tipping

wait what, you americans tip bar staff?!!1!?

the roffles begin once more.

I remember a great earlier thread about tipping, where Anthony seemed to be saying that he walks down the street handing out money to everyone he meets. It was the big fat tip for his florist that got us all going. Great days.

protip: $2

omg abbott u would make a great delivery person

oh man this thread makes me feel poor and cheap! i never order delivery because i'm like "if i'm going to eat it at home i could probably make it cheaper from scratch anyway." although sometimes food tastes better when you don't cook it. especially if you live in a not-quite-kosher-but-kinda-trying house...now i'm like "where can i order some stir fried mustard greens and pork?" but unfortunately i don't know the answer.

less about tipping and way more about just being nice to the staff as a regular.

Correct! See also: asking the bartender if they need anything when you go to the pizza joint for a slice -- if you pick them up some garlic knots etc on request you might be drinking for free; busing your own table (if you're sitting at one).

To what extent do you bus your own table?

In a restaurant: not at all. But in a bar, if there's one bartender and they have to come around the bar to clear tables, I bus the whole thing & leave the empties on the bar where they can reach 'em. Otherwise they have to stop serving to clear tables, and that just sucks for them and the other customers waiting.

yeah, it is a level of consideration that's easy to forget when drinking but definitely worth remembering

In a cocktail bar where there's a barback who does the chores, I probably wouldn't bother. But in a small local bar/pub, where the bartender is alone/friendly and everything is low-key, it's a good way to show consideration and friendliness -- and helps you be remembered later.

Simple version: The bartender is a person, just like you and me. Don't make their job suck (unless THEY suck).

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/hey-waiter-just-how-much-extra-do-you-really-expect/?hp

looks like it was written by a yelper

more like david sux

lives in Park Slope and always tips 15 percent

sounds about right

First law when I'm made dictator is that everyone has to wait tables, full time, for one year after they graduate high school.

i would ban restaurants

and food writers

The main obstacle to tipping in Buenos Aires is that nobody has change, and if they do, they don't want to give it to you.

how much shud i tip to not seem like a racist hipster?

And you, my dear bartender, who cracked open a $4 beer bottle, and handed me back my change entirely in a stack of one-dollar notes. Very subtle. As though the sheer bulk of that paper would deter me from putting it back in my wallet, and, defeated, I’d simply leave it there for you like a burnt offering on your sticky altar.

hi david, welcome to the country of "america!" i gather you haven't been here long.

I have fantasies about that happening here, but it never does.

Ok, dude sounds like an ass, and being given change in $1s doesn't mean you HAVE TO leave ALL the $1s so he probably should chill out. But:

“Do you need change?”

Funny you should ask, because I just gave you a $10 bill, and my latte and raspberry scone came to $5.75.

that is a little ridiculous, I don't think I have ever had a server ask that in such a situation.

Getting all your change in $1 bills seemed common practice to me from my (limited) experience of US bars - certainly in place of a $5 anyway (maybe not a 10 or 20). I love it because I'm always short of singles for the bus/launderette/tips. It just gives you greater flexibility for how much you want to tip, surely?

yeah i mean it's crazy to read anything into this--if i pay for a $5 beer with a 20 and the dude gives me back a 10 and a 5, i might be unable to tip on that drink--which goes against the custom in all bars in the united states.

btw i have NEVER seen a bartender give back more than $5 in change in ones--that just wouldn't make sense.

I've seen a bartender give back more than $5 in change in ones - makes sense if, say, the tab is $14 and paid w/ a $20.

true--was only considering buy a single drink for myself in cash.

worst is when the drinks are $19 and you don't have any more singles. Sorry for the cheapo dollar tip, catch you on the next one, bro.

such a stressful practice

tipping is?

As expected, those comments are priceless. Like this is really all a scam perpetuated by waiters to make money, because they are secretly earning $156 an hour. I do, however, agree with the annoying tip cups popping up in fast food places (mainly Subway from what I've seen). Um, no, not tipping you guys. Sorry.

yeah xp

Yeah, that Park Slope guy is a dick. Since I grew up in New Zealand, where tipping is almost non-existent, I learned pretty quickly what was expected. For a few months, it felt like money I wasn't used to spending, but it doesn't take long til it's just part of living in the US. My everyday calculations are pretty simple: 20% for dinner, $1 per drink, $2-3-4 for food delivery (depending on size and some weird perceived difficulty of deliver), 15-20% or whatever I have for cabs. The rest is guesswork! 20% for a haircut, $2 for a bag at hotel, and some money (often forgotten) for maid service. Coffee, nothing.

Food is cheap in the US, and in the bigger picture...if you're out, and spending money, then tipping is part of the deal. I don't notice service too much, or bother keeping tabs on who/how served me. The next day the whole $ thing has disappeared - not to say that I don't notice or get stressed about money, but just that you roll with some costs, and resist others - and tipping is definitely a roll with it thing.

When I order my filet mignon I expect the wages of the peon carrying it to my seat to have already been included in the price!

^^why shouldn't we expect this to be the case? :P

lol i dunno, it's just not! i don't think that either the us or euro system is more valid. paulhw otm--those are like my exact day-to-day guidelines.

I just see tipping as some sort of silly and archaic system that has been grandfathered into our culture. I mean I follow it and try to tip 15-20% and be a good tipper and whatever but I still think it's silly.

I find it the most stressful when I'm left with some combination of bills that will make me look like a bad tipper, as mentioned above, also searching for a window to leave the tip so that the bartender knows it was /you/ who left the tip is stressful too

hmm...usually if you just leave the money in the spot where you were standing the bartender is going to know it was you, right?

First law when I'm made dictator is that everyone has to wait tables, full time, for one year after they graduate high school.

lol plz its not like u were cleaning fukken office buildings @ night or something.

I think the point was more to make people understand how a lack of tipping affects the waiter, not to show them that its some insanely difficult job.

true but i do think a lot of ppl who haven't worked in food service think it's easier than it is

anyway I live in a country now where tipping is not really part of the culture but the service is still the same if not better than it was in the states, and there's no more useless/awkward small talk! so take that, america.

enh im p sure that waiting tables is one of the few low-paying service industry jobs that lots of middle class ppl already relate to if only because its one of the few jobs that lots of middle class ppl have worked or know some1 whos worked. like i dont think cleaning offices is all that hard either but its probably crazy less remunerative

fwiw im cool w/tipping

searching for a window to leave the tip so that the bartender knows it was /you/ who left the tip is stressful too

― noted schloar (dyao), Sunday, February 28, 2010 9:06 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

u are overthinking this bro

It's less about teaching people to tip or the hidden difficulties of serving than the fact that being in a service industry where your income is derived entirely from how nice and/or competent you are teaches a valuable skill set (social and economic) and as an added bonus breeds empathy for people in other service roles. I'm pretty sure that I can watch how someone reacts to a busy grocery checkout clerk (or w/e) and decide if they've ever waited tables.

I'm sure that other service jobs teach similar things, but the weight of 'if I'm an ass to these customers/screw up their night, I'm not getting paid' is pretty heavy for an 18-year old.

lol at relying on a job to teach you how to be a nice and charming person

it's a pretty good way, imho

WHERE ARE THE PARENTS, I ASK YOU

Better than the alternative of a nation of disgusting savages. Which is where we're currently at.

The parents are busy spoiling the kids and ensuring that there are no consequences for their actions. This is why we need to press-gang the little fuckers into the nearest TGI Friday's crew.