i am to the point now where i tip 20% no matter if the service is good, great, or bad.....

if its real bad - i will say something to the manager though

how about buffets - what do you tip on that one?

Except that $2.13 is the minimum wage set by the Federal Government, and if the $2.13 + tips works out to below $5.15, the employer is required by law to make up the difference.

Normally no, but if above and beyond or pretty cordial, maybe a buck or two.

I'll throw a few coins in the soup.

That doesn't exempt you from providing a tip. haha.

A shitty "I only make two dollars an hour" attitude will, however.

Sure. I can see that. If they're grumpy and flaunt that they decided to become a waiter or waitress it can be considered to be a form of bad service. I want good service at a restaurant and not be subjected to the financial difficulties of my server.

But, let me clarify. I am not a waiter. Somewhere in this very meaningful discussion I feel like you may have thought this was the case.

No, I didn't.

I usually tip around 20% at most places. I tip a lot more at a few bars where I'm a regular. At one bar we go to we get several free beers per night and we play pool at hourly tables (usually for 4-5 hours) for free, so we make sure to tip really well since they give us so much free stuff.

Rule of thumb beaten into me by my girlfriend: take the first number of the total amount and double it. $20 check = $4 tip . If the 2nd number in the bill is over 5, round up...$56 check = $11 tip. $108 check = $21 tip.
I used to be a shitty tipper until we started dating.

That's a lot easier than what I do - divide by 5 if I want 20%, 4 if I want 25%, etc

haha. I do the percentage thing. In terms of bills, if it is an $15.00 bill, move the decimal place to the left once then multiply by two. For those of you who are mathematically challenged, that makes $3.00.

That's what I do.

Unless I'm pissed off at the waiter I usually round up prior to taking the percentage.

$12.00 --> $20.00 / 10 --> $2.00 * 2 --> $4.00

I try not to leave less than $3 or $4 even if the bill is below $10, especially if I'm ordering things that are cheaper than the average price (ie. I'm being cheap and ordering like a salad and water or something).

Hm. I'm not sure I'd ever leave a $4 tip on a $12 meal. $3 would be generous, but I'm kinda with you on never wanting to leave less than a $3 tip at a restaurant.

Well, better to leave less than 3$ than to pay for a cup of coffee in pennies, a la the Dude.

I can do that, this just assures I get it right. Before I used that Keep the Changething w/ BoA, I just rounded everything to the nearest dollar.

If I overheard the waiter complain about "The asshole with the tip calculator on his phone" I would probably, tip zero, throw a glass at his head and beat the brakes off the manager.

Frat-boy!

20- I will go down to 15 if it's places like the Sushi conveyor belt joint and all they do is refill cokes or if the service sucks. They wold pretty much have to turd on my food to get me to stiff them.

I was a waiter for a long time, I'm pretty patient.

Haha!!! This is funny. Only because I know of tons of establishments that don't follow this law. They give you the excuse of, "well, you may make an average of $4 an hour on a slow day, but on a busy day you're making it up with upwards of $10 an hour."


This is a really good way to get arrested. Or if it happens where I work, first get the shit beat out of you by the entire staff and THEN get arrested.

Would you rather make $5.15 per hour across the board?

correct answer. it's not like the tip calculator is going to fuck up the total.

No, not at all. I didn't say that or imply so, either. I'm just saying that things 'required by law' don't actually always happen.

There is one restaurant owner here in town that for years has gotten away with paying his servers $2.12 an hour, though the lawful minimum is $2.13. Yes, that's just a penny, but over time that adds up (in his favor). Of course, he's also just a raging asshole. I can't understand why anyone would work for him.

Did anyone ever file a complaint with the Labor Board, or did they just sulk off and get high?

Fu hates servers.