GoodKarmaGuy, do you pay your bills with percentage points or with dollars?

Who cares what % of the bill a tip is. It's just a guide; it's the dollars that matter in the end. The % guide gets out of whack when you're talking about very expensive food and wine. Tipping 20 bucks for a meal for just two people is a pretty big tip.

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.

GoodKarmaGuy

How much time do you think the waiter spent at my table in tolal? Max 10mins so $20 for a good 10 mins of work is goot $60 per hour aint bad. Forget the percentage .....

Sorry if you don't like it but that is the way I am and I know many others are like it

What about McDonald, Burgerking and other fast food joints Do we tip them?

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 beserk, I'd rather tip the bagger at my local supermarket than give it 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 days wages of every waiter that helps me.

[/QUOTE]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.[/B][/QUOTE]
I agree. Most of the English restaurants add a fixed service charge and if you have been waited on exceptionally you may add a tip.
I must say more recently, in areas frequented by American tourists some waiters have started giving you dirty looks if you dont tip in addition to the billed service charges.

I forgot in my last post 20% of my meal for 10 mins work is a nice $900 per hour. What a load of crap....

If a waiter in a top class restaurant averages tables of $750 ($150 tips) and has say 6 tables in 3 shifts he'll be making $2700 a night, weekdays probably half that, total: $37800 a month... gimme a break...

I was under the impression that tips in restaurants are shared with the busboys and kitchen staff also. No server gets to keep all of his or her tips. It does seem a bit ridiculous, in one way, though. If you go to dinner and get a cheap bottle of wine, or if you get the same dinner and an expensive bottle of wine, why should the tip be significantly higher in the second example?

OK.

First, please remember that I am serving at a top end hotel. Second, please note that in my above post I noted that I do not put money in tip jars on counters. Let's not get those two things mixed up.

It is interesting to me that many people who would pay a clown $250 for two hours worth of work at a kid's birthday party or a craftsman several hundred dollars for work on their house or car will rebel at the notion of paying a craftsman (me) a couple hundred dollars to ensure that they have an unforgettable special event(anniversary dinner, etc.).

If you think that this is NOT a craft, I assure you that it is. I read food books, eat out alone, visit other restauarnt kitchens, visit wineries without drinking, etc. I hope I don't sound obnoxious about this because I enjoy it. I'm good at it and I have fun. Most tables are not going to have $750.00 bills. Fters are not average! Most of us are well read and enjoy food and drink. Most waiters work 1 shift a day. With 1 1/2 hours of prep work before and 1 1/2 hours of closing work after, no top place is going to pay overtime. That time I spend tableside is just a part of the time I spend on a table. Besides the prep, cleanup, polishing glassware and silver (busboys are paid more so restaurants/hotels have US doit) I also am orchestrating your meal behind doors. Running the busser's butt off, and asking the food runner why the salads arent out yet. Telling the cooks that I won't accept that plate even though the chip is where a guest might never see it (what if they pick the plate up to move it?). I DON'T MIND. I love the work. I make 21% of my sales and my goal this year is to get it to 22%.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and have their own experiences. It amazes me that people will cuss at my ideas and experiences. Thank goodness for people who can see the reality of the market place and know that I did not set up the tipping practice and who are not self righteous enough to take it out on me. Thank goodness for the lady who tipped me $600 on a $1000 check on Christmas Day. Very generous and unexpected. (BTW $200 of that went immediatly into the pockets of my two bussers who both got teary-eyed). More got distributed later. We typically tip other staff 30-33%.

Y'all tip whatever you want. No problem.

p.s. I expect my customers to tip seperate on the wine.

GKG - I would expect to pay extra on the expensive wine too - but I'd never get it at a restaurant anyway, so it won't be an issue.

Honestly, some of the posters here are major cheapskates. If you plan on tipping a maximum of $20 for a meal at a restaurant I owned, I would hope you didn't bother coming in.

I really doubt these posters ever eat at truly first class restaurants because there is no way you're going to eat at a 28-29 Zagat rated restaurant and tip the kind of minimal amounts described above (if you wanted to return to a friendly staff). Eat at McDonald's until you grow up.

You should tip 15% minimum and 20%+ for good service. In extraordinarily bad situations, I could see dropping below 15%.

And the comment about not tipping housekeeping staff in the US is way off base.

Yes, great waitstaff in great restaurants can reach $75,000/year. You get great service too. Welcome to America.

I say bravo to our English colleagues posting here, for some reasonable perspective on tipping in the US:

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:

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.

Maybe that is the poblem you expect...