A Tipping Situation
My friends and I had fun debating this question at dinner last week, so I’m turning over the situation to you. Ask the Salty Waitress had an interesting question, one that begins with a basic fact. If you are ordering an entrée at a restaurant, they’re all mostly within the same price range. So restaurant to restaurant, the prices obviously are higher or lower, but most entrées are within $10 of each other within the same restaurant.
But alcohol doesn’t follow that rule. Alcohol is the one item in a restaurant that appears in a single section — the wine list — but can cost anywhere from $15 to $1000 (or more) for a single bottle of wine.
So Ask the Salty Waitress had a question about tipping when alcohol has been ordered, making the argument that whether the person ordered a $15 bottle of wine (and paid a $3 tip) or a $100 bottle of wine (and paid a $20 tip), the waitress did the same job of uncorking and pouring the wine. They wanted to know if they could pay a single tip for the wine, let’s say $5, and call it a day.
The answer is a decent one, albeit with judgement hurled at the asker, but it doesn’t really answer the question. By the waitress’s argument, no one should eat in her section unless they’re going to order a lot and tip big because a person doing otherwise is taking up a space that could be given to someone who will give her more money. By that token, the answer should include that it’s not about the wine; it’s why isn’t the question asker ordering triple appetizers because if they don’t, they’re a cheapskate, too.
So her answer doesn’t really work.
The question has to do with the enormous cost range in this one menu item: alcohol. We’re talking a few dollars difference in tip if you get the steak or the pasta dish, but there’s a huge difference in tip between the cheapest and most expensive bottle of wine.
My friend mentioned the New York Times once covered this, and I was able to find the article, but it’s a really confusing answer that involves different math applied to different situations.
So what’s your take on this? I’m assuming that few of us ask for the $1000 bottle of wine from the New York Times article, so let’s go more with the $15 vs. $100 bottle of wine.
8 comments
So I am not one to order a bottle of wine at any restaurant as wine isn’t my thing. I do get the idea of the question because yes, the waitress is doing the same job no matter which bottle is purchased.
However, as a former waitress from back in the day, I have a different take in the answer. Waitstaff are required to “tip-out” at the end of their shifts…to the bar, bus people, server assistants, sometimes even hostesses. They are required to tip out a portion of their tips based on their sales total for the night…sometimes it’s as much as 10% of their total sales to EACH area…so that $100 bottle of wine can turn in to $30 extra in money that server has to pay out at the end of the night, so if someone only gives them a $5 tip for that bottle, the server in essence looses $25 and forfits any tip on that check otherwise, basically. Considering waitstaff generally only make half of minimum wage on hours worked, they really rely on tips. I did have times when it was just a crap night for good tips so I couldn’t tip out as much, and as long as you were honest with the bar, ect that you couldn’t tip out more (or equal to) the minimum they were cool, but if you did that during every shift there would be issues. And if you had a great night or utilized the bar a lot or got extra bus help, then you were expected to be honest/fair and tip out extra.
My take is if you want to be that cheap with a tip you should consider eating at home, or get the cheaper bottle, or go to a place that is BYOW and pay the small bottle opening fee.
I am super aware of my service when out and tip accordingly. If I have already decided to go out, I have decided to spend the money. So I will definitely reward great service with a great tip, and if I didn’t get good service I am not afraid to tip below the standard.
I think the Salty Waitress is right in that you’re paying for the ambience, as much as, if not more than, the items that you consume. The waitress doesn’t make your appetizer or your entree. Shes doesn’t mix your vodka tonic. She conveys your wishes to the appropriate person, brings your what you desire, and makes sure it’s to your satisfaction. That’s the same if you’re ordering a $4 meal at Steak and Shake or a $200 meal at some Grant Achatz joint. So, to apply that restriction only to alcohol doesn’t consider that your food comes from (originally – some farm somewhere) and ends up in the same place, no matter how finely it’s selected and prepared.
I think Charlotte’s reply above answers the question pretty well. If the waitress has to give a certain percentage to the bar for the bottle of wine, you better be tipping the % on it, not a flat fee. Plus, seriously, if you are ordering $1000 or even $100 bottles of wine, why are you being stingy with the tip????
I didn’t see the question asker as being stingy but more curious. Charlotte’s explanation is so much better than Salty Waitress — she should get the column :-). But Charlotte and I were talking via email, and my restaurant had a completely different set-up. Everyone pooled all tips and they were divided twice a day (two shifts). You would benefit from the system some days and lose from the system on others, but it was fair. I think another issue here is that every establishment handles tips differently.
Disclaimer: I didn’t read the linked article. However, I think that diners should pay a percentage of price as a tip, regardless of how much effort the server has to put into serving the item. If you choose to order a $100 bottle of wine instead of a $25 bottle, you should pay proportionally more in tip.
Just my two cents. Oh, and I have never worked as a server but have eaten out a lot. 😉
I hate all the headache tipping brings. Restaurants need to stop this practice and start paying their staff a livable wage that is not based on performance. Hoping the No Tipping Movement gains some steam.
All that said, I tip the 20% due to the tipping-out Charlotte described above. When I worked as a bartender, I witnessed first hand the huge differences in tips between servers based on gender, age and even whether someone was having a bad day. Those working service rarely make enough to make ends meet and I know that tips are shared (I had to split my tips with the bar owner who routinely sat downstairs in his office while I worked the bar).
I also agree with Charlotte re: tip out… I had mights when I would tip out almost everything I made because I had been stiffed on a few tables. I also worked where we would pool everything and split down the middle. The best thing about that is that almost everyone is going to pitch in to help to ensure good service… for example, if one server was super busy, the others would help make sure there weren’t any tables falling through the cracks. The downside, though is that cash tips can be pocketed.
In terms of the flat rate tip for wine, I would imagine that if I had a table order a $1000 bottle, I would sure as hell be sure I was there to top up glasses, clear efficiently, and make everything as perfect as possible for them; as noted above, they will have higher expectations.
Good grief, I read this and I am once again so glad I live in NZ! The tipping situation in the US is ridiculous. I thought that we were confused enough when we travel, but I often see people from the US asking questions like this too. Then Charlotte’s answer (and all the others) boggled my mind even more.
Pay the workers a decent living wage. (And yes, I know you want that.)