Tipping take out

[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!

[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.