CouponCuisine - Exclusive Local Restaurant Coupons

Restaurant Tipping Etiquette While Dining Out

Being unaware or confused about how much tip to leave behind can be very troublesome. The ones with you might not feel it, but you’ll feel the stress within you when your chance comes to pay the bill. If you are regular at dining out, this might not be a real problem but when you go out only occasionally, this can be quite a mystery.

Table manners can be learned, but tipping should come naturally by instinct. A few people prefer doing what they like. Others may consult their friends or stick to some rule, like paying a tip of 15% of the bill. Leaving behind a tip is vital. It helps the staff evaluate their services rendered to you. Besides giving pleasure, tips develop impressions about you. A fair amount of tip can be an indicator of your class, while making a mess of it can be frustrating and may as well convert the smile into a shock.

Restaurants that come with table servicing
In the Unites States, tips at restaurants are a must. Generally, people evaluate the service while deciding on the amount of tip to be left behind. Traditionally, a 15 percent tip is considered. In the case of big parties of people greater than 6, restaurants normally add around 15% to 17% to the bill itself. Make sure to check whether the gratuity was included in the bill, and if you’re extremely pleased with the quality of services, you can always request for more gratuity to be added. On the other hand, if you’re not satisfied with the service, you can have a talk with the management to get the gratuity deducted.

In many States, a meal tax is added to the bill which is clearly mentioned on the bill. Where the rate of tax is 5 percent (as in Massachusetts) or 6 percent, the tip calculation can be simple to add 10% of the bill to the meal tax, which would ultimately come to 15%. This can be done by moving one decimal place from the bill which would give 10%, and add the meal tax of 5% - thus 15%.

Buffet restaurants
Though there are no personalized services in the case of buffets, it is still recommended to tip around ten to fifteen percent because the servers work very hard to keep the buffet clean and tidy. Traditionally, it is recommended that the tip should be at least a dollar per person. As said, you can always add or deduct the gratuity based on the quality of the service rendered.

Fast food/Take-away counters
Some restaurants keep a small jar for tips, but tipping here is not mandatory unless the service was very good or some of your strange requests were fulfilled. There is no strict etiquette for tipping for to-go orders. If you are satisfied with to-go order services, then you should tip the service boys. You may not tip for to-go orders as high as you would in a restaurant, but it is definitely a good and a polite gesture to tip at least something, otherwise it may seem rude.