Summary
Tipping in U.S. restaurants has dropped to 19.3%, the lowest in six years, driven by frustration over rising menu prices and increased prompts for tips in non-traditional settings.
Only 38% of consumers tipped 20% or more in 2024, down from 56% in 2021, reflecting tighter budgets.
Diners are cutting back on outings, spending less, and tipping less. Some restaurants are adding service fees, further reducing tips.
Worker advocacy groups are pushing to eliminate the tipped-wage system, while the restaurant industry warns these shifts hurt business and employees.
Key cities like D.C. and Chicago are phasing in higher minimum wages for tipped workers.
Tipping is beyond fucked up.
Guy at home depot loading your heavy ass lumber into the truck? No tip.
Some dipshit behind the counter punching numbers on a screen, you better believe that’s a tippin!
STOP TIPPING unless somone is actually serving you!! Ask yourself, is this service closer to the guy loading the lumber, or the gas station attendant sitting behind the register?
STOP TIPPING
unless somone is actually serving you!!FTFY
Also good!
That’s funny, wife and I haven’t even tipped at all in years
Wait, no, I lie, I did tip the lady who went above and beyond this one time to make sure my meal went super smooth
ETA: lol, knew I’d get downvoted by butthurt idiots who don’t know shit. I live in one of the states with full minimum wage for the tipped roles (5 bucks more if it’s fast food) so why the fuck should I tip anyone if they’re making the same as anyone else at the bottom of the ladder?
Buncha fools
Chinese tip always 2 dollars
Good, keep it up
Here’s the tip reform I want:
Every restaurant/bar/etc with their staff decides on a default gratuity that represents their service standards/aspirations.Menu prices must include this gratuity. (And include taxes - why not.)
At time of payment, the customer can choose how much they want to tip: the default, or some amount more or less.
Transparent prices. No unwritten rules. Bar staff still make $$. And no disadvantage to restaurants who pay a higher hourly wage instead of tips.
I’m totally down with tipping for good service. But it’s backwards. I’m suppose to tip before service. Personally, we have cut back going out with a lot of times thinking that it’s too expensive. The worst is when there’s a line behind you and the lowest tip preset is at %25. You have everybody looking at you while you try to set it lower.
Why are you tipping if there’s a line? The line implies self service.
Fast casual
It was bound to happen. When the pressure became too great, it backfired and had the opposite effect. I mean, I call it pressure, but of course, you can always refuse to tip. I read last year about how tipping culture in America changed. The question “Does everything require a tip?” kept popping up, and I really think all that led to where we are now.
The worst part is when you go to a place you need to pay before service is rendered.
If I go to the bagel shop and get a dozen I pay before I pick them out. TIP? Are you kidding me, what what, you have not served me yet.
A tip is to reward good service at a sit down place. I still think it shouldn’t be and if we have it, it should be back to the 5-10% like most countries that have tipping.
But if you ask for a tip before you render service i get a little angry.
Blame the companies, not the customers. I bought a $12 water at a concert and the attendant acted offended I didn’t tip. Don’t get mad at me.
I would never go back to that venue. $12 for a water…
Yea, we’re getting exhausted from being constantly barraged by demands for tips.
You’re fine with getting overcharged for the concert and the water, but paying the worker for their time is where you draw the line?
Most people going to concerts can’t exactly leave the building, find a different store selling water, buy it, then bring it back in through the concert venue. (Nor are they capable of magically knowing the prices inside beforehand) The reason the price was so high was likely because the venue knew they had a captive audience, and when people need water, they need water. If someone is just forced to pay $12 for water, asking them to subsidize your worker’s wages on top is a shitty move, and if nobody tips, then maybe that company will realize that they can’t subsidize the wages they pay with tips, and stop relying on them.
Then the attendant gets paid fairly from the get go, and they don’t need to be offended if someone doesn’t tip, because why the hell should anybody have to subsidize a corporation’s wages? If they want workers, charge what’s required in the price to pay those workers, no tip required.
I know I’m being redundant, but again: they are okay paying money to Ticketmaster (or another billionaire), they are okay paying money to the venue, but they refuse to pay someone who actually works for a living? It’s not complicated…
The company has to pay the worker enough… it’s not complicated. Just like any other job.
They’re refusing to encourage the venue to underpay the person while using tips to make up for it. In practice, it’s not the same thing.
The immediate direct implication is, yes, not giving that person money, but if people as a whole continue to engage in that behavior, companies can go ahead and tell their workers “sure we aren’t paying you a living wage directly, but everyone will tip you enough to make up the difference” and that will allow them to keep more of the sale proceeds for themselves as profit, rather than paying it to the worker.
However, the more people refuse to tip, the less and less the employer can use the excuse that “they’ll make up for the difference with tips,” and will then be forced to pay the employee directly without making their income dependent on guilt-tripping people for extra cash, because otherwise, that employee will simply quit because they’re not getting paid enough, and no new employee will fill that position if it’s clear there aren’t enough tips to cover the difference between their actual wage, and a livable one.
The only reason tips as a concept exist is to allow employers to pay people less, then promise other people’s generosity will bring that pay up to par. If it’s too expensive for the business to offer fair wages with their current prices, then they should just incorporate tips into the price if it’s going to be necessary for their workers to receive tips anyways. If the business is making more than enough, and is simply using tips to subsidize what they would otherwise pay their workers, then a lack of tips necessitates them slightly cutting into their margins and paying their workers fairly.
The inherent act of not tipping in itself is denying the employee a payment in the moment, but the goal of such an action is to discourage the behavior by the corporation, to then make it necessary for that corporation to pay a living wage directly, which is objectively good for all parties involved (workers know how much they’ll make and get stable, livable wages, and customers know what they’re paying without feeling bad if they can’t afford making their $12 water $15.)
The longer you allow a system like this to exist, the more you’ll see what’s already happening, companies pushing it in where it traditionally was never present, minimum suggested amounts going up from 10% to 12% to 15% to 18% etc, and wages staying low as companies try using your generosity to subsidize wages they would otherwise have to pay themselves to retain workers. Not tipping is inherently a rejection of this system, and the only way you stop such a system from expanding is by rejecting it.
Stop tipping culture. Pay your workers.
When I go out, I usually tip well. My sister used to be a bartender and waitress and she relied on tips.
That said, tipping is really screwed up now. I went to a stadium for a game once and the employee said that they don’t receive the tips when you tip for buying a beer or whatever unless it’s cash. That’s messed up if true.
I used to think Mr. Pink was an asshole, but he was on to something. I wish tipping was eliminated completely.
Mr. Pink was definitely an asshole
she relied on tips.
That’s the real problem.
No employee should rely on the arbitrary generosity of their customers.
Employers need to pay their staff properly for the job they’re doing.
And if some staff member happens to go above and beyond, a customer can optionally choose to reward them for that extra level of service with no societal pressure or guilt…
i actually give everyone a 600% tip because i want to show everyone that i love american lifestyle
I wonder if all of the places like Subway that are asking for tips and getting $0 because who the hell tips at a Subway, are throwing off this stat at all.
People will judge you more for going to a subway in the first place then not tipping at one.
You can make a sandwich. I believe in you.
You don’t go to subway because you want a sandwich. You go to subway because you know you need to put a food like substance in your food hole and you don’t have the time or mental capacity to do it properly.
Considering the article specifies “full-service restaurants,” Imma go with no
Probably not directly, but I think tipping fatigue is definitely affecting things. If you’ve been prompted 10 times already to tip at places you usually wouldn’t tip and then are in a sit down restaurant, you may very well feel inclined to tip less.
Employees at places like Subway and Starbucks could be getting screwed by no one using cash anymore too.
If I’m using a card there’s no change to toss in the jar.
We shouldn’t have to subsidize someone else’s shitty wages. People who rely on tips need to unionize and put that nonsense to bed for good.
Tip fatigue is real. When every interaction with a touchpad asks you for a little something extra on top of inflation, it gets old fast.
I tip 20% when I get served by a person. I typically add 10-15% on carryout, for their troubles.
A brewery I go to weekly for dinner with friends recently changed the tip buttons on the pad to 18, 22, and 25. I like them a lot, but the place is pricey, and you have to go to the bar to order. They get the 18% button now. (I could do the math, but… beer)
I typically add 10-15% on carryout, for their troubles.
When will you start tipping your car dealer 10-15%? your lawyer? PCP? insurance agent?
The troubles are real after all.
Don’t forget to tip your landlord while you’re at it, and give an extra 10% to the fed come tax time (so now.)
Do you tip 10-20% at the drive through? It’s equivalent to take out except you don’t have to get out of your car.
Can’t wait until we start tipping our colleagues for replying to our emails. It’s only fair.
I am a big believer in tipping and always tip the same way: I start at 18-20% and go down from there, based on service, friendliness, and food quality.
That said, I go out a lot less post-Covid, as the quality of the experience isn’t what it used to be. I tend to stick to poke and sushi nowadays, as it tends to be fresher and the service better.
You know the server doesn’t cook, right?
The server doesn’t get you seated. In many places they don’t bring your food. They don’t cheat the table. They don’t prep the food or wash the dishes
The server doesn’t get you seated. In many places they don’t bring your food. They don’t cheat the table. They don’t prep the food or wash the dishes
Who cheats on the table?
If they aren’t bringing your food then they aren’t a server
The point is there are a lot of people who work together to provide good service at a restaurant. Why does the person who takes my order deserve a tip while the rest don’t?
Because a server makes about $2 an hour and the restaurant requires you to tip in order to have them make a livable wage. I think we should move away from it but if you go to a restaurant that supports tipping then you should tip. Tip more for great service but tipping nothing or next to nothing is just scummy behavior regardless of service.
Servers make the same federal minimum everyone else does, their employer just gets to claim ~$5.50 an hour from tips in order to pay it. More in states with a higher minimum.
If no one tips the employer has to pay the full minimum wage themselves, not just $2.
I’m going to assume you are referring to the food quality being part of the tip. While the server isn’t directly responsible for that, their presentation and delivery of the order, as well as attitude and reaction to what I might send back and the resolution thereof, is. If they go out of their way to make me happy, for better or worse, they did their job correctly and deserve the tip.
Server has nothing to do with presentation. Have you ever worked in that field?
Actually, I have: line cook, prep cook, server, and dishwasher. I know my way around the kitchen, both at home and in a commercial environment.
When I say presentation (you’re thinking of plating the food), I’m talking about how a server would present food, drink, and other accoutrement to guests, including how well they dress, cleanliness, even grace. It all matters. Presentation is the server’s main responsibility, including front end representation for the backend. Have you worked in the industry?
So do you think there should be a minimum that should be tipped or are you okay leaving a measly amount if they don’t pass your arbitrary standards?
Absolutely there’s a minimum, but it all hinges on how their service was. All I’m saying is if you’re in the service industry, you’re on stage and I’m going to judge how you perform. The actual food has very little to do with it.
Only once did I leave a waitress a single dollar, mainly because she couldn’t get my order right and wouldn’t take the food back for the correct order. When asked why, she said she didn’t care because her shift ended 15 minutes ago. If she doesn’t care, well, neither do I. It’s a two-way street.
Food establishments I am familiar with see tips split/shared between front of house (servers, host, etc) and back of house (kitchen staff)
So the foh staff is paid a normal wage?
The whole West Coast does not have a separate minimum wage for waitstaff, so tips are on top of wages. Makes the whole “20% tip” culture feel a bit weird to me, but it’s still the norm.
Been to a few no-tip restaurants, cost of individual menu items was higher relative to comparable items at other restaurants. I feel like I remember the final bill being comparable to or lower than meal+tip elsewhere.
That’s great, I think we should abolish tipping culture
