By Chef Andrew

To me, the custom of tipping is an excellent practice that forms a social contract between the customer and the waiter. The wait staff is incentivized to give excellent service and the customer feels empowered by being able to appropriately recognize the level of service received. A good contract works both ways, so it is imperative that customers be sure to tip well for good service. When a customer fails to reward good service accordingly the entire system breaks down. Please, do NOT be that person! Remember, most waiters in the USA get the majority of their income from tips not salary or hourly wages. International visitors should be especially aware of this; even though tipping may not be customary in their home countries it is the practice here (US) and should be respected.  

Here is a short Q&A that should help you to honorably navigate this time-honored custom:

Q:  Is a standard tip 20%, 18% or 15%?

A:  Not that long ago the typical tip amount was 15%, but in modern times most people consider 20% to be the new standard. However, that is assuming you have been given very good service. My practice is to start at 20% and to go up or down from there depending on how the wait staff is doing. I know some people who say they will never tip less than 20%, but I think giving tips by rote promotes mediocrity and defeats the whole purpose of the social contract that tipping creates between customer and staff.  

Q: Should the tip be calculated pre-tax or post-tax?

A: Taxation is not a service, so why would you add a tip to a tax? Always calculate the tip pre-tax. Furthermore, watch out for those suggested tip amounts printed on the bottom of your receipt. Too many restaurants calculate this amount post-tax which is incorrect as well as annoying.

Q: Do I tip for food, alcohol, or both?

A:  Back in the day, lunch and dinner receipts used to come with separate food and bar subtotals. The practice was to tip on the food subtotal and to add an additional amount if wine and/or cocktail services were also provided. Nowadays, the practice is commonly to tip on the full food and drink amount, although it is an acceptable practice to tip less on the alcohol (e.g. 10%) or to cap the tip amount when drinking very expensive wines or spirits. You can also consider tipping a bit higher on the wine if you had help from the sommelier.  

Naturally, if you are only having drinks at the bar you should always tip the bartender.

Q: What is a VAT tax and should I tip on top of a VAT? 

A: Unfortunately, some customers do not hold up their end of the social contract by following good tipping standards. Obviously, this causes the wait staff to unfairly suffer and hurts their ability to make a good living. For decades now, in an effort to prevent this situation, VATs have been implemented overseas by many countries. It is also now appearing more and more in the USA. VAT stands for value-added-tax and is a service tax that is automatically added to the bill to help maintain cost-of-living standards for wait staff. Personally, I am not a fan as it eliminates the social contract between customer and staff and gives no incentive to the wait staff to provide good service. It also gives no recourse to a customer who receives poor service. That being said, if a VAT is being applied and you wish to reward exceptionally good service, I would definitely add an extra amount above and beyond the VAT.

Always be sure to know whether or not the restaurant is applying a VAT to your bill. In some countries a VAT is universal while in others it varies from restaurant to restaurant.

If you don’t want to see the VAT become the norm in the US, follow good tipping practices and live up to your end of the bargain.