All depends on location. When in Rome.

Too many in this thread want to pretend they're back home when they aren't. If you are in a country/location where tips are the bulk of the wage and a 20% tip is the norm, it's cheap to tip less unless the service is really bad. On the other hand, elsewhere, a tip may be for very special service.

Same thing with the rants about cover charges in London and the like. It's the way things are in London. And the fact that it's not that way in Dubuque means nothing.

I tip around 18-25% for excellent service. However, I feel the whole tipping culture has gotten out of hand. I feel like it has become a form of extortion and entitlement, not a reward or bonus. At large restaurants I frequent at, I feel pressured to tip even on days I receive bad service because I want to eat there again. I don't want to fear that staff will spit in my food or blacklist me next time I come. In addition, you must tip otherwise society will label you "cheap". I never understood the double standard between individuals and companies when it comes to the cheap label.

Here at FT, we talk about airlines, hotels, cars, etc. We understand that they are companies and their only reason for existence is to make money. Thus, their goal is to maximize profits. The goal of a company is to maximize revenue while minimizing costs. Therefore, companies are "cheap".

Yet, for individuals, trying to be conservative financially you get the "cheap" label, when you are merely doing the same thing that a company would.

I don't get the double standard here.

I just wish the restaurant industry can move on to a model where there is no tipping expected at all.

This is what infuriates me.

Yesterday I paid a visit to a famous Viennese institution - Figlmullers - they specialise in large schnitzels. So my wife likes to go there for her first meal on our regular visits to Vienna - normally 3 or 4 times per year.

I have been eating here for years and the food is ok and predictable. I have no complaint about the food. Yesterday - for the first time - when I paid the bill the waiter rounded the bill up and retained around 10% and gave me back the remaining notes. This the first time this has happened to me in Vienna. Service is discretionary. I asked him whether he treated Austrians in that way or was it just tourists. He became rude and aggressive. Sadly over time many places that cater for tourists lose respect for them.

I have no complaints over service charges but I hate it when waiters decide to take their own tips.

Instead of asking him that, I would have told him that he forgot some of the change and sent him back to get it. After he brought the correct change, I would decide how much to tip, if any.

I was standing at the till. Thanks anyway!

In the United States, you would need to get the IRS to move on that. They're largely why tipping is such a big deal. They are pretty strict about charging people a % of their sales as income.

That said, I've been places where tipping is not expected and the service was damn horrible. I'll take having a way to hold people accountable and rewarding people ANY day. The alternative is bad service.

If you're a regular at a particular place, you might not want to tip low, but you can definitely get taken care of. The wait staff know who their regulars are as do the management and owner. Of course, that happens at places where people don't know you anyways.

I sent back french toast a few weekends ago because the bread was cut too damn thick. The waiter went out of her way to make sure I got something I wanted. That ended up being some hybrid dish that wasn't even on the menu. I wouldn't have gotten that result in a country without a tipping culture.

Huh? Why on earth not? I get looked after in a similar way in more than one place where I'm a regular, and I live in a country where the employers pay the staff and the customers don't have to bribe them.

The level of service you get isn't the same. I've been to countries like yours. I'll take someone who's looking to get the immediate reward for giving service as opposed to someone who's picking up an hourly paycheck.

Then we'll just have to disagree. Service in "countries such as yours" can make my skin crawl when Hi I'm Brad And I'll Be Your Server Tonight fawns all over me. Your opinion of what passes for good service doesn't pass muster in places where French Toast isn't considered to be restaurant fare.

Which countries are you referring to?

anywhere that is not the USA, I'm guessing

True. It's often much better than in the US.

And as BadgerBoi points out, the fake friendly, overly intimate nature of what is considered 'service' in some places in the US isn't considered service elsewhere. Crouching down at the table to chat with a guest or take an order is a firable offence at the places I used to work, and removing a plate before all diners have finished is punishable. (We've had that discussion already with the FTer who is a server)

We've gone over this a gazillion times before in this thread. It boils down to culture and personal preference for social interaction. You're also equating expectations of casual dining with expectations of fine dining.

So, please don't get into culture wars. Some Americans appreciate feeling like the server is connecting with them on a peer-to-peer level, because that's how our culture operates. And when I'm just out for a casual meal or am at a restaurant with friends or coworkers talking about and working on a project, I appreciate the staff getting stuff out of my way so I have room on the table to do what I need to do (whether it's pull the laptop out to show them something, get out a paper to write, or just lean forward for comfort). Is it concocted and rushed? Yes, but that's what I expect and that's what I want in that setting. I'm not there to enjoy the experience of dining, I'm there to get in, get fed, and either get to work (especially if I'm alone) or get out.

Do I expect that at an establishment like Per Se or Daniel? Of course not. But I'm not bringing a laptop or a notepad or leaning forward to relax at a place like that, and not only do I have a different expectation of how the waitstaff behaves towards me when I'm paying $150 for a meal instead of $15, I also behave differently myself. And at a place like that, where the waitstaff stands to make $40-50 or more per person for a two- or three-hour engagement, you find some of the top service of any restaurant anywhere, and they're not crouching down or prematurely clearing plates. Perhaps that amazing service is because they're going to make $50 per hour on a table of four (not a poorly-paying job by any stretch of the imagination!), so they're highly motivated to ensure your experience is top-notch. (I've even had top-notch service when the prices have been half or less of what I'd pay at a place like that; in fact, the best service I've experienced anywhere in the world, where everything was timed absolutely perfectly and the waitstaff were the absolute perfect balance was at Del Posto, where the cost worked out (for dinner) to $75 per person.)

Sure, great service can be found anywhere (and I say this having just come back from two weeks in Japan), but given the American culture and motivations Americans have for what they do, tipping probably is the best way to ensure that the experience meets what the customers expect it to be. If you're going to argue that the culture itself is therefore flawed, that's a whole different ball of wax and probably best taken to another thread in OMNI.

In Italy it’s common going to family-run restaurants (some are Michelin starred), and service is great even if you generally don’t tip the owner or his family members.

I really enjoyed reading your whole post.

And the quote above is quite correct.

Tipping may be the best system
HOWEVER, it avoids the fact that tipping has gone way overboard. I cannot justify supporting an industry where the untrained staff are making more than doctors and lawyers just because of a cloud of secrecy about how much they are really taking home.

I don't know about the US, but in Canada this money is virtually tax free.

So, while tipping may be the best method. How can we allow them to guilt us into a situation that is already overly generous in their favor?