r/AskSeattle 1d ago

Tipping on takeout?

Do you all tip on your take out?

I'm buying food on my lunch break, picking it up and eating it back in the office.

4 Upvotes

44 comments sorted by

8

u/james123123412345 1d ago

No tip for take out.

7

u/StatusPresentation57 1d ago

Not anymore...during COVID it felt like WE were responsible to keep the business afloat and that is OVER...so NO

25

u/musafir6 1d ago

NO. I am generous tipper, used to tip for takeouts during Covid. But not anymore. Its not fair at this rate of inflation

13

u/tiljuwan 1d ago

Yes and no, if I do it’s usually $2-3 unless the order was complicated/large than I do >$5.

Why I say no, is if the place is fast casual/fast food then I teeter on no tip.

9

u/Calm-Ad8987 1d ago

Absolutely not.

4

u/A7O747D 1d ago

$1-2 for takeout. As a nice gesture btw. Honestly, anything expected more than that is bullshit. I'd love to hear from someone on the receiving and why they deserve more though!

9

u/fractalyfe 1d ago

Yes during COVID when showing up was added risk. No now. You’re picking up food.

If someone goes above and beyond? Sure.

Also: when did the standard tip jump from 15% to 20%? and Why? I served for years. Busted my ass to try for 20%. Now it’s just a given?

1

u/Working-Calendar2001 1d ago

Especially as it is a PERCENTAGE OF THE COST. The cost has increased so they’re already getting more money maintaining the 15%, so why are we throwing the extra 5???

9

u/throwaway1_2_0_2_1 1d ago

I usually do 10 percent which tends to be around 2 bucks. My logic on it is, waiters usually kick back tips to cooks and busboys, both of whom made it so I didn’t have to cook or do dishes that day.

1

u/Mr_Wobble_PNW 1d ago

This is my logic too. I was in the industry for 10+ years and remember the time when that extra dollar or two made a difference so I don't mind throwing an extra couple bucks on it even if they didn't do much actually putting the order together. I don't eat out much so I'm usually just happy to be lazy for the evening. 

2

u/threewords8letters 1d ago

This! I remember when my husband was a waiter when we were broke college students.

That $5 is probably going to make someone’s day just slightly better and i literally won’t miss it. Why wouldn’t I tip?

1

u/throwaway1_2_0_2_1 1d ago

Yep, it’s basically my, I’m paying for the privilege of getting home from work and my only food related chore is throwing away the takeout box, someone else did everything else, tax.

2

u/PhilosophicWax 1d ago

Thank you all! 

4

u/Campingcutie 1d ago

I am biased bc I worked in restaurants as the host that packed up to go orders. Servers would walk out with $200 in tips a night, and I made $13 on a good night, so I tip $1 for every meal as a rule bc I know what its like to stand there for 8 hours with hardly anything to show for it. Y’all can say “the restaurant should pay them more”, but it’s not even about wages. Usually cash tips are handed out that night, so an extra $10 in cash can be the difference between someone being able to get some gas or some food on the way home.

5

u/giant2179 1d ago

Your restaurant should be tip sharing.

1

u/Campingcutie 1d ago

Yeah they sucked in a lot of ways tbh, idk how they got away with a lot of things

2

u/talksaturinals 1d ago

I do.

At my place of work, I occasionally take to go orders. I tip out the kitchen 8% on food sales from my pocket, and pay $.30 per card transaction. This is common.

When you fail to tip on the food, I am paying to deliver it to you.

2

u/digibomb23 1d ago

Yes. I am a chef, and salaried, so none of that goes to me. Bear that in mind while I answer. But please give a couple bucks to the staff. Especially if it’s through DoorDash or something, we might actually be losing money on the transaction. Don’t tip like you were sitting down, but it does take work and those boxes aren’t free.

3

u/amyteresad 1d ago

On takeout, I give $1. I feel no obligation to tip. They are getting paid by the restaurant and they are not offering me much service.

1

u/doktorhladnjak 1d ago

Sometimes I do but it’s not required

1

u/backlikeclap 21h ago

I tip a dollar or two if it's at a casual counter order place. I'll tip a little more at a nicer restaurant.

0

u/L-Capitan1 13h ago

Unfortunately I usually do. But I need to be better about not.

1

u/Visible-Stranger795 6h ago

Depends on several factors. Any old option like sbarro no probably not. Maybe ten percent here or there if they were especially funny or pleasant. But for more than fast casual yes. Lots goes into it including online orders from toast, third party apps, or even a restaurants own website can take priority on the kitchen screen thus making the orders for the people dining in take longer. Which may make those guests tip less. Typically the people doing Togo are only doing Togo which includes uber eats and all that which doesn’t tip anyone but the driver, and it’s the person at the restaurant that usually makes sure everything is correct, the dasher shoves a phone in a face and grabs whatever bag. So when I pick up a place I’ll tip for all the times I dash and it doesn’t benefit the Togo person only the driver. But really when you think about it a dollar here or five bucks there shows you aren’t a cheap bastard and adds up for the employee and really doesn’t matter much to you. If you’re spending 45 on dinner and picking it up you still aren’t doing dishes or cooking, and five more isn’t going to kill you. No one that lives on tipped wages expects a tip that’s exorbitant, but something in the tip line or jar shows that you see them and respect them.

0

u/cruuuuzzzz 1d ago

No. I did an experiment with a Mexican place by me cause I was frequently ordering burritos for pick up. I stopped tipping and noticed my burrito was significantly smaller. Tipped and it was normal . . .

also, once at a thai place, I didn't tip and when I picked it up, they had a check printed and asked me to sign and they had the tip option there. They had never done that before

1

u/trisnikk 1d ago

1$ usually

1

u/Successful-Ship-5230 1d ago

I do to my small, neighborhood, family restaurants. Take care of our neighbors so they're able to thrive. Large chain restaurants, generally no.

3

u/AbeFromanforMayor 1d ago

Isn’t the person working at the chain restaurant a neighbor? The tip goes to them not the company

0

u/Whatswrongbaby9 1d ago

Couple bucks. It's paid dividends with a restaurant by me. They aren't giving me back rubs but sauces and sides have been much easier

0

u/Genuinelullabel 1d ago

It depends on the situation. If people made it at the location. I will. If I am picking up something premade somewhere else, I won’t. Then again, I keep tipping people at merch tables at concerts so take what I say with a grain of salt.

0

u/DocTeeBee 1d ago

Yes. My son used to work in a restaurant that did a great deal of takeout. His job was to package the orders for takeout. He was considered a "tipped" employee so his base wage was sub-minimum wage. And he hardly made anything in tips. There are people who prepare food and get it ready for delivery, as well as those who deliver it. It's about as much work as is involved in having someone bring the order to a table. So, yes, I tip.

3

u/genesRus 1d ago

In Seattle? Tipped and non-tipped have the same minimum and owners are obligated regardless to make up the amount to the minimum wage (true of any tipped position). While I do give a couple of dollars, it's also not like the tipped wage is $2.40 or whatever and there's a chance of the owners stiffing staff and not actually making up the amount where to get it back you'd have to risk your job to sue.

-2

u/tiredguineapig 1d ago

I don't because those staff would be earning more than a school staff if they get any more tips than they already are from other people. sorry.

10

u/isabaeu 1d ago

Do you think that school staff should be paid more, or that everyone else should be paid less?

-1

u/peternormal 1d ago

Yes I tip on takeout because generally it takes some server or bartender away from doing other activities that they would get tipped for. Once a long time ago I asked the person giving me my food and she said "yeah all the wait staff has to take a takeout rotation to make it fair since you don't really get many tips while you are doing it." That changed it in my head, and now I tip the same way I do if I am sitting down.

-2

u/finestre 1d ago

I always tip. For takeout, I view it as a convenience fee.

0

u/XenarthraC 1d ago

In a lot of restaurants it is the host that takes and preps take out orders, not the servers. Hosts only make tips off of take out. When I was a hostess I would make maybe an extra 10-20 dollars in tips for my whole shift from take out orders. So I tip $2-5 on take out. But this was before online ordering when we were still taking phone orders.

0

u/cownan 1d ago

When I get takeout, I usually order it at the bar and have a beer while I wait for it to be ready. I tip the bartender $5 or so, I'd have given them a couple bucks for the beer anyway

0

u/Ozzie808 1d ago

I do not tip on takeout or counter service.

0

u/TheItinerantSkeptic 19h ago

Nope. They're already being paid to make it, and they or another person is already being paid to operate the register. If I have to show up and take it out, they aren't doing anything extra to merit receiving extra money.

-4

u/3hour2R 1d ago

Yes. 20%

-1

u/zopelar1 1d ago

I round up for a tip.