when is the last time that restaurant gave you a handout? Tips have gotten so out of hand these days it's ridiculous.
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OT - Do you tip at carry out places?
If it's a restaurant that I order take out from but could sit down and a server was the one to put it together I usually leave a dollar on my card. Thinking is they would be working on their tables if it wasn't for me.
It it's only take out/fast food the only time I tip is when I pay cash and don't feel like carrying around whatever coins I get as change.
I agree, I used to work at a restaurant and the carry out workers do their fair share of work to put the order together so I always tip them. But if I go pickup a pizza from Hungry Howies or something I usually do not.
...with anything Perry says.
Depends on the restaurant. I know at Chili's and Buffalo Wild Wings, the takeaway servers get min. wage so I don't tip. At the Outback I work at, they get paid $2.63 an hour, just like regular servers and depend on tips. Nothing big, $2-3 dollars will do.
To eat at a restaurant it should be required that you worked at one for a year so you learn that your ranch isn't that f-ing important. Yes I did steal that from Daniel Tosh.
In a non-Waiting position? Are they watching tables too? Because if not, they're hostesses, not servers. And your Outback sounds like it's doing something illegal.
The rules are different for employees who receive a significant portion of their income through tips, not just servers.
The Federal minimum wage is something like $2.13 for tipped employees. In Michigan, I think it's $2.65. However, if tips + wages don't exceed actual minimum wage, the employer has to make up the difference.
But how can a take out person not working the bar or something be considered getting a significant amount of their income from tips? We just had a whole thread of non-tipping for take out people, and if it was a thread of "do you tip the hostess?" I bet it would be even worse. Sounds like an excuse not to call it what it really is...a minimum wage job. Either through generous tips or employer make-up.
Because you work carry-out in shifts.
Servers end up doing carry-out shifts. Some places hire hosts that don't serve, ever.
It depends entirely on the restaurant. There's no real way to tell how practices work from restaurant.
Would you rather err on the safe side or not? Most of the people I worked with in food service live check to check (edit: myself included - I worked two jobs in food service + midnights at meijer during a semester at U-M as a full-time student). For them, a bad day at work = an overdraft fee, or worse.
If you're going out to eat, you can afford to tip.
If you're not going to tip, go home and cook.
Because I can afford to eat out doesn't mean I can afford to pay a guys employees for him. I pity anyone who can't make ends meet but I don't go around giving money to all of them. I would like to know when it became incumbent upon the consumers to pay the wages of the employees? We do that by paying the bills at the end of whatever it is we are doing, why should we HAVE to give a tip as well?
The only ones making out good in all this is the employers.
I say you ask Mr. Pink what he thinks about this.
Tipping automatically is for the birds. I don't tip because society says I have to.
-Mr Pink.
I typically charge the cost of the carryout and often drop a dollar or two in the tip jar. It doesn't impact me very much and might help someone else.
If I spend say 5.53 and get 47 cents in change at a carry out place I'll usually just drop the change in the jar. If I'm using my card I'm probably not going to tip, but I do make it a point to remember if someone was extremely courteous so that if I ever do spend cash there I'd end up tipping. This means I will never leave a tip at Blimpie Burger.
If you're going to neg me, at least say why. I mean I understand that Blimpie Burger prides itself in its joking rude act or whatever, but when they don't let old ladies with canes lean on a counter or sit down it goes from jest to downright douchebaggery.
It's Blimpy Burger the attitude is part of the experience that makes Blimpy the greatest burger joint in the word, if you don't appreciate it don't eat there.
Didn't say I wouldn't eat there, just said I wouldn't tip there. I understand the whole, lets have attitude to stand out from the crowd stuff, but when you tell elderly disabled people they aren't allowed to lean or sit somewhere it becomes indecent. If I'm going to tip someone to abuse me, it's going to be a hooker.
Today is your two year MGoBirthday... you should know better than to complain about a neg
I've read MGoBlog for a long time, I really didn't start posting until I got unbelievably bored at work one day and decided I would start posting on the topics I read. Oh and I guess your MGoBirthday is tomorrow, so happy 2 years in advance haha.
Haha thanks brotha
I didn't neg you, but one little note - don't tip pennies. No one wants those. In your hypothetical, drop 45 cents in and keep the pennies or put them in a penny jar.
I ususally do if it's a place that I eat at a lot, otherwise no.
Negging by people without the stones to say why is endemic around here. I'd guess it's because you dared utter a comment that was critical of Blimpie, and thou shalt not criticize Blimpie.
If I neg i usually say why, unless it's pretty self explanatory (e.g. a Troll.) I realize I'll probably get negged for this. It's okay, I'll eventually get to 100,000 and get my date with Brian.
Hahaa. I got negged after I posted the Bob Probert has died thread. I posted some video off of youtube of some of his fights and someone negged that part instead of the thread so I couldn't see who did it. Its pretty comical when you negged for posting something about someone who just died.
Failure to use the reply button.
And Wendys remains superior in every way.
And I dont even like Wendys.
I am glad that there is someone else out their who hates Blimpie. Stay strong brother.
and i feel that the only person or people that should get tipped on a carry out order is the cooks... we did all the work and we get nothing out of it...
You mean you didn't get paid by your employer to cook the meal? Man, you should fined a new job, or better yet can you draft in Autocad or Revit?
my point was that the waitresses or person at the counter are the ones get the tips that do come in on carry out orders... the cooks who did all of the work in putting the order together don't see any % of that tip... myself personally i don't tip on carry out because i know the majority of the time waitress is just going to pocket it...
The place where I work the cooks get paid pretty damn well. And when you guys (cooks) screw up food, it's the servers tips that get reduced. Even though they had nothing to do w/ you (the cooks) grilling someones steak well when they wanted it medium. Maybe the cooks should then give the servers money out of their pocket when they screw up food that leaves the window and gets sent back?
battle between cooks and servers... sounds like you work at a place where the owners over pay the cooks to keep them around no matter how bad of a job they do...
Quite possible my friend. Never said the people who ran the place I worked at were the smartest lol.
What do you consider paid well? From what I've experienced in NYC, cooks make between $10-$15 an hour, and the high end is at restaurants like Le Bernardin. Maybe my values are screwed up, but in no way is that paid well. Especially when servers at those restaurants can pull in tips from tables with an average check north of $100.
I can't speak for your experiences, but I can for mine.
I work at a ritzy place in the summer, highest end in my area (which doesn't have many..) as a server. I get 2.65 an hour. The chefs get 15.50 an hour.
There are many complications from little nitpicky stuff in orders there. When a chef misses one of those, who deals with the customer?
Odds are good you're making a pretty decent wage to be preparing what you are. We don't. Odds are unless you're waiter/tress is a complete ass/bitch, you're getting a 5-10 dollar tip from each one in the joint.
I think you're either working at the wrong place or working with some shit wait staff
If it's a regular restaurant, always. The waiters working at the bar/counter are expecting tips as part of their wages. For fast food-type places, it's more optional.
if she's cute, i'll tip
The only thing that gets me to tip on a carry out order is if the girl is cute !
Here's my logic for tipping. I understand that they get paid less than $3/hour, but no one needs to be getting paid $30+/hour for waiting tables. You tip to ensure good service, you don't tip for anything else. That includes making sure your drink never runs out, getting your food quickly, making sure your drinks are strong, etc. It doesn't include writing down your order and placing it in a bag.
I generally start with 20% and go from there. If it is a small bill, I'll add $1. If it's a large bill and the tip is already $10, I'll take off $1, because they usually have 3 other tables tipping as well. even if they don't $9 plus the minimum wage is about what a waiter should be making.
but you need to remember (and it's something most people don't know)...a server tips out..usually three other people at the end of the night. It varies place to place..but from my experience..we tipped out a busser, food runner, and bartender. Each person gets 10% of our sales. (which is b.s. the bartender should be tipped out on alcohol sales, but that's another story).
So if at the end of my night my sales are $551 I was expected to tip each of the three $6. If it's $549 I tipped each person $5.
Regardless you're taking out 15-18 dollars from what you make. Just something to remember when you're going out and tipping.
...giving me a negative for that post. Makes sense.
We seem to have some real tightwads around here.
10% of $550 is $55, a bit more than $5/$6 depending on your rounding.
good call. Definitely overlooked that mistake. Didn't mean 10%, but the point remains the same. People still need to understand that servers don't keep 100% of their tips.
so by your logic if they did amazing and most compaines have 3 table sections at 20% of 500 bucks is??? 100 bucks now that 100 bucks is spilt up between a busser, food runner, bartender, cooks so now the sever walks with 70 in 8 hours so your right they didnt make 30 bucks an hour they made way less. you guys are so dumb.
Is about $9 an hour (almost), plus the minimum wage. Which is what he said.
I mean, if it's so unfair, you could pay them more, and cut into your profits...or charge more, and see if people take their business elsewhere.
Waiters actually normally get paid below minimum wage, with the expectation that tips will cover the difference.
I was so into seeing the flaw in the poster's math analysis, I missed the flaw in the logic of the OP (in this branch).
First of all, I'm talking about tipping 20% and only taking off $1 when the tip exceeds $10, so the bill was >$50. If they only get 10 tables in a 3-table section over 8 hours, that sounds like a personal problem to me.
Second, I don't care how they have to split it out. That's part of the job and they accept it when they take on the work.
Third, almost $9/hour + $2/hour is about the max of what I feel they should be making.
Fourth, the 20% is a general purpose baseline. If the service is beyond horrible (mess up orders, forget about us, etc) I'll use 15% as the baseline. If we have a 8+ people or a special order, then I might jump to 25%.
Fifth, if their tips and hourly wage do not surpass the minimum wage ($7ish, whatever it is now), the employer is responsible for paying the difference so that the waitress makes minimum wage. So, even if they provide the worst service and no one tips them, they are making $7-8/hour until they get fired.
I'm italian....so i have to tip....everybody.....
:(
How about at a buffet?
I don't but I know many that do.
At carryout places...I carry out all my extra cash with me too.
I'll usually drop a dollar tip.
But for places like Chiptole or Moe's that have a tip jar, hell no.
For anyone who doesn't like to tip, try overtipping by a dollar or two (or five, or ten, or twenty, depending on what kind of restaurant you are in and how much you normally spend) on a regular basis. Get to know a person or two by name. You might even want to talk a bit, offering a few personal details but not enough to make anyone think you want to get "too close." You will soon get a reputation as a "great customer." The old saw/acronym "To Insure Prompt Service" doesn't work as a single transaction; it works much better as a pattern.
You won't believe how much better you will be treated after the staff picks up on your generosity. I have been on "both sides of the counter," and I can state with utter conviction that being treated like royalty and having the staff look forward to your visits is well worth the extra dollars you spend.
Conversely, if you get a reputation as a PITA, don't even bother eating anything they make for you once they know you. You don't want to know why.
Carry out is just like the bar: about 10%, but never less than a buck at a time. It's an extra dollar or three to me, but it means a lot more to them.
if any of you all have worked at a restaurant you know how to tip. Listen people its not based on min wage even if there carry out person gets min wage. theres more effort that goes into your carry out order then your order at the place of business. ill happily walk you through this if you need it. stop being stingy i up charge ppl where i work to cover the cost of carry out just because ppl like you all dont tip. Service in the dinning room is different if you have a problem then it can be fixed but, your interaction with a togo person is simple. a lot of peoples expecations are not able to be met. Tip min tip isnt dollar its 20% not a $1. even if they suck theres a lot more work than you understand that goes into making ur night than just a dollar. and if you "get to know" someone everyone tries it be orig. grow a pair you went to michigan not ohio state act like it stop being cheep.
stop being stingy i up charge ppl where i work to cover the cost of carry out just because ppl like you all dont tip.
what if someone is down on their luck and can barely afford the meal? you are gonna take more out of the shallow pocket? Just because YOU are not getting a tip?
if there doing TOGO at a 4 star place clearly they can afford it princess. How bout my boxes my togo person cost me more cause ppl like you dont tip so i upcharge to cover the cost boxes wax paper other contianers and my togo person they do more work then my servers but, you wouldnt know that. whats your point now? i dont need a food runner either or essay cause my servers work harder than you i bet and they go on to be awesome people i wont say who they are but, most of my servers make more then you i bet and work twice as hard which is most likely why you eat at outback i guess. you dont have one i win every fucking time this shit pisses me off my fucking servers get jacked by people like you becuase you all think you understand whats going on. I fly airplanes and own places to eat all sorts of places but, i don't ever try to act like i know everything. Let me guess your the person who can coach michigan to a nat'l title. ya jerk. why dont you stop being stingy.
so you feel your making a difference in the lives of you're co-workers. Do you want a cookie?
Every once in awhile people need to treat themselves to a "special" night. If they cant afford a tip, they shouldnt be penalized. You may work at a "4 Star" restaurant, but eventually the patrons will become aware and may stop coming. Then your argument is moot, you may want to consider this. If the other major chains are doing this, or are about to do this. I think they will be in for a rude awakening.
Just and FYI. Whenever I go to a sit down style restaurant, i sit down. If my service is above par and my drink is always full. Then the server gets 15 to 20 percent, if the service is poor they get paird accordingly. So i would recommend you do not stereotype a man you don't even know. As it may reveal some ignorance in you.
i dont work i own and you most likely get poor service because of that your food might come out right but your service might suck. how bout you cook for yourself i can tell you how to make what ever dish you'd enjoy. Im just informing you step into a city that has good high class places to eat where people go a lot they dont tip 20%.
Pay your people more. There! Problem solved.
The guy calling everyone stingy is the guy who doesn't pay his employees enough. This wouldn't even be a debate is you would pay your employees enough.
...but if you are "down on your luck" and can "barely afford the meal"...then what the hell are you doing eating out? Yes I know it's a nice thing to do every once in a while..but if you are down on your luck that much...maybe you should stay home and get your finances in order before going out to eat. If you can't tip, you shouldn't be eating out. B/c some people depend on your tips to care for their family.
There is nothing worse than getting stiffed on an incredibly large bill (especially if the service was flawless, and unfortunately it happens more than you think)...b/c in reality..the server ends up having to pay for you to eat there. If your bill is $100+ then that is an extra dollar the server has to tip out to the busser, food runner, and bartender. Incredibly frustrating.
If it was a sit down meal and someone pulled that, but I was talking about carry out orders.
Tipping is actually 15%...but we like to tip 20% for people we like and that don't "up charge" us. Though if you have the authority for that where you work, why don't you just pay them more? Because otherwise I think you're commuting fraud... And stop screwing up your carry out services so often and maybe it will be a lot easier for you. It's placing the order and putting it in a bag. Not brain surgery. And I know lots of people who run restaurants. And can still write in English. "I am the Leaders and Best" my ass.
oh im sorry im at 44,000 feet im on my phone im bored and thought id chime in. no its not fraud its on the menu at my 10% upcharge but my food is so good people want it. 20% is normal not 15% eat out at good places please i cover carry out fine. now its more my severs cause people like you who go to outback ot chain places tip shit because thats all they know. would you like for me to teach you how to play hockey, fly and cook. im sorry i didnt know mgoblog needed to be an english class. you clearly understood what i said so why comment on my writting skills. i know im aweful at writing but, i can most likely do your job better then you. thats whats sad.
And why? Because punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure is how we communicate. I've seen drunk posting before...frankly, that would have been a better excuse for you. I mean, if you could do all those other things, and are doing so well...you could just pay your people more. And buy a better phone. I mean, I don't think you could teach me much of anything. But I know I could teach you how to write. Because you couldn't do any worse with it. (And my job requires writing...so I doubt you could do that better either...).
...at the least.
I start at 20%, work my way down to 15% for lackluster but not horrid, up it for good, and downgrade it for rude. (Some of the best tips can come from screwed up orders that are the kitchen's fault but the server handles really well). I've left 100% tips on $100 tabs. I just don't want the standard rewritten by someone on a posting board.
I think that is perfectly acceptable. Waiting tables isn't hard...but it's definitely something that you either HAVE...or you don't. The problem are the people who you take care of perfectly...and then they leave you $4 on $82. And sadly these people are either incredibly cheap..or they just don't know any better and they think to themselves "leaving this kid $4 is such a good thing for me to do". Like they are doing you a favor, sadly people just don't understand how to tip.
In the state i live in, I believe they are required to claim 8% tips on each day, even if they don't get that much.(or so i have been told). Knowing this, i could never leave less then 15%(Usually more if excellent service is rendered) if the service was given to the standards i desire. Only time i have left less is when the waiter or waitress was horrible and my table was neglected.
And frankly, it's just as hard or harder where people are not getting $100 tabs regularly. But of course, in take out in those places, they're not usually tipping bus boys or non-existent bartenders (because there's no bar), or whatever. I've been friends with restaurant managers, owners, and waitresses. I have a lot of respect for what they do. And I hear all the stories. At places I frequent, I like and definitely am one of Tater's "VIP". It's nice. Yes, it doesn't take a brain surgeon degree, so yes, it probably shouldn't pay $30 an hour. But it should be a living wage.
We've actually gotten him to go from a standard tip of $1 to a standard tip of $5. My wife and I used to make sure to bring some small bills for the tip and sneak it to the table or the waiter when we're leaving. Now we just pay the whole thing, which is much easier.
To be fair, a dollar used to be a good tip. In the fifities. He's just never adjusted.
Fortunately he doesn't go to places where he's going to get an $82 bill without his children or his wife.
oh and btw i dont get a dime outta the tip i pay more in taxes but its there fucking money. not mine think about that.
btw a lot of places like outback applebees o'charleys will start upcharing for togo costs in the furture there not far behind the airlines in charing to cover there own costs.
Or brain damaged.
i cant upvote myself from my phone i dont need votes im not hammered im watching my co-pilot fly im not going to edit my posts the plane is on AP but, i still dont trust it.
Drunk flying? Or posting while flying? And the states thought texting was bad...
I hope you're not flying over me. Assuming you're really in a plane and not riding a this....
But, ad nauseam....if you have your own plane, really....and you feel for your employees so much...why not sell the plane, and just pay them more? Give them a better wage not dependent on tip money for your carry out people? (And servers and everyone too). If it sounds like anyone is fucking them...it's you flying in your planes, while hoping poor customer will throw more money their direction.
let me guess you order your steak mid well? no matter what the cut.
...is when people order a filet and then get ask for it to be cooked WELL. It's always a nice chuckle to myself.
is when they want a double cut filet cooked well, and maybe you had better butterfly that just to make absolutely sure that you eliminate every ounce of tenderness and juiciness that was in that delicious cut of beef initially. And, by the way, do you have any steak sauce?
I went to denny's and a friend ordered a Grand Slam. After the waitress asked how he'd like his eggs he replied "Medium Well"
Does that even mean?
And that, sir, is a crime against a good steak.
but I'm guessing that it refers to the high correlation between folks ordering their steaks overdone and tipping poorly.
I've worked a number of jobs where my income was primarily based on gratuities, so karma dictates that I leave a buck here or there for things that I wouldn't normally think deserve a tip. But in general I don't think it's a really big deal.
I never tip at carry out places and I don't feel awkward or guilty about it. I also don't tip at buffets. Why should I? I'm the one getting up and getting my own food. If I go in and dine at a restaurant I tip 15% of the bill. For pizza delivery I tip $2-$5 dollars, depending on my total bill. I don't tip my newspaper delivery driver. I tip my barber $2 dollars. The rule of thumb I use is they have to be going out of their way to wait on me while I'm present.
Nope...but the tip jar does make me feel guilty.
If you're going out to eat, you can afford to tip.
This is something that bothers me a bit. I get the same feeling as the OP when I don't leave a tip at a buffet, but what the hell am I tipping someone for? IMHE a tip is given because you were given service that went above what you would expect. I don't think it is something that should just be given because you were served. They are in the service industry, it is their job.
I have heard the arguements that waiters/waitresses don't get paid much and all that goes along with that, but why should it be up to the customers to make up the difference? I don't see why an employer not paying an employee enough should be the customers problem.
I think that a tip is something that should be given after you have received exceptional service and I have yet to figure out at what point it changed from that to being something that is expected each time you are served.
To conclude I will say that I am a hypocrite because I can't handle the shame of not leaving a good tip when I go out, but I really don't understand why it has gotten to this point.
I was going to type up a response to this post, but you expressed everything I wanted to say perfectly.
Why is the food service industry the only one which can get away with regularly shifting the cost of employees from the owner to the customer? Quality of service is largely irrelevent at this point, a waiter can do a crappy job trying to service 15 tables at a time and will still undoubtedly get 10-15% tips from each table due to "beveled guilt." I wouldn't mind getting a 10-15% tip at my office job every time I come out with a subpar report or a 20-30% tip if I actually do my job competently.
Tipping at carry out places is really stupid. I don't do it.
Seriously, why should you pay someone more to do the job thier employer is already paying them to do? And if their employer is not paying them enough, that's a problem they need to sort out with their employer, it's not my concern.
MGoDC is (posted above me) is totally on point about how ridiculous that the food service industry gets away with passing employment costs onto the customers, over and above what the customer pays for the meal.
I would much rather food service workers be paid minimum wage, and have that cost passed on to me in a straightfoward and upfront way (through increased price in meals) than through the institution of compulsory tipping.