Tipping

It’s an age-old question. How much should I tip? With restaurant/bar servers, 15%-20% has been the golden rule for many years. But these days, with seemingly everyone putting out the tip jar (even in situations where tipping isn’t usually part of the equation) you might ask yourself if that rule still applies.

I’m generally a 20% tipper. If the server does a decent job and is at least moderately friendly, they’re getting the full 20%. If they go above and beyond, suggest great menu items, offer suggestions on particular pairings that I’m likely to enjoy, and make me feel like a valued customer, I will go higher than 20%. Often times, people in the service industry rely on those tips as part of their income. But should tipping be expected when the service is subpar? What if the server comes off as being annoyed, or even rude to the customers? I will admit that in an extreme circumstance, I once left a 10% tip. Our server was not very polite, we could tell she didn’t want to be there, and she made us feel unwelcome. She even brought out something I didn’t order. I did feel bad for cutting her tip in half, but at the same time I felt she could have done so much better.

More on tipping, coming soon….

Jay Roberts