Yet Another Thread About Tipping!

[unsinkable]

If you eat a sit down meal, and also order a meal or separate food to take home, do you tip on the "take home" portion at the same rate as the sit down portion?

[MeghansMom]

If you eat a sit down meal, and also order a meal or separate food to take home, do you tip on the "take home" portion at the same rate as the sit down portion?

 

Nope, ten percent.

[Catwoman]

Yes, because I am too lazy to do the math twice.

[creekland]

Hmm, we've never done this so I'd have to think about it.  Since I'm pretty much ready to head off to bed, my brain has begun the shut down process and opted to just vote "other."  ;)

[Elfknitter.#]

Yes, because I am too lazy to do the math twice.

 

:iagree:

 

Plus, why not?

[unsinkable]

Yes, because I am too lazy to do the math twice.

:lol:

 

The topic came up in a math-easy way. Our bill doubled...we got as much takeout as our sit down bill.

 

It seemed like a lot to double the tip bc the waiter handed us a pizza and bucket of wings.

[marbel]

I voted no even though I'm not sure I've ever done this.   But it just makes sense to me to tip less on something that requires less work.

 

I'm assuming - and now that I'm typing this, I think wrongly - that there are two separate checks.    I guess if there is one check, I wouldn't try to figure out a tip at two different rates.  So maybe my vote is actually "other."

[Hikin' Mama]

Yes. We have done this to take food home to my mil. Each time we've done this, our server still had to take the order and bring it to us, even though it was in a to go box instead of on a plate.

[MiMi 4under3]

We order everything at once and ask the server to bring the take-out items at the end of the meal. 

 

One check, one tip.

[NorthwestMom]

If I got it all on one bill, I would tip 20% and call it good.

[xixstar]

Yes.

[Tanaqui]

Usually. I, too, don't want to do math twice. (Not that working out 20% or 15% or "double the tax" is hard, exactly, but....)

 

However, I reserve the right to say there may be some circumstances where I don't tip the same for the entire bill without actually delineating such circumstances right now.

[ashfern]

I had to ask DH because it's usually me he's bringing food home to when we do this.  :lol: He said that he tips the take out amount at a lower rate and you shouldn't feel obligated to tip at the higher rate. If it were me, I would probably just tip all at the 20% because it would be easier unless there was a separate check.

[unsinkable]

I appreciate the feedback.

 

I would have to pick "other" myself.

 

When we have ordered something like a dessert or small item, I have included my usual tip. But when we ordered the bucket of wings and party pizza, our bill doubled. And the waiter didn't bring us the food. We picked it up in the takeout area on the way out. It is special situation for us so I was kind of thrown as to what to do. I added a few extra dollars but it was less than what I would have tipped if our total sit-down bill had been that same amount.

[poppy]

Yes, I'm frugal but I'm not stingy.

[Catwoman]

I appreciate the feedback.

 

I would have to pick "other" myself.

 

When we have ordered something like a dessert or small item, I have included my usual tip. But when we ordered the bucket of wings and party pizza, our bill doubled. And the waiter didn't bring us the food. We picked it up in the takeout area on the way out. It is special situation for us so I was kind of thrown as to what to do. I added a few extra dollars but it was less than what I would have tipped if our total sit-down bill had been that same amount.

I think that's different. I was picturing you ordering at the table and the waiter packing up the extra food and bringing it to you. If you had to go to a separate takeout window to get the food, that feels more like picking up a to-go order at Burger King or something. Was there a tip jar at the takeout window?

[Catwoman]

Yes, I'm frugal but I'm not stingy.

What percentage counts as being stingy? (Not being snarky -- I'm just curious.)

[MeghansMom]

On the rare occasions we have done something like this, we usually order the take out as we are leaving so it will be fresh and have paid the bill with the 20% tip. We grab the to go order and I add ten percent.

[unsinkable]

I think that's different. I was picturing you ordering at the table and the waiter packing up the extra food and bringing it to you. If you had to go to a separate takeout window to get the food, that feels more like picking up a to-go order at Burger King or something. Was there a tip jar at the takeout window?

No tip jar...I just added a few extra dollars to our sit-down tip.

[Jackie]

I said no. I usually tip 20% on sit-down meals and 10% on takeout. However, I also round up to the nearest convenient amount for me, so sometimes it comes out closer to 20% across the board.

[Audrey]

If you eat a sit down meal, and also order a meal or separate food to take home, do you tip on the "take home" portion at the same rate as the sit down portion?

 

 

I would tip on the whole bill.  I wouldn't separate out the take home from the sit down part.  The server had to attend to the special order (the take out) with consideration and effort.  If they gave good tableside service, then I would assume the take out order was handled with the same professionalism and be deserving of the same level of tip.

 

ETA: I read your description of the take out arrangements and I'm not even sure your server had anything to do with the take out part now.  So now I don't know what I would do.

[Catwoman]

I would tip on the whole bill. I wouldn't separate out the take home from the sit down part. The server had to attend to the special order (the take out) with consideration and effort. If they gave good tableside service, then I would assume the take out order was handled with the same professionalism and be deserving of the same level of tip.

That's what I was thinking at first, but then she mentioned that it was a bucket of wings and a party pizza that she picked up at the takeout window, so all her server did was write out the order and give it to the kitchen. That's what made me think it was okay for her to have tipped less for the take-out order. Apparently, there was no tip jar at the takeout window.

[Elfknitter.#]

Personally, I'm in the establishment. They have prepared a sit down meal for me and I am asking them to prepare another for me to take. My thought is I am still asking for a meal while I am there. It just so happens that I am planning to take this meal with me. It's still work. So to me, they get the tip.

 

Sometimes I think I want a dessert with my sit down and served meal. But nope, I get stuffed. So how about ordering it to take home? Should my tip now factor in a lesser amount for that dessert because it's now to go? (Or is a take away for the UK folks. ;-) ) Personally, I say no. I am very certain others will have a different take on this.

[tm919]

Personally it almost never happens so I would tip the same to avoid asking for a second receipt.

[creekland]

I think that's different. I was picturing you ordering at the table and the waiter packing up the extra food and bringing it to you. If you had to go to a separate takeout window to get the food, that feels more like picking up a to-go order at Burger King or something. Was there a tip jar at the takeout window?

 

Ditto.  In this case I'd have added some $$ to a tip jar, but would not tip on this part otherwise.

 

If the bill included it all though, I'd have probably tipped 15% on the whole bill rather than our usual higher amounts.

 

I guess it depends upon my whims at the time.

[Orthodox6]

Yes.  The meal has been prepared and has been served (in a bag).

[poppy]

What percentage counts as being stingy? (Not being snarky -- I'm just curious.)

 

Not a percentage, just, the act of calculating different parts of a bill based on perceived server effort seems crass to me.

[Catwoman]

Not a percentage, just, the act of calculating different parts of a bill based on perceived server effort seems crass to me.

OK, thanks for the clarification. :)

 

I think it's a little mean to call it "crass" if someone takes a minute or two to figure out how much to tip, though, particularly if the customer has to go to a separate takeout window to pick up the to-go order herself and the price of that extra order basically doubles the original bill. In that case, the server isn't really doing much of anything for the customer, other than handing the order slip to someone in the kitchen.

 

If the takeout portion of the order was $50 and the sit-down order was $50, she would be tipping the server an extra $10 for the takeout portion. I can understand tipping less than that in this situation if she was already tipping 20% for the sit-down order, because the server was doing pretty much nothing extra for her. He didn't even have to pack up the food or deliver the bag to her table.

 

I think there should have been a tip jar at the takeout window so the takeout staff can receive tips if they are expecting tips on to-go orders. If there is an actual takeout window, it seems pretty clear that this place isn't just a regular restaurant where most people eat at the tables, but that lots of people never sit down at all, and just take their meals home.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I just come up with an amount based on the total.