When you dine at a restaurant, and for this poll keep in mind we mean a sit-down restaurant, how much do you typically tip? Around 10%? 15%? 20%? More? Less?
We know your tip amount will vary by the restaurant, service, and what you order, but we’re just asking for a general amount that you typically leave.
For many RVers, eating out is part of the adventure—especially after a long day on the road or when you’ve been cooking in your rig for days. Some of you might enjoy treating yourselves to a nice meal in a small-town diner or a local favorite near the campground. Others might stop at chain restaurants for consistency and convenience. Wherever you go, tipping habits can differ depending on the type of service and even the region of the country.
Traveling from state to state, you may also notice different expectations around tipping. In some areas, 15% is still considered standard, while in others, 20% or more has become the norm. And if you’re dining in places where servers depend heavily on tips to make a living, a few extra dollars can really make a difference.
Feel free to leave a comment after you vote. Thanks!
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RVDT2755
Good servers work hard. When we have one that does a great job we always leave more than 20%. At a recent well known outdoor spot near St. Pete in FL, on a really busy late afternoon, we had a terrific waiter who did a wonderful job in spite of how busy. We left 40%. As we were halfway to the car in the parking lot, we heard someone shouting, when we turned around to look, it was the waiter shouting a Thank You for the tip. We know it was much appreciated, and we appreciated the thank you too.
We always overtip the breakfast waitress. Plus, at our favorite Waffle House, we gift, not a tip, the entire staff at Christmas.
It absolutely depends on the service. The demands for tips at every payment device is ruining it for me. It pops up on all of them regardless of circumstance. I’m not tipping for a person handing me a bottle of water at the local rv show venue.
Then just tap “No Tip”. Easy peasy.
Always at least 20%. I have left a shiny copper penny for extremely poor service.
It’s important to leave a small coin- I leave a nickel myself for poor service-because then the server can’t pretend to themself that you “just forgot” and yes, I was a waitress once myself.
As a young man, I typically was a very light tipper, (like Robert Earl King sings, “I left a quarter tip on a ten dollar bill”), as I did not feel like I had the disposable income. As Covid was ruining our lives, my tipping habits changed and approached 50% or more in appreciation that the server was working! Now things have settled, I don’t eat out much, I appreciate the server’s attention and start at 20% and add more as I feel like it.
I tip at least 20% but if I receive exceptional service then 30%.
I tip based on service, not the price of the meal.
20% but if service was over the top I have left 30-40%. Putting on the card half and cash the other half.
I was a waitress many decades ago and back then it was a tough job even without the entitled people we have today. I normally tip 25% if the service is good, higher if the service is outstanding and much lower if the service was bad.
The other day I was someplace with a bar and one bartender for a group of 50 people. She was frazzled and working her buns off. I ordered a seltzer water and she told me there was no charge for the water. I tipped her $10 anyway and told her she was doing a great job tending to so many people. Her big smile showed she appreciated the kind words and the tip.
I tip more on how the service was, good service more tip, bad service small tip.
20% is the custom for good, but not up and beyond service. For truly great service, I may go higher.
It depends on the server. If it is a restaurant we frequently go to and get the same server it is at least 20% and sometimes more if the bill isn’t as much. IF only two of us , we sometimes share a meal or if we have a coupon for a free meal, we tip more as if we both ordered the same meal.
Even if the food is crappy, we still tip 20 per cent.
Minimum wage in the greater Seattle area is in excess of $20.00 per hour. Tipping sometimes seems excessive especially when the tip is automatically added to the bill. Also, some restaurants add a tip to the bill for the other workers. So it’s like tipping twice.
I’ve always wondered what constitutes service above and beyond a person’s normal (and expected) service that deserves a 20% tip? It seems to me that being cheerful while taking and serving your meal along with an occasional coffee refill is considered normal (and expected) service. What else can a server do to warrant a large tip?
Please keep in mind that my Mother had a small cafe in a small town and was the chief cook and my Sister was the (then called) waitress. While my Sister (who was gorgeous by the way) always got a large tip, my Mother (who spent 8 to 12 hours a day over a hot grill) however was never tipped.
The tip depends on the attitude of the server. Usually 15% is normal, but if the server has an exceptional attitude and can joke along with our table, then 25% or more is not uncommon.
Sometimes I’ll leave double or triple the total bill.
A bank president friend ate lunch the same place every day and always left a $2 dollar bill tip. I tip 20% tip minimum. (Daughter worked way thru school as server and bartender.) I have tipped stupid high to a regular single mom server. As part of the tip, I like to leave a half dollar coin to see if the server knows what it is. I always tip in cash even if I paid meal on card.
If I use a drive thru, or have to stand at a counter or use a kiosk to place my order, I refuse to tip. If we eat at a buffet, I don’t tip as much as I do in a full-service restaurant. My minimum tip in a full service restaurant starts at20% and goes up from there.
Once we(Both of us + grandchildren) tipped more than 100%. Assigned waitress dropped off menus and disappeared. After 20 minutes she’d not come back for our orders so we flagged down the only other waitress and asked if we could give her our order. She was frazzled to a T& took it but told us that we really needed to go thru our own waitress. Our waitress brough the lunchplates but no silverware and disappeared again. We had to flag down the other waitress to get silverware- as she was dropping it off we asked her for ketchup for the kidlings- again she kept telling us we had to go thru the assigned waitress, but eventually brought it.
After finishing we waited 20 minutes but never got our bill. Even the grandkids didn’t want to wait to get the desserts they had seen on the menu. I went to the kitchen door and hollered to the other waitress. She came out almost in tears (I’m guessing the other waitress wasn’t doing anything but schmoozing with a boss or something) telling me I had to go thru the assigned waitress. I took her hand and stuck $25 in it-our bill was $22-and said “This is not to be pooled with the other server’s tips- it’s for you alone.” This was in the early 2,000s.
When I’m being asked for a tip, especially when they don’t give you an option for zero, I pay only the exact amount of the bill when paying cash, or the smallest option when using a card, which is usually 5%. On the rare occasion I truly get bad service, food or attitude I write on bill “No Tip”.
We tip 20 per cent on the service, not the food. And we always round up .
Thank you for the question, RV Travel! Typically 20 percent unless the resulting value from the calculation seems wrong relative to the quality of service received. Have a great week and safe travels!