Tips at counter type food places?

[shelleyd2008]

About the only buffet here is the chinese restaurant, and not only is the 'server' the owners wife, sister, niece, whatever, but she brings you your drink....period....The empty plates usually sit on the table until after you leave, if you want something else to drink you need to try to get someone's attention (when they are usually trying to ignore you), and the clean plates are on the buffet tables. So no, there I don't bother tipping.

Now if I went to a real place I probably would, but that doesn't happen very often. There just aren't a lot of options here.

 

[ams3651]

I tip a dollar or two at a buffet but not at a counter. My sister worked at a very nice restaurant when she was in college and someone once left her a 50 cent tip. She ran out after them, handed it to them and said they left their change on the table. In a place heavily patronized by alumni, who only hires college students, and the average meal between 2 people is over $50, they were just rude.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Wow! that would suck! I worked at a place where the people were very cheap. I loved getting the 'just coffee' types. They would leave at least a quarter, for a $1 cup of coffee. Many would leave 50 cents, so that was good. An average day's tips were about $30, and that was from 4-7 hours of work. The most I ever made in tips there was about $90 in one day, but I started working at 10 am, and clocked out at 10 pm

 

[Brick243]

I always tip the car hop at the sonic $.50 at the sonic drive-in.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

I don't tip for food unless I actually have someone serving me at a table. I always tip for beauty services (usually at the very least $5-$10, depending on the price of the service). My beauticians do a nice job for me because they know I'll tip well.

 

[RubberChickenLubber]

Quote:
I'm lucky, I sell my b&b products at my hair stylist's salon, so I use the $ from that to pay for my services. Her hubby was my son's baseball coach, and she does some things for me for free.

 

[Boyd]

has anyone else tried tipping ahead for better service at a sit down place? I usually do this at a local pub/bar/grill and it is usually a fight to see who my wait staff is. Then again it's always fun to see college age girls fighting

kidding kidding

I pretty much can guesstimate how much I am going to spend per person drinks etc before we get there. I'll slide the waitress a 20 right off the bat and tell her to keep the drinks full, give me time between my salad, appetizer , and main course, don't just dump all the food

Needless to say there were a little perplexed at first, but the service was great, and if the tab went over what I figured the tip would be right out of the get go, I would bump it up appropriately and give a little extra because I got great service right off the bat.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
My daughter worked her way thru college waitressing and then as soon as she turned 21 she moved up to bartending. She basically did the same thing to someone who had left her a 25 cent tip. They are taxed on the percentage of what they might have made on their reciepts...whether they got that tip or not.

 

[OlliOlliOlli]

My boyfriend is working full time as a server right now, and he's one of the best where he works. The managers love him and his coworkers have told me that he has "a great hustle" and "works so hard."

He's had people not only not leave a tip, but walk out and not pay a $120 tab. Thank God he's not responsible for that, because he usually makes $120 in a 7 or 8 hour shift.

He's had one or two big doozies though -- someone wrote on their cashier's copy of the check, "Here's your tip -- you suck!"

 

[Rosalind]

DH and I always tip. Always. If there is a tip jar out, it gets our change. At minimum, 20%.

Here is what I learned about tipping, which has held true for many decades:

1. If you are on a business lunch, and someone who is your boss or might someday be your boss, or is close to your boss, turns out to be a lousy tipper, RUN. Brush up the resume and get a new job if that person is your boss. They do not appreciate or remunerate for services rendered and when your annual review comes up, they'll cheap out on your raise, too.

2. Chances are, at some point in life you will be out with a group of friends who may represent an inconvenience to the waitstaff. Maybe your group is so large that they must put together many tables. Maybe out of your group, only two people are buying dinner and the rest are buying $2 drinks, but you're occupying seats that would otherwise turn a decent profit on three-course meals during a dinner rush. Maybe, like DH and his friends, they are all noisy biker dudes who scare other patrons away. Or maybe you need a special favor from the waitstaff, such as finding you a table when it's exceedingly busy and there's a two-hour wait, or perhaps arranging something special for a birthday or anniversary. When you are in this situation, a situation where you are more trouble than you are worth to the restaurant manager, you want to be sure that the waitstaff likes you and is on your side. The best way is to be a repeat customer known to tip well. Restaurants will tolerate anything, ANYTHING, including swinging from the chandeliers, if you are going to buy the entire menu, are courteous to servers, and tip generously.

3. I do not want the people who prepare or serve my food to be angry with me. I was a waitress in high school, and I know exactly what goes on behind kitchen doors when repeat customers who are lousy tippers come through. It's not nice.