take out and tipping

[~bs]

I avoid all this by making my own dinner and eating at home

Same, I dont eat out much unless its for a specifc social reason. Eating out can be extremely unhealthy, even if you're having a dish seemingly healthy since you dont know exactly what's going into it... I can make my food taste "restaurant quality", but doing so usually means adding ridiculous amounts of fat and sodium to the dish. No thanks.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I like eating out. I particularly like eating out food i can't make. I can cook but many types of ethnic cuisine are beyond my skill level. We don't usually eat chains or american westernized food.

[~bs]

I like eating out. I particularly like eating out food i can't make. I can cook but many types of ethnic cuisine are beyond my skill level. We don't usually eat chains or american westernized food.

Some types of food are worth eating out for because it doesnt make sense to put in the time and $$$ to make it yourself, usually stuff requiring more specialized equipment or small quantities of lots of ingredients that take prep work.

[JoeP]

I know this is an old thread, but I had a recent tipping experience...

The restaurant is a very small place, maybe 4 tables, a counter at one end. As such, a majority of their business is take out. Go to pay for my food and the card device has pre-selected tips starting at 15%. I think the graduations were 15/20/25...ON TAKE OUT FOOD! There is obviously a psychological component at play here. Don't tip and they might mess with your order. Tip too little and you get the look.

What would be best is if the device had the price confirmation button big and green, and another smaller button with "add a tip" that allowed you to enter a dollar amount (not percentage).

I'll tip if the service is prompt, the recommendations are good, the wine pairing works out, we know the wait staff, we get comp'd for an inconvenience, any mistakes are admitted and corrected (on both sides of the transaction), etc. I'm not tipping for "take food from fryer and build sandwich."

This is one reason I like paying cash for food. There is no pressure to tip, and no pre-selected partition to choose.

[Drake3287]

Yep, I agree. Those credit card machines with the predetermined tip amounts can be very uncomfortable for both the customer and waiter/cashier. At many of the restaurants we go to, the waitress brings a portable credit card machine to your table and you're expected to fill in the tip amount before approving the charge. Talk about being uncomfortable for both parties. The smarter workers turn away and give you a little privacy in doing it.

[rennigade]

We like to tip even on take out. It's one of the services that we like giving a little extra. You couldn't pay me enough to own and or work in a restaurant so we appreciate that there are those who do it. Not to mention, a couple extra bucks for us means nothing, but we figure it may mean something to them.

[ua_guy]

As a younger kid in my 20's I wasn't likely to tip for take-out. If nobody was waiting on me or serving me at a table, then I felt like a tip wasn't required. Funds were also limited, so I'd go to take-out so I didn't have to tip! I always tipped at sit-down restaurants though.

That changed by about 30. Eating out is a luxury. So I started tipping even at the take-out places. Someone still has to make the food and be present. When you become a regular and tip, they see that. It makes their job better and it's more fun for me. A couple of bucks here and there isn't going to change my course, but for someone making next to nothing, as most food service workers do, like rennigade said, it could make their day better.

[disneysteve]

I've seen a number of articles complaining about this. Some of the payment terminals don't clearly offer a No Tip option. It's there somewhere but not as obvious as it should be. I have no issue with them giving me the option to leave a tip but No Tip should also be a choice.

[Jluke]

I recently treated myself to a hoagie at a takeout place.

just a hoagie. No chips. No drink.

$15.36

did I tip. No

[kork13]

I guess I'm just one of those jerks that typically doesn't tip for take-away. In my mind, I'm paying for a product (the meal), so I pay the stated cost. If I was sitting down & getting table-side service, then I'm perfectly happy to also pay for that service (i.e., a tip). Likewise, if I get something delivered or take a cab/Uber/etc., I'm happy to pay (tip) for that door-to-door service.

Note: I said "I'm happy to pay (tip)..." when really, I actually mean "I'm willing to tip..." -- I'd much prefer it to be built into the cost of the product/service, eliminating the awkwardness of "Do I tip? How much? What will the server think/do if they see me as cheap?" ...and service persons expending emotional energy on feeling shorted when someone leaves a small (or zero) tip.

I actually despise the uniquely English/American habit of tipping virtually everyone. I'm moving to Japan this summer, and I look forward to enjoying the culture where tipping is not only pointless & unnecessary (service people of all types are simply paid a proper wage) -- handing someone a tip is actually considered offensive (belittling/condescending) in most circumstances, because excellent service is culturally expected, and to offer a tip would indicate that such service was different than the norm. Having grown up in the western Pacific, I basically grew up with a similar mindset. A large number of countries around the world have similar ideas on tipping, or at least that tips are rarely expected. Where exceptions exist, it's most commonly in the tourism industry (where folks are exposed to the cultures from other nations).

[ua_guy]

I made some good tips working at a car dealership as a kid during my summers in high school and college, but that was on top of pay that was already beyond a respectable minimum wage back then. It was a job which required very basic skills and not much else. In the right situation, tips make a job a little more fun, and they can be an incentive to put in extra effort. But the idea of tipping loses meaning when tips are meant to level up pay to a meager wage. I think that's where a lot of jobs in the service industry are at.

[Snicks]

The only real takeout we get is pizza, subs from Subway or the Chinese restaurant. Have been doing that for years and never tipped. I don' t really get take out meals anywhere but I probably would tip at times just because I dont' feel like dealing with it, lol

[james.hendrickson]

The only real takeout we get is pizza, subs from Subway or the Chinese restaurant. Have been doing that for years and never tipped. I don' t really get take out meals anywhere but I probably would tip at times just because I dont' feel like dealing with it, lol

Snicks - my only thought is if you uses the restaurants regularly it makes sense to sign up for their rewards programs, as well as get coupons. For example, Dominoes has coupons if you sign up for their email list, and subway has a rewards program.

[rennigade]

Visited a local coffee shop over the weekend. My wife did the unthinkable. She clicked the 15% tip button. Guess ill have to skip a meal and the baby will have to go without dinner tonight. We dont want to lose our house over this.

[bjl584]

I got a haircut recently. It was $15. I gave the girl a $15 tip.
Figured what the heck
I probably made her day