Do you tip a bartender when filling a growler?

I have always wondered, do most people tip the bartender when they get a growler filled?

If so, how much?

If not, why?


I used to tend bar for two years and I still hesitate to tip in certain situations. Getting a food order to go from a restaurant is one of those gray areas.

What do you think?

 

I tip but not as much as I would when I spend a few hours at a place and have a few pints.

 

If the fill it when I order it, yes. If they pull some oxidized, flat, growler out of a small fridge behind the bar that's been sitting there for gawd knows how long, no.

 

I always tip $1 for anything the bartender does.

 

I find myself trying to tip the 7-eleven gal at times.

I really need to spend less time in bars.............

 

I usually run a tab and tip based on the total. I don't usually tip as high as I would in a restaurant though, considering all the barkeepers do is pick up a glass, rinse it, and pour a beer into it.

 

I would if I could get a growler filled here. Remember, your server pays income tax based on a percentage of his sales whether he gets a tip or not. If you stiff him, you're really making him pay Uncle Sam to serve you.

 

I typically won't tip for a growler fill unless I'm drinking it on site, or if I've been drinking prior to buying the growler. Otherwise, I look at it like I'm picking up a six pack at the store. I'm not really expecting any type of customer service, just a quick fill up and go.

 

No. I'm still 3 credits shy of a B.S. Most of my work hours have been logged at coffee shops where I worked harder than a bartender and usually got close to zero tips. I would have killed to earn half as much as a bartender. On top of that, most of the bartenders I know or have had encounters with have been absolute douchebags. I feel no real obligation to tip someone whose job it is to pour a glass of something (I never order mixed drinks) when I was lucky if I received one dollar per ten customers for making complicated drinks. I'll still tip, but usually not very much.

 

That's generally how I tip. Each pint is a $1 tip, plus $1 for each additional item I get, like a meal. If they gave me especially good advice on a special beer they have in stock, maybe $2. If they listen to me talk about homebrewing... that's a tip in itself.

 

Is that really true? I don't know any bartenders that pay taxes on the COMPANIES sales. When I was a bartender (five years ago) I only paid taxes on my hourly wage and tips.

 

When I bartended, we had to claim our credit card tips or 6% of our sales as income.

BTW 15% is the standard tipping rate for meals. At the bar, a bone a drink for small bills or 15% for "meal sized" bills.

 

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I have to disagree, knowing several people who work or have worked in restaurants, myself included. You are only taxed on income, not company sales. Unless you own the company/restaurant, you're only taxed on hourly wages and tips. And unless your boss is a complete jerk, you can claim less than 15% on tips if you honestly made less than that. As far as making you claim 6%, lets face it, that's nothing. You've gotta be a pretty bad server if you don't make 6% in tips. Even the worst servers come out of a night with 10%.


But back to the thread, no I don't tip for growler fills. Most of the time when I'm getting a growler filled, I'm at the bar for a few drinks anyway, so I tip on what I drink.

 

When I bartended I was taxed on my hourly and claimed tips, not sales.

However, I had to tip my bar back a % of my sales. That is where bartenders can get screwed if they fill growlers all day and no tips. They'd still have to tip out the bar back or busser.

 

this.

 

Most of the bars I go to price their beers at 4 bucks a pint, so if I pay cash I always just hand over a 5 and call it good. If I run a tab, I usually tip about 5 bucks.

Yeah, a bartender is just filling glasses while a waiter/waitress has to do a lot more. But the bartender is also having to deal with a lot more people who become jackasses as soon as the slightest bit of alcohol enters their system so I kind of have more sympathy for them. Especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Plus, a lot of bars I've been to have had as many as 100 people in them and only one bartender working, so he's busting his butt. If I'm making him take the time to fill a growler, I'm definitely gonna give him something for it. Probably a couple bucks.

 

We had to tip 2% of sales to hosts/bussers, but servers also tipped bartenders 2% for making their drinks. Guess it depends where you work.

 

I used to work in Rochester NY, being a bartender meant lower minimum wage... like 4.60 an hour in 2008. We needed tips to survive and we worked hard for them. A dollar or two isn't much to spare unless your bar tender is useless, in which case them not earning tips may pursuade them into a job they're better suited.

 

If you can't afford a buck a drink/growler, stay home.


_

 

Is she cute or friendly? Did she tell you that you were good looking or smile at you?




(I a have a couple bartenders that are none of the above, I still tip..., but I don't on grolwers, maybe I'll start though, great thread topic...)

 

I am currently a bartender and when the customer takes care of me and they come in from time to to time a few of there drinks disappear of the tab. This is pretty common and the management usually encourages it. It builds a client base so..... Tip your bartender you won't regret it!

 

I come from the coffee business too and it is amazing how picky and ungrateful some of those people can be. However, I had a regular customer who was a bartender by night and she taught me to always tip, and tip well. Naturally she did this by tipping me well. I remember how I used to live off tips so I generally try to tip well no matter if it's a bunch of drinks or just a growler fill.

 

usually a dollar or two

 

I think you missed my point. Our "claimed tips" were considered either 6% of sales or our total credit card tips, whichever was largest. I assume that was based on the tax code at the time (mid-90's).

 

Tip your barista too!

 

If the bartender uses even a molecule of ATP, it gets a $1 from me.

 

ATP... Whoa, no need to be all sciencey about it, this is a friendly thread. I'm with you on the dollar for just about anything though.

 

I try to tip anybody that is obviously trying to do a good job. However the brewpub I usually drink at and sometimes take brew from gives me two options- the guy with the tatoos on his neck that is a TOTAL douchebag gets no love from me. The girl who is marginally cute but thinks she's a knockout and I should tip her for that alone, gets a modest tip if she is polite and smiles. By comparison I tip 20% in a resturant if I've gotten good service, and usually $5 for the maid in a motel room. Good help is hard to find.

 

I refuse to tip someone for simply doing their job. Too many service industry employees expect a tip (or 20%+) for simply not being a total screw-up.

 

Most of the bars around here charge you for 4 or 5 beers when you get a growler. It can come out to about the price of a case. Not sure why they even bother. Anyway when I get Growlers its from the brewery because they charge a reasonable price. Yes I tip 2 or 3 bucks. And I don't taste every single beer on tap just the new ones, so they love me. The one brewery I frequent I think the pourers only make tips and thats it, they have other jobs but still.

 

Where did you tend bar? I grew up in Rachacha.

 

Yeah for sure. If that has never happened to you, you need to check yourself. Not just in how much you tip either, just being a decent human being with some common sense can help here.

 

I can tell you how those of us who were pretty good servers back in the day used to think about it: 15% - you did your job well enough, 10% - you did poorly, and 20+% - you rocked. 0% meant you had a bad customer or a European who didn't understand the local custom ( or you were probably going to be fired/quit soon anyway).

Keep in mind, we were making 2.15 an hour when min. wage was around 6-7 an hour.

A tip for simply doing your job is actually expected in these situations in the US. In Tokyo I'm not familiar with the custom.

 

Funny how that happens. Win-win-win for customer-bartender-business.

 

If you go to the same places regularly, I hope you enjoy the flavor of saliva in your food.

 

I agree.

I am a paramedic by trade. I do the job because I love it, not because I expect to get rich. Thats a good thing, because I get paid crap.

I bring people back from the dead, and I can't get tipped for it. I don't expect to, either.

Someone picking up a glass and pouring me a drink does not get a buck out of me just for the effort.

IF they give me good advice, great service, and make the stay enjoyable, I'll tip ok. But merely existing and doing the basic functions of their job does not give them some special rights to a tip.

 

Reservoir Dogs, anyone??? (the scene where their eating breakfast)

 

well played