Imagine that you are out to dinner with some friends; everything about the night is going perfect. There was no wait when you arrived at the restaurant, the food was prompt and tasted delicious, and your server was attentive and friendly. When the bill arrives at the end of the meal your friends insist on paying and leaving the tip; a tip which is small considering the experience you just had. Do you say something to your friends and risk offending them? Or do you quietly slip the server some extra cash?
Being a server, I have seen this happen time and time again. So it got me wondering, “Do people really know how to tip their server when they dine out?”
If you are like the average American then you probably dine out at a restaurant at least one time every month. Sitting down and having someone else prepare your food and clean up your mess is the perfect way to relax and enjoy an evening out. Therefore, tipping your server appropriately is an ideal way to thank them for providing you with this experience because in some states that is the only money that the server will make. In the state of California servers make minimum wage on top of their tips; however, in other states like Texas and Arizona, servers make only $2.10 an hour because the restaurant figures that they will make their money in tips. This makes it hard on the server if diners are not tipping how they should be.
I have noticed that the majority of people tip their server based on a percentage of their total bill. This means that people are tipping their server based on the cost of the food and not on the quality of the service. These two should be combined, quality of service and cost of food, it should not be one or the other. Servers who perform exceptionally well should be rewarded for their hard work even if the bill is relatively inexpensive.
For that reason, I decided to help out my fellow servers and provide a standard guide on how to tip your server when you go out to eat.
When dining out, if everything about your experience is perfect: perfect food, service, and timeliness, then the standard tip for your server should be 20 percent of your total bill. Therefore, if your bill totals $100.00 the server would receive a $20.00 tip. Of course, if you were so much impressed by the high standard of service then tipping over 20 percent is completely acceptable as well. Now if you do not want to tip that much but were still impressed by the service then just simply look at how much the tax is on the bill and double that. This will give the server a little more than a 15 percent tip which is still considered fair.
Now if the experience and the service you received were not up to your standards then the tip should reflect accordingly, in most cases. If the service you received was mediocre and the server was not very attentive or friendly, then you should tip them however you see fit. However, if your experience was not up to your standards because something went wrong with the food then you should not punish the server as they have no control over this. If your server puts in the wrong food item then obviously the tip should reflect, yet, if the food is not cooked right or something just does not taste right, please do not give the server less of tip because they have no control over these issues. They do not cook the food they only serve it.
I am not trying to sound like a disgruntled server, but it is frustrating when you get a small tip on table that you know you served to the best of your ability. Being a server is hard work and your only reward comes at the end of the meal when you see how much the table left you for a tip. So why not make a server’s night a tiny bit better by giving them a little something extra in the tip? After all, they are the ones serving you your dinner and cleaning up your mess.
Being a server, I have seen this happen time and time again. So it got me wondering, “Do people really know how to tip their server when they dine out?”
If you are like the average American then you probably dine out at a restaurant at least one time every month. Sitting down and having someone else prepare your food and clean up your mess is the perfect way to relax and enjoy an evening out. Therefore, tipping your server appropriately is an ideal way to thank them for providing you with this experience because in some states that is the only money that the server will make. In the state of California servers make minimum wage on top of their tips; however, in other states like Texas and Arizona, servers make only $2.10 an hour because the restaurant figures that they will make their money in tips. This makes it hard on the server if diners are not tipping how they should be.
I have noticed that the majority of people tip their server based on a percentage of their total bill. This means that people are tipping their server based on the cost of the food and not on the quality of the service. These two should be combined, quality of service and cost of food, it should not be one or the other. Servers who perform exceptionally well should be rewarded for their hard work even if the bill is relatively inexpensive.
For that reason, I decided to help out my fellow servers and provide a standard guide on how to tip your server when you go out to eat.
When dining out, if everything about your experience is perfect: perfect food, service, and timeliness, then the standard tip for your server should be 20 percent of your total bill. Therefore, if your bill totals $100.00 the server would receive a $20.00 tip. Of course, if you were so much impressed by the high standard of service then tipping over 20 percent is completely acceptable as well. Now if you do not want to tip that much but were still impressed by the service then just simply look at how much the tax is on the bill and double that. This will give the server a little more than a 15 percent tip which is still considered fair.
Now if the experience and the service you received were not up to your standards then the tip should reflect accordingly, in most cases. If the service you received was mediocre and the server was not very attentive or friendly, then you should tip them however you see fit. However, if your experience was not up to your standards because something went wrong with the food then you should not punish the server as they have no control over this. If your server puts in the wrong food item then obviously the tip should reflect, yet, if the food is not cooked right or something just does not taste right, please do not give the server less of tip because they have no control over these issues. They do not cook the food they only serve it.
I am not trying to sound like a disgruntled server, but it is frustrating when you get a small tip on table that you know you served to the best of your ability. Being a server is hard work and your only reward comes at the end of the meal when you see how much the table left you for a tip. So why not make a server’s night a tiny bit better by giving them a little something extra in the tip? After all, they are the ones serving you your dinner and cleaning up your mess.
2 comments:
EVERYONE needs to read this story. I am a server too and I hate it when I receive a bad tip after giving the best service that I can offer. ugggh!!! Frustrating, but it pays the bills!!!
Great Story!
"If your server puts in the wrong food item then obviously the tip should reflect, yet, if the food is not cooked right or something just does not taste right, please do not give the server less of tip because they have no control over these issues. They do not cook the food they only serve it."
The thing is, the food item that isn't cooked correctly CAN be due to not putting in the order correctly. An example would be a steak that someone orders medium well, but the server presses "medium rare" instead. The server didn't cook the food, but they would be 100% at fault for the food not being cooked right or tasting right.
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