Tipping take out

[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?

[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.