A Wine Tip

Andy and I are both good tippers, probably because we both worked as waiters when we were younger—it's said that waiters (even former ones) tip the best, because they've been there, done that. If the service is good, we tip 20% and then generally round it up beyond that—more if the service was even better than good. If we get lousy service—which, fortunately, doesn't happen all that often—we might give a little less. We keep in mind that it's usually not the waiter's fault when the food is late or prepared incorrectly; it is indeed the waiter's fault when s/he mixes up our order, forgets to bring our water, or acts surly.

That being said, tipping based on a percentage of the total bill never seemed like the fairest way of doing things. Sure, a waiter at a high-end restaurant should get a bigger tip than a waiter at a sandwich shop—more is being asked of him/her. At a fancy dinner out, I want a waiter to know everything about each menu item, make helpful suggestions, answer picky questions about ingredients, be knowledgeable about wine pairings, anticipate my needs (water, new napkin, more bread, etc.), make me feel pampered, and so on. At a sandwich shop, I just want my sandwich. (But I still tip, of course!) But it doesn't seem right that I'm expected to tip a waiter twice as much if I order a $30 steak than if I order the $15 vegetarian special—was carrying the steak over twice as hard as carrying the risotto?

You really see the discrepancy when it comes to wine. I do believe a waiter should be tipped for making a wine recommendation, bringing over the wine and glasses, opening the bottle (properly), and pouring it. But does a waiter really deserve 20% of the cost of the wine? And, again, why do I have to tip twice as much if I order a $50 bottle of wine than if I order a $25 bottle of wine?

I know that tipping in the U.S. is very different than in Europe (and elsewhere, I assume), but I'm not sure what happens with the wine. I wish it were customary here to tip, say, 20% of the food portion of the bill and then a flat $5 for the wine, or something like that. Whattaya think?

Comments

[B.O.B.(bob)]

Man you hit a nerve with me on this one. I wish we could get to a similar place as Europe and pretty much do away with tipping. The only reason for tipping is because it allows restaurant owners (and others) to not pay a decent wage in the first place. I'd be ecstatic if they raised everyone's salaries and upped the prices, whatever it took (15-25% say). You could still tip for exceptional service but it wouldn't necessarily be expected. There was a great article last week, i wish I remembered where, about the escalation in tipping. 15% used to pretty much be the norm and now it's more like 18% and approaching 20%. Also the ubiquitous tip jar at counters. I refuse to give a tip to someone who had to simply pull a lever and hand me a cup of coffee. Even if I did, what do I give? Putting 15 cents in would seem insulting and putting much more than that would be a huge %. If people have gone out of their way to help me I'm more than happy to tip well (>20%). If they did their job then that's what they are paid for right?

Getting back to your actual question (sorry about the rant). In restaurants, I tend to tip on the entire bill. Usually that means 1-2 drinks for everyone but it's too difficult to subtract out the liquor and calculate that way. I suppose if the liquor came to a very high percentage I'd go down to 15% rather than 18 or 20%. It's funny at the bar before dinner I'd have no problem leaving a buck on a 8-10 dollar drink or the change on something less but once it's on that food bill it's going to end up 18-20%.

[amy]

We usually tip the whole bill too. We were in the UK last summer, and I noticed the Legal Seafoods is doing this as well--the server would bring over a machine, you'd swipe your card, and the machine calculates the tip--you can choose 10, 15 or 20% or add in your own. This was great in the UK where we didn't have to worry about converting, and I wish more restaurants would do it around here. I'm with Bob though, I wish that restaurants would pay their employees more--that said, when I waitressed, I loved the challenge of getting a good tip out of people. Unless they were...European. Sigh.

[Di]

Sounds brilliant to me.

I think Moms should be tipped for meals according to your ideas about asking questions, etc.

[Karen]

I'd settle for a paycheck -- even minimum wage!