How much to tip at a restaurant?

Nothing compares to a decent homemade meal, but sometimes you want to go outside and maybe eat a meal with your family in a restaurant or a buffet; however, there are several things that you have to keep in mind when you are eating outside.

If you eat outside a lot, you might have noticed that the customers give extra money to the waiter or the waitress in some conditions.

This extra amount of cash is called a tip.

Usually, this amount of money is the help you are giving to the restaurant or to the people that work there, so you would understand that tipping can be done to everyone who works in a restaurant. It doesn’t limit to the people that bring your food to you.

So the question is, how much to tip at a restaurant?

In this article, we will answer this question from the rational and sentimental side of the matter.

So if you often eat outside, read this article to learn everything about tipping.
Is there any specific amount to tip in a restaurant?

The short answer to this question is it depends.

You can give the staff a tip amount; however, there is no law against tipping more minor than the determined rate or even higher than the set rate.

Usually, in most restaurants where you go to eat your meal, you have to tip a % at least 15 of the actual food price.

Meaning that if you order food that is $20, you have to tip $2 at least to get even; this rate can be different as you wish.

We mean that you can always tip up to %25 of the actual price of the food you ordered in that restaurant.

However, how much you have to tip is not determined, but you can always consider some factors that will make your tip calculations much more straightforward.

In the next section of the article, we will discuss the factors you must keep in mind to get the right tip amount to give to the restaurant staff you are currently eating in.

So without any further ado, let’s get started with the factors.

Factors in tipping

Several factors will significantly help you give away the right amount of tips in a restaurant.

Below we will list some of these factors, and we hope by using these factors, you will be able to enjoy the experience of eating outside.

And we might add that when you are tipping someone, it’s not petty; you are contributing to your human duty, which is helping one another.

Hospitality

One of the factors that are greatly important to us is the fact of hospitality.

When you first walk into the restaurant, you will be greeted if the process of seating and the greeting is proper; you are obligated to tip the staff because it shows that they are dedicated and doing their job right.

However, remember that hospitality can be tricky, and you have to pay attention to several points, and in the end, you have to decide on the tip amount.

The food service

Do not mistake this one with food quality.

When you order, you have to wait until your food is ready, and sometimes the services on bringing the food can be excellent and occasionally horrific.

So based on this fact you can decide on the amount of the tip you will give to the restaurant.

However, there are some sub-factors here as well. For example, you have to consider if the restaurant is crowded, your food will take a long time to come.

Manners of the waiter/waitress

The person who takes your orders and then brings your food is excellent for us.

We mean that the manners of the staff can increase a $10 tip to a $50 and on the opposite point drop a $50 tip to $1.

So pay attention to the person bringing your food and taking your order because these people are the ones you should be tipping the most.

Not tipping

Remember that it’s not rude if the staff asks for tips when you are at the cashier.

However, when the services weren’t that good and not even decent, and they ask for tips, you have the right to refuse to give any information.

It is not your responsibility to reward lousy service, and as we mentioned, no law obligates you to tip.

So as you can see, these factors will help you make the right decision to tip the restaurant staff.

Now that you are familiar with the guidelines, let’s get to the end of the article, shall we?

In the end…

We talked about the fact that you can always tip the restaurants that you go to eat because, after all, they are working hard to serve you the best food possible.

However, we mentioned some factors that may influence your tip amount.

In conclusion, make sure to always to a %15 – %25 of the total price.

You can also use restaurant tip calculator for calculating how much to tip at a restaurant.

As they say, if you act kindly towards others, the favor will be returned one day.

In the end, we are happy that you stayed with us throughout the “How much to tip at a restaurant?” article, and if you have any additional inquiries that you want to ask, you can always use the comment section or the contact page to get in touch with us.