Tipping in CA?
 

Please give me an idea how much tip I should leave in restaurants in CA?

I usually tip twice the sales tax which amounts to slightly over 15 per cent. Unless the service is excellent and then I tip more. Why would tipping in California differ from other states?

"<i>twice the sales tax which amounts to slightly over 15 per cent.</i>" That's a good general rule of thumb -- but it does mean you are tipping more in places like SF than in say, Sacramento since the city sales tax is higher. But that is an easy way to figure and will be adequate most places.

But it does partly depend on the type of restaurant - casual places 10%/12%, up to maybe 15% if service was special. For fine dining - about 20%, or even more for exceptional food/service.

Well if you tip twice the tax in California you're tipping 20% these days. Love that Governator!

"<i>Well if you tip twice the tax in California you're tipping 20% these days. Love that Governator!</i>"

Well- for one thing, the Governor doesn't set state sales tax rates. That's the legislature. He doesn't set municipal sales tax rates. That's city councils.

and for another - even SF's tax is "only" 9.5% including the 8.75% state portion

So is it 10% of the total bill?

Someone must be math challenged. But here's another idea. As long as the service was good, just leave 20% of the bill (before taxes if you feel a little conservative -- after taxes if you feel you really got great service).

NeoPatrick does it again!

What a guy!

Thanks alot!

We usually tip between 15 and 20% but do not include tax or liquor.

"We usually tip between 15 and 20% but do not include tax or liquor."

Why not liquor? That makes no sense

Maybe they go to the bar and mix their own drinks, pull their own drafts, open their own bottles of wine, carry their own glasses to the table. Oh, and then bus their own table.

UGH!!! I am so glad I am not a waitress anymore. What a cheap ^&*Y*(!!!

>>We usually tip between 15 and 20% but do not include tax or liquor.<<

So - if the waiter brings you wine glasses, gets the wine from the "celler", decants it for you if it needs it, pours the wine for "tasting", pours it for others in the group, and fills up your glass when it's low - you don't tip for that service???

We leave 15% of the total bill for simple & "Chain" restaurants (not many where we live), and 17 to 20% for "better" places. Our friends do the same. We dine out in San Francisco about once a week - and have been doing so for 35 years.

Stu Dudley

Just to add more mud to an already cloudy discussion:

The IRS assumes that servers receive tips based on their pre-tax sales. In other words, a server who handled a $200 meal in Delaware (no sales tax) is assumed by the IRS to have been tipped the same amount as one who handled a $200 (pre-tax) meal in New York City (quite a bit of sales tax). That's why I always tip based on the pre-tax amount.

To give you an idea - the restaurants in San Francisco charge 18% parties of 6 or more.

SF tax are 9.5% so doubling them is about right.

By the way, in shops you don't pay the displayed price, you add sales tax.

"We usually tip between 15 and 20% but do not include tax or liquor."

Seriously? Believe me, waiters think that you are stiffing them.

>>Well- for one thing, the Governor doesn't set state sales tax rates. That's the legislature. He doesn't set municipal sales tax rates. That's city councils.<<

and voters can add a portion through local or state initiatives. Several restaurants in San Francisco add a % to the bill to cover city mandated health insurance.

Stu Dudley

""We usually tip between 15 and 20% but do not include tax or liquor."

I don't know if you realize this, but more often than not, the server has to give a portion of his/her tips to the bartender or service bartender.

20% of the bill is not typical in San Francisco -- I think NYC is probably the only place in the US that it is. We (and everyone we know) tip between 15% and 20% depending on the quality of the service (never ever below 15% -- and if I'm having breakfast at a diner, I usually just leave a couple of dollars, which is usually something like 30%, because I can't bring myself to just leave $1.00)

We tip about 20% on the bill (including alcoholic beverages) before tax. We see no point in tipping on the tax.

I tip 20%, sometimes more, on the total bill. Unless the bill is huge, the difference on a pre- and post-tax percentage tip is minimal. It should indeed include any beverage amounts you were charged on the bill while you sat at the table.

A minimum of 15% and maximum of 20% is considered the standard tip for wait staff and bartenders in the US. More is always appreciated, of course.

I tip the same as I do elsewhere in the US, which ranges from nothing for service that angers me and up to 20% for service equal to the best I've had elsewhere.

HTTY

Double the tax. It's easy.

<i>Believe me, waiters think that you are stiffing them.

I don't know if you realize this, but more often than not, the server has to give a portion of his/her tips to the bartender or service bartender.</i>

Why should anybody care if a waiter thinks he is being stiffed by somebody who actually leaves a tip or if he has to share his tips with others?

I tip 20% of the total bill.

California restaurant workers make the state minimum wage, don't they?

Wouldn't you tip more in states where the waitstaff is still making "3.50 an hour plus tips"?

Looks like Alaska, California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington all pay half-decent minimums to tipped employees.

But yikes, some other states pay only $2.13 per hour.

http://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped.htm#California

Are tipping conventions in California any different from those elsewhere in the USA?

No - it is not 10% of the total bill. 15% is a minimum tip for regular service. If you had good service tip 20% (of the bill without the tax).

What the other posters are saying is as quick calculation tip twice the tax. for instance - if the bill is $100 the tax on that would be approximately $9 and the tip would be $18. (Although I would round the tip to $20 unless the service wasn;t up to par.)

hawksbill

I think in the bigger cities you will see 20 percent more common as the standard tip, whereas elsewhere 15 percent is just fine.

OUCH! Seems like I need to clarify my comment on no liquor..

If we have a cocktail, it's at the bar and we tip the bartender. For tableservice w/o liquor it is 15 to 20%..depending on the service.

My eyes were opened when one of our daughters worked as a waitress during college at 2 casual, medium priced restaurants. Not only did the wait staff have to share their tips with the bartenders but also with the busboys. I always leave 20% now.

Under 15% and you'd be considered cheap; over 20% and you'd be part of the upper percentile of tippers.

I always calculate tip on the pretax total and these percents are for full service restaurants.

Whether to tip the same on liquor is more of a gray area, for me. On principle, it seems "unfair" to my pocketbook if I am expected to tip 20% or $24 on a $120 bottle of wine when the waiter would only get, say, $8 on a $40 bottle of wine for performing the exact same service. I'm not saying I don't tip the same on the whole tab, because I do. I didn't use to but I do now, for no other reason than guilt I suppose. I'm just saying, the thought to not tip the wine at the same rate always enters my mind.

"lucci on Aug 25, 10 at 10:16pm
OUCH! Seems like I need to clarify my comment on no liquor..

If we have a cocktail, it's at the bar and we tip the bartender. For tableservice w/o liquor it is 15 to 20%..depending on the service."

and for table service with liquor? I don't understand your clarification. Don't you ever order alcoholic drinks at a table?

Parrothead raised a point I've wrestled with too. Say you have a $150 dinner (food bill) and a $150 bottle of wine. How much do you tip?

Brian asked: "Parrothead raised a point I've wrestled with too. Say you have a $150 dinner (food bill) and a $150 bottle of wine. How much do you tip?"

My answer: if the total bill is $300, I would tip 20% of the total or in this case $60. Rationale: what's the difference between ordering a $150 bottle of wine and a $150 dessert (it's possible to get such things at a few places)? It's all part of the total amount ordered at the table.

If there's 10% tax and the total is $330, you'd be tipping $66 if you tip on the tax as well. When you're throwing this much money around, the difference isn't all that big.

Okay.... how would people tip under these scenarios:

One couple, each ordering a 3-course meal and a bottle of wine that doesn't require decanting; total food cost - $120, wine - $60, for a total bill of $180.

2nd Scenario: Same as above, except couple brings their own bottle of wine, and pays a corkage fee of $25, so the total bill due to restaurant is $145.

>>Parrothead raised a point I've wrestled with too. Say you have a $150 dinner (food bill) and a $150 bottle of wine. How much do you tip?<<

Good point - here is what I do in San Francisco.

If the restaurant has an extremely high wine mark-up and I have to pay $60 for a wine I can usually purchase at other restaurants for $35, I'll tip on the $35. If the restaurant has a unusually interesting wine selection, and I don't see any "Safeway" wines on the wine list, I'll tip based on the the price of the wine I order. I don't think I've ever paid more than $70 for a bottle of wine at a San Francisco restaurant - I'll bring a bottle wine from my cellar & pay the corkage (as long as it is under $35) if I want to splurge on wine that evening. If I bring my own wine, I'll tip on the price the restaurant charges for a mid-range wine. I rarely bring my own wine if there are just the two of us. For 4 diners, I like to have a bottle of white & a bottle of red - and we bring the red. Sometimes the restaurant will waive the corkage if I purchase a bottle from their wine list.

In California, if you don't drink all your wine at the restaurant, you can take it home (don't know what the laws are for having an open bottle of wine in the car).

Stu Dudley

>>I'll bring a bottle of wine from my cellar & pay the corkage (as long as it is under $35) if I want to splurge on wine that evening. If I bring my own wine, I'll tip on the price the restaurant charges for a mid-range wine<<

I would subtract the corkage from the mid-range wine price, and tip on that amount. In passerbye's example:
the total bill - ($25 + tax on $25) + (mid-range wine cost + tax on wine).


Stu Dudley