My father will tip 15% for good enough service (like, all the plates arrived with pretty close to the correct food on them), and 18% for very good service. We've sometimes tried to get him to go up to 20% for really exceptional service, but 18% is his limit. (And what he calls 18% is actually 17.5%, rounded up to the nearest nickel, because 17.5% is easier to calculate.)
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Natter 63: Life after PuppyCam
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Hil R. - Jul 05, 2009 4:45:46 pm PDT #27478 of 30000
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
Polter-Cow - Jul 05, 2009 4:46:32 pm PDT #27479 of 30000
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Here is something I've never really known: is it 20% of the total with or without tax? I've always tipped on the tax because it was easier, but it feels weird to tip on the tax. Of course, it already feels weird to tip on the cost of your food, as if the cost of your food has any relation to how much trouble your server had to endure to give it to you.
Jessica - Jul 05, 2009 4:48:44 pm PDT #27480 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
20% is the default in NYC unless it's automatically calculated by the restaurant (for large parties, in which case it's usuall 18%).
If you tip less than 20% your server will likely assume you're an ignorant tourist or a bigwig in the Republican party. (Tips when the RNC was in town a few years back were, by all accounts, offensively low. Because, you know, nothing says "I have three mansions and a Senate seat" like handing your waitress $5 on a $100 meal and calling her "sweetheart.")
sarameg - Jul 05, 2009 4:49:01 pm PDT #27481 of 30000
I just tend towards 20% of total, tax included, knowing what waitstaff makes.
Hil R. - Jul 05, 2009 4:49:37 pm PDT #27482 of 30000
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l
Here is something I've never really known: is it 20% of the total with or without tax?
Without tax.
Polter-Cow - Jul 05, 2009 4:50:55 pm PDT #27483 of 30000
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Intriguing. Guess I've been overtipping. Which is better than undertipping, at least.
DavidS - Jul 05, 2009 4:51:10 pm PDT #27484 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
is it 20% of the total with or without tax?
Without tax. Though I routinely just do the easiest calculation, which is move the decimal place over on the total bill and double it to get 20%.
Juliebird - Jul 05, 2009 4:51:40 pm PDT #27485 of 30000
I am the fly who dreams of the spider
I've learned to tip 20%, perhaps because my gramps was in the restaurant business as are both my brothers. What I don't get is my mother's newfound insistence to not tip on the tax. I haven't done the math, but I can't see it being that big of a difference (for smaller bills, at least).
When dissatisfied, I give 15% and throw in whatever pennies I have as a chin flick (it makes me feel like not total shit when all I want to do is leave the pennies).
eta that okay, it seems like it's not New new, but her adamantness is.
Sophia Brooks - Jul 05, 2009 4:52:15 pm PDT #27486 of 30000
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
In your dads' defense, I am pretty sure 10% used to be standard, and 15% was good.
sarameg - Jul 05, 2009 4:53:02 pm PDT #27487 of 30000
Oh, it was. He just can't get with NOW.