Dine in: Tip depending on quality of service
Take out: No tip

The bartender issue is tricky. Taking the cap off of a beer bottle takes minimal effort but usually if you don't tip on the first drink, your second will be a long time coming. I'm willing to tip a bartender well initially to remain at the top of the bar drink chain. That's just the way it is I suppose. When I've opened tabs at bars, I've almost always received drinks quickly and have tipped accordingly when the tab is closed out. If you're concerned about the money going towards bartender tips, get a 30-pack and drink at home. Classic pay to play situation.

/$.02

 

I do not think that is true.
The rumor here in texas is that if they ROLLER SKATE to the cars than they make up to 12/hour. They have a sign up at my local one saying "Now Hiring. Earn up to $12/hour".

When I go to sonic I tip 25 cents simply because the food is pretty cheap (plus being a high school student I got a booster club card that gives me a buy one burger get one free deal so I always buy friend's free burgers. If I do that I tip the person 50 cents)

When I think about tipping I try to think about how much they are making. Here in Texas a waiter gets paid like $3/hr+Tips so I give them a 5-15% tip depending on how well they did as a waiter and if I know the owners/servers of the restaurant pretty well I will usually tip on the higher side.

 

I tip 20% for good service at a restaurant.
$2 minimum for anyone who carries my food more than 10 yards (delivery, curbside, etc.)
$2-5 for valet parking.

I don't tip for carry out or taxicabs.

 

Typically Sonic carhops make minimum wage + tips, not waiter/waitress wages + tips

 

no fast food joint pays waiter tips.

 

I agree with a lot of what ''sillyboybmxer'' said. What I am a bit iffy on is tipping for take out. This same thing happened to me yesterday at Pizza Hut. I would have it delivered to my house if I wanted to tip somebody.

**I do tip often at mom and pop take out places though.

 

Tonight was pure shit. I went in to work in a good mood, and by the time I got home, I was pissed off. I had 3 deliveries over 35$ with no tip and a $100+ order, from which I received $4 and some change. I also had other deliveries, none of which were notable either.

I hate my god damned job. I can't wait until I get my ASE certifications and be done with delivering.

 

First off, you're wrong. They get paid at least minimum wage and often more. I had a GF in high school that was a sonic carhop.

Second, I don't give a crap what they get paid. The service they provide is NOT tip worthy to me. Once again, if they don't like what they're getting paid then get a new job. If you work at a restaurant where you go a whole shift and only get one table, then get a better job at a different restaurant or learn a different skill and get another job. You act as if these people are held at gunpoint and forced to do these crappy jobs.

 

As someone who is in the restaurant industry in NYC as a career, you can take this to the bank....

1)You do not NEED to tip for takeout. You can give them a few bucks IF you want to, but under no circumstances do you have to or socially required to (like you are sitting down). Same goes for starbucks and places like that. Tips are NOT normal for those establishments. You are paying for an item, NOT a service. I hate the fact that nowadays, there is a tipcup in front of everyone. You also don't have to tip the bathroom attendant.

2)You do NOT and should NOT tip a delivery person based on the amount owed. If it's a pie of pizza, or 17lbs of caviar, you still tip a few bucks, NOT a percentage of the total.

 

This is for you, and for anyone talking about money and education......

I manage a very large restaurant group in NYC. Some of the waiters that work for me make $250,000 a year.......CASH! Any of you make that? Figure out that number of a comparable salary (250K take home) and let me know if you still think they are uneducated.

Some might say that someone that spends 14 years in school getting a wall full of degrees, and never even reaches that financial level is "uneducated."

IMHO in this country there are two kinds of people, the educated, and the rich. The owners of the company I work for pull down about 200 million a YEAR. All three of them barely graduated high school.