Moderator's note added: THIS thread is for general comments/observations/questions etc. about buffets in general. If you have a question about or a review of a specific restaurant's/hotel's buffet, please post that in the appropriate geographic forum (or in the hotel-specific thread in the appropriate forum). Posts on this thread that better fit in a geographic forum will be moved to their own threads in those forums. Thanks! cblaisd, Dining Buzz Moderator
I like to think, that as a traveler and frequenter of restaurants and hotels I'm savvy as to who (waiter, maitre'd, wine steward) should be tipped for what and how much they should receive.

But, I realized last week that there's one area I'm really not confident that I'm doing what's right - specifically when the meal is a buffet.

Now, I know that if the server takes a drink order they should be tipped appropriately, but suppose the drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) is included?

Suppose it's a breakfast buffet and all they do is bring a pot of coffee and fill juice glasses; leave a bill and that's the sum total of their involvement w/you.

Do they still get 15-20 percent of the pre-tax charge even though the service provided is minimal?

And suppose, as some hotels do, breakfast is included in the room rate and there's no descrete billing - what's appropriate and fair?

I've always been told that it's a buck a person per table, unless you got exceptional table clearance service. Not sure myself if this is correct. Anyone else??

It all depends on the opulence of the buffet and if you get a bill or not.

For breakfast, in an RC or FS, where they come and remove steadily dirty dishes and so on, I leave a minimum of $3.-. At a simple place $1.- is sufficient.

For Lunch or Dinner, depending on service (removing of empty plates, refilling of glasses, etc. I leave $ 5.-

My two cents

I always feel that at a buffet the waitress works harder than in a regular restaurant. They don't have busboys so they wind up having to clear the table several times and bring all the beverages. Thus I tip 15% even at a buffet.

To me it depends on a couple of things

• The quality of the service
• The amount of work they need to do for me

If they are attentive, then they of course get more.

If it's a longer brunch type of buffet with three or four plate changes, then they would get more then a breakfast buffet where all they do is bring a glass of juice .

I tip a minimum of $3/person for a buffet, and work my way up. Despite not having to bring you food or remember orders, sometimes these people have to do a pretty good amount of work for you.

If all they do is bring one drink I tip $1 per person. If there is quite a bit of service, such as bringing juice, coffee, and Champagne, I'll do 15% of the check up to $5/person.

QL

I don't tip at Buffet at all.

As always a tip is not mandatory. If the service is good I tip $1 per person at the table. For great service I tip $2 per person. For below average service I do not tip at all.

I guess it all depends

Here are some situations I can see

• They don't provide any service other than pick the dishes from your table (i.e. Hometown buffet, etc)
  • $1
• They bring to your table drinks or other items (i.e. breakfast buffets)
  • 10% or $2
• Spectacular service, bring you extra items, drinks, friendly, etc
  • 15-20%

That's my rule of thumb

For some reason, I always thought the buffet rule of thumb was 10%.

However, I have to admit, I find it hard to leave that little.....I'm a consistent 20% + tipper in restaurants.....so I usually leave 15% at a buffet, especially if the server is great with drink refills, clearing old plates, bringing new ones, and if they attempt to make a little polite conversation.

Honestly, I fear I may have inadvertently, once or twice, forgotten to tip at a buffet (gee, did I leave the waiter anythig at the Chinese buffet I went to last week? )

I will usually tip $1 per person in my party at a buffet.

For basic hotel buffet breakfasts either $1 or $2 depending on the quality and location. If I was to go to a really fancy place, 10%. Even if they're doing a lot of work, I'm still having to get up and walk around and carry my own plate, so 18-20% isn't going to happen.

For hotel club lounges, $1, more if I'm there for an hour or so. Except at the Sheraton Commander where I'm there often and the very nice attendant works both the 6-10am and the 4-8pm shifts so I give her $2 or $3 even though the food selections are meh.

I don't generally go to buffets outside of a hotel except for a few specific places with friends in other cities (a Chinese place in Cambridge and an Indian place in Mountain View), and there I let them figure out the tip.

I try to figure, very approximately, how much work the server does relative to what a server would do for the same price meal in a non-buffet restaurant. Then I adjust my usual restaurant percentage tip up or down based on that. It usually works out about the same or a bit less, since the only thing the server does not do is take the food order (they still usually take the drink order) and bring out the food from the kitchen. Removing dirty dishes after every trip to the buffet tends to more or less make up for that.

Even the lowliest burg in America now has a chinese buffet, or an asian-fusion oriental buffet featuring all-you-can-eat sushi. I am too lazy to put up a chinesebuffet.com website listing them all. What are your favorites? What are your favorite dishes? What are the most unique dishes you have encountered?