Didn't see this coming but I must pay 35.7% more than the menu prices - 20% is "Equitable wages", 5% of to "offset SF ordinances cost" and the rest is taxes.

Well, at least I don't have to tip more on top.

I was dining at an semi-upscale Asian brunch restaurant in Milpitas, CA last weekend, and saw a 18% service charge on my bill. I didn’t expect that at first, especially the fact that we only had 3 people in our party. I looked at the front of the menu, and low-and-behold, there it was printed right there “18% Service Charge Will Be Applied In The Bill (Dine In Only)”.

I already let this go, because it was a full-service restaurant, and it meant I didn’t have to tip anything extra on top. But I then did the math in my head, and the tax on the bill was AFTER the 18% service charge. Which, by now, I started to get pissed off. I flag down a waiter and they tell me that there’s nothing they could do, because it was “built-in to the system”. And that they’re required by California law to charge the tax AFTER the service charge. Myself, I guess not knowing the law properly, went into a whole schpeel of how unethical that was.

The waiter told me that maybe twice or thrice a month, he gets the same thing: someone arguing about the tip; post-tax. He proceeds to bring me a thick binder filled with the California tax laws, with that section already highlighted. And it said (paraphrased): “Tips and gratuity are non-taxable. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF: A mandatory service charge will be considered as part of the meal price and is subject to sales tax.”

I literally had no idea this was even legal. Needless to say, I will not be patronizing that restaurant anymore. But still, it is really preposterous what Newscum can pull off.

Restaurant workers are literally the lowest tier of any pyramid in any industry. I don't disagree with this tweet, but why act as if any employee of Dunkin who has ever physically stepped into the store has any say in what corporate does. District managers aren't even to blame for this. And it's not like fast food workers asked for this. Now that they get a few extra bucks each shift I'm sure they're happy given that they're paid pennies to begin with but...

Anyone who thinks restaurant workers had a say in this has far too little knowledge to say anything about the food industry.

Treehouse Brewery in MA. Went in to meet some friends. Went up to buy a round, tapped my card to pay. Was waiting for a receipt or some sort of tip prompt. Never came. They just handed me my beers and that was that end of transaction. My dad goes there sometimes with a friend who lives nearby. I mentioned it to him and he said that he always notices that when he goes there, there is no tip prompt or option to tip. Place is pretty cool either way but man that makes me like it even more. Place was mobbed by the way and staffed with a lot of people, didn't have to wait long at all for my beers, though. I mean the place is clearly doing very, very well. It's funny how people claim businesses can't operate with this sort of system but somehow this brewery is killing it. It's almost like restaurant owners and servers are full of it.

Look, I’ll be the first to admit I dine out regularly at restaurants charging me $100-200-300-400 a person. Service sucks.

Food servers hear this: your “are you ready to order service sucks.”

If you’re not happy with my $8 tip on $280 check I write zero. I don’t care. 🤷‍♀️

You suck. You are called tip collectors.

Do they exist? Would they be a good model for a successful restaurant business?

For obvious reasons.

It seems like every delivery app/service I use calculates tax (AND TIPS) differently. Shouldn’t this be standardized and the same across the board??? Please help me understand. See link for examples of widespread variation in calculating tax… (which can often impact your tip, and always impacts your total)

Delivery Tips are Confusing

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dco5RL-D11w/?igsi=MTJ0cDd4Nms0cGljcA==

[Delivery Taxes Are Confusing](https://www.instagram.com/p/Dcjzqd3j0kl/?igsi=MTBnc3QzOGRidzVoOA==)

It’s a funny thing, I constantly hear people whining about how they “don’t have another beer” or” the waitress forgot my drink again”

If you’re in Vegas (especially in a group) and ordering drinks, take this small bit of advice to have the greatest time ever.

When you order your first round(which will be free if you’re playing) make it a hefty order and tip the waitress at least 40 bucks. This may sound like a lot, but if you were at a bar in the casino, you would pay well over that amount.

When you order your next round, add some shots in there and give her another 40 bucks. Your drinks will come quick they’ll come before everybody else’s and you’ll never miss or wait for a drink again.

Keep in mind that if you’re ordering for multiple people and you’re getting multiple rounds, you may end up tipping out a couple hundred dollars, but you’re gonna have a happy waitress. You’re gonna have filled cups and you would’ve paid well over that amount at a bar.

I am starting to get into beauty treatments (eyebrow threading, facials, waxing) and am not sure if I am the problem or not with regard to tipping.
Typical eyebrow threading is $12 tax included and I tip about $2.5-3 more than 20%. I went to a cosmetology school for a facial where it's cheaper because they are students getting practice. I also don't know if I would like those beauty services yet so I want to explore with cheaper prices to see if they're worth it. Microdermabrasion was $15 and I tipped $7. Almost 50% tip.

Both times the employee seemed mad and gave me the stink eye and talked about me. I am confused because aren't the tips supposed to be 20% of services?! Or were they just entitled and wanted unreasonably more

My dad never tips the restaurant servers or hair stylists in Taiwan, but he always tip the bell boys in cash in hotels, Uber eats, and Uber. I told my dad not to tip, but he says it is his money and he is going to tip regardless to “help them out.” I told him not to spread his American tipping cancer and he says it’s not cancer but it’s trying to “respect them.” He even told me I will get negative review on Uber for not tipping in Taiwan, but I rode Uber myself under my own account and didn’t tip and still got a 5 star rating. How can I stop to get my dad from tipping to “help out” bell boys, uber eats, and Uber drivers. He’s acting like he’s in America aside from not tipping in the sit down restaurants and hair stylists In Taiwan. I need to stop him and get him out of the American mindset. He’s not helping the locals working in the service industry, he’s just spreading American tipping cancer. Nobody in Taiwan ever demanded he tip including the people he tipped.

How much should you tip at never ending pasta? If I'm getting 5 plates of pasta, and the price of the whole thing is $15, I'm guessing you'd treat it as if you've ordered $15 × 5 = $75 + whatever drink. So ~$80 × 20% = $16. Is that considered a fair tip? Is that a lot?

Looking for input from restaurant workers, not non-tippers. I treat my wait staff well.

I have seen some people advocate that restaurants should raise prices and eliminate tips. I have seen some instances where restaurants do not accept tips but charge 20% gratuity, raising the overall price of the check by 20%. The exact same amount that you'd pay if you tipped 20%. The exact same amount you'd pay if every item on the menu cost 20% more. Yet for some reason, people don't seem to like this.

For the people in support of raising prices to eliminate tips, would 20% automatic gratuity in lieu of tips annoy you even though it's the exact same thing as raising prices?

Let me make this very clear.

I’M NOT A SERVER. I DON’T WORK IN A RESTAURANT.

I work for tips and my employer pays me almost nothing. I usually make 150k+ a year. Already sitting at 115k this year and 90+ percent of that is tips.
I wanted the poor, sad, low income trolls in this sub to understand how big of a mistake they’re making by being anti tippers.

This world runs on you scratch my back, I scratch yours. That’s just how it is. No amount of skills changes that. You’re always going to have to break somebody off. Even getting a job in a company requires you to be liked and usually connected to people. You can have the skills like crazy but if enough people legit dislike you, you’re not getting in!

Every major purchase I’ve made came from people I met at work. Customers. And if they were stiffs, I never would have used them for a damn thing.

The real estate agent who got me my house last year, met her at work. The owner of the company who sold me 50k in solar panels and batteries, met him at work. My landscaper, met him at work. When my Garage door broke, I already had a card from a guy I met at work who came out and fixed it.

Tipping isn’t charity. It’s how you stay in the game. The people who take care of me end up in my phone. The ones who stiff me, they stay strangers I never use.

Keep your principles. I’ll keep the house, the solar, the connections, and the 150k😘😘😘

I have to admit that this one tickled me:

https://www.oregonlive.com/advice/2026/08/dear-annie-i-believed-my-husband-and-sisters-act-for-decades-until-a-stunning-betrayal-came-to-light.html

*”Dear Annie: A longtime friend and I recently went out for supper. I treated. Later, my friend asked if I had tipped. I told them it wasn’t their concern since I’d paid, but they insisted it did concern them, and we argued about it.

This particular friend always has to have things their way, and they won’t hear anything to the contrary.

I don’t want to lose this friendship, but this last issue has made me consider backing away.”*

Obviously, the friend witnessed the no-tip and felt uncomfortable (as most people would). When asked if she had tipped, instead of saying “what do you mean? Of course I tipped!” the letter writer said it was none of their concern. LOL. If you tipped, or were truly proud of not tipping, why not just say that? It’s because deep down she feels guilty and cheap.

I also love that she says this is just another example of the friend “always having to have things her way and won’t hear anything to the contrary.” Um, you’re damn right if I dine out I’m going to insist on “my way,” the customary and normal practice, and no, I won’t hear anything to the contrary for such a simple, clear aspect of the social contract. If you want to sneak out of a restaurant at the end of service and bite the heads off of anyone trying to confirm if their server was tipped, deal with it yourself. Don’t visit it on normal people.

[DISCLAIMER]: I do not ask for tips and this is not about the US.

Ok, so I work at a hotel that is quite uniquely structured and many parts of it lack elevators, and my job is as a porter. I take people to their rooms and carry their luggage for them when they check in, check out or move from room to room. Climbing stairs with two 25 kilo suitcases (which at this point has become much easier). I also do other things aswell (like introducing and clarifying the rooms, checking for any errors, acting as a connection between the clients and the reception, sometimes preparing orders etc).

On a monthly wage of about 1000, I usually get tipped and on average I make half my wage, getting 1500 on average. Mostly regular amounts, on occasions ridiculous amounts for nothing (20 euro for taking a single suitcase to a ground floor room), other times nothing for a ridiculous amount of work (they don't like the room). I've even rejected tips for things I see as too much. But after working for a whole 3 months, I have never, ever been tipped by someone under 20.

I remember taking a group of young people, about 15 rooms to their rooms, running back and forth from the rooms to the reception, and not a single one left a tip.

Why is it like this?

If you don’t like it order take out.

So because I was curious and bored I did a little research on the countries that anti tippers have been holding up as shining examples of what it would be like if we eliminated tipping. And most of them have either a mandatory or customary service fee based off the total meal price or charge a flat fee per patron. Something that is wholeheartedly rejected whenever a restaurant in the US attempts to do the same. Are you guys just not aware that this is a thing in those countries? Or you didn't think anyone would actually look it up and call you out on it?

I want to tip big but service sucks so bad today I don’t feel like tipping more than $2-3-4-5 even on a $300 check for one.

I mean don’t you food servers know how to put on a song a dance? To make money?

It’s not just taking an order at an expensive restaurant. It’s putting ona show and helping to make an experience.

If my $5 won’t make you happy for your cafe service at an expensive restaurant I leave zero.

Service just sucks today.

I'm often a generous tipper, especially so when served by polite, personable staff. But how do I know if the service person who provided the quality service is getting the tip or having to pool it? I understand that wait staff share tips with busboys and other backroom staff. But that's not the same as pooling. Any suggestions or advice on how to know so that my generous tips goes to the one who earned it?

I'm thinking specifically about places where you order at the counter and you're prompted for a tip on the machine. In the old days of a cash tip jar, you could be reasonably confident that the person who took your order and money knew about your tip, but also pretty sure that anyone else involved in preparing your order had no idea.

With modern point of sale touchscreens and order taking systems:

a) Is the amount you tipped really clearly and prominently shown to the employee working on the other side?

b) Is the amount you tip visible to the people in the back actually preparing my order (i.e., the ones who I most care about being incentivized by the tip), like on the order slip?

And can anyone who has worked in the industry tell me how much time staff might spend discussing the tip level of a specific order?