Eat & Drink
On the art of tipping at Toronto restaurants
Is the standard restaurant tip on the rise in Toronto? According to an article published by the Toronto Star today, some restaurateurs are using wireless debit and credit machines to prompt diners to leave more than the generally agreed upon 15 per cent. Although it's yet to be determined how widespread the practice is, the fact that some restaurants are urging customers to up their gratuity is enough to get people talking about what's fair and reasonable when it comes to compensating servers in this city.
Earlier today we asked our Twitter followers to share what they think the standard tip should be in Toronto and to weigh in on whether or not 20 per cent was too high. The answers are expectedly varied, but one trend worth noting is that diners aren't jazzed with the idea that they'd be obligated to tip more because restaurant owners aren't willing to bump up their employees wages.
"We feel we are providing great service. Waiters don't get paid too much," Tom Earl, co-owner of The Westerly, told the Star. Earl might be kicking himself for uttering that line, but it seems like he has half of it right: if the service is top notch, most diners seem willing to pitch in extra tip.
Where do you stand?
Photo by cafemama on Flickr
Discussion
93 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
That said, if service is adequate then the tip is 10%. If very good then 15%. If outstanding and accommodating unusual requests then 20%+. If everything sucked from beginning to end, you make me wait, you appear lazy or grumpy, and I don't enjoy my time (or the food) then your tip will be ZERO. The tip is a bonus, not a requirement.
when I asked a local about tipping in Melbourne, she said that tips are not expected...if you like the service and are happy then you leave something small, even a buck or two after dinner. If you werent satisfied, then no tip will be left. This was how it went the entire trip and those who did receive a tip were extremely thankful.
I WISH this would be the standard here in Toronto rather than throwing money at people who dont deserve it.
Oh, and 15-20% is fair for good service.
A lot of places have a mandatory 15% tip on tables over 6 people, I think it's bull, if the service is bad you shouldn't be forced to tip someone just because there is a group of you. There wage is to cover them doing their job. I think mandatory tipping should be illegal for a restaurant to enforce.
Since HST is 13%, your pre-tax bill is (final/1.13), which means if you want to apply a 15% tax to the pretax amount you want the tip to be (final/1.13)*0.15 or in other words, if you want to give a 15% tip and are provided with one of these auto-calculating tip consoles you should enter 0.15/1.13=0.1327
... or in other words a 13% tip.
Tips are for extremely exceptional service, why should i tip just because you are doing an average/good job?
I agree that North America should pay their waitstaff more and tips should never, ever be expected but service is an actual career, to be good at it requires more skill than a lot of people would give it credit for.
There are a lot of shitty servers out there who are doing it because they can't get it together or are trying to make money whilst at school.
Don't lump me (or the other servers and bartenders) who love what they do) in with them. Every industry has workers who operate from the lowest common denominator.
I mean, what does the cost of the food to the consumer have to do with the amount of the tip?
And does the waiter work hard carrying a plate of expensive food than a plate of cheaper food... I don't think so. A server in a restaurant with cheap food can be as good, if not better, than a server in a restaurant with expensive food. Yet carrying some plates and some drinks in either restaurant has a different tip.
So many restaurants are running on such tight budgets that I can see why owners would be hesitant to pay more than the minimum. This isn't necessarily right or fair, but since diners don't know which restaurants are paying their staff a better wage, we should all be assuming that our waiters are making next to nothing before tip-out. If you don't want to pay for the service, stay at home and uncork your own wine and clear your own plates.
First of all, GU, that was the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Toonie stack? IF the server is smart enough?
Are you training Pavlov dogs? Get off your high horse because seriously, if it was myself serving you, I'd tell you to keep your money. REALLY curious to know what you do for a living. You probably really offended a lot of people.
Mr. Mike in Parkdale. Really? Have you ever worked in a bar? You probably wouldn't even last one night. I invite you to work one night with me. Are you willing?
Simply, why would a bartender bother to try extra hard when they are getting slammed if they got paid the same?
Wouldn't they just sit back and watch the party? And leave you dry at the bar?
They are working for you. Someone has to do it. As much as people think it's a glorious job, it is actually an extremely hard job to do well. As is serving. If I had a videotape of the bar I work at, and people saw themselves and how they act, no one would ever leave their houses again. They would be mortified!
M- You're funny.
If you can't afford to eat at a fancier restaurant and pay for a commensurate level of service, don't go. If you get crummy service at a fancy restaurant,leave a less-than-stellar tip. If it's really bad, complain. Shitty servers should get canned. They make the rest of us look bad.
Working customer service, whether in the restaurant industry, or otherwise, can be enough of a pain in the ass without customers thinking they have to teach staff a lesson in doing the job right. One can tell here that most of you have never worked in the industry. You're probably mostly hanging out at Brassai trying to insert your gold card into the cleavage of the female staff there.
Instead of being a mature adult and just assessing the entire experience, and tipping accordingly, you have to go the way of pretty much humiliating staff by dangling a toonie in their face and saying: "earn it, baby! earn it! There's more in my toonie stack, but you gotta earn it!" If you don't get good service, fine, tip shitty, but don't be a jackass about it.
Alright, "Mr. Toonie Stack". You've now got a new name for yourself. Including "idiot".
Tipping is totally sketchy. It's just a way for restaurants to get out of paying their employees a good wage. Instead, diners are guilt-tripped into feeling responsible for ensuring the staff can make a living. Then you've got some establishments skimming a percentage of tips for themselves, making servers share tips with kitchen staff, bartenders, etc. by certain percentages, and you've got servers dodging taxes by not reporting all of their income from tips.
Raise the wages of restaurant workers, raise the price of the food accordingly, and make tipping something that is only earned by exceptional service.
Am of many opinions on tipping - it shouldn't be necessary but at $8.95/hour, it is.
For quite a few restaurants I worked at serving, we had to tip out at the end of the night. It varies between establishments but the rules can be -- based on total sales at the end of the night: 1% to busser, 2% to the bar, 3% to the kitchen and if there is one .5% to the host(ess).
If I had a shit night and didn't make a lot of money, the tip out money is coming out of my pocket.
Given all this, for me... baseline 15% on the pre-tax bill, adjusted accordingly up or down based on level of service.
I would love to see a restauranteur show some balls and pay their staff more than the legally mandated minimum wage, and then not have their staff try to guilt us into compensating them for their piss poor wages.
What I don't get is that there's so many restaurants being started by people who once worked as servers, chefs, etc., and therefore presumably they know the problems with wages in that industry, and yet they perpetuate it by refusing to pay their staff any better than the shitty owners they once worked for. Explain that one to me.
Anyone willing to divulge what they make?
But the servers who are serving at the more high end elite restaurants can easily clear their weekly paycheck on a good night.. I do agree with allot of comments here saying that employers should be more responsible on what they pay their staff… It’s all just a question of greed..
When you're tipping servers at a lot of restaurants you're not just tipping the servers. You're tipping the bar, busser, kitchen and host.
And I don't work in restaurants anymore, hence the past tense tone of my post. Does anyone actually read anymore?
This is basically a collective-action problem. I agree that tipping should be a bonus, and that restaurant staff should be paid well by management, but any restaurant that raised their prices 20% and prohibited excessive tipping would probably fail, largely because of cheapskates like Dave above, who would miss the ability to stiff a server having a rough night. On the flip side, corporate bigshots and men on first dates would miss the ability to impress with their generous tipping.
Right now, tipping should be factored into the cost of dining. If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out. If you object in principle, you're being willfully ignorant of how society works, and are an asshole, too.
So if you get crap service, you should still pay for it?
At the beginning of the night, I tip 20%, as the night goes on, that tip either deflates or inflates, depending on the service. How is this unfair?
I was a Bartender and it was my tool to earn a few extra bucks, I am all about tipping well. I usually leave 15% or more depending on the services.
However i just want everyone to take an extra second when on a debit machine at the restaurant because if you choose the standard 15 or 20% you are actually tipping approx another 6% on the bill. And when your bill is $100 or more that really starts to add up.
i think if we can get enough of us to stop the tipping practice all together we can force a change!
The idea that restaurant owners are "lining their pockets with money" is somewhat bizarre too. Sure, some are. But most restaurants fail within a couple years of opening, and those that succeed generally have extremely tight profit margins. Tipping is used as an easy way to motivate servers and promote some sort of self-management among them.
Despite the fact that my hourly wage is ridiculous, I COMPLETELY agree that the cost of the food should have absolutely nothing to do with the amount of tip. I think it's ridiculous that if a table orders a $60 bottle of wine from me and nothing else, that table is expected to tip more than a table whose bill is $40 with a bag illusion items on it and numerous special requests.
I don't think they need to be tipped 20% by everyone in order to make an extra $1.35 per hour, to reach the min wage threshold. I’m sure even if they received an average of 10% tips all night, they would still make an extra $1.35 per hour to bring their hourly wage up to $10.25.
What if restaurants actually paid servers min wage, and tipping was abolished? I’m sure there would be a flood of people exiting server positions, as it would no longer be as lucrative as it is with tips. They would still complain if they made $10.25 an hour, they feel entitled to make more than that.
I also think it's pretty annoying that everyone who does anything expects a tip these days. On what basis should a clerk expect a tip or a taxi driver?