I knew it is custom to tip in restaurants/cafes, but not at bars/pubs as well. Would make for some very expensive nights.

Also, how do you tip when paying with a card? Leave it as cash or tell them how much extra to charge? That could get a bit awkward if you don't feel they deserve a good tip

Oh yeah I forgot tips when I get a drink. I usually leave a buck or two per drink.

As for paying with a card, they usually just give you the receipt to sign and write however much you want to leave as a tip.

Just like at a restaurant, there is a place for you to write in a tip on the credit card slip.

I try and do a buck a drink. But I hardly if ever go to bars, so that means I tip about a dollar if I do go.

This is always a terrible sign if you're a waiter. If someone gets the bill and immediately starts typing away at a calculator/phone calculator/whatever, theres a good chance you're about to get screwed.

Ok. So when the time comes that I actually get to go to the US I won't look like a dumb tourist

Or at least, not for that reason

i also do a buck a beer at a bar, but think about what you're tipping for, especially if the place you're at isn't that busy. they are grabbing a bottle, and opening it. or pulling a lever and filling a glass. make no mistake, i still tip, but it's not like you're tipping them for actually doing something above and beyond anything.

I'll admit I have a hard time tipping in these cases. This just happened last Friday at the campus pub. It was fucking empty when I walked in and got a pint. The dude didn't even move, literally reached down, grabbed a glass, filled it and slid it across the bar. I still tipped him, but walking away I did think that he didn't do anything to deserve it.

in those cases/environments they should give you the option of self-serve, like the self-checkout lines at the grocery store

Patent that, & get rich. Remember, too: you'll have a family to support, soon enough. The skrilla from the endeavour would really help.

Anyway, what is with the "dollar per beer" nonsense? I just tip the change. If fifty cents, I leave that. A dollar, I leave that. A dollar-fifty, I leave the coins. Otherwise, as telescope said, the evening could get VERY expensive.

Anyway, what is with the "dollar per beer" nonsense? I just tip the change. If fifty cents, I leave that. A dollar, I leave that. A dollar-fifty, I leave the coins. Otherwise, as telescope said, the evening could get VERY expensive.[/quote]


I live in Nebraska, the average price of a domestic pint is 1.50, the average micro-brew or Import pint is somewhere around 2.50-3.00. I figure if I order six to seven beers at a show and the waitresses have to make their way through the crowd to serve me, they deserve a buck. Like I said above, I never tip the same waitress more than three dollars, unless the I start racking up alot of loose change then I will give them some of that too.
I also go drink crappy domestic beers alot on tuesday nights for 1.00 a can or 1.50 a tallboy, and I tip almost every tie. I figure if I spend 15 on beer and around ten on tips, that is still less than it cost me on a weekend.

It's the investment. I couldn't give a fuck about 98% of the servers out there, but I'll take care of a bartender. If you do, they'll find you quicker when it's crowded, let the liquor pour a little longer in your glass, give you scrap drinks or just plain freebies.

I think there is a major difference between a bar wench and a waiter or waitress. A wiater/waitress is dealing with, in general, a lot more than the random person grabbing you a beer, popping the cap, and bringing it to your table. I understand the investment bit, but hopefully you are not saying that you tip less to the server at a restaurant.

Priorities my friend. haha. Have you ever waited on tables? Not to mention, a bar bitch is most likely not getting paid the shit 2.15/hour that a server is. Which is why you tip more. It's their living. Tips are kinda just extra, expecially for a bartender in your more upscale establisments. Maybe Joe's Tavern down the street they are looking for tips to supplement a poor hourly wage, but bartenders, now that's a different story. The only reason I ever tip a buck a beer is because I hardly ever drink and if I am at a bar I will most likely get nothing or one to two drinks. I feel it is important to tip well in these cases.

lol

tipping

Exactly. I mean, we're doing it wrong. We're supposed to tip before service. "Insuring promptness", and such.

I just think a person ouught to be able to do the math in his/her head. It's not that hard.

I disagree. Customers are annoying, but minor league compared to drunks.

I've waited tables and slung some beers across the bar (blue laws, no liquor), and then, rather than crying myself to sleep over pitiful wages, I went and got myself a real job.

I don't tip to supplement someone's wages. That's bullshit. I know I'm in the minority, but like ol' Mr. Pink, I don't tip at McDonalds. I also don't tip the window licker sweeping the floor who gets paid in McNuggets he finds in his dustpan.

A Good Bartender does more than crack beers. He/She'll take care of you. Make sure you happy, remember your name, know what you drink and how you like it, keep your tab plus a thousand others, get the sommelier if you're into wine, make recommendations, make conversation, know what's going on around town, watch out for fights, give directions, help you find hookers, all that shit.

And if you do it right, you'll spend several hours in a bar, versus an hour or two in a restaurant. They'll be your best bud all night, where a server will just tend to be polite and helpful.

Man, I've never been to a bar where they have a sommelier

Although it isn't mandated by law, tipping a server is supplementing their wages and you are supposed to do it. That is why servers are supposed to report tips to the federal government. That is why there is minimum wage (which your fast food employees make) and then there is server minnimum wage, which is in the two dollar range. A bartender is making at an average place, probably about 8 bucks an hour if not more, plus a ridiculous amount of tips. A good waiter will do all the same things that a good bartender does, if we're talking about comparable types of establishments. However, the liklihood that an individual goes to the same bar over and over again and is schmoozed by the bartender because he/she knows that when someone gets drunk enough that's when the cash starts flowing is much greater than the liklihood that an individual goes to the same restaurant over and over again (although it does happen). But, you know what. I don't even know why I am arguing about this. hahaha. Damn Obner. I am leaving the board. Thanks a lot Fu.

what do you mean "supposed to do it"? I don't see TIPPING MANDATORY signs on any bars I go in.

I also don't understand why it's my responsibility to supplement bartenders' wages just because their hourly rate is crap. but i'll reiterate what i've already said in that I still always tip and I don't ever bat an eye.

and also, those places that charge up to/over $5 for a beer make it very difficult to tip

20% - strictly food and soda type beverages

15% - 18% If alcohol is on the tab

0-10% if service is bad

I think you get that reading comprehension award that is given by Loogar. If you look at the first part of my sentence it says that it is not mandated by law, thereby meaning that it isn't mandatory. Supposed to do it means it is proper in terms of our culture, the way the system is set up in general, and it's just the right thing to do. Restaurants are allowed to pay 2.15 an hour to their servers as opposed to the real minimum wage because servers are "supposed" to get tips.

And another aspect of the poor reading comprehension is that I am not talking about bartenders. I am saying someone should tip a server at a restaurant. Again, I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT BARS WHEN I SAY THAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO TIP.

got it.

i tipped like shit last night.
i felt really bad.

i wrote that before 9 so I am exempt from having to read into the minute details.

my father is a terrible tipper, which, for awhile, made me an overtipper to compensate for him. i've been getting down from that lately, but i still tip well, especially for good service.

i always feel obligated to tip well at places where i go often, even if the service is mediocre, but what's the consensus on that? if i'm showing up every week or two, i expect people to recognize me and, if i tip well, i expect good service each time. it's been alright, but i've never noticed an overall bump in service at anywhere that i consistently tip well.