I tip 20% no matter what, of the food subtotal.
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This is truly scary for servers. If, in fact, none of the service charge goes to a tip pool and people refuse to or reduce tips, their incomes are hit in a major way. In many cases, restaurants have said that much of the service charge goes to employee benefits (health insurance, for example) or to offset increasing minimum wage in places that have them. But employees personal situations differ, so that may not be a real offset. I might go so far as to ask my server what happens to it if there is a service charge.
Agreed
At this point I should be less lazy and do my duty to add in that 2% everytime! It matters. Thank you.
Wasn’t there a thread somewhere here from awhile ago that stated the same? No names named, but a server/employee/whomever said that in some/many situations, none or only a very small amt goes to the server.
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If you’re up for it ask for service charge to be removed. I believe they have to comply. Then you tip what you normally would and it doesn’t go to the owner’s bottom line directly.
They don’t have to comply if the service charge is described on the menu.
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I deduct the service charge from what I was going to tip. 20% tip with an 18% service charge = 2% tip.
Timely article
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Welcome to FTC!!!
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On the so called service charge .Maybe it’s time to slip the server the tip . Here’s a little something for your work . Sliding your hand across the table .
I’d rather see the 18 percent added to the menu price . Rather than the small print.
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There’s no such thing as a gratuity charge. That’s an oxymoron.
Service charge . You know best .
it rhymes with banimal
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Totally agree. And maybe I’m lazy, but I tip on the after tax total. Maybe because I’ve been close to people in food service and know how hard they work. I figure if I can afford a nice meal out, I can afford to show some appreciation to the people who are making that experience happen. As for the service charge, if it’s going to the owner and not the server or other staff, then I’d probably not return to the restaurant.
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I don’t tip extra as a matter of course if the service charge is 18%+, but I will tip extra if I found the service was exceptional. We often have to pay $40+ extra service charge just because someone brought a bottle of wine to our table and opened it, so I don’t sweat this very much.
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Counterpoint here.
It’s not about the expended energy when it comes to professionals doing what they’re trained to do. It’s about knowledge and experience. Tradespeople are often replacing a part that costs a fraction of the labor they’re charging. It’s the knowledge of what’s wrong and how to fix it. For a sommelier, it’s all that knowledge, experience, and how to share that with a layperson.
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Good point. I hold the sommelier profession in high regard (and professional waitstaff too). I’ve drunk on average a bottle of wine a day for the past eight years, so I don’t rely on sommeliers except of course for wine pairings. But I still appreciate the service they provide.
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I’ve drunk an average of more than a bottle of wine a day for over 40 years and sommeliers still often know things I don’t about the bottles on their lists.
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