How much do you tip your server?

I have been a waitress before and I think that it is a tough job! As a tipper I look for the little things that make a server stand out and try to tip accordingly-meaning that I will leave more for great service even if I came in to drink coffee. I don't like the fact that a low check means less tips based on the 15-20% system so when the check is low I try to leave at least a $1 per person

Hi Talklouder, Here is my philosophy on tipping. When I eat out at a nice sit down restaurant where the food is served to me as opposed to a buffet deal, I always tip 20% or better. If I tip over 20% it is always because I got above average service, never had to wait for my drink to be refilled, was on a date trying to impress the lady, or had extra money to spend. I have very precise opinions of how a waitress, or waiter should wait on a customer. I believe they should keep an eye on their tables to watch when people are about to run out of what they are drinking, and then quickly refill their glasses so they don't have to wait 15 minutes for the waitress to notice them. Better yet, if they can bring a pitcher, or even multiple glasses for us power beverage drinkers!! Other than keeping my beverage glass always full, or refilling it within a few minutes of emptying it, the only requirements I have is courteous service, ask me if I want any side orders, and check back with me often to see how my food is, and if I need anything else along the way. If they do these things, especially keeping my beverage glass full I am a happy camper, and will tip them as generously as I can afford to at the time. a 20%+ tip to be sure. Here is a pet peeve of mine about servers though that I'd like to get off my chest. I get very upset when I order water, and the server automatically assumes because I ordered water instead of a beverage that cost money they assume I won't be a good tipper, and they give me low quality service because of it. They actually create a self fulling prophecy by doing this. They assume I'm cheap, will be a bad tipper, so they don't bother to give me quality service, and I then in return don't tip them well at all due to the poor service, if any, they provided. I once had a waitress give me very poor service because I ordered water, and she had regular customers she waited on hand, and foot at another table. She brought them everything, and brought me my first glass of water, then never visited me again. In fact, she walked by my table with beverages for her other customers at least 4 times without asking me if I needed anything. She also assumed I was ordering the buffet, which I usually do, but did not ask me if I wanted a side order of toast which I always get. I had to eat the whole meal without anything to drink after the first 5 minutes as I drink my beverage very quickly. When I left, I gave her a tip which I felt was more than she deserved, but it was also quite small because all she did was bring me a glass of water, then she deliberately ignored me, and I wanted to send her a clear message about how poorly she served me. I also complained about her at the register when they asked me how everything was, and when I came in next I sat down at another waitresses table to eat, and she came over to my table, and chewed me out loudly for leaving her such a poor tip. When I pointed out why I did so, because of the poor service, she admitted she deliberately ignored me the last time, but said it was because I had not tipped her the last time she served me which wasn't true as I always tip something, and I tip well if I get good service, and poorly if I get bad service. Maybe she gave me poor service the previous time too so I tipped her accordingly, and she didn't get the message, and didn't like it. In my opinion, a server should provide the same quality service to all their customers regardless if they tip well, tip poorly, or don't tip at all. They also shouldn't jump to any conclusions about their customers based on what they ordered. They should serve the customer with a smile on their face as well. This lady didn't, and she was the manager of the restaurant!! I never found out if she mistook me for someone else who hadn't left a tip, or if the bus boy stole her tip money from the table, but I know I left a tip as I always do. I do believe though that a good server should give the same quality service to all their customers no matter how much they leave for a tip, or whether they are regulars who come in everyday, or not. I don't think customers should be prejudged as bad tippers because they order water instead of tea, or coffee either. I also believe that if you get a very poor tip like two, or three cents, or something that you should not get mad, but should instead take the hint, and realize they may be trying to send you a message that your service was less than exemplary, or not even passable as service at all. The lady that waited on me didn't get my message. All she did was get mad because she thought I should tip her better for the very, poor service she gave me, and it was a buffet deal where I got my own food, and all she did was bring me one glass of water, then ignore me. A good tip is earned, it is not guaranteed, and she didn't seem to know that. Even a trained money can bring one glass of water, but it takes a hard working, dedicated server to actually wait on their customers the way they should. A customer shouldn't have to wait 5 to 20 minutes, or more for their glass to be refilled. Their table should be checked on at least 4 to 5 times during the meal to ensure the customer doesn't want for anything. That's called providing excellent service, and the customer deserves no less. In my book, if a waiter isn't getting tipped 20%, or more then it's because they are not doing a good enough job in meeting their customers needs, and expectations. If you have a bunch of tables, and can't visit them all that often then bring them a pitcher of their drink so they don't run out after the first 5 minutes. Do whatever you have to in order to make them happy. If you do, you'll be rewarded with a good tip. Sure, there are people out there who won't reward you with a good tip no matter how great your service is, but they're jerks, and you shouldn't adjust your service based on how well you think someone will tip you, or how well they tipped you the last time.... Give everyone great service across the board, and you'll always come out ahead in the long run... The only time I tip less than 20% when I'm eating out, besides when I don't get good service, is when I eat at a buffet setting. I tip 10% at buffets because I have to do all the work of getting up to get my food, and bringing it back to my table. The only thing the server does is bring me my beverage, and any side orders I may want not on the buffet. That's why I'm very big on keeping my glasses full of beverage as I go to buffets alot!! Oh, and I'm not cheap for tipping only 10% at buffets. I got the 10% tipping rule for buffets from the dear Abby column regarding proper tipping amounts for buffets. Before that, I tipped about 15%-18% at buffets, but always felt cheated because I had to do most of the work. Okay, I got that off my chest finally after 4 years!! Feels good! That's my 2 cents worth anyway. P.S. - Talklouder, I hope you're a good waitress who gives good service all the time to everyone you serve, no matter what, or if they tip.

I live in Iceland and tips are not common here. Service is always included in the bill and the staff get paid quite well. Sometimes they do get tips but that's mostly from foreign tourists who are used to tipping and feel bad for not leaving anything, even though the menus clearly state that it's not necessary or even alowed. I was a waitress for a while when I was younger and hardly ever got a tip but when I did, it was usually outrageous. Once I got an airline ticket that cost 20 times more than the bill was. When I travel to other countries I try to find out what the tipping norms are there. If I'm in a place like Prague where I know the staff don't get much money and the food is very cheap I usually leave about double the bill, or around 200% tip. In the Us 10-25% depending on what kind of a restaurant it is and how good/bad the service is. I don't feel guilty about not leaving a tip if the waiter has been rude or careless.

I try to tip about 3 dollars at least usually im short on money thats why but i try to give something.

i mainly tip one$ to any waitress

My husband and I have both been servers in numerous restaurants, so we are rather picky when we go out to eat. If we feel our server has done their job, but didn't go the extra mile, then we will tip 15%. If they do an exceptional job, then we will tip 20% or more. If they do a crap job, we tip 10% or less. Just a side note: servers have to be extra careful when customers pay with cash to break down the change. For instance, we ate at a Ruby Tuesday's a few weeks ago. The server did his job and we were going to leave a $3.00 tip (based off of our percentage mentioned above), but the server gave us a $10, a $5, and a $1. Unfortunately for the server, we only left $1. Our reason...he was not good enough to get a $5 and we didn't feel it would be right to leave it as it would be praising him for a mediocre job. We didn't like leaving only $1, but as the server didn't break down our change more, he lost some money. Anyway, that's what I think.

Typically I guess they say you should tip no less than 15-20%. My husband usually tips between 25% - 30%. The servers usually deserve it. However if they are bad we only give them 20%. I hope this motivates them to do a better job. But really it's not that common...

We give our waitress/waiter a tip if we liked his/her service.. Normally the change from our bill goes to the server.. If it's 20 pesos then it goes to the server.. Some restaurants have a Service Charge though..

when we go out we always go to a buffet, we have 3 kids and its hard to tell what they will and wont eat at that time so the buffet just works for us.. the waitresses dont really have much to do for us other than get our drinks but it seams like they are never able to be found when ya need them.. because they dont have to really wait on us alot we only give a few bucks usually.. unless its one thats really good and really checks up to make sure your not running low on stuff and to make sure everything is ok with the food, if they do that, which is very rare, then I will leave a few extra bucks than I normally would.. I have had it where I never even seen the waitress and bever got a drink so I never left any tip at all besides telling them that they needed better waitresses..

Well I live in Scotland and tips are not often left by people. Mostly due to the fact that waiters and waitresses get paid a fair amount here and also due to the fact that quite a lot of restaurants are owned by the people that host in them. That is not to say that I do not leave tips because I do and I usually leave a reasonable amount (but do try to get rid of all my change!) Also when I go to America I do leave the customary 15-20% tip. You do a good job anyway, keep it up and maybe you will get a really big tip one day!! ($10,000 dollars was once left as a tip!!!)

I only give a couple bucks no matter how much it is and regardless of service. That is unless I go to restuarant and they actually make me tip the right amount.

I tip according to service, usually around 25-30%. People don't realize that most of these people only make like 2.15 per hour.

i dont want to hear you friend, but i really wounder why people tip?? First of all as being a waiter or waitress, it's the nature of work to serve other people. It's okay to tip sometime when you really get extremly get good service, as at other places happens that if you do or perform extra ordinary, you get rewarded but not always. I think the quality of response from waitre or waitress should be good and if regular/normal customer are good enough to recognize that you will definitely will be tipped may be more than 20%. So the essence can be, tipping in not bad, but it should not be frequent or will say for each time.

We generally tip between 15% and 20%. Totally depending on the type of service we receive. If I have to sit 15 minutes waiting for a cup of coffee, I'm not inspired to leave much of a tip.

Well here in Canada the "rule" is supposed to be to tip 15% of the bill. Personally I do not go by this rule, I tip strictly based on how the service was. I'm not afraid to tip more than 15% but I'm also not afraid to tip less than 15% if the service was lousy. I know a lot of people go by the 15% rule regardless of how good or bad the service was, but I think that just defeats the whole purpose of tipping altogether.

we usually leave the change or give tips for atleast can pay one ride or depends on my income too if i have more money then i give big tips.

My husband & I were both waiters before we got married, which was 36 years ago. We tend to remember what was a good tip back then...which could have been a dollar! Nowadays, we try to always tip 20%. We know how hard you have to work, and you usually don't make minimum wage and have to depend on the tips to make any money. If the waiter just drops off the food, and never comes back or never brings water refills, my husband won't tip them.

Hi. I've waitressed for about 10 years. Because of that, I really try to be aware of the tip I give. I usually tip about 20% for attentive and polite service. But, if someone really isn't that good, I'll give usually 15%. I definitely think that most, more of a chain, restaurants really train their servers well. When I waitressed - at a Ponderosa (yeah, Ponderosa at that) and even there I was trained to greet with my name. I was taught that how things are worded make a difference. For example, saying "May I get you an other drink?" is better than "Do ya want another drink?" The first is showing that the server is doing it, etc. I go to so many restaurants where the server is not attentive, aware or courteous. Like for instanc, seeing just ice in a glass, or hearing air through a straw... offering a refill would be great. I also try to think of what all the server is doing for me. Then, I try to tip accordingly. But, there are some servers who "serve" as if they don't care. When I waitressed, I knew I was basically paid for my attitude. And, of course I cared. I wanted to be genuinely nice and attentive to people. I definitely think those that work hard for their customers should be rewarded with an appropriate tip.

my rule at a restaurant is to leave a tip of $2 for every person in your party. At a bar or club where you order the drinks from the counter, leave at least 50cents for every drink you order

I will always leave a tip because the minimum wage for a server is not the same minimum wage for any other job. The company expects you to make tips, so they go into your normal minimum wage and slash it down to barely nothing, all restaurants vary but around an average of 2.50 an hour is what you will expect to make without tips. Secondly, many people seem to be harping on service. Service, Service, Service and that is all I see. If you go out to a restaurant and it's busy, their is going to be a decline of service because you're not the only one their. If you would put your head up and take a look around you would notice that their could be up to 200 more people besides you in that place. And another point, many times the service is not the real problem, the real problem is the company. For example, if you go out to a restaurant at about 2:00 in the afternoon, well guess what? That's after the rush hour, so their's going to be half the serving staff on and ready to take tables as their was before 2:00 because the company wants to save money. Then if you leave a crappy tip what you are in doing in essence is blaming the server for the problems the company has created. All in all their are alot of reasons for why things happen, it's your job to put your head up and understand why.