Opinion: A server’s guide to tipping

Most servers only make a couple dollars per hour, so they depend on tips for their income. 

By Lilly Kujawski
Editor

Even before I was a server, I was always big tipping the people who provide me a service, whether I’m out to eat, at the hairdresser’s or getting a car wash. But working as a server for a couple years now has revealed to me just how important tips are—and how many patrons often miss that mark. Here are the guidelines I suggest for tipping at restaurants:

Dining out

Tipping is required when dining out at a sit-down restaurant. Your server likely only makes an hourly wage of about $3 and depends on tips alone for their income. I always say if you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out.

My rule for calculating the tip at a sit-down restaurant is: at least 20% of the bill or $5, whichever is higher. I believe that if you only ordered a small amount of food that came to a low total bill, but you were still waited on and took up a table in the server’s section, it is appropriate to tip a few dollars extra. For instance, 20% of a $10 bill is $2, but I don’t consider $2 to be appropriate compensation for the service provided.

There is nothing wrong with dining alone or spending a conservative amount of money on your food. But it’s also important to be aware that keeping that table occupied—especially for an extended period of time—is potentially preventing the server from getting a more lucrative party.

If I plan to stay at a restaurant for a particularly long time, perhaps to study, I tip as if I am paying for the space, too, not just the service, in order to make up for whatever table my server might be missing out on.

If you experience poor service, I encourage you to consider another alternative over opting to leave a low tip or no tip at all. A better solution might be to calmly explain to your server what the problem was—without attacking them. You might think skipping out on the tip will send your intended message, but the server may just take it as a reflection of your character, not the service they gave.

Ordering takeout (from a sit-down restaurant)

Tipping on to-go orders is not required the way it is when you’re dining in, but I still encourage it.

If it is the host that takes care of the to-go orders, they are most likely making at least minimum wage hourly. Even so, I do recommend leaving a small tip on takeout orders out of courtesy and to reward the service provided.

My recommendation is to leave 10% of the bill total on to-go orders. However, if you place a large or particularly complicated order, I consider it customary to tip the full 20% for the extra effort required.

Consider also that when it’s especially busy at a restaurant, managing a lot of takeout orders can make a host’s job frantic. You might just make their night by leaving a little extra cash.

This brings me to my final point: Some people go out to eat and leave a tip and it’s as if they are trying to tip the smallest possible amount while still remaining sort of socially acceptable. Don’t be this guy, especially if you’ve just dropped three figures on a meal. Instead, you should aim to be the best tipper in the restaurant, and the customer that makes that server’s night. This way, you get to be the good guy, instead of the “cheapskate” your server complains about to the their coworkers in the backroom.

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