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

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24

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  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    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
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    ~$5-$10 depending.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Absolutely nothing, but I still feel guilty writing "0" on the tip line.
  • blgerig
    blgerig Posts: 174 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    zip zip zero..
  • Go_Mizzou99
    Go_Mizzou99 Posts: 2,628 Member
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    I guess I should weigh in - I am in the $3 or less crowd - depending.
  • littlelaura
    littlelaura Posts: 1,030 Member
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    I don't tip carry out or take out , isn't that like tipping at the McDonald window? I do tip delivery people 15% or when eating at the establishment will tip the server 20%. On occasion more if they go above and beyond to help us out with a family member who has special eating requirements like to avoid nuts in or near their food.
  • FitnessCharl
    FitnessCharl Posts: 166
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    Just say you're British, and then give them.... Nothinggggg
  • megan1869
    megan1869 Posts: 166 Member
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    I'll premise my response by saying that I am a server on the weekends and have worked in the industry for around 7 years off and on and that I started out as a TueGo girl for Ruby Tuesdays....

    I only tip togo people if it is in an actual restaurant (not a pizza delivery place, not a sandwich shop, etc.). Especially if that place has a designated "ToGo person" because typically that persons only job is taking to go orders, putting them together and bringing them to the car. These people typically aren't paid more than servers and do not receive tip out from serves like hostesses, bartenders and busboys do.

    That being said I don't tip them the same as I would if they were serving me at a table (20% usually) because as others have pointed out its just not the same level of service - there aren't repeated drink refills, food isn't served sequentially etc.

    FYI most people do NOT tip togo... but when they do the togo people get really excited....
  • HuggyBeahr
    HuggyBeahr Posts: 259
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    1-5 $.
    If I see its a high school kid or even a young person who probably needs every single penny they get their hands on, I tip.
    Ill tip 5 dollars if its an old person too. For example, the pizza shop by my house makes the absolute best pizza, and the old lady who hands me my order always calls me handsome. That's worth at least 3 dollars.
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
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    I don't like tipping period.

    These people are paid to do this job, I don't get tips in my job!
  • jlapey
    jlapey Posts: 1,850 Member
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    I'd be more inclined to tip if I thought for one second that it might go to the kitchen staff who prepared it. But...no, not unless they went above and beyond somehow.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
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    As a former bartender who occasionally prepared takeout orders, I tip 10%. I know it takes a bit of effort to get a takeout order ready, packaging, checking, adding sides and sauces and cutlery/napkins amid one's other regular duties or whatever. It's not like serving a table but I think it deserves a small recognition, particularly if the bartender/host who did the work is busy already.
  • stetienne
    stetienne Posts: 560 Member
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    Nada.
  • stetienne
    stetienne Posts: 560 Member
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    I don't like tipping period.

    These people are paid to do this job, I don't get tips in my job!

    You do understand that wages for those jobs are different than your job, correct? Often, servers get paid next to nothing in actual hourly wages and depend almost solely on tips.
  • sentaruu
    sentaruu Posts: 2,206 Member
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    I don't tip for take out.

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