Why do people tip so much?

Your math is only right if the staff has a full house each and every night - what if you don't? Then your making a $0 paycheck and only tips for when people come in. If the places would pay their waitresses minimum wage tips wouldn't be so damn important

I used to think the same thing until I met my husband who was a waiter and is now a bartender. You have an example of a steak house which is usually a higher end restaurant. Most restaurants aren't steak houses rather places where a meal, lets say a beverage and entree, per person is less than $25 dollars. If you have 4 in a table that is $100 at 10% is only 10 dollars and at 20% is 20 dollars. My husband states that most guest don't stay for an hour but longer but of course this depends on the restaurant and the type of customer and ambiance they have. Anyways, you may think (as I once did) that $10 is plenty especially when servers usually have more than one table, but what most people don't understand is that server have to divided out their tips to the bussers (they clean the tables) food runners (employees who bring out your food) and the bartenders (since they make the drinks). In other states I heard they even divide their tips with hosts and the bakery if the restaurant has one. Each restaurant works differently but in my husbands restaurant he is usually expected to give 15 to 20% of his tips to the bussers, another 15-20% to food runners and 15-20% to the bartenders. That means 45-60% of a servers tips go to other employees. That now leaves the server if you give only 10% with $4.50-6.00. Not very much for all the work, because it is a lot of work in most restaurants. Also, the $2.25 minimum wage usually goes directly towards taxes so my husband often gets checks with a grand total of $0. Hope this gives you a better understanding.

Your example is a good example of a great night for a waiter/waitress. When I was a waitress, I had nights like that on occasion (busy weekend). I would make $20+ per hour and leave pretty happy! However, those nights had to make up for the slow Wednesday nights where I'd have 3 tables with small checks, staying for well over an hour, and possibly under tipping. On those kinds of nights I'd only leave with maybe $15 after several hours (after tipping out the bussers & bartenders).

I totally get your point, though. I think that tipping is a personal choice. Some people don't tip for really poor service, while others would still leave 10-15%. Some people tip for a drink at a coffee shop, whereas others rarely/never do. Some people tip a dollar for every drink they order at a bar, whereas others do it another way.

Waiters and waitresses get a crappy hourly wage, which is supposed to be compensated for by tips. You shouldn't feel pressured into tipping 25% to make up for their $2.25/hr wage (which is before taxes by the way). This is the way I think about tipping before I go out, and maybe you'll find it helpful:

a) If I'm going to a bar/restaurant where someone will be waiting on me, I always incorporate $$ for tipping into my budget. If I can't afford to tip, I don't go out.

b) When I'm deciding whether to round up or down, I think about how much $1 means to me vs. how much that $1 means to the person waiting on me.

c) Even if someone really sucks, I won't stiff them b/c in the end that would mean they are paying their own money to wait on me.

I tend to tip around 20% and that works for me. Don't let people tell you how to tip, in the end it's up to you!

In a perfect world you have tables buying that much food and your station remains full and also turns you would make $35 an hour. However, the world is not perfect and your income fluctuates weekly, monthly and seasonally.

I tip 20% because I waitressed through my late teens and early 20s. It's a tough job. If you've never done it you don't realize everything involved. It is not an easy job.

People tip however much they want.

I usually tip 20%.

I used to be a server at a restaurant and made hardly anything--it was all based on the tips.

Most servers do not make hardly any money and rely on their tips.

As a friend says "If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out." I think it's true.