15% is fine, and 20% is more than fine. If you're just standing at a counter taking my order, you get what you get.

Honestly it should just be included in the price!

Wish this would apply to all waitstaff salaries. Pay a living wage. Fuck off with tips. Most of the rest of the world manages to do this and food prices aren't prohibitively expensive.

Probably a direct correlation between the % of the metro area’s workforce employed in hospitality and the average tip rate.

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Fun tip to tip

Say your check comes to $abcd.ef

Move the decimal to the left one and multiply by 2, so 2*(abc.de)

That's your 20% tip. Monstrously faster than dividing by 5.

This. So easy! Plus I usually round up to the nearest dollar to make it a little extra since I can

Am I the only one who's offended by the fact that other cities are recognizable just their name but Richmond has to be specified to Virginia?

Probably because we're forced to tip at every stop we got lol

Guessing bc “Richmond, CA” is a well known city

I was a server for 3 years and did delivery driving for a couple years. People don’t tip that great here

You totally heard about this on Elliot in the morning didn’t you?

Never realized people just didn’t do 10% then double it. Dividing by 5 is wild haha

I actually don't know the last time I listened to the radio. Found it on Twitter

Damn, I don’t listen to radio much except just for the news section of Elliot in the am. They did a little segment on the best cities for tips this morning.

I always just do 20% because it’s easier to calculate in my head

Yea I feel you. I served for quite a few years and do delivery now in a good area. It's Okay but the good tips even out the bad

A quick google shows that there are 45 Richmonds in the US.

Is the person behind the counter expecting 20% in the room with us right now?

If I was crazy enough to attempt to run a counter service establishment I think I would do a wage with monthly 15% revenue share.

Kansas City, Kansas or Kansas City, Missouri?

Dammit Richmond, VA was first!

I round to the nearest 5th & then divide by 5

I get what you are saying, but no one is 'forcing' you to do anything.

I do my method then round up the total to make a pretty number.

13.57 becomes 2.714 which then goes to 2.93 because $16.50 is prettier than $16.28

I don't know which is easier on the servers/restaurants, though. Easy number tips or easy number totals. I only ever have my cards...

It looks nice on your statements having pretty numbers.

The rounding up of the total for a pretty number is where I draw the line, math-wise. I’m barely able to do the other math 🤣

In your $13.57 scenario I would just round up to $15, divide by 5 to get $3 for a tip, and the total would be $16.57. Bam, math done.

But then again I’m also the type who doesn’t round up @ the gas pump either. Very few other transactions are round numbers so 🤷🏼‍♀️

Lotta money here

Which is interesting, bc we are taxed at about double the rate of most places, at least downtown.

I went to LA recently and was shocked to see the tax at restaurants was pretty standard. Eating in Richmond has made me think 15% tax is normal lol.

The other day I was forced to back out of a preselected 20% tip and manually enter 0 when I bought a retail item, while the clerk watched me.

Hahaha I did not notice that. Not offended, but amused

Yeah, I've had to do that a lot too

Literally never heard of Richmond CA. Maybe it is known to West Coasters?

San Fran is kinda fucked up, 17% average tip in that kind of housing market!? I'm amazed there are people willing to work service industry there as is, but such a shitty tip average makes me wonder even more.

That’s probably why it’s so high. People are basing the tip on the after tip total making their tip as a percentage of sales higher

You have to look at it from a real dollars standpoint though. 17% of a check in San Fran is almost always going to be more money than 19.3 % of a Richmond check.

What restaurant group paid for this

That’s what I do. Round up, 10% and double it. But I’m bad at math, so I just figured this was the easiest way.

It’s to the point where if we see those swivel tablet registers at a place that does NOT offer actual table service, we just won’t go in. I depend on tips myself, but it’s just ridiculous how far tipping has gone.

Richmond, CA isn’t well known or anything. There’s a lot more than 2 Richmonds in the USA.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond

That’s a shit load of Richmonds.

I think you’re on to something there.

Edit for the downvoters: why?

I've heard of Richmond, CA but never knew it was actually named after Richmond, VA. Wild.

Says you! For those interested in history, it’s a well known “Richmond”

True. Call me an asshole but I always base my tip on the subtotal. Especially here now where the restaurant tax is ridiculous

Edit to those downvoting me: 20% of the subtotal is my default. Unless the service is downright bad, I rarely stray from 20%. Seeing lots of people saying 15% is within acceptable range, 15% of the post-tax total and 20% of the subtotal aren’t that different.

$2 for every $10

Most of the world that would appeal to americans have fair labor standards and pay living wages. Waiting tables is one of the few jobs in the us that you can pick up easily(yes it is hard work) and make a decent and fair living to support a family. By doing away with tipping you are counting on the same bosses who do not pay fair wages to then raise prices to match the earnings of waitstaff and then be honest and actually give that to waitstaff.

I had a dude at Vassen pre-select a 25% tip for me and flip the iPad around hoping I wouldn’t notice. Fuck that shit.

Starting to feel like all of these charts with city comparisons just have "Richmond, VA" photoshopped into them

A lot of places have forced 20% tip, even for takeout.

Yessss!

Haven't been to one of those, but stop shopping there if you aren't a fan. No one is forcing you.

As an Instacart shopper/driver...no they don't 😂

I'm always offended when I'm filling out an online form and it auto-fills "Richmond County, VA" when I type just "Richmond" and then tab to get to the next field.

If only we had pretty decent employers that would just pay their employees well.

I keep seeing Cleveland come up all over. I even get a Cleveland subreddit pop up in my feed. I have heard it's similar to Richmond. I may need to go visit. Damn you Cleveland Tourist Board and your excellent marketing team!

Who doesn’t tip 20%

20% is the bare minimum this is so sad

If people are too dumb to figure out 20%, with literally everyone having a calculator in their pockets, and THATS the reason they haven't been tipping 20, this tip isnt gonna make em do it. Cause that aint the reason.

I'm 25% walking in the door. It either goes up or down depending on the service and food/drink. Granted, the wait staff can't help it if the kitchen sucks but their attitude does effect the outcome.
To be honest, I've not had to deal with shitty wait staff, but food on the other hand...

But they aren't raising prices. People (who tipped as they should) will still be paying the same, psychological perceptions aside. Tipping was created 100% to benefit the restaurants, not the customers or the employees. Do you know the history of how it came about? Why do you defend the practice? And how it it fair when you have to rely on others who can literally screw you out of good pay for a shift/table because they are assholes. Really fair that. Dont trust a boss who can be held accountable but trust rando strangers who aren't. Bugger off defending tipping as a practice.

I will tip minimum 20% as a starting point as long as it IS the practice for the US, and youre an asshole if you dont, but to defend it? Thats flipping dumb.

I did this my whole life and stingy assholes who insist on tipping 18.5% or some dumb shit would be angry I was tipping too much.

people tip 20%?!?

That's rough. People are too proud to admit that they're trash at math.

I'm biased. I'm an engineer and in my experience even many of my peers have a questionable grasp on math. If I'm questioning how good at math the people who are widely accepted as being legitimately dang good at math are, then I really gotta assume that people are normally REALLY bad at math...

Our scores as a country support this rationale. The general population is plainly bad at math. When you see the Karens of Facebook complaining about new methods to teach math - they're probably horrible at math. We're not going to improve our scores by teaching the same way that got our scores so low to begin with...

We're left with people who are bad at math who are too proud to admit that they can't figure out something as simple as 20% in their heads - I don't think they want to use their phones because then they're admitting it. You know? Multiplication and division are grade-school math. You want a 35 year old guy with 2 kids admitting he can't do grade school math in front of his kids? You want some hotshot yuppie taking his tinder date out for drinks to whip out his phone and proudly proclaim that numbers scare him? You want a proud independent woman who's run her own business for the last 10 years to admit she still has anxiety dreams about math-tests in front of clients?

I don't think it's malice or mal-intent. I don't think anyone WANTS to be a bad tipper (unless they're going full Karen). I would think (hope) the reason is more plain-Jane hubris. They want to tip. They don't want to bankrupt themselves. They don't accept numbers, so they go with their gut instead knowing they won't go broke.

Thank you for attending my TED talk. You can get early access to conetent like this by contributing to my patreon. /s

Seems a little dismissive, but ok. If people cared, they'd tip better. Everything else is an excuse. In this case, a long one.

So they are gonna pay 20% of gross receipts to waitstaff and not raise prices? Ok buddy love to hear how you expect that to work. Waited tables for over a decade, the percentage of folks who stiffed me was less then a quarter of a percent. Cooking, I gave up so much of my life and got so little in return. If my business fails I know I can return to waiting tables and be ok. I am not concerned with the history of tipping, I just know that the combined history of the system of american labor has lead us to the point where waiting tables is my only other viable skill to rely on. I dont know why you are being so hostile.

Sigh. If you raise prices by 20% and people who used to tip 20% dont have to tip anymore, they will be paying the same price. How hard is that to understand?

And yes, tipping was established 100% to benefit restaurants at the expense of the staff. But anecdotal data is worth what its worth.

You litterally said “but they are not raising prices” lol

Yes, in effect, to the customer (who already tip appropriately), the prices wont be raised because they will be paying the same. Thats why I said aside from the psychological aspect (of seeing a higher number on the menu), the ACTUAL price they pay will remain the same.

For people who dont tip 20%, yeah, they will pay more, that doesnt bother me. If they could afford to eat before with however they tipped, but cant with a forced 20% "tip" baked into the price, maybe they should stay home. For those that typically tip more than 20? You can still tip additional for excellent service unless its against the business policy to accept tips. Like everywhere else in the world.

So try again?

So they are raising prices just like I said on my original post. Im really not sure why you keep talking about this, nor why you are so condescending. Im not the smartest guy, but its a pretty simple and old concept. I understand how the economics work. I agree most people will not have a problem with paying more in the overall bill with the trade off that there will be no responsibility to tip. I do have an issue with the idea that this will work with no mechanism to make sure the owners will not find fuck with the money, such as raising the price 20% giving employees 15%.

Sigh. Because you're being obtuse. The prices, the cost to the consumer, in effect, would not rise if you're already tipping 20%, like ya should. How many times do I have to repeat what I meant before you get over yourself?

Thats what regulation is for. Like all kinds of workplaces have. Like the ones allowing them to pay less than minimum wage because of tips currently. No one said it should be a free for all, keeping the current laws, or that unfair rules should be put in place. That would be incredibly stupid to argue for. Strawmen are good for farming, not for discussions.

Stop defending systems that were LITERALLY designed to work against you.

Lol your taking what i said and trying to explain it back to me and calling me obtuse. We are saying the same thing. You are really toxic dude. Maybe try therapy? You are losing it.

Sure. When you say people would be happy to pay more on the overall bill in exchange for not having to worry about tipping we are not saying the same thing. And keep having issues with stuff no one suggested. On a topic you dont know the history of. Have a good day.

I cant tell if you are being pedantic, or just a jerk but that is how it would work. The bill would be higher to cover higher labour costs so that a higher than living wage would be achieved tipping would be eliminated. Yes? Fuck the system? All for it dude I want these things. But i dont want these things until the mechanism is there to enforce them. We are in america, i dont see it happening for a long long time.

What's the difference between the bill, and the overall bill?

Nothing.

Hehe. In the context of a discussion about tipping and not tipping? Shitty word choice then. Have a good day.

Good day to you, friend!

Man that strawman line, so funny!

Now you're reading what I wrote? Neat.

Its just so fascinating.

If you say so. So much for moving on with your day.

Right?!

And why should that be a customer’s problem? That sounds like a small business owner problem.

No. Take subtotal, not the full check.

The rest you have is correct for calculating 20% if the customer deems 20% appropriate

People only tip better if the service is better. Don’t bring “care” into the mix, that ain’t it.

The people getting average service. A tip is for going above and beyond. Not just a handout sir.

Ignore the downvotes. It’s common knowledge, maybe just not to some, but it is common knowledge that you tip on the subtotal. There is no point in tipping on the taxes.

Sir. Where have you been? 20% is the top tier. A tip is dependent on the level of service received. It is the perception of the customer. No service or bad service, you’re getting 0. Mediocre, you’re getting 10 maybe 15%. Those that to go above and beyond, they get 20%.

Not true, but go you. Like, yeah, that how it's theoretically supposed to work, and how it STILL works in places where tipping is not expected to pay the servers salary, but only for truly exceptional service. But no, that isn't how it works in practice for everyone. Yeah, some people dont care, period. Whether you like it or not.

Exactlyanoob

Well thought out and reasoned response. Seems you are the expert.

Strange timing, I recently got lunch alone in basically an empty restaurant, server never checked on me and sat on her phone at the bar. 0% tip. I don't like doing that but have no choice really.

I never said anything about the customer. Did you read my post? Do corporate businesses pay particularly well? Im advocating for the worker here.

Did you read what you wrote originally?

“By doing away with tipping”. Who tips? The customer, correct? My statement stands.

Nah. You are paying for their labor in either scenario.

cleveland getting some deserved love.