Tipping on a carryout order

[Kinsm]

Almost never tip on carryout orders. Delivery yes, but not carryout. Most often it's a hostess or a bartender who deals with carryout orders, and it's part of their pay.

[Z-Fly]

I'll try and explain this one more time, and then I'm done.

I do contract engineering work for GE. Never once have I been tipped. Never once have I been upset about that. Why? Because my wage is not set up to be supported up by outside tips (Same as carry-out). Also the industry standard is to not tip my type of service (Same as carry-out).

Just because they both hand you food, does not mean they both require a tip.

[Larry Schuler]

You can't run things on feelings, Larry. It just doesn't work.

My take is it's all feelings. I'm arguing for owning that instead of insinuating that you're partially a passive participant in a choice someone else made about whether to tip. You can literally tip anyone if you feel they did a great job and deserve a tip. In the case where tips are illegal or discouraged, they'll say "No thank you." IMO, an industry standard or article or logical fallacy of choice reenforces a decision not to tip but it doesn't dissuade a sincere impulse to tip out of appreciation for the service you received. If you actually have ever been in a scenario where you wanted to leave a tip and someone told you "Don't do that. Here's an industry standard or some other theoretical scenario" and you took the tip off the table, you didn't have to do that! If you didn't want to tip but felt obligated, that makes more sense for someone to change their mind.

[Bourgeois Zee]

We tip almost everyone who provides a service.

Between my wife, my family, her family, and my children, we've pretty much worked every menial job in existence and know the hardships they offer.

I don't know where you worked, Z Fly, but I made $2.13 per hour as a server. (Granted, it's been about 15 years since.) As a bartender, I made somewhere +/- $5.00, but that depended on the place. A couple college bars paid only the bare minimum and assumed you'd make enough in tips. And I was expected to provide time putting together the orders and often, if hosts/ hostesses weren't available, take care of the carry-out as both a bartender and a server. (Hosts and hostesses were typically only available during peak hours, then sent home as quickly as possible.

If you don't want to tip, that's obviously your choice. But everyone should know the facts. Too, if you pick the same restaurants week after week and continue not to tip... Well, I wouldn't.

[kaldaniels]

We tip almost everyone who provides a service.

Between my wife, my family, her family, and my children, we've pretty much worked every menial job in existence and know the hardships they offer.

I don't know where you worked, Z Fly, but I made $2.13 per hour as a server. (Granted, it's been about 15 years since.) As a bartender, I made somewhere +/- $5.00, but that depended on the place. A couple college bars paid only the bare minimum and assumed you'd make enough in tips. And I was expected to provide time putting together the orders and often, if hosts/ hostesses weren't available, take care of the carry-out as both a bartender and a server. (Hosts and hostesses were typically only available during peak hours, then sent home as quickly as possible.

If you don't want to tip, that's obviously your choice. But everyone should know the facts. Too, if you pick the same restaurants week after week and continue not to tip... Well, I wouldn't.

I do think everyone should know the facts. Is the person handing you/prepping your food paid server wages or normal employee wages. I have a strong suspicion it can vary. Knowing that fact could tip the scales one way or another with me.

And while we are shaming those non-tippers...if I’m reading your implication correctly quadruple shame on anyone who taints a product in one way or another.

[kaldaniels]

[Larry Schuler]

Do you mind if I cite this as why I am not able to leave tips in certain situations?

[marcshoe]

I take care of my own kidney stones, thank you.

[medford]

Interesting discussion...next question.

If I order a steak, potato, salad and a coke from Applebees (or any similar type restaurant) I'll spend $30 on my meal, and assuming adequate service, I'll tip $6.

If I order a steak, potato, salad and glass of wine from Ruby's I'll spend roughly $100 on my meal and assuming adequate service, I'll tip $20.

Why? Did the server at Ruby's work any harder getting me my meal than the server at Applebees? Perhaps, I've never had bad service at Ruby's, actually I've only had exceptional service at any of his restaurants, and you would expect, but I've also had exceptional service at Applebees (but also cases of poor service as one would occasionally anticipate). I get that the meal at Ruby's cost more, its better quality, prepared better, etc.. (at least in my opinion and I'll assume, well, everyone's) but there is nothing about the waiter that is guaranteed to be better, so does etiquette automatically assume they deserve $14 more for my meal? They didn't purchase the ingredients, nor did they cook it, they took my order to the kitchen and brought the food back to my table.

Obviously, Ruby doesn't hire inexperienced wait staff, and they've never been anything less than exceptional as stated above and know their menu very well, but generally speaking I'm pretty easy to please so its not like they have to offer a wine pairing selection for my meal (I'm probably ordering a beer and a glass of water), but I've always found it interesting that the standard is 15 - 20% no matter the cost of the food. If I go in and order the pork chop, and salad, but no side dish, plus the beer and water at Ruby's my final bill will be less, and therfore my tip will be less, but the waiter didn't work any less, didn't offer me any less service than if I had ordered a steak and side item, so why should the waiter make less because I choose a less expensive meal off the same menu?

[Sea Ray]

It is what it is but I'm suprised by that. Emily usually errs on the side of being too polite/generous. I've heard from servers who feel 15% is an insult. Suprised Big Server hasn't put the heat on Emily.

Wouldn't "too generous" be tipping? Seems to me they fell on the other side here.

Emily Post gives one the idea of what's proper.

[Sea Ray]

Interesting discussion...next question.

If I order a steak, potato, salad and a coke from Applebees (or any similar type restaurant) I'll spend $30 on my meal, and assuming adequate service, I'll tip $6.

If I order a steak, potato, salad and glass of wine from Ruby's I'll spend roughly $100 on my meal and assuming adequate service, I'll tip $20.

Why? Did the server at Ruby's work any harder getting me my meal than the server at Applebees? Perhaps, I've never had bad service at Ruby's, actually I've only had exceptional service at any of his restaurants, and you would expect, but I've also had exceptional service at Applebees (but also cases of poor service as one would occasionally anticipate). I get that the meal at Ruby's cost more, its better quality, prepared better, etc.. (at least in my opinion and I'll assume, well, everyone's) but there is nothing about the waiter that is guaranteed to be better, so does etiquette automatically assume they deserve $14 more for my meal? They didn't purchase the ingredients, nor did they cook it, they took my order to the kitchen and brought the food back to my table.

Obviously, Ruby doesn't hire inexperienced wait staff, and they've never been anything less than exceptional as stated above and know their menu very well, but generally speaking I'm pretty easy to please so its not like they have to offer a wine pairing selection for my meal (I'm probably ordering a beer and a glass of water), but I've always found it interesting that the standard is 15 - 20% no matter the cost of the food. If I go in and order the pork chop, and salad, but no side dish, plus the beer and water at Ruby's my final bill will be less, and therfore my tip will be less, but the waiter didn't work any less, didn't offer me any less service than if I had ordered a steak and side item, so why should the waiter make less because I choose a less expensive meal off the same menu?

One thing is at Jeff Ruby's you're likely tipping the busboy, the person doing the water and the bartender. I know waitresses at Moerlein House have to split their tips with at east 2 additional people.

[Larry Schuler]

Interesting discussion...next question.

If I order a steak, potato, salad and a coke from Applebees (or any similar type restaurant) I'll spend $30 on my meal, and assuming adequate service, I'll tip $6.

If I order a steak, potato, salad and glass of wine from Ruby's I'll spend roughly $100 on my meal and assuming adequate service, I'll tip $20.

Why? Did the server at Ruby's work any harder getting me my meal than the server at Applebees? Perhaps, I've never had bad service at Ruby's, actually I've only had exceptional service at any of his restaurants, and you would expect, but I've also had exceptional service at Applebees (but also cases of poor service as one would occasionally anticipate). I get that the meal at Ruby's cost more, its better quality, prepared better, etc.. (at least in my opinion and I'll assume, well, everyone's) but there is nothing about the waiter that is guaranteed to be better, so does etiquette automatically assume they deserve $14 more for my meal? They didn't purchase the ingredients, nor did they cook it, they took my order to the kitchen and brought the food back to my table.

Obviously, Ruby doesn't hire inexperienced wait staff, and they've never been anything less than exceptional as stated above and know their menu very well, but generally speaking I'm pretty easy to please so its not like they have to offer a wine pairing selection for my meal (I'm probably ordering a beer and a glass of water), but I've always found it interesting that the standard is 15 - 20% no matter the cost of the food. If I go in and order the pork chop, and salad, but no side dish, plus the beer and water at Ruby's my final bill will be less, and therfore my tip will be less, but the waiter didn't work any less, didn't offer me any less service than if I had ordered a steak and side item, so why should the waiter make less because I choose a less expensive meal off the same menu?

For myself, I simplify it and keep it within my realm of control by asking myself whether I'm sincerely arguing for the Applebees guy to get $20 or whether I'm actually arguing for why I should be able to tip the fancy restaurant waiter $6 and why that is my instinct. Absent of any epiphanies within my own mind, I would just tip the expected 15-20% and let the "industry standard" do the brunt of the thinking/justification since I don't really have those answers. If I was rich, I might say "Hey. I'm giving the Applebees server $20 because I can do that and I appreciate their service, same as when I'm at a fancy place" but I realistically can't afford that. Under no circumstance would I seriously contemplate leaving the fancy server $6, nor would I think anyone else. That seems kinda cartoonish and not what a real person would ever do.

[Hoosier Red]

One thing is at Jeff Ruby's you're likely tipping the busboy, the person doing the water and the bartender. I know waitresses at Moerlein House have to split their tips with at east 2 additional people.

THis is probably correct and there's probably more people doing work behind the scenes(and taking a cut of the tips) at Jeff Ruby's than at Applebees. They probably also employ more wait staff per guest so they can be more attentive.
So in effect, yes you are getting that much better service at Jeff Ruby's.

[Kinsm]

I'll bet the Appelbee's waiters are also tipping their busboys. That busboy is making 8.15 an hour and the waitress is making 4.08 in Ohio.

[Boston Red]

Is Joey Votto working harder than whoever happens to be playing first base for the Dayton Dragons?