Quick rules for casual tipping
By John Kessler
Cox News Service
A quandary always greets me when I get to the counter of a cheap, quick-service restaurant: What should I tip?
I don't need to pay for the privilege of lining up, pouring my own iced tea or finding my own table. But, then, servers bring the food, warn the kids not to lunge at hot plates and bus our tables
I leave about 10 percent, but is that enough? Is it too much?
Here are some guidelines, but you're welcome to disagree:
Full-service
• Good service: 20 percent.
• Acceptable service: 15 percent.
• Lousy service: your discretion.
• With coupons: 15 percent to 20 percent of what the bill would have cost at full price.
• With kids eating off a reduced-price kids menu: 20 percent to 25 percent.
• With kids eating off a reduced-price kids menu and using the opportunity to smear their food on the walls and empty drinks on the floor: At least 25 percent, a visible effort to help with the cleaning and sincere thanks.
Fast casual
• You order at the counter, they hand you drinks and then bring your food to the table: 10 percent.
• You order at the counter then have to look for your own silverware, napkins and drinks at a soda fountain, they bring your food to the table: $1 a head.
• You go through a cafeteria line, leave with your food on a tray and are asked to bus your own table: No tip needed.
Coffeehouses
• Coffee to go in a paper cup: No tip needed
• Coffee to drink on site in a paper cup: All the coinage from your change in the tip jar.
• Coffee to drink on site in a porcelain mug: $1 in the tip jar.
