Tipping for take-out?
 

What's your opinion about tipping for take-out? We have usually been giving about 10% to the restaurant from which we pick-up take-out. We probably get Crispers take-out the most often.

We tip on take-out.

Just 10% unless I've asked for something off the menu that is made special for me, then 20% for sure.

No way, you're not being served.

10%

10% .Since your still getting service,though it's not table service,somebody had to put your order together and it took away the time they could have been doing something else.Plus the fact they rely on tips,since they are paid very little.As long as they are courteous and get your food out in a timely matter 10% seems fair,since in most cases it's only a few bucks.But i once gave an Outback Steakhouse waitress $50 on a $15 takeout order, and told her to keep the change.....................................my daughter.

restaurant where i simply grab an already set up order, pay cashier and leave [pizza/chinese] - don't tip unless i have asked for more than dinner for four or something not on the menu.

restaurant or quick serve where a counter server must prepare/gather my selection [dunkin donutd/brooklyn bagel] - tip 10%.

restaurant delivery - 15% for door-to-door service.

i tip the server who waited on me - not the cook, the restaurant or the cashier.

How is it that restaurants get a "base on balls" with respect to paying a living wage to their employees? Why is the consumer expected to subsidize their labor costs, over and above the price of the food? Personally, I don't buy that the food is cheaper, due to tipping the staff.

Just seems to me that the purpose of tipping has lost it meaning, over the years.

So my question is this: What is the MINIMUM service you expect from a server, without paying a tip?

I tip a delivery person, but not if I pick the order up.

Same with us.

I used to not tip for take out, thinking that it was nothing to bag my order and hand it to me. After watching my daughter when she worked at Applebee's, I changed my mind. There is actually more work entailed in a takeout than there is in serving someone at a table. So, takeout now gets at least 20% from a sit-down restaurant. A Starbucks, Dunkin-Donut, etc. gets $1.00 and any change that came with the order. If there is a takeout counter (like at a deli), it is $1-3, depending on how much I order and what is self-serve. Delivery is $1-5, depending on amount of bill and distance. Strangely, I've even been known to tip at a fast food restaurant like Burger King if the person taking my order or delivering my food got me to smile or just generally feel good.

I don't tip if I pick something up. I did all the work!!!!!!!! And, the reason I pick it up is so I don't HAVE to tip. Enough is enough.

We also do not tip on take-out.

I absolutely tip for takeout. 10%. The server on takeout duty has to package all the food, condiments, side orders, utensils, etc. They typically are assigned the take out station for their shift, hence do not have the opportunity to earn as much in tips as the other servers.

Takeout is a convenience and the servers have to prepare your order, so at least a small tip is appropriate.

Francie, You are right! However I go to 15 to 20%. Redwitch is right, there is work involved for these people and they need to be compensated. Tips are a major part of restaurant workers incomes and are recognized as such by the IRS. They are different from fast-food places that fall under minimum wage and to laws. As I read this, I am reminded why Villagers have the reputation, well deserved, of being lousy tippers. If you cannot afford to tip, you should stay at home and prepare your own food. BTW, your pizza delivery guy/gal should get at least five bucks, IMHO.

10%
 

Absolutely 10%. More if they are fast and efficient and ESPECIALLY if they are in the middle of a busy dinner rush. If you get food at a The Server is doing almost the same amount of work except less less visits and they get to use that table as a piece of real estate for another guest. That is why it is not 20% but if you tip nothing expect to stand around waiting for your food and the order to likely be wrong next time. If you tip nothing, they are paying to take the time to take your order, put it together, and cash you out. They still have to tip out (bar/busser/host) and pay taxes on those sales event if it is takeout.

If it isn't a full-service establishment, it is still a courtesy to tip, but not expected unless it's a big or complicated order. But if you get a takeout lunch from Panera or Crispers, don't bother tipping.

Agree. Restaurants have trained US to pay their employees for them and many of us blindly accept that. Do you tip the cashier at Publix? She did as much or more than ringing up your pizza that you picked up at a restaurant.
Tipping is hardly logical in this country. You tip a taxi driver but not an airline pilot. Who do you think is more responsible for your life?

Wrong
 

You are missing the point. Please read my post above. If you want to order takeout food and not tip...order from a non-tipping/non-full-service establishment like publish or Subway etc! Publix cashiers gets paid WAY more than Servers (more than double) and Pilots get 10x what Taxi drivers make! Tipped employees get paid HALF of minimum wage to account for tips. THAT IS THEIR PAY. You stiff a server for takeout then they are taxed and still tip-out other employs based on a set percentage of sales regardless if its takeout or dine-in so they are PAYING to work.

Tipping is and was originally set up for exceptional service. When I walk into Vinnie's Pizza to pick up my pizza that I ordered on the phone and the person behind the counter hands it to me and rings up the register he or she doesn't deserve a 15 to 20% tip, regardless of what he or she is paid. A tip for pushing a few keys on the register? Where's the exceptional service?
The example of the pilot above is getting paid 10x the taxi driver but carries 10x the people, 100x times the distance and has 1000x times the training. Are we suppose to make all employees paid the same by tipping or not?

Still wrong.
 

Since you obviously didn't respond to my first post when replying to my 2nd...here's my point once again:

"Absolutely 10%. More if they are fast and efficient and ESPECIALLY if they are in the middle of a busy dinner rush. If you get food at a The Server is doing almost the same amount of work except less less visits and they get to use that table as a piece of real estate for another guest. That is why it is not 20% but if you tip nothing expect to stand around waiting for your food and the order to likely be wrong next time. If you tip nothing, they are paying to take the time to take your order, put it together, and cash you out. They still have to tip out (bar/busser/host) and pay taxes on those sales event if it is takeout.

If it isn't a full-service establishment, it is still a courtesy to tip, but not expected unless it's a big or complicated order. But if you get a takeout lunch from Panera or Crispers, don't bother tipping. "

So yeah, a pizza place is fine not to tip a carry out unless it was a big and/or complicated order.

You are right on part of this. Tipping WAS for exceptional service. Tipping today IS the way servers in restaurants make their living. Aside from truly high end restaurants, and we have none of them in or near The Villages, it is not a great living. Your servers work double and even triple shifts to make ends meet. Here in TV these are kids going through college, single moms, seniors who need a little extra income, etc. These are people working for a living and not going on welfare. They have earned your help, not your scorn.

Let me say again, if you cannot afford or do not want to tip do not go to or order out from restaurants. Buy your food from the grocery store and cook it yourself, go to McDonalds or BK or order a pizza (remember to tip the driver). Do not short the hardworking people who serve you. This continues to perpetuate the image we have in the community outside TV as being both greedy and stingy.

For those that do not tip when ordering takeout at a sit-down restaurant, consider this: Many restaurants actually have the takeout be for an entire shift that is rotated between servers. This means that for that day, the server has less tables (takeout is considered the equivalent of one or two tables).

So, they have the "joy" of:

(1) Taking the time to bag your order, get your drinks, utensils, condiments, etc.;

(2) Making sure your order is bagged so nothing spills and is according to company specifications;

(3) Having seated customers be upset that their food is delayed because the server is trying to make sure your food stays hot and is ready for pick up;

(4) Losing at least one table for that shift; and

(5) Doing all of this so that YOU don't have to tip because you ordered takeout.

No one forced them to work that job did they? If they don't like what happens then they can work somewhere else.

Let's see, you're young. You may have some education, even a college degree but no jobs. Where do you propose they go to work? Wal-Mart can only hire so many people, even given that most are part-timers so that they get no benefits. The practices mentioned above are common at all major chains and many smaller restaurants.

HLMRHT, I really hope you never have a child or grandchild who is put into a predicament of being forced to work a job like this. When I was a server in college, I loved it. I didn't have to help pay my co-workers' wages. We did our set ups while on the clock. Takeouts were done by whatever server had time to bag the food up. It's a different job today and servers are really taken advantage of today. It's a hard job under the best of conditions, but the fact that these kids are taken advantage of like this is just wrong. The least we can do is have a little sympathy and help them out if we can and they've earned that tip (and, no, I won't tip for bad service -- never have, never will).

We don't order take out.

.

My takeout is pizza and Chinese. These are basically takeout restaurants. Why should I have to tip them?

If I get the pizza delivered I tip $3.00.

Why????
 

Tipping for take out is a new thing! Never considered back in the day! Suddenly someone decided to put a jar out for tips and it took off. I know many places won't allow it.

A tip at a buffet is less then a full service restaurant,

We tip for service. If I drive out to get it, I don't tip. When I was younger, I did both. Carry out was not full service. The food has to be prepared regardless. If you want to make a tip, you work at a place that gives full service and THEN, you give GOOD service for the tip. You don't get a tip just because you waited on me!

You don't get a tip because you "smiled" I do that all day long and don't expect a tip.

Seriously, WHY?

:BigApplause:

There is a jar for tips at the self-serve yoghurt shop. I guess the tips are for operating the cash register? :confused:

The people who bag your groceries at Publix do more work, and even walk you to your car and put your groceries inside. Do they get tipped?

Don't they put the toppings on it too, cut the fruit, etc? A tip jar is no big deal but I think it's tacky for a place like that to have a slot for a tip on the credit card slip. That's like a guilt-trip...feel pressured to tip yet rude to cross it out.

Tipping is a gratuity not a requirement. We should tip when we feel it is deserved not when someone else in society says we have to. If we have to then make it part of the bill. I generally tip 20% for full service but I rarely tip for takeout such as Chinese or pizza. Ice cream I usually put in a buck. But it's what I want to pay not what u decide I should pay. That is unless u want to give me some of your money ur so generous with? And yes my children have worked restuarants and they have to split the tips amongst everyone including the cooks. I have been told by all the conservative tea party people that if I don't like what I get payed or the benefits(lack of ) then nobody forced me to work there so I should go get another job. Then I guess their advice is good for rveryone else too.

Being a considerate person also isn't a requirement, yet most feel it their duty as a human being.

Tell me what a server should do for the wage they are paid [ as pitiful as it might be] without getting a tip? What should I expect ? What should I expect that I would pay more for?

Just having a crappy job and crappy salary doesn't count....

Please tell us.

Sorry I don't understand the question. Are you asking what you should expect if you tipped nothing?

Yes....what is a server PAID to do?

As a start...

1) Carry food, silverware, and/or linen on trays, or use carts to carry trays.

2) Place food servings on plates and trays according to orders or instructions.

3) Prepare food items such as sandwiches, salads, soups, and beverages.

4) Examine trays to ensure that they contain required items.

5) Load trays with accessories such as eating utensils, napkins, and condiments.

6) Monitor food distribution, ensuring that meals are delivered to the correct recipients and that guidelines such as those for special diets are followed.

7) Remove trays and stack dishes for return to kitchen after meals are finished.

8) Stock service stations with items such as ice, napkins, and straws.

9) Take food orders and relay orders to kitchens or serving counters so they can be filled.

10) Clean and sterilize dishes, kitchen utensils, equipment, and facilities.

11) Determine where patients or patrons would like to eat their meals and help them get situated.

12) Monitor food preparation and serving techniques to ensure that proper procedures are followed.

13) Record amounts and types of special food items served to customers.

14) Total checks, present them to customers, and accept payment for services.

Even though a super-advanced robot could do some of those tasks, the main component of any hospitality establishment is the intangible product of quality service. That's where the tip comes in is how efficient the above tasks were performed, as well as how "at home" and welcomed you were treated. Serving is an artform which viewed as such requires passion and drive along with hard work. That is one-of-a-kind.

Add to that list:

15) Treat every customer like a king, even when he/she has no manners and treats you like a doormat.

I 100% agree not to tip EVER for take-out unless they give you something for free. It's just unfair to not get to tip the cashiers at fast food restaurants for counter service, but can others. I tip in a *FAIR* manner. If I can't tip them, why should I tip you? Tipping should be FAIR, not unfair.

I completely agree with this 100%!! I know that they didn't have tip jars back in the day at Subway or Pizza hut for COUNTER service, this is all NEW. If it was OK a long time ago, it STILL should be OK. Tipping shouldn't just all of a sudden change, what's next people will start tipping for all fast food, seriously, then stores like walmart, for real, tip jars are getting out of hand. I worked at a donut shop/diner where I was counter help about 10yrs ago, which of course I wanted tips, but I NEVER EXPECTED tips for drive-thru or to-go orders, because that's fast food work, nothing more. I don't understand WHY people EXPECT tips for doing fast food cashier work when those people aren't getting tips, why should anyone else doing the *SAME EXACT* JOB, HUH?

1. If you don't like the job, you don't have to do that type of job. No one is making you.

2. Do you realize there is not ONE thing even that a cashier at a fast food place does for counter service for no tip does for me LESS than a take-out person does at a non-fast food restaurant? I have gotten *CASHIERS* that's right, *CASHIERS* give me condiments in cups(mac sauce, mayo, mustard), THEM putting it in the cups for NO TIP. I have had a cashier at Wendy's LITERALLY put my burger together for NO TIP what-so-ever. It's UNFAIR if I tip you, but I can't tip that person at Wendy's or McDonald's for doing sometimes *MORE WORK* even. Think about it, if I order a pasta dish at Applebee's, you aren't working as hard as the workers are to do those things I just mentioned, it's true, you aren't. They have an all-in-one utensil bag unlike at McDonald's where they have separate boxes for forks, knives, pepper, etc. That means the McDonald's cashier is doing more work than that Applebee's cashier handing me that pasta dish. It's TRUE, you cannot deny the truth.

Even if I get something more complicated like a burger and fries at Applebee's, I am still receiving the same amount of service that the cashiers gave me. You aren't doing more work, so you should receive EQUAL PAY from the customer. If you aren't getting paid more working the to-go area, then you might want to consider talking to your boss about it or work somewhere else that pays you for your fast food cashier work you are doing, because that's what it is, fast food cashier work.

3. So dine-in customers are supposed to be holier than thou as if they are more important. Talk about just thinking about yourself and how UNFAIR you are being. If you want an hourly wage, WORK AT A PLACE THAT PAYS HOURLY, otherwise, quit complaining if you are making more than a fast food restaurant then.