Tipping take out

[7rider]

Hey all.
Need some input...
At a restaurant, DH and I typically tip 20% for good service.
Tonight, however, we called a local restaurant (our first time doing this at this particular place) and ordered dinner for take out. I went and gassed up the truck for a road trip tomorrow, and picked up dinner and brought it home.
I put the dinner on my debit card. There was a spot on the receipt for a tip. I wrote in about 20%, but then I thought...it's not like we got served or had anyone wait on us. The woman bagged our styrofoam (gasp!) containers in a bag, and that was it.
So...what's the etiquette for tipping for take out? Nothing? 15%? 20%
Thoughts?
Thanks!

[PinkBike]

i dont know about etiquette, but we usually give about $1.50 - $2 when we do Applebbe's carside-to-go. i mean, all they gotta do is bring it out, right?

[Aggie_Ama]

It depends on the place. I go to Jason's Deli regularly at lunch and don't tip at all. I mean, if I ate it there I would get the same amount of service and not be given the option to tip. Sometimes I get restaurant food to go and the to go person gets me dressing, plastic ware and a drink, then I give a buck or two.

[crazybikinchic]

If I am getting take-out, I do not tip. I will tip a little for the carhops at Sonic, or the pizza delivery driver, but not on food that I spend my gas to go get and take home.

[Di bear]

They get pissy if they don't get the normal tip, but I agree, they don't earn it anymore than a McDonald's employee.

What you DO need to consider: Server's taxes are based on the cost of the meal, not the amount tipped. For example, if the bill is $100, in Michigan, they will take 8%, or $8 for taxes, even if no tip was left (some servers actually do get negative checks, owing the restaurant). So, for carside, you should tip at least $8 in this very expensive takout meal ;) rather than the usual $15.

* Prices chosen for obvious math. ;)

Find out what your state charges servers for income tax.

[snapdragen]

They actually do everything they would do for you in the restarant, take your order, get the food, pack it up, make sure you have your condiments etc., then deliver it to you. They're taxed based on their sales, just like all the other servers.

[luv'nAustin]

I tip for take out, but not the full 20%. I do recognize that they bring the food to me, but I'm not holding up a table and they don't have to refill my drink or check on me during the meal. I also figure that I'm a quick turn around for them and not holding up a table. So, I'll tip 10-15% for the service.

[shootingstar]

From a carless perspective, this tipping thing vs. gas cost is abit interesting. :)

Terrible as it may seem, I never thought of tipping when I walk/bike to a restaurant to pick up a takeout dinner/lunch from restaurant. Take-out dinner from a restaurant is pretty rare for us. It's just insane for us when we live near many restaurants and cafes within a 15-min. walk.

We do tip on the rare occassion we order takeout dinner to be delivered to our hotel rm. when we travel...that's desperation point to us... :D Normally we prefer to walk around a town that we've visited and drop by the Arby's/Boston Pizza (if no other choice but a chain) to sit down for a meal within restaurant. We will tip 10- 15%..for the delivery person.

I actually find it abit depressing eating takeout food in a hotel rm. which is why I avoid it or at home....which for the latter I think we might have done once.....in past...um 15 years. :o:)

[Irulan]

They actually do everything they would do for you in the restarant, take your order, get the food, pack it up, make sure you have your condiments etc., then deliver it to you. They're taxed based on their sales, just like all the other servers.


When I was a server, I was taxed on my wages and estimated tips, not my sales.

[ehirsch83]

When I was a server, I was taxed on my wages and estimated tips, not my sales.

No but, you tip out on your sales.

So at most restaurants(I served for 4 years and did to go in that time also) you tip out anywhere from 1-3 percent to the bar, the bussers, and the food expediter. And at some places, the to go people are also serving(depends where you go).

When I worked at Chili's the to-go people had to tip out to the food expediter still, based on sales. So if they had crappy tips that night, they then did not make as much as they could of because they have to give to those who help them get everything together.

[crazycanuck]

Quick question...We're visiting the US soon & i'm wondering if we have to tip? Are we forced to? We don't tip & don't feel we should.

[Pedal Wench]

CC,

The minimum wage (and typical wage) for restaurant servers is significantly lower per hour than other workers. Their income is almost solely based on tips. If you don't feel that you should tip, perhaps you could go to places where they're not a factor of the waitservers wages, such as fast food places.

[crazycanuck]

Fast food places are out of the q..blech

I guess we'll just have to cringe & tip only a small amount. I don't think it should be up to the customer to perk up someone's wage.

[snapdragen]

cc - most servers are paid under minimum wage. I don't know what it is in Canada, here in the states it's $5.85 an hour, unless you work for tips, then it's $2.13 an hour. This varies by state, but in many cases, it is very low; tips are expected to make up the difference.

[Triskeliongirl]

CC- practices are different in different countries. In the USA, you are not perking up someones salary, but rather their wages are calculated with the expectation that the customer will provide a tip. The customary tip is 20% for satisfactory service. If you really feel the service was bad you could give less (not the food mind you, but that the server did a poor job). While it is optional in the sense that you won't be arrested for failing to tip, to not tip for satisfactory service is just not right (in the USA, I know this is diff in other countries). But read your bill, as some restaurants do add a tip for large parties.

[crazycanuck]

Another question...Do they add the tip when you pay at the counter @ the end or do you leave it on the table?

[Triskeliongirl]

It depends on whether you pay with cash or a credit card. If you pay with cash you just leave it on the table. If you pay with a credit card, there is a place on the slip where it can be added and then you tally up the total.

I didn't mean to sound harsh in my last post, its just that practices are different in different countries, and I do feel strongly if someone is going to visit another country they need to follow the practices of that country. As for tipping on take-out, the point of this thread, as you see from the replies, practices vary widely. But there is no question that if you are served food in a restaurant, it is expected you will tip 20% for satisfactory service.

[crazycanuck]

Trisk..i've travelled & can follow different practices...I'm cool with toileting a different way or eating way cool foods a differnt way..

It's being reminded that you guys tip in the US..

[kelownagirl]

cc - most servers are paid under minimum wage. I don't know what it is in Canada, here in the states it's $5.85 an hour, unless you work for tips, then it's $2.13 an hour. This varies by state, but in many cases, it is very low; tips are expected to make up the difference.

It's $8-9 an hour in Canada, no reduction for making tips. In BC we also have a 'training wage' of $6 a hour for first time workers but it doesn't last long. Most people tip 15-20% depending on the type of restaurant. I don't tip in fast food places myself - only in places where I actually get served. I will tip delivery guys though - ie pizza.

[VeloVT]

I tip 20% in restaurants and 20% for delivery. I don't tip for takeout (that is, when I pick it up) because I thought one didn't, but I always feel a little awkward and uncomfortable when there is a place on the receipt for a tip and I don't leave one.

I'm confused in this thread because it sounds like people are using the word "takeout" to cover a wide variety of different situations -- getting a pizza delivered, ordering Chinese food by phone and then picking it up, even getting a burger at a fast food restaurant. Aren't these usually all handled differently?

[Grog]

It's $8-9 an hour in Canada, no reduction for making tips.

Just a detail: In BC, currently $8 an hour, but that varies by province. (Alberta is $8.40.) Some provinces (nor BC nor Alberta that I know of) have a "tipped employees" salary, which is lower by at least a dollar.

[7rider]

I tip 20% in restaurants and 20% for delivery. I don't tip for takeout (that is, when I pick it up) because I thought one didn't, but I always feel a little awkward and uncomfortable when there is a place on the receipt for a tip and I don't leave one.

I'm confused in this thread because it sounds like people are using the word "takeout" to cover a wide variety of different situations -- getting a pizza delivered, ordering Chinese food by phone and then picking it up, even getting a burger at a fast food restaurant. Aren't these usually all handled differently?

Thanks all.
Yeah, "takeout" does vary widely. We generally tip the pizza delivery guy and the Chinese food delivery guy (usually about 20%), but DON'T tip when we pick up the Chinese food or pizza. We certainly don't tip at a local fast food place (or even coffee joint, even tho' they may have a tip jar there).

The example I started with in the OP was a standard sit-down (in this case, Greek) restaurant....full service restaurant, full bar, the whole nine yards. But...their menu is available via take out. I got messed up with the "tip" line on the receipt, and wasn't sure the etiquette....if a different "standard" applied to a full-service restaurant's take out vs. a - say - Chinese food where they have no sit-down service.

[Aggie_Ama]

I saw someone say they tip the carhops at Sonic and I used to as well. Then in high school I worked for $7 an hour at a hardware store, good pay for the late '90s. Came to find out the people working at Sonic made $6.50 plus tips and sometimes brought home over $15/hour. Now I don't tip, guess it is bitterness that I had the wrong high school job! :D

[Tuckervill]

I don't tip at Sonic, either. I know they make what other fast food workers at other restaurants make, and I don't tip them, either. I figure if they want folks to tip at Sonic, they'll lower their prices! Sonic is one of the most expensive FF places ever!

I worked at Wendy's as a teenager. We weren't ALLOWED to accept tips. My suppositions is Sonic *allowed* them to accept tips, and that translated over the years to "expecting" tips. I could be wrong.

Karen

[Deanna]

I think a lot of fast food places aren't allowed to accept tips, which explains the high turnover rate. I always tip at any restaurant that is allowed to accept them.

The servers are providing me a service, even if it's just making sure my order is ready quickly, accurately and packaged well enough to make the trip home. I don't tip as much as I would for table service, but generally 10% for takeout (I pick up) and 15% for basic table service, 20% for good service and delivery.

If I plan to frequent a restaurant regularly (it's nearby and the food is good), I tend to think of tipping as an investment and it's usually paid off in excellent, over-the-top service the more I go there. My mom is a notorious bad tipper, and she wonders why she gets all the inexperienced servers who make mistakes. I try to tell her good service is worth paying extra for and she might get more experienced staff or better service if she didn't nitpick the tip down.

I am not now, nor have I ever been a waitress, so this isn't a biased posting.

[KSH]

I don't tip at Sonic, either. I know they make what other fast food workers at other restaurants make, and I don't tip them, either. Karen

I don't tip at Sonic. I'm not giving someone $1 or more for simply walking out and handing me a bag of food.

When I waited tables, I would work on a table for 30 mintues to an hour, and make $2 - $8 as a tip. I had to WORK for that money. Not just walk out once to the table. And I wasn't getting paid minimum wage.

[KSH]

Trisk..i've travelled & can follow different practices...I'm cool with toileting a different way or eating way cool foods a differnt way..

It's being reminded that you guys tip in the US..

So when you eat at a sit down place... do you not have to tip? You just pay the bill as is, even though a server has helped you?

I haven't been to Austrailia so I'm not sure how it works over there.

I know in other countries the tip was added to the bill already. I didn't like that at all. The server knew he was getting tipped bad service or not.

[SadieKate]

Don't forget that here in the US, a gratuity is freqently automatically added to the bill for groups of 6 or more. In a culture that does use tips for rewarding performance it makes me a bit cranky as I've paid 18-20% tip for horrible service.

PS to the servers out there - please don't sit down at the table or kneel on the floor next to me. I'm not a child. I'm your customer. Act like a professional.

[Blueberry]

Don't forget that here in the US, a gratuity is freqently automatically added to the bill for groups of 6 or more. In a culture that does use tips for rewarding performance it makes me a bit cranky as I've paid 18-20% tip for horrible service.

Or worse, they don't disclose the auto tip adding anywhere, and end up getting more. I've talked to the manager on occasion when with a very large group with a mandatory 20% tip, where I sat for 30 minutes with nothing to drink. However, I'll also add additional tip where someone is particularly accommodating (eg voluntarily splitting a check for 10 people).

In restaurants, I generally tip 18-20%. For takeout, I usually don't tip. I get annoyed at places like Mama Fu's where you order at the counter, pick up your food, and they still have a tip line on the receipt. The cooks are the ones who package the food, yet the checker gets a tip.

CA

[SadieKate]

Don't some places split the tips between all the staff including the buspersons (boys, whatever)? I swear I knew someone who said the place she worked even split it with the cooks.

Fortunately, I never had to wait table. I did a LOT of tutoring and typing, in and out of the classroom. Nothing like being 21 and have some gigantic football dude break down in tears because he's having problems with his writing skills. Whew boy, you learn about others' challenges really, really fast. Really, really.

[Deanna]

I get annoyed at places like Mama Fu's where you order at the counter, pick up your food, and they still have a tip line on the receipt. The cooks are the ones who package the food, yet the checker gets a tip.

CA

Usually a business only gets to chose only one template for their receipts. It may be annoying, but the technology to print multiple receipt options is probably beyond the budget of take out places.

[Blueberry]

Usually a business only gets to chose only one template for their receipts. It may be annoying, but the technology to print multiple receipt options is probably beyond the budget of take out places.

Yeah, but even if you eat there, you bus your own table and pick up your own food. Uh yeah - they've cooked it. Why do they get $$ "to insure prompt service??"

[Deanna]

Just leave it blank. My drycleaners receipt has a place for the tip too, my point being not everybody's technically savvy enough to change what their receipt says, if they have the option. It's not worth the effort to be annoyed over something so easily ignored.

[SadieKate]

Just leave it blank. Nooooo! At least put a line through it. I've had a restaurant provide themselves a nice $100 tip by just strategically inserting a "1". Fortunately, the credit card company believed me when I asked them how many college students would provide a $100 tip on a $17 meal.

[Blueberry]

Nooooo! At least put a line through it. I've had a restaurant provide themselves a nice $100 tip by just strategically inserting a "1". Fortunately, the credit card company believed me when I asked them how many college students would provide a $100 tip on a $17 meal.

Ditto. We had a 2 added in front of the tip. Fortunately, it was in the days of carbon receipts and we had the carbon.

As far as being annoyed - It just makes for an uncomfortable situation (at least it did in that location), and quite frankly I stopped going there (in part for that reason). That location went out of business. I go to Pei Wei (same food, same distance, no annoying tip line).

CA

[solobiker]

Ditto. We had a 2 added in front of the tip. Fortunately, it was in the days of carbon receipts and we had the carbon.

As far as being annoyed - It just makes for an uncomfortable situation (at least it did in that location), and quite frankly I stopped going there (in part for that reason). That location went out of business. I go to Pei Wei (same food, same distance, no annoying tip line).

CA

Stuff that really bothers me. Why can't people be honest. I guess I expect too much of people sometimes which gets me frustrated. As for the tipping, if I call and place an order then go pick it up I usually don't tip.

[Deanna]

Ditto. We had a 2 added in front of the tip. Fortunately, it was in the days of carbon receipts and we had the carbon.

As far as being annoyed - It just makes for an uncomfortable situation (at least it did in that location), and quite frankly I stopped going there (in part for that reason). That location went out of business. I go to Pei Wei (same food, same distance, no annoying tip line).

CA

Good point! I guess I've been fortunate in my restaurant choices.

[bmccasland]

When I was moving here, driving from far northern California, due south and then west to Louisiana, in August... Stopped at a Sonic somewhere in SoCal for lunch - fast food, and they had some shade on part of their lot. I had 4 unhappy cats in two crates, and my two dogs. I ordered my lunch, but before I could dig out the dog's water dish to offer them water and give them a chance to stretch their legs, the waitress (?) was back with a mixing bowl and a pitcher of cool water for the doggies. The girls were very appreciative.

I don't normally tip when I'm at Sonic, but this added bit of consideration for my fur babies deserved the bonus. They also asked if I wanted a couple of plain hamburgers for the dogs, but I thanked them and said no. I generally don't feed my dogs people food, and the girls weren't eating very much on the trip. I did NOT want to deal with upset tummies driving cross country.

[Tuckervill]

Carhops. They're called carhops at Sonic.

I would have tipped well in that situation, too. How nice they were to go above and beyond!

Karen

[DDH]

How stupid am I??? I had no idea that sonic carhops made at or above minimum wage. I always thought they made the sub-minimum and have always tipped them accordingly. I don't go there very often, but when I have I have always tipped under that assumption. Wow!! Not that I mind, but had I known I might have just given them change rather than a couple of bucks each time. My sister used to work there many, many years ago, and she made less than minimun and thats what I always based it on.

I tip at a restaurant depending on the service.
I don't like that tipping has become a mandatory thing. Many moons ago, you tipped because of excellent service, or didn't because of poor service.
Now you are required to tip even if you get poor service.

I have recieved some pretty bad service where I live, and I can tell you there are many times I don't want to tip, but I still do give at least the 15% tip.

[7rider]

I've never been to a Sonic. I don't think I've ever even seen one. It's a fast food joint, isn't it? I think I've seen commercials for them on t.v. Something about really gross looking drinks.

[bmccasland]

Carhops. They're called carhops at Sonic.

I would have tipped well in that situation, too. How nice they were to go above and beyond!

Karen


Thanks, I couldn't for the life of me remember. Don't go there very often.

[Di bear]

They actually do everything they would do for you in the restarant, take your order, get the food, pack it up, make sure you have your condiments etc., then deliver it to you. They're taxed based on their sales, just like all the other servers.

I did the EXACT same thing when I worked at McDonald's PLUS a lot more (cleaning toilets, tearing about shake machines and cleaning those, and a whole lot more). I also made a hell of a lot less than many servers. I wasn't allowed to take tips.

[Di bear]

When I was a server, I was taxed on my wages and estimated tips, not my sales.

Are you in a different state? Laws do vary by state. Taxing on sales is common practice in many areas, though.

[kiwi girl]

So when you eat at a sit down place... do you not have to tip? You just pay the bill as is, even though a server has helped you?

I haven't been to Austrailia so I'm not sure how it works over there.

I know in other countries the tip was added to the bill already. I didn't like that at all. The server knew he was getting tipped bad service or not.

Certainly in New Zealand you don't 'have' to tip. Peopel earn at least minimum wage so any tips are bonuses. In a nice sit down resturant I might tip for excellent service, and there is one regular place we go to where we tip a bit (and always get good service). But normal service in a middle of the road resturant I don't tip. Some receipts have a line for adding a tip - but its quite OK to ignore it. You don't have to tip taxi drivers here - I've even had cab drivers seem surprised when I say 'keep the change' from $10 on a $9.50 cab fare (which I would always do).