Having broached this subject on local food boards, I can say that most servers are of the mind that if you can afford the wine, you can afford the tip.
Afford? Yes. Deserve? No.
Waitstaff expectations are an interesting angle. They don’t appear to align with the majority of the respondents, at least so far. Should they? I would venture a guess that most people are paid less than what they “are of the mind that” they are worth.
You’ve also got to figure in that MOST folks who by $500 + bottles are NOT wine geeks (who mostly BYOB) but ballers who DO tip and often extravagantly.
Good point, Roberto. The typical $500 bottle buyer may not consider a $125-150 tip to be anything more than pocket change. You’ve been in the restaurant business. What was your experience there? Did the majority of pricey bottles garner tips in line with the tip on the meal?
Emphatically yes.
$70
I tip on the entire bill. Most waiters/other restaurant personnel are not well paid (assuming my stint in the restaurant industry is any indication), and I can hardly begrudge an extra nice tip to them if I can afford a $500 bottle of wine with my dinner.
On the wine portion of the bill, I usually tip 20% of what that bottle would cost at retail, not 20% of what the restaurant is charging.
I ´m reading this with interest because here in Europe (Austria, Germany, France …) the service is almost always included in the bill - and an additional tip is an appreciation of an excellent and obliging service … while in the US it is often the main income of the waiters (correct me if I´m wrong).
On bills where the service is inclusive I would normally tip some 10% … less if it is a high bill with expensive wines … more if it was a BYO and the cork fee wasn´t excessive …
I´m also curious because in October I´m coming to DC … and I´ll be in the situation …
Aren´t there also restaurants where the service of 15 or 20 % is already added to the bill on the invoice? I thought so.
I just give my regular tip on the wine, but when did it become “normal” to tip 20-25%?
I believe Dino’s does that. Don’t miss that place when you are in DC.
Ball or do not, there is no try…
Dino’s in Cleveland Park closed. He’s got a new place, Dino’s Grotto, on 8th St in Shaw. Haven’t been there yet.
Gerhard, tips on meals are historically 15-20% in the US. Most places do not include the tip for small parties. It’s not unusual for them to include a tip for parties of 8 or more. You can always inquire.
Can somebody help me understand why they do not want to tip 20% for the wine? Thanks.
+1
I tip based on the total price of the visit.
I get the bill, calulate based on the bottom line.
I wouldn’t order a wine if I didn’t think it was priced appropriately, so the amount is somewhat irrelevant.
Voted $75 - $99 however there are a lot of hypothetical scenarios for that vote to happen, number 1 being that I will actually spend $500 on a restaurant wine because for that to happen, the following conditions (for me) need to be met:
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Financially I can afford to splurge on a $500 wine = for me that means I am well off enough so $500 for wine doesn’t “bother” me. spending something beyond one’s personal “spending” threshold diminishes the enjoyment of what was purchased, hence if I ever were to spend $500 on restaurant wine that means I am (hypothetically) rich enough to afford it. adding 15-20% tip should not be a problem, that’s how it works in this country (although I PERSONALLY am against this whole tipping thing*).
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The $500 wine is so rare and so close to market value, that it actually is a bargain. No way will I spend $500 on a bottle that you can easily buy at retail for like $180-$200. Rare wines like DRC, Sine Qua Non, etc. which are very hard to get are sometimes priced “reasonably” at some restaurants as they get it at release price. An example, there was a local wine bar in the city a few years ago during the recession that offered 20% off the entire list on Sundays. These included DRC’s from vintages like 2000, 2001 for like $600 - $1800 (this includes Richebourg and La Tache).
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- Not really a fan of the whole tipping culture, I understand why it is like this in the US, but I really disagree with this philosophy. I personally think that no one should be paid below minimum wage, its just really the restaurant lobby/owners that creates this whole mess. Charge me the full price of the food, including what it takes to pay your servers fairly. This is a cultural thing, places like Japan do not have tipping protocols, except for the fact that you don’t tip. However their service is top notch, probably even better than ours.
Here is a mind blower for you. If/When places like San Francisco, Seattle, etc. mandate that it is illegal to pay restaurant workers lower than minimum wage and they actually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, also mandate compulsory free heath insurance for restaurant workers (which they pass on as a surcharge to the customer most of the times) do you still then have to tip??
Joel, in California (and therefore San Francisco) it already is illegal to pay service employees less than minimum wage. And tips cannot be used as a “credit” against what the employer pays. So waitstaff are paid minimum wage plus tips. The question of whether the minimum wage should be raised is something else entirely (to my mind it’s a no brainer since minimum wage has come nowhere near to keeping up with inflation).
All that said, I agree that it would be great if the “tipping culture” disappeared and service charges were simply added to the cost of the bill. Seems to work very well everywhere else.
Sort of phrased it incorrectly, did know that San Francisco pays all restaurant employees at least minimum wage (did not know it was the whole CA, thought it was a city ordinance).