Tipping...
 

You're out for breakfast with friends or family. The food is great, the service is great. The server is friendly and helpful. You have a great time and can't think of much the restaurant of the server could have done better.

The bill comes to $40. You're using a credit card so you don't need to consider waiting for change. Which amount is closest to what you would leave as a tip?

$10...maybe $15 if you stayed for over an hour.

I take it you're creating a poll.

Eight. But eight is my standard tip for pretty much everything.

Yeah. I type slowly...

Way back when I was young and foolish (and flush) I went into an upscale restaurant with a new young honey. Just so happened my ex-wife was dating a guy who was waiting tables there. He refused to wait on me so they sent out another waitress. She was very nice and attentive. Our tab ended up being $40. I left a c-note and told her to keep the change. Just to chap his azz:D

So...what prompted this poll?

I have a friend that I dine with frequently. He's pretty cheap. When we get really great service I usually pick up the check even if it's his turn because I'm a little embarrassed by his stinginess. He makes great money but he's just can't let go of money when he doesn't have to.

I often tell him he knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.

He's actually started to tip better when he's with me and curse me roundly every time he does. :D

I always tip 20% but that is the way I roll :p

I suppose I would go over 20% if I/we hung out at the table an extra long time...

Or if the waitress rubbed her boobies up against me when she dropped by the table to check up on us.;)

YMMV

Edit to add: And I bet your stingy friend makes two or three (or more) times as much as I make.

If everything was perfect, $10-$12, maybe $15. My standard is about 20%, so avg would be $8. Bad service would have gotten $4-$6.

I'd do $10.

In some situations I've done $25 with a similar bill. Some examples:

*Waiter/Waitress brought us free drinks.
*Waiter/Waitress brought us free appetizers.
*Waiter/Waitress brought us samples of something we were considering ordering.
*Waiter/Waitress brought a free refill of something that we should have been charged for.

I will tip very well for what I consider going above and beyond.

Mostly likely I'd round it to $50. If the waitress gave exceptional service, I might hand her a $20 directly, and not put it on the card.

When I'm at a bar, usually I tip $5 on a $3 beer, on the first round. It usually gets the bar tenders attention. Bar tenders like me, and usually I get as good as I give.

$10. I'd consider tipping more, but very likely to leave $10.

I drop by a certain restaurant when I am in Spokane on business (about 2x per month) for breakfast. I have the Eggs Benedict and coffee, and the bill comes to $12. I leave a twenty. Love that place.

15% standard but that's what I feel is reasonable as College student with a part time job. Then again I'm also not eating at fancy upscale restaurants.

red-beard has it right. If I want to send a clear signal, I'd put a $20 in the waitress' hand on a $40 tab. And yeah.....always......ALWAYS over-tip a bartender. Always.

I tip on the service, personality, and if the food is the way it was ordered. Up to 25%. After all it is a tip. So the tip may be, "if you are in the service business get a personality, be attentive, and pay attention".

TIPS=To Insure Prompt Service

in most states, the server does not get the normal min. wage - in Oregon they get the full min. wage - so that is a difference when thinking about the tip

I usually tip 15% here for decent service; if they do something special (like no corkage in exchange for sending wine back) I tip ~20%. I have tipped 25% or more.

from the hypo above, I can't tell if that was good service or great service.

One thing I don't like is the practice of automatically having the computer add 18% to your bill. One place I like just started doing that -- NO notice on the menu or anywhere else. We had 7 people so that's ok with me. But for a party of 4 or something, an automatic 18% does not sound right to me.

$8 if using plastic
$10 if cash to make things easier
it's breakfast so you can leave out the bartender.

but if it is a regular place you go and the server knows you from previous visits they might get more.

On larger parties, if the policy is posted, I have no problem with automatic 18% tippage. But for smaller parties and/or if the policy is not posted, I would be unimpressed and probably not go back. RWebb is right....there are "tip credit" states and "non-tip credit" states. OR and WA regulations do not credit employers with tip money toward their obligation to pay the minimum wage. Wait staff gets minimum wage, and tips are additional. Interestingly, technically, tips belong to management and can be withheld from wait staff and kept by the owner. Only a slime-ball would do this, but there are restaurant owners that do.

the big fancier place here makes waitstaff share with cooks & busboys... they auto-add 18% for larger parties

re the "non-tip credit" - Oregon also has one of the highest min. wages in the US $8.40; Wash. is highest at $8.55 and Calif. is "only" $8

not that you can live on min. wage in the 3 largest Ore. metro areas...

I just double the tax (8.75% where I live) and add however many bucks to that as is appropriate to the service - 20% or better is my norm, more when the service is really good.

If there's the rare twofer coupon involved I'll tip on the full price of the meals.

However, if the server is rude, no tip and I'll ask for the manager. I've only had occasion to do so two or three times; I just politely say, if it were my restaurant, I'd want customer feedback and ask if they are interested in mine. The managers always were and were appreciative (one deducted the desserts from the bill) and I always told them that I'd come back again.