LOVE : HATE

I will tip whatever I want! 20% if you are spot on - 18% if you slack a bit - 15% if you suck and 10% if you really! really! really! suck. It never has to do with the food, always the service. This is America! I will tip what I want, and I will not STAY home! Hard times should result in excellent service so that 20% will be stay the standard.

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If the waiter has nothing to do with the quality of the food, then why is the tip based on the price of that food? If I get a similar service experience at Husk and, I dunno, Wild Wing Cafe the server at WWC gets 20% of a far smaller bill. If the server is getting let down by the kitchen, the server should grab the manager to calm down the table and comp the bad food. I don't go to restaurants to pay full price for half-assed work; I can do the same at home for far less money.

Live by the restaurant's rep (and thus food), die by it. And yes, I have been a server before and I'm a very easy-going tipper.

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The tip is based on the value of food because the server should have knowledge of the food based on the price. You go to Ruby Tuesday and your server doesn't know about something, its okay, the entree is like 12 dollars. If you go to Husk and your server can't tell you about a 50 dollar bottle of wine, then your server sucks and you don't have to tip them. This is rarely the case. This is why a server is an insurance policy for the restaurant or else every restaurant would have uneducated servers just like Ruby Tuesday. Try asking a Grill 225 server a question and I dare you to not get a direct answer back. They work hard and earn the 20% before you even show up to know about all the food and wine.

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Having worked in the food and beverage industry, I understand how important tips are. But the idea that gratuities are obligatory boggles my mind. People commenting in this thread seem to think that crappy and unfriendly service still deserves a tip. The truth is that tips are at the discretion of the customer. The way it works is that the customer rewards you for good service and doesn't reward you for bad service. If someone doesn't tip well, consider: a) how nice did you treat them? When I was young, handsome and thin, I was treated better by servers than now that I'm older, not as handsome and overweight, a great deal of servers seem like they have little time to be courteous. b) You are the representative of the restaurant/bar and the point of contact for your customer. Fair or not, how the food looks, tastes and how long the wait was to get it may affect your tip. So if the kitchen sucks, maybe you shouldn't work there.
I can tell you for sure that if you are more concerned with being friendly and providing good service than you are with what percentage of the bill the customer owes you , you'll make more money. And remember, it's the customers idea of how good the service was (not how much you think of yourself) that determines how much they tip. Of course, there will always be cheap people who don't tip well. But if you give everyone good service (not just your friends, not just someone you want to sleep with, not just the attractive or wealthy looking people) it should balance out.

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the mentality of "obligatory tips" is only going to perpetuate crappy service. if a person assumes that they deserve to be tipped regardless of how well they are doing their job, then what will motivate them to actually provide decent service? according to anon, if my food is brought to me, then service has been rendered. but what if it took a half an hour and my food is cold because my server has decided to focus on a different (i.e. larger) table? you think you deserve a tip for that?

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I agree with this post 100% - I always tip the waiter at least 20% (sometimes up to 25-30% if service is very good). I also always tip cash, since that gives them money that day. If I get a particularly slack/bad waiter, then I tip them exactly 15%.

If the food is prepared badly or there are other problems with the establishment, I give the place bad reviews online and by word-of-mouth.

That has fallout implications for the wait staff, etc. but I can't help it if they work for a place that has issues...

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If anyone has ever traveled abroad, they will bow before even the worst American servers when you get back. Even in the nicer restaurants in Buenos Aires and Madrid (in both of which, I spent a considerable amount of time), the service is beyond terrible. The waitstaff will NOT come to you, unless you beckon to them, whether it is to get menus, drinks, order something, or even to get the check. I've had several situations where I wave my hand and look at them, they look me dead in the eye, then turn away, and avoid my gaze for the next several minutes, so that they don't have to come and listen to me. I've even had to get up out of my seat, to go ask a waiter for my check, when he refused to come to my table even though I'd been signalling him for the past 20 minutes. The tip is included in the check, and a lot of the servers really couldn't care less about your dining experience. Food comes to your table cold, or it comes 15 minutes later than everybody else's, etc. Also, in addition to the tip, you have to pay for a table charge (not sure what that is), as well as water (which is freaking expensive).

As far as tipping in accordance with service, I am fully in favor of this practice. However, I think there is a difference between a server who is trying and makes mistakes or has an incredibly busy section, and a server who is rude or arrogant. I would never stiff someone, but I came close with one awful waitress. She was incredibly rude to me, and then didn't bring my food with my friend's, even though it was sitting next to it on the counter. When I pointed it out to her, 10 minutes later, even the plate was cold, not to mention the food. No apologies offered, no offer to microwave it, just more rudeness. She got a 6% tip. No other server has ever been that awful to me, and I don't think I've ever tipped any of them less than 15%, usually 20%.

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Another whiny-assed rant from Generation Entitled

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The problem I have with the whole "the food is not the servers fault" argument is that sometimes it IS the servers fault for bringing me the wrong order. If the steak is ordered medium rare and it comes out rare, not the servers fault. Rice pilaf sticky, not the servers fault. Food cold can go either way but if the bottom of the plate is cold or there is no steam/heat coming from the top it probably means the food is cold and that would be the servers fault. If I order green beans and get asparagus, servers fault. Cold bread, servers fault. No cheese in scrambled eggs with cheese, servers fault (and this happens frequently higher end restaurants and almost never at the awful waffle.) So, while I believe that servers do get the shaft for the kitchen's mistakes sometimes it is their fault that the food is wrong and still bringing it to me because of the desire to turn the table over.

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