this post was submitted on 01 Mar 2025
24 points (100.0% liked)

Asklemmy

1462 readers
148 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy πŸ”

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

To those who live in or who have visited the United States.

Growing up in the 90's, the "minimum acceptable" tip was 10%, average was 15%, and a good tip was 20%. These days, I just round to the nearest dollar and tip 20%, but I've heard these days it's not unusual to tip up to 40%!

What do you usually do?

top 34 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] eatham@aussie.zone 21 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Nothing I live in Australia

[–] trk@aussie.zone 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

They're trying to make it a thing here. I refuse to participate.

I'm paying for a menu that has your decent wage built in already, I'm not gifting free money on top for just... doing your job?

Also wtf servers in places that do tip... you turn my words in to an entry in a tablet (or perhaps a piece of paper), then carry the food that other people created / prepared / transported / cooked all of 30 steps from the kitchen to my table and expect 20% of the bill? Insanity.

[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

i live in vietnam. it's a poor country. but restaurant workers here get paid in money, so they don't need to work for gratuity. it would be strange or insulting if you tried to give extra money to the staff.

[–] azalty@jlai.lu 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 6 days ago (1 children)
[–] azalty@jlai.lu 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

tipping being insulting. Sure, it depends on the amount, but I don't believe tipping could be seen as something bad, especially if you're a tourist

might be wrong though

[–] nutsack@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 5 days ago

the first time I experienced this was in japan. try it and find out I guess

[–] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 6 days ago

Followup question, how much do y'all tip your landlords /s

[–] callouscomic@lemm.ee 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Americans: "I don't care how bad the service is, you HAVE to tip a minimum amount."

Also Americans: "My experience at the DMV was bad. Fire all government employees!"

[–] zeropublix@lemmy.ml 5 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

As a transplant I refuse the whole US tipping system and stick to the way of β€œrounding it up”. It often ends up around 10% of the bill but % tipping seems absolutely stupid as you are being punished for buying more. A few rare times I actually tipped 20% because the service was very good. Nobody tips me on my job and on average I make less than these people so I don’t see the logical connection of this whole stupid tipping culture

[–] meowMix2525@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You make less than $2.13 an hour, the federal minimum tipped wage?

[–] zeropublix@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 days ago

What? Your comment makes absolutely no sense.

[–] wesker@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I'm almost always a 25%. I used to work in the industry in a previous lifetime, and tips were what kept me afloat. Now I'm an overpaid professional, and have no qualm paying it forward.

The only situations I will tip much less is if:

  • Service was just absolutely fucking abysmal due to very clear negligence.
  • It's one of these new hipster restaurants that keep popping up, where you order and pay for your food upfront and are expected to tip then as well, without knowing how service will be. I'm not talking about food carts or kiosks either, these are actual restaurants. I hate the expectation that I should just pay an extra premium without even having a chance to evaluate the experience.
[–] paequ2@lemmy.today 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

but I’ve heard these days it’s not unusual to tip up to 40%!

That seems pretty unusual to me.

I normally tip 20%.

[–] iamanurd@midwest.social 1 points 1 week ago

I’m usually 25 and round up. Probably closer to 30.

[–] Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu 7 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

When I have been in the us I used to tip around 15%. Accepted that as a weirdness of the us.

On my home country tipping is just weird and unheard of, so 0%.

Edit: last time I was in the us was like 15 years ago.

[–] GissaMittJobb@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

~~0%. We do not have a tipping culture, nor will I ever move in the direction of us having one.~~

EDIT: I'm not in the U.S so my answer does not apply

[–] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

Still a good answer πŸ˜†

[–] MrVilliam@lemm.ee 3 points 1 week ago

Usually 20-25% unless the service is inexcusably bad (like 1-5% of the time, and even then I'll tip like 15%). I'll typically approximate 20% and round up to the nearest dollar, then maybe add a dollar or two. I remember 15% being standard with it being acceptable to go down to 10 or up to 20; 18% was sorta my standard at the time, and I'd only go as low as 15%. I've only ever asked to speak to a manager three times that I can remember, and both times were due to what the kitchen sent out to me. I still tipped fully to the server since it wasn't their fault. I was a chef for years, so I know how stressful it gets back there, but there's still no excuse for the dishes I've sent back. There's usually an offer to cook something else, but if I'm sending food back it's because I don't trust the kitchen to send out food that won't give me food poisoning.

Tipped minimum wage here (and therefore all tipped wage) is $2.17/hour. I believe that these businesses should be forced to pay proper wages, but stiffing your server doesn't achieve that. These people are on their feet running around for hours and they usually don't have enough support or leadership to do their job as well as they'd like to, and then they're too exhausted and broke to study or work to break into another industry. We're gonna have a lot of 30-50 year old servers living paycheck to paycheck until their knees and back give out. I'm down with tipping an extra couple bucks so they can get some Dr Scholl's.

[–] psyklax@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 week ago

I avoid restaurants that require tipping. When I do have to tip, I give way too much if the service was good. IMO, good service is to not try to talk to me too much, and to be responsive to what I need done (refilling drinks, taking additional requests). Bonus tip if I know they're overworked and handling it well.

15% floor. Throw an additional $10 sometimes. Always direct to the worker because these places steal tips. Also I tip cooks sometimes.

But I avoid going to these restaurants.

in Canada, usually 15%, if the service is outstanding or i'm a regular I'll tip 20%

[–] agnomeunknown@lemmy.ml 2 points 5 days ago

I always tip 20%, more for exceptional service. I've worked as a cook for about 15 years, at various places from dive bars to fine dining. At some places the servers and bartenders make insane money, often more than the chef who is usually on salary and not eligible for tips. But at a lot of places, the servers barely make ends meet and live not only check to check, but hand to mouth, week to week depending on the business. I never assume anyone is making bank so I tip well as a professional courtesy and to make up for people who don't tip.

Increasingly these days, I've heard about and worked at places where the tips are split with the back of house crew, up to 40%. That ends up meaning that nearly 50% of our monthly pay is in tips, and that's a blessing and a curse. Having PTO is basically worthless because missing out on the tips hurts so much.

Here in Seattle, they just raised the minimum wage to just over $20 an hour, and tips and benefits can't be counted towards that. It's a step in the right direction, but because capitalism is going to capitalism, it means that's barely enough to live in the city with a single income source. So I still tip well regardless.

Most places in the country are not that fortunate, so I encourage everyone to tip their servers. If you think you're going to force owners to pay people more by not tipping, you're not only wrong, you're actively making life harder for people who will likely never make as much as you if you work any sort of office job.

The system sucks, and needs to change. Some people can't afford to tip generously, and that's fine. But if you don't tip out of principle, you're just an asshole.

[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 2 points 6 days ago

20% minimum even if service sucked since it's virtually always systemic reasons why the service sucked

[–] DemBoSain@midwest.social 2 points 1 week ago

I have generally tipped at least 20%. But tipped workers in my state just fought to keep their sub-minimum wage, because republicans convinced them that people would stop tipping if they were paid more. Tipped minimum wage was going up to $6, but now it's only going up to $4.74. I've been tipping too much, and will bring it back down to max 15%.

[–] rozwud 2 points 6 days ago

I typically calculate a 20% tip and then round up. For demographic purposes, I'm a millennial in the US.

[–] communism@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

I don't live in the US but I tip around 20%, sometimes more or less depending. Tbh I'm never sure what tipping etiquette is supposed to be here, but if it's obvious how much the worker is getting (eg ride shares or food delivery where you can see the delivery fee), I tip them how much I think is reasonable to be paid for that job, which is usually quite a bit more than I'm charged for the service. And ofc not all of the initial charge goes to the worker anyway.

[–] Kng@feddit.rocks 2 points 1 week ago

I usually try to tip relative to the cost of the food. If I bought something really cheap (few dollars) for a few dollars I might tip up to 40% but if I got something more expensive I will usually tip like 15%. I try to consider how much effort the server has put in since I think it makes sense that way. If I only see the server 3 times but they deliver a really expensive plate of food I don't think they deserve as much as someone who might have delivered multiple plates or had to do extra work like splitting the check.

100-200% depending on how good the service was.

Downside to this is I can't afford to go out as often. :C

[–] gm0n3y@lemm.ee 2 points 1 week ago

Typically 20-25 at a restaurant. I’m not a fan of tipping for transactions where I’m not served. I only tip when someone does something.

[–] chairman@feddit.nl 1 points 1 week ago

15 pct is what I do now on average. No tip for takeout.

[–] Blaze@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 week ago
[–] vfreire85@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 week ago

brazilian restaurants tipically charge a 10% optional service tax, it's up to you to give it or not. my problem with it is that we don't know if it goes to the waiter or the owner cashes it to its pocket.

[–] Fleppensteijn@feddit.nl 1 points 6 days ago

I did round up a few times. It seems strange to base the tip off a percentage.

I give $2 for a pizza, $1-2 if I’m picking up to go. Usually I go 15-20% for standard service but rarely tip over $30 a server unless the meal was outstanding.