[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I tip how I've always tipped: first - it is *exclusively* dependent on the service provided, regardless of the quality of food.

For the absolute minimum - making sure the glasses don't have lipstick smudges on them before they bring them to the table, making sure there's no food on the utensils, making sure the table is clean before we sit down, the chairs don't have crumbs on them til we start eating, bringing the hot food while it's still hot, the cold food still cold, a reasonable wait time between being seated and being served, and then between finishing our meal and paying the bill -

That all gets 15%.

If they do it with a smile, look us in the eye, check back once or twice during our meal to make sure we're satisfied - it bumps up to 18%.

If they are especially friendly while maintaining a professional presentation, go out of their way to make us not merely satisfied, but actually GLAD that we chose this place, and was rewarded with this server...it's 20%.

If they do even more than that, it's 20% and we let the manager know what an absolute gem they have with this employee.

Anything less than the minimum, and I then include the quality of the food and overall atmosphere of the place. If it's as bad as the service, I won't bother telling the manager. If he doesn't know already, then he's buried his head in the sand already. If it's all bad, they get a Google review (I'm a certified Google reviewer). If it's just the server who was bad, and everything else is at least acceptable, if not stellar, I let the manager know, and the server gets no tip at all.