I dislike Ruth's also. I eat my steaks rare or medium rare depending on the cut. The fact they serve it on a hot plate just gets my steak to medium by the time I'm done with it. Makes no sense to me.

If that's your kind word, hate to see an unkind one. :rolleyes:

If 15% pretax is still fairly "standard", then why do almost all restaurants include an 18% gratuity? Would not that indicate 18% might be a new standard? I generally receive more than either of those, but again, you said that is for standard service and I certainly aspire to be more than run-of-the-mill.

Nope, that's really my only goal. I doubt I'll ever wait on anyone who's posted in this thread, and if I do, I certainly hope you'll want to leave me a nice tip based on the service you received, not because I've bent your ear a bit in this thread. I think a lot of people don't know much about the industry and make certain assumptions, some of which I've read in earlier posts. I'm just trying to dispel some of those thoughts.

Chris

As a side note, the talk of messing with someone's food if they tip poorly really gets to me, too. I've never done it, never seen it, only heard rumors of it at lower quality restaurants, and if I saw it, I would promptly try to get that person fired. Don't include me in that school of thought at all.

Chris

"If 15% pretax is still fairly "standard", then why do almost all restaurants include an 18% gratuity? Would not that indicate 18% might be a new standard? I generally receive more than either of those, but again, you said that is for standard service and I certainly aspire to be more than run-of-the-mill."

Perhaps so that they can continue tip escaleation to further escape having to pay labor a fair wage?

An industry does not set the standard price=that is not legal(especially something as voulantary as tipping)the consumer does.

Doesn't sound like any Ruth's Chris I've ever been in! First, I've never heard of not being able to take your leftovers in any non-buffet restaurant. I hope you spoke with a manager and got that resolved to your satisfaction. Second, the side vegetables I've gotten with my steaks over the years have all been excellent. I have especially enjoyed the creamed spinach. I hope you didn't leave a tip, LOL.

"The only thing I'm trying to do in this thread is to educate"
An education that takes extra money out of my pocket and puts it into someone elses?
Such an "education"I do not need! :D
Thanks but no thanks.

My wife & I share our food. The normal restaurant portions are usually huge. We usually share an entree. We both watch what we eat. (should have done that years ago, but no time like the present!).

My point is that when the server gets the kitchen to split the entree onto two plates, the server gets a very nice tip (usually 20-25%). If the server explains that the kitchen will not put the one entree onto two plates, a nice tip is still given. If I explain that we are sharing the entree and only one plate is brought out, a lesser tip is given.

Sometimes, the server seems to dislike it when I mention that we are sharing the entree. Too bad, we eat smaller portions to get healthy--especially if we are on the road and don't have anywhere to keep the "doggie" bag. We order alot of salads because that may be one of the few healthy choices on the menu.

When we go somewhere like Las Vegas (this was more relevant in the old days when we didn't eat very healthy), we would tip very generously if the meal was priced alot less than a comparable diner. For example, if we bought the $1.99-2.99 casino special, we may leave a couple of dollars tip because the normal meal at a comparable place like Denny's would cost close to $10 or more. We would tip on our perceived value what it could cost outside the casino. I wonder if the eaters tipped on 15-18% of $1.99, how can the server survive on such low tips.

One thing I don't like when they have a share plate charge ($5-8) at some restaurants. If the restaurant would split up the entree & give each person the same amount of side (for us, veggies :)^), we can justifiy the charge. If not, then not. What we do is order an entree & a salad. We then ask for another plate & we split everything. When we do that, it usually comes out just right.

I wish that people that wish to eat smaller portions be able to order from the kids or senior menu. Especially for solo travelers that are on the road & aren't able to keep the uneaten meal in a fridge.

Bottom line:

We usually tip the following:

Average job: 15%. (no extra plate brought out when we asked when we ordered the food--having to ask again).
Above average: 17-19%.
When the server splits the entree in half on each plate: 20-30%. Usually 25%

Even more tip when server does something special. I have done over 50% on a few occasions when the server went way, way above their duty. :)

If there are problems that are not server related (kitchen delays or extremely busy restaurant), I don't take it away from the server.

Wow! You really come of sounding like a condescending ... with that statement...you never had a job in the restaurant industry, did you?:td:

I agree with bigguyinpasadena
 

why do you think someone has to work in the restaurant industry to have an opinion on this matter?

I worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant during college. Does that qualify me to have an opinion to you? I agree with bigguyinpasadena, okay? He may not have said it politically correct, but I agree with him.

I agree with bigguyinpasadena
 

why do you think someone has to work in the restaurant industry to have an opinion on this matter?

I worked as a dishwasher in a restaurant during college. Does that qualify me to have an opinion to you? I agree with bigguyinpasadena, okay? He may not have said it politically correct, but I agree with him.

How about: I would rather tip for the level of service received rather than having to supplement someone's income with tips. Does that sound better to you?

It seems strange to punish the server for the restaurants' policies. I can't help WHERE my income comes from. This whole "it's not my problem" argument seems to be a way to justify your own frugality. It's amazing how $1 or $2 bucks will be able to cheer someone up instead of making them mad. ($4 tip on $30 = disappointing, $6 tip on $30 = rewarding). Most of the time it's not even the money itself but just the principle of the matter.

Chris

And if that person deserves an extra couple of bucks I probably would give it to them.
I just do not want to be told something is standard practice-and therefore the accepted norm-when it is not.

"It seems strange to punish the server for the restaurants' policies."
But why should the public be expected to take such punishment because your boss is too greedy to pay his staff a living wage?

"I can't help WHERE my income comes from"
Of course you can.You are not chained to a particular restaurant-nor even this profession.

"It's amazing how $1 or $2 bucks will be able to cheer someone up instead of making them mad. ($4 tip on $30 = disappointing, $6 tip on $30 = rewarding). Most of the time it's not even the money itself but just the principle of the matter."
Sorry-guilt tripping the public is not going to work,
And the tip on a $30(pre tax of course)for standard service would be $4.50-a waitperson unhappy with this could use the extra fifty cents to buy a paper,cruise the help wanted ads and find a different job.So glad I can make a difference in such a persons life.^

Actually spent about 5 years in restaurant service.Everything from dishwasher to management.

Tipping in foreign countries
 

My husband and I were literally chased down the street in Istanbul because we left a tip. The restaurnat owner insisted we take it back. I was totally amazed! (I gave it to an old crippled woman who was begging on a sidewalk near the restaurant.)

I find it serendipitous that while the restaurant always gets paid the same for the food it sells - menu price -; the server never knows what they're gonna get for their efforts: assuming all things equal (level of service) the server may receive anywhere from nothing - "I don't tip" - to 30% or more - "I work in a restaurant" - for doing the exact same job for different people!

Now that's serendipity!

I kept my mouth shut and laughed until I read this, now I have to respond.
LIST
25%+ if you gave me free stuff (shouldn't tip at all since you stole from your boss and if you are that dishonest, what did you do to my food)
15-20%+ if you gave me expemplary service
10%+ if you kept my drink full and were nice (at minimum that is your job)
$0.01 if you don't know what you're doing but eventually I get served.
-0- if you are rude and a talk with your manager.

If you don't like your job, get another one. If you don't think you are paid enough, look somewhere else. If you reward a dog for biting you, it will bite you again. NEVER REWARD SERVICE THAT IS LESS THAN EXCELLENT! Never tip when it is automatic and on top of that consider not going back.

I bring in a party of six and the bill is $300.00. You think you should get $60.00 to $100.00 for that service. That is $60.00 to $100.00 per hour or more if we were your ONLY table. But we are not, so how much do you think your service is worth? At this rate how long before you go out and spend $50.00 for a meal and the server thinks you should pay $50.00 as a tip. Don't think it is a joke, we keep on raising the bar and there is no end in sight.

There is an end though, people stop going out because they can no longer afford the tip. Then the businesses lay off servers and then the businesses close. Guess what server gets $-0- of $-0-. At some point customers may decide it is not worth it.

This reminds me of my favourite episode of 3rd Rock from the Sun. When at a restaurant, Dick places a pile of bills on the table and calls the server over. He explains that this is the potential tip and for everything the server does to please him, he will add to the pile and for everything the server does that displeases him will result in a deduction from the pile. There's logic to that!

Having said that, I come from a country with a minimum wage of approx $12 US per hour for all workers. Tipping happens but if you do tip (and it's passed to the employee, not always the case) then it's a bonus on top of that wage.

It frustrates me, and so many others, that the US system of almost compulsory tipping is to compensate for a poor base pay, in some cases $1-2 per hour. While I would never take that out on the employees, I really would prefer not to have to tip out of guilt.

Don't get me wrong, I do tip well when in the US, but coming back from a Business trip I may have receipts for meals, taxis, drinks to the value of $1200, but actually have spent $1500. My accounts department still don't quite understand the tipping thing. Yes I could tip on my credit card, but not for things like taxis, bell staff etc and it adds up fast!

I fear that a certain poster in this thread has decided to"educate"us flyertalkers as to the care and treatment of the workers in his industry :rolleyes:

"I really hate this as they calculate the total including the tax-you should not have to tip on the tax."

Yeah, actually you do. Plenty of tight asses try to skimp on the tip this way, but you tip on the overall cost of the meal.

In the case where you felt jaded by them adding a gratuity, you should have mentioned this to them instead of talking about it with people on a website. In the end, it was shown on your bill. The onus is on you to review your bill.

I have these coupons from restuarant.com.
 

A couple state an 18% gratuity will be added to your bill. Not a problem for me. The others state to tip on the full amount of the check. But when they add tax, is that considered the full amount? Here in CLE-land I just usually double the tax and add a little, it usually comes out to 15-18%.

If I could only figure how to do math in my head. My wonderful Samsung Sprint phone does not have a tip calculator.

Easy to say, but if you applied that rule in London, you'd never eat out again.

Over the past ~5 years, virtually every place I've seen which charges more than £10 for a main disk also adds a 10-12.5% "optional" service charge onto the bill, which you don't technically have to pay but have to request be removed if you wish.

The HUGE stink is that some restaurant chains (Pizza Express, for instance) actually keep a portion of this optional tip for themselves - they add it to their own bottom line! :mad: :mad:

"which you don't technically have to pay but have to request be removed if you wish"
And you should ask that it be removed-total nonsense.
Quite common for tips added to the bill on a credit card charge to be skimmed by management :mad: Always better to tip the server in cash.

Well written big guy.

I LOATHE the entire concept of tipping. One of the reasons I don't eat out. The other main reason is that I am frugal, and don't see what the big deal is about food. I much prefer to cook and eat my own, or of course have my wife cook too. We share.

As someone else wrote, while waiting does require some skill, it is always going to be a low wage area, simply because the skill set is so lacking.

However, it is closely related to sales work, and you could probably make way more money selling Amway or being a used car salesman, or other sales type jobs that also work on a commission.

Or be like me, self emplyed, where my income is directly related to my effort, [or as sometimes is the case lack of effort;)]

It is all to subjective for me to enjoy the concept of tipping

Absolutely. I couldn't agree more.

But of course, the clever chaps who put this on the bill rightly assume that you don't want to look like a cad in front of your dinner mates, and the cost of £5 isn't worth making a fuss over.

Oh, you naive waif.......

For me, who broke in behind a soda fountain at 13 and learned the bartenders' trade as a collegian, splitting tips with cocktail waitresses (before turning to an honest living), the mere sight of an "Auto-Grat"" (sounds like a condition of the bowels I'd rather avoid!) is an offense against public decency, nigh unto mopery in a public conveyance, and may extend to gratuitous abuse and false detainer(although modestly if not warmly acceptable when printed in big type in the menu and at the door).

I generally tip (in the US) at about 20% (of the net, pre-tax check), with a "up" for good service and a "solid hit" for despicable treatment. Whilst I comprehend the frequency with which the hosts of big groups under-tip, and the miserly habits of a dozen couples dining "Dutch" in a restaurant priced higher than their usual haunts, "them's the hazards!"

Don't expect me to be the guarantor of your performance, simply the judge and jury regarding recompense for same.

But, Hell, these days, even cafeterias have "waitrons" wandering about refilling the ice tea ("Sweet?", Unsweet?) and cadging tips...

Actually, you don't have to tip on the tax and not tipping on the tax does not make you a tight .... Even an unscientific source such as the web, repeatedly offers sites that suggest tipping on the pre tax price. Same for wine and liquor - tipping 20% on a $40 bottle of wine is absurd - include a tip for the wine service, but not on the total bottle if costs much over $10 -15.

Just offering up a difference of opinion - but of course I'm always correct :)

That is correct.Waiter/ress has nothing to do with the tax-it is an auto add on and therfore tips should be calculated on the PRE tax amount.

As to the wine-well that is a touchy subject for me.I do not drink and if my guests order wine I really have no problem paying for a reasonable bottle(If there is such a thing)as they are my guests.Most folks see that I am not drinking and ask that the bottle be billed seperately ^.However-I do not tip full amount on an expensive bottle.$5-$10 is my average.

I already addressed this in my other thread. We're all allowed to have differences of opinion. It's not so much that I care to tell people how to treat their servers, but perhaps a discussion of what actually goes into the job might make people feel differently than they did before.

Your poetic license notwithstanding, I think you miss the point on my posts in this thread. If you tip about 20% for good service, less for bad service, and more for excellent service, then you are doing the exact same thing as I do when I dine out. I'm not sure what makes me a "naive waif". All I posted above is that the "auto-grat" isn't the choice of the server, and that if you would generally tip more than that amount, feel free to add to it.

I personally wish I never had to put the gratuity on any check. My tip percentage is generally higher than what I would get from the 18% gratuity. That being said, it's discriminatory for me to add the service charge to one group while not doing it to another, therefore my management made the policy that it's mandatory on six or more adults.

I certainly don't expect anyone to be the "guarantor of my performance". If I do a good job, treat me as such. If I don't, I haven't earned much. But those in this thread and others that disagree with the premise of tipping (which, quite frankly, sometimes I do myself), seem to be from the same group that would yell at a 16-year old kid for the return policy of a certain store. It's not the fault of that employee, and they shouldn't take it out on him. It's not my fault that society has deemed tipping the standard for server compensation, but stiffing me won't change anything except for my attitude.

Tip whatever you want. I'm tired of arguing with the select few that don't tip (much).


Chris

Chris-just so you know I am NOT a tightwad :D
My last dining check came to $63.I tipped the waiter $20 because he did an OUTSTANDING job under difficult circumstances-so that is what?35% of the pre tax(the amount you properly should tip on)bill.

Now-as to the auto 18% I think management does this to assure servers get a better than average(15%)tip because tables of six or more are more work and when a party split a check the server often gets shafted by one of the six=solved by the auto tip.

Of course you can tip more-you can always do that to reward excellent service-but you should call any shortcomings in the service to the managers attention and ask that the tip be adjusted.

Then this I wholeheartedly agree on. Like I expounded on elsewhere, if I had my choice, I'd never "grat" a table. Some people take offense; some have the audacity to say "if you wouldn't have put that on there, I would have left you more." That just seems outright rude on their part.

But mainly, I just generally get tipped more than 18% pretax. Why would I want to "force" a tip that's less than my average? That's like taking a voluntary pay cut.

Chris

Then why don't you ask management to do away with the auto gratuity? If you say nothing, they will take that as your tacit approval of the policy. While I have no way of knowing what your true feelings are, I would think that most servers like the insurance policy of a guaranteed 18% tip (which may cost them 2 - 7 % on average) over a non-guaranteed tip. Add me to the group that normally tips 20%+ but refuses to do so if an auto tip is included. If you really believe you would be better off without the auto tip, you should speak up. Perhaps not in your case, but the auto tip has to take away some of the motivation for some servers to provide good service.

Yes. They see if they can get away with it...

Actually, I have addressed this with management. Unfortunately, when you have a mixed clientèle consisting of (what I called earlier in this thread as was chided for) both experienced diners and more "novice" diners, there will be times where you are punished by not adding the gratuity to a table. The auto gratuity makes your income more consistent, but if you consider yourself a good server, I think it holds us back more than it helps it. I'm a gambler by nature (hence being in an industry without a guaranteed wage), so I'm willing to take the swings, but some of my colleagues are not, so management keeps the policy in place.

Chris

Auto Grat
 

Don't you have to enter the number of guests at a table? So, if it kicks in at 8, can't you just specify 7 diners?

If the 18% auto tip doesn't "thrill the server", perhaps the server needs an attitude adjustment. 18% is far more than "any tip". If the server wants to shoot for a higher tip he or she is welcome to waive the auto tip and see what I give out. If the auto tip is there. that's what the server is getting. If the server doesn't like it, he/she can take it up with management or find an establishment that doesn't have that policy.

Nope, it just counts how many entrees are rang in. And again, management's policy is to add it with 6 or more adults. The computer doesn't automatically do it.

No attitude adjustment needed thank you. Quite level-headed already. I'm not saying I dislike getting 18%. I'm just saying I typically get more based on my service. So why would I want to add something that will make me less money? If I don't "grat" them and they leave me 18%, I am in no way disappointed. In this case especially, it's a a zero-sum result.

I want to reiterate that no, I can't just not add the gratuity at my choosing. It's discrimination to pick and choose who gets it. If I see a bunch of Armani-suit wearing, black AmEx toting businessmen and don't add it, and then I see a bunch of elderly people and do add it, I'm being discriminatory.

As I posted a little higher up, I have brought it up with management, and they told me if every last server agreed, we'd take the policy off the menu. A couple servers disagreed so it stayed. To say that I should then find another establishment without the policy is a somewhat ridiculous leap in logic. I'm sure your job has policies with which you disagree, but you don't go hopping jobs every time one pops up. And, for that matter, I don't know of a single restaurant that doesn't have an auto-gratuity for some size of party.

Chris

WHOA!!! Did NOT read this entire thread but saw this entry quoted in someone's elses post and had to reply. TIPPING IS NOT REQUIRED - EVER!!

It is a socially accepted norm in certain cultures so it might be expected (and is, obviously), but is NOT required. If you walk out of a restaurant without tipping, they'll call you a tightwad, but not the police.

There is no " YOU HAVE TO " and anyone who believes that is giving into peer/societal pressures and nothing more. :td:

sheesh - I feel better :)

I love how there is this negative attitude that you're cheap if you don't tip.

The people with that attitude don't seem to care that the restaurant owners are cheap because they don't pay proper wages.

What about the fact that you could pay a server 10 times as much to do the same job if you're in a more expensive restaurant or order an expensive bottle of wine? (Yes someone please tell me how carrying a $100 bottle of wine to the table is somehow more difficult than carrying $40 bottle of wine to the table - especially when both probably $10 at the LCBO)

If you go to buy a TV you don't tip them because they've helped you, if anything the serving staff would get a higher commission if they've sold a more expensive product.

This is all backwards.

Apropos of very little, but speaking of auto-tipping:

Once in NYC about a decade ago I went to a restaurant with MrsNKEdel (albeit a couple of years before we got married) and despite being a party of only two, had an auto-tip on the bill of 15% pretax.

I complained about it, and despite nothing to that effect on the menu or posted, the waitress indicated that it was policy to include it after 10pm and that there was nothing she could do about it herself, but did I want to speak with the manager? I didn't bother - it was a chain place we'd dropped into for convenience, and I wasn't likely to ever be back there, and the service had been good up to that point.

Oddly enough, when my charge slip came it was the regular amount, without the auto-tip. So I left my usual closer-to-20-than-15% tip, and I assume I could have simply written zero or crossed off that line and copied over the total.

Still seems weird; has anyone else seen auto-tipping for smaller parties late in the evening? Or was the original receipt just a hamfisted case of "suggested tipping"?

Survey on auto tipping and tipping in general
 

Let your voice be heard ^
http://consumerist.com/5062367/is-it...t-a-restaurant

some poor servers meager income? lol. if you dont tip you are a scumbag. period. servers count on tips as part of their salary. belittle someone for their income? what are you 15? put your salary up and we'll compare. i could use the laugh. hint unless it is at least 7 figures dont bother.