Tipping Can Be Difficult

Tipping can be difficult. There are a wide variety of questions that you need to ask yourself before you leave a tip. This article will help you become a smart and informed tipper. I’ve been a member of the service industry for a few years. Before I became a server, I struggled with tip percentages, mostly because I was uninformed.

Be aware of your surroundings. Is the place you’re eating is a fine dining restaurant or a place where they give out bibs? At a fine dining establishment, the variety of your food will be different. Tipping on food should be at least 15-20%. If any alcoholic drinks are purchased, the tip should be 20-25% for your drink portion. These percentage calculations should be a base. If your service was extra special, don’t be afraid to show your appreciation with a tip higher than the base. If your server doesn’t fulfill your needs, you can tip a lower amount. The lowest you should go should be 10%, not tipping should be on extremely rare occasions. “Stiffing” your server is very rude and usually ends up costing the server money. The only way it would be justified is if your server was verbally or physically abusive. In that case, please notify the manager of the restaurant. They should take care of you.

Know where your money is going. When you tip your server, not all the money is going to him/her. Most restaurants have the server tip out busboys, bartenders, hosts, and possibly food runners. The normal percentage that the server would tip these people would be about 1% of their total sales, each. If your bill is $100 dollars and you leave a 20 dollar tip, 5 dollars of that money is probably going to someone else in the restaurant. This is important information to be aware of, because if your server takes good care of you, it is important to take care of them.

Servers are taxed just like everyone else. Servers are usually paid somewhere between $2.50-$4 per hour. That wage depends on what the state’s minimum wage. They don’t get paid the minimum wage, because they get tips and exempt. Their hourly wage basically takes care of the taxes on their wages they claim every night. A server has to claim at least 8% of their total sales, as tips. If a server claims less than 8% on a nightly basis, they could get audited when they file their taxes.
I hope this information is very useful and can help you become informed about the art of tipping… and remember, take care of your servers and bartenders, I’m here all week.