Asklemmy

"yes, it's wrong. but if you don't tip, you are making the waiter go hungry"

WTF? no, the bosses are. generally bosses are making their employees go hungry, but in the restaurant business they just managed to shift the blame unto the customers. it seems really twisted to me

where i live tipping is really optional, and most don't, unless they're rounding up the bill. i have several friends who do or did work as a waiter and i aways found it sad how they would talk with resentment about the customers they would pretend to like, not sparing a word for their bosses who were sucking them dry with low wages, unpaid extra hours and a fuckin' sick workplace culture

If you're sitting down at a table having a meal with a waiter who is taking your order and bringing you your food then yes, 15-20% tip is strongly encouraged. If you're going into a place where you order your food at a counter and pick it up yourself to take to your table or back to your home then tipping is not necessary.

Try to tip 10% at absolutely minimum, so a $19 bill would be around $21, but I would try to add $1 or $2.

If you pay with a credit card there will be a line where you can write down the tip, and sometimes they will have suggested tip amounts.

If the state you’re going to has 10% sales tax, you can just add however much the tax was, plus alpha.

Sometimes, at some establishments, if you forget the server will run after you and ask for a tip, assuming it was a mistake on your part. Not really that common though!

Hope this helped!

You're going to be asked to tip in many many other places. They usually flip an iPad at you that has 18%, 20%, and 25% buttons. There will also be a no tip button and it's totally fine to choose this when you're standing at a counter ordering food, picking up dry cleaning, at the vet (seriously?!), and a thousand other places. As others have said, it's only really required if someone took your order at your table, or if they provided a specific service for you - taxi, delivered an item to your hotel room, etc. Also, while everyone says 20%, i feel like 15% is still an ok tip for average service. In bars, i usually go with $1-2 per drink depending on the bar and service provided (beer vs cocktail). Room service usually has a 20% fee added and it's ok to ask if that goes to the hotel or server. Restaurants often add a tip automatically if you have a larger table or in touristy areas.

Yes. You are actually the asshole if you don’t tip.

Tipping culture used to be a courtesy, but now it’s been classified as part of salary so restaurants don’t have to pay minimum wage to their waitstaff. You’re not required by law to tip, but depending on the place, waitstaff will remember if you tip or not and how much.

Tipping has not gone away except in some places where they explicitly say it’s not necessary.

Typically I double the tax amount and leave that as the tip. I will also round up from there if it’s an uneven amount to reduce change. Finally, I’ll pay more if service is exceptional or I’m being served by someone I know personally or if they’re doing me a favor.

Some places include tips in the bill, so be careful. I also usually don’t tip if picking up food because there is usually no guarantee that my tip would actually go to the people who actually prepared my order.

I also tip other service jobs (Barbers, mechanics, plumbers, etc..)

I tried not tipping on a US visit. You can get away with it, but people will be angry.

It's just a silly local custom you have to put up with when in America.

Only tip your server at restaurants and food delivery people, anywhere else is a scam. Servers and delivery people can be legally paid way less because they're expected to live on tips, its shit but its how it works. If you don't tip them they could have basically worked for you for as little as 4$ an hour. If you're worried about amounts, just go for 15%, its the expected amount. Skip if they suck at their job though.

Yes if you visit a sit down restaurant it’s generally expected to tip your server. You should tip anywhere from 15-25% with the latter being for the server going above and beyond.

Now you’ll also prob notice other shops asking for a tip as well, such as fast food restaurants like subway and other little shops. For these it’s up to you. I wouldn’t say you have to tip as these workers are more than likely already being paid minimum wage.

Yes. Yes it is bullshit, no we probably won't fix it.

You should take a look at https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_states_by_minimum_wage and see what the minimum wage is in the state you are visiting. The minimum wage where I am is one of the highest in the nation so I don’t tip anymore.

Edit: I am aware many states have below federal minimum for tipped employees. My point was if they’re visiting one of the states with a high minimum wage, they should forgo tipping. Nobody below bothered to link it, but here's the minimum wage page for tipped employees: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped. It's worth noting that even in the states that can pay tipped employee as little as $2.13/hr, the employees never actually make less than the federal minimum of $7.25/hr because the employer has to make up the difference if the employee doesn't make enough in tips, not that $7.25/hr is even remotely a livable wage in 2023...

Regardless, tipping is an inherently flawed system, and it's not the responsibility of the consumer to pay specifically the server a living wage while everyone in the kitchen suffers (I would know, I've been there). If you're not happy with the wage laws in your state, get involved in politics and exercise your right to vote to do something about it.