How much do you tip for carry-out/take-out?

Go_Mizzou99
Go_Mizzou99 Posts: 2,628 Member
in Chit-Chat
I am specifically talking about carry-out/take-out where you have to park, go inside (usually to the bar or hostess station) and pick up your food.

I think you should tip something...but not as much as if you sit down and get full service.
«13

Replies

  • EmbraceTheDarkSide
    EmbraceTheDarkSide Posts: 514 Member
    $0.00 unless there was something exceptional going on.

    Those people aren't tip dependent like the people who serve you when you sit down for the meal.
  • _Waffle_
    _Waffle_ Posts: 13,049 Member
    Tip yourself at least 15%. You did a great job delivering the food to yourself.
  • OmniBlade
    OmniBlade Posts: 5
    Nothing. In fact I'm opposed to tipping culture in general and believe that people should be paid a fair wage for the work they do. The headline price of a meal should include all service involved in getting it to me such that the people involved from the chef to the waiter are fairly compensated.
  • erinj16
    erinj16 Posts: 32 Member
    Do you tip people at McDonald's when you park, walk in and get food? No.
  • smithed812
    smithed812 Posts: 289
    Nothing... I hate that there's even a spot for it when they give you the receipt. I drove there and I "delivered" it myself, there wasn't really any service involved.
  • thebigcb
    thebigcb Posts: 2,210 Member
    I am specifically talking about carry-out/take-out where you have to park, go inside (usually to the bar or hostess station) and pick up your food.

    I think you should tip something...but not as much as if you sit down and get full service.

    Zero
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
    I do tip a few dollars, especially if it is a cute take out person (usually the bartender).
  • lambchristie
    lambchristie Posts: 552 Member
    Zero
  • EmbraceTheDarkSide
    EmbraceTheDarkSide Posts: 514 Member
    Nothing. In fact I'm opposed to tipping culture in general and believe that people should be paid a fair wage for the work they do. The headline price of a meal should include all service involved in getting it to me such that the people involved from the chef to the waiter are fairly compensated.

    Tipping is better for everyone involved:

    - For the restaurant owners: It shifts the labor costs out to customers (though, they are obligated if the patrons don't pay up to min. wage). This allows them to focus their cash on food or capital improvements

    - For patrons: They feel that the price they paid reflects all aspects of their experience and allows them to reward good service as well as provide (in very powerful terms) their feedback on poor service

    - For waiters: It gives them a reason to actually work hard in a job that is otherwise fulfilling.

    - For the labor pool: It filters out people who aren't good at their job and allows them to move on to jobs that better align with their skills

    Taking away the tip system will ensure that there is no incentive to provide a level of service above the minimum required to not get fired.
  • tennisdude2004
    tennisdude2004 Posts: 5,609 Member
    You don't.

    You had to go and get it.
  • MG_Fit
    MG_Fit Posts: 1,143 Member
    Yup, I don't tip for carry out.
  • SusanL222
    SusanL222 Posts: 585 Member
    Here's a tip for the trolling for tips on tipping........just. don't. :noway:
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,021 Member
    Depends. If they do something extra (sometimes they'll throw in free chips and salsa, for example), then I'll add a couple bucks. If all they do is hand over the food and run my debit card, they get nothing.
  • Derpes
    Derpes Posts: 2,033 Member
    I only tip if there is a happy ending.
  • AthleticForties_wechanged
    AthleticForties_wechanged Posts: 611
    I always tip at least a buck or two when I pick up something I called in. They remember it and I usually get a larger portion or a few extras when I go back. Not to mention my extra couple of dollars makes up for someone who might stiff on a tip during the course of their shift. I also always tip 20% at restaurants unless the service was bad.
  • Beastmaster50
    Beastmaster50 Posts: 505 Member
    20%. They still get crap wages, have to put the order together and make less money than if they were waiting on tables.
  • OmniBlade
    OmniBlade Posts: 5

    Tipping is better for everyone involved:

    - For the restaurant owners: It shifts the labor costs out to customers (though, they are obligated if the patrons don't pay up to min. wage). This allows them to focus their cash on food or capital improvements

    - For patrons: They feel that the price they paid reflects all aspects of their experience and allows them to reward good service as well as provide (in very powerful terms) their feedback on poor service

    - For waiters: It gives them a reason to actually work hard in a job that is otherwise fulfilling.

    - For the labor pool: It filters out people who aren't good at their job and allows them to move on to jobs that better align with their skills

    Taking away the tip system will ensure that there is no incentive to provide a level of service above the minimum required to not get fired.

    I disagree for the following reasons.

    It allows the restaurant owner to enjoy larger profits as they don't have to foot the bill properly for having real employees as far as payroll management is concerned. They won't put cash into food or capital improvements unless it benefits their profit margin anyway and if it did, they would do it even if they had to pay the wating staff like proper employees.

    For patrons the difference between the theory you espouse and the actual practice in countries with a strong tiping culture are markedly different. For a start, a waiter has no idea if you will tip or not and so has no way to know if they should go above and beyond or just grind out a basic level of service. Additionally, in practice a strong tipping culture makes it socially unacceptable to not leave a tip ensuring all but the most woeful performance will be equally compensated. Tips are awarded less on the merit of the server and more on the socially acceptable %age of total bill. At to that the fact that it is socially akward if a goup disagrees on the level of tip to leave.

    For waiters depending on the laws of the country it screws them out of some or all of the benefits employees are normally entitled to, makes their income uncertain which has the knock on effect of it being difficult to buget or secure credit and as described above gives them no more incentive to go the extra mile in practice than if they had a secure wage.

    I think that about covers my interpretation of tipping culture :)
  • Tight_Fit
    Tight_Fit Posts: 453
    Waiters get tips because as their name references, they wait on you, they bring you drinks, food, napkins, etc all so you don't have to get it yourself. If I'm picking it up myself I don't leave a tip, If I'm dining in, I tip anywhere from 45%-65% if the job is well done, if the job is not well done, I put 20%, But on a rare occasion when the job is extremely poor, I put $10 in a cup of water, put a plate on top and flip it over. :laugh:
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    If they have a tip jar I might toss some change in. For instance, the place I go to get coffee/breakfast... They have a tip jar and if the total is $4.70 and I'm paying w/ cash, I'll throw the 30 cents change into the tip jar. They do a fabulous job and are very personable so a little extra now and then is totally worth it IMHO.

    Most of the time though I don't tip anything for carry-out, especially if I'm using my debit/credit card.
  • EmbraceTheDarkSide
    EmbraceTheDarkSide Posts: 514 Member

    Tipping is better for everyone involved:

    - For the restaurant owners: It shifts the labor costs out to customers (though, they are obligated if the patrons don't pay up to min. wage). This allows them to focus their cash on food or capital improvements

    - For patrons: They feel that the price they paid reflects all aspects of their experience and allows them to reward good service as well as provide (in very powerful terms) their feedback on poor service

    - For waiters: It gives them a reason to actually work hard in a job that is otherwise fulfilling.

    - For the labor pool: It filters out people who aren't good at their job and allows them to move on to jobs that better align with their skills

    Taking away the tip system will ensure that there is no incentive to provide a level of service above the minimum required to not get fired.

    I disagree for the following reasons.

    It allows the restaurant owner to enjoy larger profits as they don't have to foot the bill properly for having real employees as far as payroll management is concerned. They won't put cash into food or capital improvements unless it benefits their profit margin anyway and if it did, they would do it even if they had to pay the wating staff like proper employees.

    For patrons the difference between the theory you espouse and the actual practice in countries with a strong tiping culture are markedly different. For a start, a waiter has no idea if you will tip or not and so has no way to know if they should go above and beyond or just grind out a basic level of service. Additionally, in practice a strong tipping culture makes it socially unacceptable to not leave a tip ensuring all but the most woeful performance will be equally compensated. Tips are awarded less on the merit of the server and more on the socially acceptable %age of total bill. At to that the fact that it is socially akward if a goup disagrees on the level of tip to leave.

    For waiters depending on the laws of the country it screws them out of some or all of the benefits employees are normally entitled to, makes their income uncertain which has the knock on effect of it being difficult to buget or secure credit and as described above gives them no more incentive to go the extra mile in practice than if they had a secure wage.

    I think that about covers my interpretation of tipping culture :)

    - You are assuming that restaurateurs have sufficient cash flow to reinvest or that they are taking out a significant amount from the business. Most restaurants are either unprofitable or running on razor thin margins. In many instances, with higher wages, they would actually have no money left to maintain the business without raising prices.

    - I have lived in countries where tips were not given and the service, in comparison to the US, has always been mediocre. This is often because the servers stick around because these are "livable" wages but they have no incentive to do anything beyond "not getting fired."

    - In the US, there are few (if any benefits) that are foregone because of the tip-based structure of their income. Furthermore, most variable compensation and incentive based jobs face the same problem... yet I don't think it makes sense to remove sales commissions or performance bonuses because "budgeting is hard"
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    I almost never pick up food to take it home. If I do, it's at a delivery-only Chinese place and they are such an insanely busy & fast paced business since that is all they do, and I never tip. The staff aren't servers. They have like four of them standing at phones and then ringing out customers...not sure if that makes a difference. If I went to the little Thai place by my house and picked up food instead of eating in, I would definitely throw a couple of singles into the tip jar. But that's all honestly.
  • SymphonynSonata
    SymphonynSonata Posts: 533 Member
    ~$5-$10 depending.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    Absolutely nothing, but I still feel guilty writing "0" on the tip line.
  • blgerig
    blgerig Posts: 174 Member
    I tip around 10% on carryout - having worked at a restaurant that does carryout all through college, I can tell you the servers/bartenders DO still work on your food. They are usually the one who take your order either by phone or online and relay it to the kitchen, and they are the ones checking and packaging your order. If you don't want to tip, go to a counter service restaurant where tipping is not customary.

    I do think it would be better for all if restaurants paid a fair wage. Meal prices would be higher, but no tips. But that isn't how it is right now, so yes, I tip.
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    Depends. If they do something extra (sometimes they'll throw in free chips and salsa, for example), then I'll add a couple bucks. If all they do is hand over the food and run my debit card, they get nothing.

    This.
  • gmoneycole
    gmoneycole Posts: 813 Member
    It's funny seeing all of the different perspectives on this...all over the place! I tip $1 If I notice that the setup is where someone really needed to do extra or if I notice that the person preparing the food kind of went out of their way to do something nice for me then I may leave a little more.
  • SARgirl
    SARgirl Posts: 572 Member
    The only time I tip for carry out/take out is if they bring it out to my car, and if that's the case then I'll give them $1-2.
  • ALNoog
    ALNoog Posts: 413 Member
    Zero... And my husband tipped 10 dollars at a buffet a few months back where all the kid did was bring us our drinks and then only one time way later someone else refilled them ... Wanted to smack him.
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    zip zip zero..
  • Go_Mizzou99
    Go_Mizzou99 Posts: 2,628 Member
    I guess I should weigh in - I am in the $3 or less crowd - depending.

Categories