Tipping for Takeout and Delivery

[NulloModo]

This thread was prompted by an improper title on another thread, and a question I have been pondering over lately.

Should you, and do you, tip when picking up takeout?

Let me put some qualifiers on here: let's say that one orders a meal from a restaurant that does both sit-down and take-out business, as well as possibly delivery. Instead of sitting-down or having it delivered, you opt to pick it up your self. Are you obligated to leave a tip for the kitchenstaff, etc?

My answer to this is a resounding no, I think it is the most ludicrous thing in the world to tip when you have had no waiter, and no driver. My friend however, who picked up a take-out order for me the other day when he was running an errand, apparently believes in tipping for takeout, and left a tip with some of the money I have him. Needless to say I was quite upset, not at the loss of the couple bucks, but at the idea that he had given them money when in essence he had done all the work. In fact, I would have been much happier if he had decided to tip himself a couple bucks instead of them.

Does anyone else do this?

[eunny jang]

I always tip about 10% for takeout.

Likely a bartender or waiter had to take the time to take the order, assemble the salad and put together the bag. Depending on the restaurant, he packed it up, too.

Not to mention that he has to tip out and pay taxes on it (which, I know, we've gone over in exhaustive detail, but it's worth mentioning).

[Busboy]

I always tip a couple of bucks, if only because, when I was a waiter, I appreciated it when others did that for me. Maybe 5% -- the bartender (inevitably) and one of the aiters do do a little work.

[tommy]

i give a couple of bucks. big deal. everyone wins. any additional thought at the point of purchase isn't worth the time, imo. when i doubt, give people money. i've found they like it, and they remember it.

Edited July 10, 2004 by tommy (log)

[morda]

Okay, I'll vote on the no tipping side. I've never tipped on take-out. Never really occurred to me, actually. The kind of places that I usually get take-out from are inexpensive. If I tipped 10%, it would probably come in less than a dollar, which seems weird (here, take some loose change from my pocket...). If I'm going to tip a couple of bucks, I might as well sit downn in the restaurant, eat my dinner, and tip the usual 20% to get someone else to clean up the mess.

The way I see it, either the kitchen plates the food, or puts it in a to-go box. I can see tipping if for some reason the kitchen plates the food, then the waiter or bartender has to box it for you. But do places really operate that way?

Question for those on the tipping side...what level of establishment warrants a tip? For example, do you tip if you get a to-go at McDonald's? Mom-and-pop Chinese takeout? Or just restaurants where the majority of their business is sitdown?

morda

Edited July 10, 2004 by morda (log)

[beans]

Instead of sitting-down or having it delivered, you opt to pick it up your self.  Are you obligated to leave a tip for the kitchenstaff, etc?

Let me tell you right off the bat. That to go order is off of some server's or bartender's sales report!!! And they get taxed on that said sales volume!! (These togo orders NEVER go directly to a kitchen person as they NEVER have a "check" to close out -- hence it goes through whatever server's turn it is, the first server the hostess sees or via the bartender who may have a phone at the bar).

Let me dispell any MYTH to this: The tip doesn't go to any kitchen staff. They cook your meal regardless of if it is in house or to go. No skin off their back other than having to pay attention to it being in a togo than on a plate.

The server/bartender that has to attend to it has package it up with all of the coordinating extras (packets) -- silverware, napkins, salt, pepper, ketchup, etc.

If it is a small order togo, no skin off anyone's nose (tips); but if you have a large office order of this, that and the other, a tip really is something all ought to give serious consideration. I worked one place that would regularly get a lunch order from a particular office for ten different entrees in one order to go. No one else from the kitchen or busy waitstaff would tend to this and I'd have to answer the phone, take the order, expo and pack up the order and still operate service bar on the other side of the entire restaurant -- keeping in mind this was a resto that didnt' allow servers to even pour their own sodas!!!! What a fucking nightmare. THEN be held accountable for earning a tip on same by the IRS -- they look at overall sales volume) and then NOT GETTING A SINGLE DOLLAR FOR THOSE EFFORTS!!!!!!

Throw them a bone, would ya?!!!!!!

okay?!

Edited July 10, 2004 by beans (log)

[beans]

i give a couple of bucks.  big deal.  everyone wins.  any additional thought at the point of purchase isn't worth the time, imo.  when i doubt, give people money.  i've found they like it, and they remember it.

edit to add (sorry): tommy is completely right. It is one of those things you remember about a customer and it does make you smile and all of those happy things like remembering what they ordered, how it was cooked (burgers mid rare, medium, etc.), the sides, etc. and are always glad they return.

Edited July 10, 2004 by beans (log)

[Pan]

Beans, do you recommend tipping the same amount on takeout as on eating at the restaurant? That feels really counterintuitive to me. I'm saving no money, but getting less service. This is the first time anyone has suggested to me that one should tip on takeout, something I normally don't do. I understand your point about someone being taxed on the sale, though.

Also, what happens to the tip I give to the delivery man? Does he give any of it to the staff who packed the food, utensils, and napkins?

[petite tête de chou]

I have always tipped on a meal delivery (think Chinese or pizza) but havent even thought to tip for takeout. Not sure I understand why I should, even with the previous explanations...no table service, no drink refilling, no "Can I get you anything else?" or "Is everything okay?" If I could understand why I should tip, I will consider it, but Im just not seeing it. Sorry.

[Raynickben]

I always tip at least 10% when getting take-out at a full service restaurant. As beans detailed above there is a lot more to getting that order together than meets the eye and I want to recognize that. Even when I am picking up a pizza I put a dollar or two in the tip jar. I think people in the food service industry work very hard for often little reward so why not give something to show your appreciation. However if I get home and something is wrong with my order or it was poorly executed in some manner I call the restaurant immediately and let them know.

[Susan in FL]

I always tip when getting take-out at a full service restaurant, and a generous one when I have a glass of wine while I'm waiting. However, I do not tip when I get take-out from a fast food type place or a take-out only place.

How about those chain restaurants like Chili's which have a special door to the take-out counter and special parking places?

[poutine]

I always leave a tip when I take out, usually 10% or more if it's an inexpensive meal. Most (if not all) local take out restos or fast food joints have some sort of tip receptacle alongside the cash register or debit machine, the exception being the large takeout chains such as McD or BK etc. It's almost expected that you throw your change into it. What pisses me off is when I throw a couple of bucks into the "pishka" under the watchful eyes of the person doing the cash without even receiving a thank you.

[beans]

How about those chain restaurants like Chili's which have a special door to the take-out counter and special parking places?

I think those are the fusion of fast food and sit down service. I would suspect the person taking the order and handling the cash would solely handle togo orders and earns a fair hourly. During peak season we will hire/appoint an off duty server with excellent cash handling skills as a cashier for all of the server cashouts, so perhaps that concept stretched, blended, combined and/or applied to a position at somewhere like a Chilis or Quaker Steak and Lube. Servers that want another shift take turns doing the togo window to beef up their weekly paycheck? I can see how that works. No tip for them.

Overall: Chatting about this issue with a few coworkers late last night, early this afternoon the common understanding that the normal 15% tip is not warranted -- the few bucks is appreciated, as is the appreciative generosity of customers.

[Malawry]

I don't tip on takeout orders. To me part of the point of taking out is to avoid accepting service, and therefore avoid paying for service (in addition to enjoying the convenience of eating at home or at my meeting or whatever). I recognize it's a little bit of work at a place that's mostly sit-down but I don't regard that as the sort of service warranting a tip. I rarely order take-out from a sit-down place when the restaurant is super-busy, FWIW. (I rarely order take-out PERIOD, actually.)

I was really bothered when tip jars started appearing everywhere--coffee shops, takeout counters, etc--about 10-15 years ago. To me the whole point of those places is that you're in and out without having to wait for full service--and therefore you shouldn't have to pay for full service. I'm not a cheapskate when it comes to tipping, but I only tip if somebody actually waits on me--not takes my order from behind a counter.

On rare occasions, I have been comped something while waiting for takeout, seriously inconvenienced somebody by placing a takeout order in the midst of extreme busy insanity, or witnessed somebody performing a special service for me. This is the only time I tip on takeout.

[joiei]

My tendencies is to tip depending on the ordertaker. If they are a busy bartender, then I will tip a little more, if it is a food runner just putting it in a bag, then the standard 10%. I do not tip the guys at starbucks or any place that is counter ordered, just like I do not tip the cashier at Saks or Albertsons,(oops, i check myself out there now, it is faster, so no tip for the upc reader). If they do something for me beyond just taking an order and handing me the change without counting it back, then I will consider it. If they just dump my change in my hand without even a thankyou, then forget it.

[sassybat]

i always tip a couple dollars when i get take-out. i used to work at my parents' chinese restaurant as a hostess, and part of my job was to take carry-out orders on the phone, or at the counter when they walked in, and also assemble them in the kitchen. trust me, when they are people waiting to be seated, and 7 carry-out orders needing to be packaged, tips are always appreciated. the kitchen staff didn't package everything for us, so it wasn't as easy as just grabbing boxes and throwing them into a bag. we still had to serve up the soups, rice, etc. and package those. we didn't have a tip jar, but sometimes people would leave tips on their credit card receipt and we were always appreciative.

[bbq4meanytime]

I usually tip on take out orders (anywhere from a buck for a $6.95 lunch to 10% on larger orders). Its just me, I'm a tipper.

I wondered about this issue a few months ago and polled 2 friends who worked in the industry: one is a waiter who tips on everything (even his oil changes), and the other was a bartender at Chilis where the bar often took/packed take-out orders. Neither made it a habit of tipping on take-out orders. The bartender told me that receiving a tip on take-out orders was definitely the exception in his experience.

[flip6577]

In the restaurants I've worked in the 'take-out' person sometimes worked harder than most of the servers. For instance, the servers were deligated to a certain section of the restaurant, 3-5 tables. The take-out person has no control over the number of orders that they are assembling.

When a diner would sit down to eat the kitchen expeditor would place the dishes on the trays, and a food-runner would deliver it to the table. For all togo orders the food would be boxed by the cooks and just placed on a table for the togo person to group up and bag.

In both circumstances I thought that the togo server did more work than the sit down servers.

Flip

[Captain Hongo]

In several of the restaurants I have managed, the take out department operates like a seperate section. The TO person takes the phone, fax and walk in orders, rings them in and if in house, takes the money. The kitchen puts the food in the take out packages and the packer picks it up from the several stations, assembles the order, adds the sauces, drinks and utensils, bags it and gives it to you. They, as side work, make all the little packs of sauces and side orders. Usually, the are the newest and most inexperienced employees, learning the restaurant and food, before becoming servers. Floor servers are not involved.

For these reasons I vote "yes" on tips. They work hard (though not always accurately), work for minimum wages, and deliver a true service.

[SG-]

Just an excuse to make yourself feel good and not look stingy. The extent of tipping in this country is going overboard!!!

60 Mins II: Are You Tipped Out?

[Fat Guy]

Most of the discussion I've seen of tipping fails on a basic conceptual level. It's hard to talk about tips without understanding what they are, and it's hard to understand what tips are because they're not gratuities.

In the restaurant context, but also for others like hotel bellmen and cab drivers, a tip is essentially a form of wage passed on to the consumer. Below a certain percentage of tip, if you don't pay that amount you are actually making someone work for you for free or at a theoretical loss. This is the baseline tip of around 15% in restaurants (closer to 18% in fine-dining places), 20% in taxis, and $1 per bag for bellmen. You have a theoretical option not to pay these amounts, but not doing so makes you an exploitative schmuck. You also have to remember that the tip you pay in a restaurant most often does not go to your server directly but is, rather, entered into a pool that is distributed via a point system to all the servers, bussers, and other front-of-house staff who get essentially zero salary.

Of course if you tip above the baseline, that extra amount is truly a gratuity. In France where there is a service charge built into your restaurant bill, if you leave extra for excellent service you are engaging in a true expression of gratuity. In America, if you leave a 25% tip you are really leaving a 10% gratuity and paying an implied 15% service charge.

Restaurants should not be using tipped employees for takeout. It's not an appropriate form of side work because it doesn't further the needs of the customers who actuall tip. If restaurants do use tipped employees for takeout they should tip out those employees themselves or they should add a takeout charge and pass that through to the tipped employees who handle the packing.

It's also damn near impossible -- nor should it be required -- for a customer to walk into a restaurant and ascertain what wage system that restaurant operates under vis-a-vis takeout. Some restaurants hire a full-time takeout staff and pay those people wages that don't assume tips; some restaurants pack the takeout orders in the kitchen using only kitchen staff who never get tips anyway; and some restaurants put the burden on the tipped waitstaff. Since the overwhelming majority of consumers assume takeout is a tip-free transaction, restaurants should be adapting to that expectation not vice-versa.

[beans]

You have a theoretical option not to pay these amounts, but not doing so makes you an exploitative schmuck.

Steven, have I told you lately that I think you're the best?

[tommy]

Just an excuse to make yourself feel good and not look stingy. The extent of tipping in this country is going overboard!!!

60 Mins II: Are You Tipped Out?

good article.

i'm amazed that it costs me 10 bucks to get from the front of the hotel to my room, btwn guys opening doors and pulling bags out of cabs and handing them off to someone else and then putting them on dollies and then doing whatever with them. and then i get to my room and have to wait for my bags. i could have done it alone and been changed and out the door already, and used that 10 bucks to buy beer.

i'm all tipped out, damnit.

[agbaber]

Does this happen often, Tommy? That you are in your room waiting on your bags?

That would be an occurance where I would not tip as much, and explain why.

Bags should arrive at your room with or before you get there, as that is as much the point as you not having to schlep them yourself.

Maybe your bags are too heavy

[tommy]

Maybe your bags are too heavy

i have enormous shoes. and you know what they say about big feet.

big socks.

yes, it happens quite often, so i assume it's relatively commonplace.