I don't tip on takeout... Am I a ******?

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palys2

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First of all, let me tell you that it's not because I'm cheap. It's a matter of principle. If I'm going to have to put in the time and effort to pick up food from your restaurant, I'm not giving you a tip. I tip when I sit down to dinner and when food is delivered to my house.

What do the rest of you think about this? Am I a ******?
 
Many restaurants have take out available, but it's a "table waitress" who needs to stop what she is doing and handle those walk-in and take-out customers.

Many waitresses will pretend they don't see a take out customer, as they rush off to wait on their tables, especially when the restaurant is very busy.

I tip on take-out as a result, if it means that I get service. The waitress says, "Can I help you", and then has to go find my order, take my money, give my change, etc. It probably takes 5 minutes, which is a long time if orders are piling up.

I can see tipping less than a table, as they order drinks, then order food, etc, and it requires many trips back and forth but it's broken up into manageable units and you can often wait on 2-3 tables at a time. But a take-out order simply interrupts that work flow, with no reward at all for the server.

So yes, I tip on take out unless the service is atrocious or they have a cashier who does those orders stationed right there.
 
I usually tip but not near the % I would if I were eating in. I also generally take out from the same places so it's more of a "I like you guys tip".
 
I don't tip at all, period, ever. But then again, tipping isn't really a part of European culture. To me, it appears to be sort of a constant shakedown for cash - a token operated society requires tipping. It seems that in some societies people would rather make their workers beg for cash than pay them a living wage to begin with. That's humiliating, given the fact that they are already working.
 
You don't tip in europe or you don't tip anywhere? It's fine if you don't understand the culture but taking it out on your waitress is not cool.

I don't tip for takeout but I would if it seemed warranted.
 
temple240 said:
You don't tip in europe or you don't tip anywhere?
Click to expand...

I don't travel outside of Europe, thus I don't tip anywhere. As a general rule, I usually don't carry any cash (coins or bills).

In Finland, people mainly pay for things with bank cards and are required to punch in their own PIN code at payment time. Bringing the bill to the table doesn't happen in too many restaurants, normally you go to the counter to pay when you're ready to leave. They ring you up, tell you the price and show you the card reader. Bing, bang, boom, done. Thank you, goodbye!
 
Yooper said:
Many restaurants have take out available, but it's a "table waitress" who needs to stop what she is doing and handle those walk-in and take-out customers.

Many waitresses will pretend they don't see a take out customer, as they rush off to wait on their tables, especially when the restaurant is very busy.

I tip on take-out as a result, if it means that I get service. The waitress says, "Can I help you", and then has to go find my order, take my money, give my change, etc. It probably takes 5 minutes, which is a long time if orders are piling up.

I can see tipping less than a table, as they order drinks, then order food, etc, and it requires many trips back and forth but it's broken up into manageable units and you can often wait on 2-3 tables at a time. But a take-out order simply interrupts that work flow, with no reward at all for the server.

So yes, I tip on take out unless the service is atrocious or they have a cashier who does those orders stationed right there.
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How much do you tip, normally?

Usually when I get take-out, it is from a place with mostly take-out customers, like chinese or indian food. Places where only one table has diners but in the time you get your order three people come in to pick up their take-out. I tip between nothing and $3. I'm never quite sure what i'm supposed to do.

An awesome new indian place opened up less than 2 miles from me, so I need to make sure i'm in their good graces.
 
Yooper said:
Many restaurants have take out available, but it's a "table waitress" who needs to stop what she is doing and handle those walk-in and take-out customers.



Many waitresses will pretend they don't see a take out customer, as they rush off to wait on their tables, especially when the restaurant is very busy.



I tip on take-out as a result, if it means that I get service. The waitress says, "Can I help you", and then has to go find my order, take my money, give my change, etc. It probably takes 5 minutes, which is a long time if orders are piling up.



I can see tipping less than a table, as they order drinks, then order food, etc, and it requires many trips back and forth but it's broken up into manageable units and you can often wait on 2-3 tables at a time. But a take-out order simply interrupts that work flow, with no reward at all for the server.



So yes, I tip on take out unless the service is atrocious or they have a cashier who does those orders stationed right there.
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I agree that if one of the waitstaff is running my food that a tip is well deserved. I'm mainly referring to not tipping at a dedicated takeout window.
 
I'd like to see the minimum wage apply to all workers, including waitstaff . With that, obligatory tipping could go away, and good riddance in my opinion. Then, I'd only tip when I was impressed with the service, and not because I feel like an implied co-employer.
 
palys2 said:
I agree that if one of the waitstaff is running my food that a tip is well deserved. I'm mainly referring to not tipping at a dedicated takeout window.
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It would be nice if the waitstaff giving you the takeout order got the credit for it, but most places I am familiar with they don't. Most restaurants put it into a pool and give it out by whatever means they deem fit. I tip (fairly well) based upon the quality of service & the quality of the food. I don't tip on take-out orders since usually neither has been demonstrated enough to warrant it at the time of payment.
 
I do. I give about 10% though. The person running around getting your food is more than likely a waiter/waitress. One place I do know of, higher end, the hostesses do the running but I still pony up a few bucks for them. I also try to give cash because cash doesn't go on their checks and they aren't taxed on cash tips (until tax time if they do happen to claim them). I don't know if you're a ****** though.
temple240 said:
You don't tip in europe or you don't tip anywhere? It's fine if you don't understand the culture but taking it out on your waitress is not cool.

I don't tip for takeout but I would if it seemed warranted.
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Tipping is not part of the culture so obviously this doesn't exactly apply.
passedpawn said:
I'd like to see the minimum wage apply to all workers, including waitstaff . With that, obligatory tipping could go away, and good riddance in my opinion. Then, I'd only tip when I was impressed with the service, and not because I feel like an implied co-employer.
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In CA waitstaff is paid minimum wage by law. It is not the same in nearly every other state. I almost think it is just CA but I don't know for certain. I also know that is why CA has yet to see a Cracker Barrel (no love loss there for me). CB refuses to pay minimum wage and as a result, has never been able to work around the law and will not put a restaurant in the state. They have attempted at least once to circumvent the law with their lawyers but have come up short.

In CA I tipped as I do in NC now. You get 10% if you absolutely made a mockery of your job, made my visit regrettable, and just basically acted as though you do not care. If food was bad and it was out of your control then I don't punish the waitstaff. You get 15% if you barely handled your job but you did indeed perform the minimum function. I got my food, got refills every so often but not when my glass was empty, and I felt as though you cared enough to come to work, shovel food out to me and at least smile. You get much much more if you're much much better. Normally, with someone like me and my personality, my tips are 20% minimum. It has been a rare occasion where I had a bad experience at a restaurant.
 
I'm with you OP. i only tip when i sit in or if its delivered.
 
having served as a bartender for over a decade i am a complete tipping nazi. the attitude of "i don't tip" that is tossed around these days is flipping ridiculous (that is not a shot at the OP, keep reading). in almost all cases no one in the service industry could stay alive if no one tipped. my advice always is if you don't want to tip, it's easy - stay home and get your own damn food and beer. but as for the OP, what is equally hurting the service industry these days is everywhere you go someone has a tip jar out on a counter when they really have not performed any service for you that needs tipping for. i see tip jars on the counter of retail stores everywhere - i'm going to tip you for ringing up my purchase, really??? it confuses everyone and no one feels that they know when to tip anymore, and makes all tipping feel like a shakedown. so i can feel for the OP's confusion in this situation.
 
Yooper said:
Many restaurants have take out available, but it's a "table waitress" who needs to stop what she is doing and handle those walk-in and take-out customers.

Many waitresses will pretend they don't see a take out customer, as they rush off to wait on their tables, especially when the restaurant is very busy.

I tip on take-out as a result, if it means that I get service. The waitress says, "Can I help you", and then has to go find my order, take my money, give my change, etc. It probably takes 5 minutes, which is a long time if orders are piling up.

I can see tipping less than a table, as they order drinks, then order food, etc, and it requires many trips back and forth but it's broken up into manageable units and you can often wait on 2-3 tables at a time. But a take-out order simply interrupts that work flow, with no reward at all for the server.

So yes, I tip on take out unless the service is atrocious or they have a cashier who does those orders stationed right there.
Click to expand...

Completely agree. I occasionally order from a local diner and I am always given to a waitress when I arrive, therefore a tip is in order. If it's a dedicated cashier with a tip jar they get anywhere between 1$ and 5$.

progmac said:
How much do you tip, normally?

Usually when I get take-out, it is from a place with mostly take-out customers, like chinese or indian food. Places where only one table has diners but in the time you get your order three people come in to pick up their take-out. I tip between nothing and $3. I'm never quite sure what i'm supposed to do.

An awesome new indian place opened up less than 2 miles from me, so I need to make sure i'm in their good graces.
Click to expand...

If you're interested in my take I normally tip 20% for sit down, 10% for takeout with a waitress and somewhere between 1$ and 5$ for a tip jar, depending on the place and how much I like it there.

I don't want to come off like some saint, I'm certainly not that guy. I've just been lucky in my professional life and remember how hard the food service industry can be. Generally speaking people who work in the food service industry get paid horribly and can be subjected to some of the worst behavior I've seen. I like to show my appreciation for their efforts.
 
I guess it just depends.
When I go pick up Pizza, I never leave a tip.
Sometimes when I go to restaurants for pick up and the hostess has to go get my food, & they make sure the order is right, I have condiments, etc... i'll leave a few dollars.

I hate tipping. I never know if I've left too much or too little. I wish we could just get away from the tip system. I recently stayed at a decent Hotel in downtown Portland, OR. By the time I got checked in, up to my room & settled, I had tipped 3 different people. Ugh.
 
itsratso said:
having served as a bartender for over a decade i am a complete tipping nazi. the attitude of "i don't tip" that is tossed around these days is flipping ridiculous (that is not a shot at the OP, keep reading). in almost all cases no one in the service industry could stay alive if no one tipped. my advice always is if you don't want to tip, it's easy - stay home and get your own damn food and beer. but as for the OP, what is equally hurting the service industry these days is everywhere you go someone has a tip jar out on a counter when they really have not performed any service for you that needs tipping for. i see tip jars on the counter of retail stores everywhere - i'm going to tip you for ringing up my purchase, really??? it confuses everyone and no one feels that they know when to tip anymore, and makes all tipping feel like a shakedown. so i can feel for the OP's confusion in this situation.
Click to expand...

I worked in a bar and some resteraunts before, I have waited on people before as well. I personally would never expect a tip I didn't earn. I will also say I've never left a resteraunt/bar and walked outside thinking "ya I wish I hadn't of tipped so much I really needed that extra 5 bucks", I believe I'm better off for leaving a good tip.

I can't stand the idea of "let's pay the wait staff minimum wage so we don't have to tip anymore" either. I actually WANT good service when I sit down to dinner, and I know I probably won't get it if my waitress is making minimum wage and knows she isn't going to get a tip. It's also not hard to figure out if labor costs more, food will cost more. So there's no free sack lunch in this situation.

I guess my main point here is, I hate listening to people ***** about leaving a tip. (Not directing this at you OP, or anyone in particular.) I actually enjoy it, I'm happy I'm blessed with a few extra bucks and I don't mind spreading a few crumbs around either. This whole "tipping thing" is really just about us treating others the way we would want to be treated, ya know the golden rule? Unfortunately, I've found that as simple and easy as it is you'd be surprised how many people you come across while working in the service industry that really don't bother to think about anyone but themselves.

Now, would I leave a tip at a dedicated take out window? Probably not. If it were a member of the wait staff? You bet your ass I would, and if the person at the take out window really deserved one, they'd get it too.
 
I don't tip for takeout. But, when I get takeout, it's from places that pretty much don't have waitstaff. They may have a dining room, but it isn't staffed. The only exception is a local pizza joint, but they have a dedicated pickup window that is segregated from the rest of the place; it's also where the delivery side is run from.

With that said, when I do tip, it is largely based on 20%. The GF is now a manager, but once was a server, so we have a few ways of expressing appreciation and frustration. If the server simply does their job, it's 20%. If they show effort, appreciation, creativity, etc., then we tip well in excess. Sometimes as much as 40%. If the service is terrible we try to justify it, such as being really busy, the kitchen screwed up our order, large party in a small restaurant, etc. if none of those fit, then the tip is usually 5%.

Another thing we do is stack the dishes so they're easier to remove. Clean up our mess, pick up the straw wrappers, wipe the table with extra napkins..... You get the idea. And once, we went so far as to do the opposite for a PARTICULARLY bad server. The whole thing started with us waiting 15 minutes before she even showed up to our table, then arguing with us because she saw us sit down less than a minute prior. I know it was at least that long because I sent my son a text as we sat down and had the time stamp on the text. From there it got worse. So we left a terrible tip, didn't clean up anything, and told the manager about our experience. Am I an ass for that? Probably. But I felt justified then, and still do now. But the point there is that we try to show our appreciation in other ways to make things a little easier for the servers.
 
If there is any expectation (tip jar, etc.) then yes, I go with the flow and tip for take out. Especially important if I ever plan on going back and don't want to worry that someone has spit in my food. This kind of thing happens a lot more often than most people would like to think. For truly bad service I won't tip and I never return.

IMO not tipping doesn't make you a ******; it just means you have more faith in the integrity of your fellow man than I do.
 
palys2 said:
First of all, let me tell you that it's not because I'm cheap. It's a matter of principle. If I'm going to have to put in the time and effort to pick up food from your restaurant, I'm not giving you a tip. I tip when I sit down to dinner and when food is delivered to my house.

What do the rest of you think about this? Am I a ******?
Click to expand...


Unless we both are *****ebags, I never tip for that......Screw them.
 
I waited tables for years working my way through college and trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up. So with that background I understand how much it sucks so I will usually give a dollar or 2 depending on how much my order is.
 
Most of the places I get takeout from have a dedicated cashier working the counter, and not servers doing double duty. I'll occasionally leave a tip if they go out of their way for good service. There was a Thai restaurant I used to pick up from often (until they closed :( ). The old couple that worked there were always exceedingly friendly, making conversation while the food was being prepared, making sure I had condiments and such in my bag, and usually giving me a couple extra cookies at no charge. They got a tip every time.

The college kid behind the counter at the Mediterranean place down the road who barely says a word and looks annoyed that I'm distracting him from his laptop and hookah? Not so much.
 
About the only take-out I get is Chinese Restaurant in a nearby town, and generally we are loading up foam cartons from the buffet tables ourselves. So no.

I am pro tipping in pretty much all other cases. Having wait staff paid more will certainly increase meal prices and likely result in poorer service. I tip generously when we get really good service. I generally still tip for even not very good service. I tip nothing and let the manager know when someone is atrocious in serving and has a bad attitude.

People who serve well can make decent money.

A big factor in how much I tip depends on how well the server knows the beers they have available, or has a list I can easily peruse.
 
More of the the big chain restaurants (Chilis, BJ's, Cheesecake Factory) around here now have a dedicated person (sometimes the manager) just for to-go orders, if they really impress me I'll tip a few dollars (usually $0 for the manager unless they are the pinnacle of service). However if it is a server pulling both duties yes they get a tip of $5-$10 based on how big the bill is.
 
My sister works at a restaurant and told me that at least in their restaurant chain the pick up staff (the ones who give you the take away part) get paid well. This is a sit down restaurant so that may be the why. I guess it all depends on the where.

Tipping is such a polarizing topic. My father and aunt both strongly disagree with the restaurant seeming standard of tipping on the grand total. They will subtract out tax and tip off of that. I find that needlessly complicated and kinda petty/cheap.
 
I tip when a service is provided. If I drive my car, use my gas, to pick up food, I'm not tipping. My wife and I worked many years in the restaurant biz, actually where we met, so we are good tippers. Average service get's 20%. Bad service 15%. Good service 25-30%. But I'm tipping for the service. Where's the service if I'm picking up my food? I'm already paying for the food and for having it made. What's the tip for?

We should all adopt the Dwight Schrute theory
Why tip someone for a job I'm capable of doing myself? I can deliver food. I can drive a taxi. I can, and do, cut my own hair. I did however, tip my urologist, because I am unable to pulverize my own kidney stones.
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passedpawn said:
I'd like to see the minimum wage apply to all workers, including waitstaff . With that, obligatory tipping could go away, and good riddance in my opinion. Then, I'd only tip when I was impressed with the service, and not because I feel like an implied co-employer.
Click to expand...

Prepare to receive really ****ty service everywhere you eat then.

Do you think someone who is only making minimum wage and no real expectancy of a tip will give a **** about your honey mustard?

I don't think people really understand the reasoning behind tipping waitstaff.
 
firerat said:
Prepare to receive really ****ty service everywhere you eat then.

Do you think someone who is only making minimum wage and no real expectancy of a tip will give a **** about your honey mustard?

I don't think people really understand the reasoning behind tipping waitstaff.
Click to expand...

It's up to management in any company, including a restaurant, to either staff properly or go out of business. You can go to the mall and get great service in most of the min wage shops there. Why would that be different in a restaurant?
 
I wouldn't go so far as to call you a ******, but I generally tip about 10%. Less than for table service cause there is less work, but more than zero. The way I see it, if tips are shared then you are also giving a little to the kitchen guys that helped make the stuff, and if the waitress who did the order and brought it out was prompt and cheerful its just a nice way of saying "thanks" and recognizing you are taking him/her away from tables that are likely going ot be giving him/her more.
 
passedpawn said:
It's up to management in any company, including a restaurant, to either staff properly or go out of business. You can go to the mall and get great service in most of the min wage shops there. Why would that be different in a restaurant?
Click to expand...

Lots of those mall places have a tip jar next to the register as well. Maybe not entirely relevant to your point, but thought I should throw it out there.
 
If a take out order is a PITA for a server, I tip a couple of bucks on a $40 or $50 order, $1 on something $20 or under.
If it is chinese carryout and nothing extraordinary was ordered, then no tip.

Tableside service I tip at LEAST 20%.

To the OP...

You, my good man, are NOT a ******, if only because you bothered to research it!
 
I'm skeptical of the "no tipping" movement in restaurants. Some people say it will improve service because the wait staff will not be stressed over potentially getting screwed over by a cheapskate. On the other hand, it seems like more potential for servers to do the bare minimum that won't get them fired if there are no repercussions.

There is a new restaurant in my area that opened with a no tipping policy. The servers apparently make $10/hr. or 20% of their hourly sales--whichever is greater--and they have some sort of goals that they have to meet in order to get the 20%. I guess that keeps them from speeding haphazardly through as many customers as possible to pad their totals. I haven't eaten there yet, but I'm curious, and I've heard good things so far.
 
firerat said:
Prepare to receive really ****ty service everywhere you eat then.

Do you think someone who is only making minimum wage and no real expectancy of a tip will give a **** about your honey mustard?

I don't think people really understand the reasoning behind tipping waitstaff.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's true at all. Other countries that don't have a tipping culture seem to do just fine. When i went to South Korea for 2 week i ate out almost every meal. The service i got was MUCH better than what i get back in the states. The system they had to serve people was also far more efficient too.
 
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