Tip on carry-out order

[kckgirl]

I am picking up a carry-out order from TGI Fridays in about five minutes. Since I don't usually do that, I'm not sure how much to leave for a tip. Any suggestions?

[gramma dishes]

I probably wouldn't tip at all.  No one is bringing you menus, food and drink as they would if you were eating in the restaurant.  No one is delivery the food to you because you're picking it up yourself.  So who is there to tip?

[Judah]

I probably wouldn't tip at all.  No one is bringing you menus, food and drink as they would if you were eating in the restaurant.  No one is delivery the food to you because you're picking it up yourself.  So who is there to tip?

Exactly.

[hobish]

I wish i knew. You never know if those orders are entered the same way and the poor server is paying tax on your order, or what. When i was a waitress take out orders were a huuuuge pain in the tusch because they did get figured into our earnings and all the stuff for setting them up to go (plasticware, napkins, salt, pepper, syrup, jelly, catsup, mustard, mayo, butter, all that...) was in no particular order buried in a back room somewhere. Ironically enough, there was one company that used to order like 8 dinners at 2am and i just hated them; they always needed a whole spectrum of stuff and it would be an $80 - $100 order with no tip. I later ended up working for that company (and you better believe i never ordered from the place i had formerly worked  ).

ETA: I usually aim for somewhere down the middle. Not quite the 20% i would normally, but something, at least. Having been a server, and living in New Jersey, i would never not give them anything at all. I just couldn't.

[Deetee]

I tip less than sit down but I still tip 5-10% or I just throw a dollar or two in the tip jar.

[oceanus]

I don't tip on carry-out orders, and I don't know anyone who does.  To me that's like tipping the clerk who scans my groceries on the conveyor belt.

If the total is say, $19.46 I might give the clerk $20 and wave away any change, but otherwise no.

[kherbert05]

I am picking up a carry-out order from TGI Fridays in about five minutes. Since I don't usually do that, I'm not sure how much to leave for a tip. Any suggestions?

I always give the 15% because I don't know if the employer is ethical or not. (Some of my cousins have told me of being paid a waiter's wage, but working the take out desk. )

[mmswm]

I wish i knew. You never know if those orders are entered the same way and the poor server is paying tax on your order, or what. When i was a waitress take out orders were a huuuuge pain in the tusch because they did get figured into our earnings and all the stuff for setting them up to go (plasticware, napkins, salt, pepper, syrup, jelly, catsup, mustard, mayo, butter, all that...) was in no particular order buried in a back room somewhere. Ironically enough, there was one company that used to order like 8 dinners at 2am and i just hated them; they always needed a whole spectrum of stuff and it would be an $80 - $100 order with no tip. I later ended up working for that company (and you better believe i never ordered from the place i had formerly worked  ).

ETA: I usually aim for somewhere down the middle. Not quite the 20% i would normally, but something, at least. Having been a server, and living in New Jersey, i would never not give them anything at all. I just couldn't.

Unless they have a dedicated staff for just the take out orders, I'd tip my regular 20%.  It's a lot of work to put together a take out order, and if a waiter/waitress has to ring it in, then it's going towards their total sales, of which they have to "tip out" a percentage to the bartenders, bus boys and "weed eaters" (at TGI Fridays, if they still have the same set up as when I worked for them, these are people who pick up the slack for servers that are "in the weeds"). Wait staff can be audited by the IRS, and if they don't claim at least a certain percentage of their total sales in tips, they can be made to pay taxes on that percentage even if they didn't actually make that much.

[jpcher]

For pick-up orders? I liken it to a drive through. Do you tip your McDonalds servers?

[mmswm]

For pick-up orders? I liken it to a drive through. Do you tip your McDonalds servers?

But, unfortunately, it's really not.  Some server, making less than minimum wage in most states,  is adding the tab to his or her "total".  That server must "tip out" a variety of other employees based on that total, and the IRS expects that the server earn a minimum percentage of that total. That server is also taking time away from his or her sit down tables, making it even harder to give the stellar service required to earn really good money. The ONLY place I know of that has a dedicated "to go" staff is Chili's. Unfortunately, until the restaurant industry changes they way they do things, or educates the public on how they really pay their employees, it's best to assume the people putting together your to go orders are earning $2.13/hr (or whatever the "tipped employee minimum wage" is in your state).

[Slartibartfast]

I almost never tip on carryout orders.  When I do, it's just throwing a buck in the tip jar (and that's in the rare instances I'm carrying cash).

[sparksals]

For pick-up orders? I liken it to a drive through. Do you tip your McDonalds servers?

But, unfortunately, it's really not.  Some server, making less than minimum wage in most states,  is adding the tab to his or her "total".  That server must "tip out" a variety of other employees based on that total, and the IRS expects that the server earn a minimum percentage of that total. That server is also taking time away from his or her sit down tables, making it even harder to give the stellar service required to earn really good money. The ONLY place I know of that has a dedicated "to go" staff is Chili's. Unfortunately, until the restaurant industry changes they way they do things, or educates the public on how they really pay their employees, it's best to assume the people putting together your to go orders are earning $2.13/hr (or whatever the "tipped employee minimum wage" is in your state).

I highly doubt most establishments have servers from the floor also working the carry out counter.  If I am going to pick it up, then it is part of their job, perhaps one of the bum aspects of it to deal with carry out.  I am a good tipper, but I'm not tipping for my meal to be placed into a bag with plastic cutlery and napkins.  I equate this to walking into a McD's, but preordering it.

[nuit93]

If it's a place I go to often, I'll tip--not the standard 20% or so as if I'd had a sit-down meal, but more like 10-15%.

Also, in my state servers have to be paid minimum wage...none of this $3/hour garbage like in other states.

[Cami]

I am a generous tipper, but I do not tip on take out orders.  If I did, it would be a very small amount. My total tip is based upon the total service and since a take out order's service is only a portion of the total service I'd get in a dining room meal, I'd only tip  proportionately.

I admit, part of my attitude is my intense dislike of the tip entitlement culture I see around me. Tip jars on the counter at the local gas station just sent me over the edge on this matter a few years ago and I've yet to claw my way back up to the top.

[mmswm]

For pick-up orders? I liken it to a drive through. Do you tip your McDonalds servers?

But, unfortunately, it's really not.  Some server, making less than minimum wage in most states,  is adding the tab to his or her "total".  That server must "tip out" a variety of other employees based on that total, and the IRS expects that the server earn a minimum percentage of that total. That server is also taking time away from his or her sit down tables, making it even harder to give the stellar service required to earn really good money. The ONLY place I know of that has a dedicated "to go" staff is Chili's. Unfortunately, until the restaurant industry changes they way they do things, or educates the public on how they really pay their employees, it's best to assume the people putting together your to go orders are earning $2.13/hr (or whatever the "tipped employee minimum wage" is in your state).

I highly doubt most establishments have servers from the floor also working the carry out counter.  If I am going to pick it up, then it is part of their job, perhaps one of the bum aspects of it to deal with carry out.  I am a good tipper, but I'm not tipping for my meal to be placed into a bag with plastic cutlery and napkins.  I equate this to walking into a McD's, but preordering it.

I have worked at TGI Friday's, Cracker Barrel, O'Charlie's, Hooters, Ruby Tuesdays, and Longhorn Steakhouse.  They ALL worked the way I described.  The hostess took the order then handed it to a server to ring in, and then package for the customer.  There were many, many nights I went home with less than 7% of my total sales because of a large number of take out orders jacking up the amount I had to tip out to the auxiliary staff, even though most take out customers believe that we don't deserve a tip for the time and effort required to put together a take out order.  It is, by the way, a non-trivial amount of work.