly 20 minutes work. The entire tipping culture in the US has gone berserk, I'd rather tip the bagger at my local supermarket than give it to some waiter that expects to make big bucks off an expensive meal, I reward good service but I'm not in charity neither can I be expected to pay a day's wages to every waiter that helps me.</font>
I repeat what I stated above: in the US, 15% is quite reasonable for normal, good service on the food component of a bill. Add one USD per drink (maybe round up on the bottle to $10 for a fine wine decanted and served by a sommelier), and you should arrive at a number that is more than satisfactory to everyone.
These are the norms, the customs. There may be a few eccentrics who are tipping far more, but not in the mainstream. And, worldwide, the tipping is generally less.