How to TIP for the CHEAPASSES of the world

Having fun dining outDining out can be a treat for the family or for your mate. It means no cooking, no washing the dishes, and no mess in the house. It also means that you will have to rely on the restaurant staff in order to have an enjoyable evening.


The U.S. Government taxes servers and bartenders based upon an assumption that they made a certain percentage of their sales in tips. If you do not tip a server or a bartender in America after receiving good service, you are actually costing your server money.
Remember that tipping is optional. While it is not factored into the itemized bill for small groups in most restaurants, it is, however, a well-established U.S. custom. Restaurant staff members are paid according to assumptions that this custom is followed.

Good service: Pay attention to the service during the meal. Were your glasses kept full? Were the dirty dishes removed? Were you asked how the meal was and if you needed anything? Did you ask for extra work--a special order, special drink, special sauce, etc.?

If the chef or cooks made a mistake on your order, or you just didn't like the food, it is a good reason to lower the tip. The restaraunt works as a team. Just as any team, they succeed together and the fail together. If a team is not performing, exceptional individuals can move on to better opportunities.

Look at your check when you receive it and look at your total price. If you received adequate service (all your needs were met, but the server did nothing above and beyond) an appropriate tip is 15% of the total. If you received exceptional service, the tip should be 20 or 25% or more. On the other hand, if you felt as if you received poor service (your needs were not met or server was rude), complaining to a manager and lowering the tip percentage are completely appropriate courses of action.

Keep in mind that tipping less than 15% actually takes money out of the server's pocket. At most sit-down restaurants, servers are required to "tip out" buspersons, bartenders, hosts, or food runners based on the total sale (sometimes up to 40% of their income or sales). If you don't tip servers enough to at least tip out these positions, they actually have to use some of their own money to tip out their co-workers. But if the service is truly poor, that is just too bad for the server. As in all service industries, poor performance should cost the server money.

Tips
If you don't have enough money to leave an appropriate tip in America, don't go out to eat at a sit down restaurant. You are taking up a table that your servers could be making money on.
If your servers are required to run back and forth for a lot of things, remember to leave a little extra, as well as a 'Thank You,' and a mention of this to the manager. People are quick to complain, but rarely praise their servers.They are working hard to make sure your evening was pleasant.

If you're eating with small children, remember that the servers will clean up the mess, and that this usually takes quite a bit of time. Try leaving servers a little extra for this big inconvenience.
Do not splurge on costly meals and then leave servers a meager tip. Do keep in mind, however, that in many U.S. states, waiters and waitresses are paid a base wage that is significantly lower than the regular minimum, because it's assumed that tips will make up the difference (but if not, they must be paid the minimum wage by the restaurant). Thus, unlike other countries, tipping is expected in the U.S. if you receive service that is at least satisfactory.)

An easy way to figure a 20% tip is to move the decimal point of the cost to find 10%, and then double it. For example, if the bill is $35.00, 10% would be $3.50, and a 20% tip would be $7.00. For 15%, you would halve the 10% and add it to the original number. For $35.00 again, that would be $3.50 + $1.75 = $5.25.