[JanH]

I pay a tip when I pick up food if: I've walked in and ordered it and the same person has taken my order, checked on it, packed it and delivered it back to me. It is the same to me as if I was sitting at a table. If I have called it in, I don't unless they've provided extra service by checking on it, packed it for me, put in extra whatevers or treated me extra nice. Most of the time, the ones that take my order when I walk in have been pulled from a section and I am an extra "table" for them. I've had several members of the family work in food service--including myself eons ago, and I know how little they are paid (less than minimum wage). I try to pay for extra "service" when someone has gone the extra mile to make it easy for me. I don't tip as high as if I was at a table and served for a length of time. I tip mostly at "regular" restaurant takeouts--not sandwich shops or fast food, bakeries, etc. I have a hard time figuring out whether to tip at the fancy ice cream places or the food shops in the mall. They have tip jars and I can't figure out whether they should be tipped or not. That confuses me. I have tipped at a coffee place once that fixed one of the best cups I've ever had at one of these places. I don't go there often enough to figure that one out either. How much should you tip at one of these types of places?