Tipping in Restaurants in the U.S.A.

[@connorosborn7187]

Great video and very informative. As a non American, I find it truly insane that tipping 20% is expected and that businesses are allowed to pay $2.13 an hour, it's disgusting

[@jessi8252]

In Quebec, Canada, the minimum wage for tipping jobs is 12.20$CA an hour!!!! The regular minimum wage is 15,25$CA!!!!

[@MrJahka]

It’s actually a pretty awesome job if you find the right restaurant with the right clientele. It can be very lucrative to live off tips certainly more than the restaurant can afford to pay a server. When I served I averaged like $35-40/hr there’s little chance in hell a server could get that wage from a restaurant unless they had sommelier experience or something

[@connorosborn7187]

@SweetBaby-zt3fo And you called us self righteous. This is the most self righteous, arrogant shit I've ever read.

[@grinchieur]

@SweetBaby-zt3fo Oh ok, that nice to hear, I'll stop tipping all together in restaurant if you make all that amount, thanks for that bud.

[@HostileAtHeart]

@SweetBaby-zt3fo Ah yes, let's celebrate the fact that if you get lucky you might walk away with over 1k a week, and if you're unlucky you might not be able to make ends meet. Instead of having a standard wage that's the same across the board and benefits everyone, equally. No one is denying the fact that you can make a lot of money working tables in the US, but you're basking in your own fortune whilst others can barely pay their rent, all because of the very same system. That to me shows a real lack of empathy and almost psychotic levels of arrogance on your part. But hey, maybe that's to be expected from a person whose country will deny its citizens medical treatment if they can not afford it. Fuck the poor, amirite. 🤷‍♂

[@MrMighty147]

2,13$ an hour?! Holy crap I knew that servers "relied" on tips in the US but I didn't know it was this literal. This is insane.

[@eragon78]

well, the employer is required by law to pay up to minimum wage at the end of the year if the server doesnt make minimum wage once accounting for tips, but the issue with that is, one, it takes a full year before you get your paycheck that brings it up to minimum wage, so you may be surviving on much less than that for the year leading up to that, and second, minimum wage here in the US is only $7.25/hr which is pretty abysmal and virtually impossible to live off of. So while its not QUITE as bad as it seems when you hear 2.13 an hour (cuz theyre technically guaranteed at least 7.25 if they dont make enough tips), its still pretty bad because minimum wage is pretty crap here in the US as well. Things would be a lot easier if tipping was pretty much entirely phased out and restaurants just paid their servers a living wage to start with.

[@philipjohnson986]

Its not the server relying on tips its the duchebag restaurant owner basically owning slaves if we dont pay them

[@pcbassoon3892]

They have to match minimum wage, but minimum wage is crazy low so always tip.

[@aegic001]

Imagine being required to work a dead shift with no customers on Christmas day away from your child for 2.13 an hour.

[@jonathanfriedman7430]

@@eragon78 that’s a state to state thing. In Mass, it’s whatever the pay period is: weekly, biweekly

[@imadethissoicouldcomment2549]

The fact restaurants don’t have to pay employees is crazy

[@Rlts_wf3]

They absolutely do

[@hectorrubio1765]

​@@Rlts_wf3 If they did, workers would not have to worry about which amount the customer tipped at all.

[@Rlts_wf3]

@@hectorrubio1765 it's called taxes, the states he mentioned are required to pay the 2.13 if the server makes over 30 in tips a month, they always do. If they for some reason make less than 30 a month the company is required to adjust the hourly rate. This doesn't not happen in corporate restaurants where the average is to pay a full minimum wage and split tips, tips are required to be documented and submitted to the IRS for tax purposes. If you don't report them and pocket everything, good luck. If you split them with the company on every shift and get a percentage in cash and the company doesn't report it, same deal. The restaurant with servers making full time and minimum plus tips unregulated apart from taxes would be ridiculous. Chefs and BOH would make less and servers would rival the pay of management.

[@imadethissoicouldcomment2549]

@@Rlts_wf3 bro. If you own a restaurant that has normal guests that tip servers. You literally have free labor. You are wrong af get tf out of here

[@ilyaalister8193]

@@Rlts_wf3so you know that 2.13 an hour covers zero bills and is 0$ after tax. If a server works 8 hours a day they get paid 17.04$ a day and 85.20 a week. Remind me what the average rent in America is of that right more than 10 times that amount. I worked as a server in college barley making rent. I was getting food from the food bank and walked 5 miles to campus and 2 miles to work because I couldn’t afford the bus. Sometimes my friends would give me their old clothes or let me borrow something if i need it. I had a laptop, a flip phone, and a hot plate to my name. Thank heavens i got recommended for a paid internship by my college professor. Its the only reason i didn’t end up homeless.

[@kellygaumer5667]

This is why I feel that places asking for tips even on a self service kiosk is ridiculous it takes away from the servers who actually rely on tips for their living because of the tip "fatigue" When someone I'd making 15 bucks an hour in Starbucks to make me a coffee I'm not going to give them 20 percent but I always give at least 20 if not 25 percent for good service in a full service restaurant.

[@caroline10081]

We need a list of people who need the tips and those who are fairly paid. Uber drivers? Uber Eats? Servers in fast casual places like Chipotle? Manicurists and pedicurists? Spa workers? When are our tips a necessity and when is it an indication of gratitude?

[@la6631]

i can watch this man talk about restaurant stuff for hours

[@MrTStat]

Of course! His experience is literally making people feel welcome!

[@chickentenders3018]

He’s got a very soothing voice.

[@Laura-it2zb]

Same here; I also found the historical aspect of tipping origins in the US fascinating.

[@Jmsic2pt]

Right??

[@z.s.7992]

I was in food service so long that all these videos strike a cord with me. Dude is my unofficial hero.

[@lisaammerman9846]

My kids worked in a small pub, just one server, two cooks a dishwasher and a bartender where the employer paid everyone a full wage, and tips were shared. It worked very well; the better everyone did the better everyone did.

[@jhsrt985]

That should be his it goes. Real simple and motivation to make the establishment do well

[@purpleclaws202]

That's how it should be!

[@darkzafkiel7404]

Only works on the small scale, when you go larger you are bound to find that dickhead that doesn't want to do anything or play for the team, that becomes a parasite to this style of tipshare

[@YellaBellaReno]

My first restaurant/bar job did FOH-BOH tip sharing with an $8.00 hourly rate to start. We even shared tips for the whole day, no matter what shift you had. I’ve made more money at restaurants that didn’t tip share, but I’ve never had more fun at work then I did there. It really didn’t feel like work most days. When everyone shares tips, people that don’t try to pull their weight don’t last, and you end up with a really strong team that knows every part of the restaurant (we all had to cross train FOH, BOH, and even bar). I think there were probably 12 of us when I started, and 30 when I left. Now they have 3 locations.

[@anthonymonge7815]

@@YellaBellaRenothis is true. The team mentality will either fix the slackers or get rid of them.

[@oggyreidmore]

I feel like a server at Chateau du'Pantalon Chic would probably like to keep the tipping system, because if people are tipping a percentage and the bill is $500-$1000 per table that's good money. Then again, the server at Sammy's Senior Special would probably rather make a flat $15-25 an hour to wait tables. So many variables effect what you make as a server that have nothing to do with your service, but work is work and all full time workers should make enough to live on.

[@waltermh111]

To be fair most places that expect tipping do so because the food is expensive. I've only worked at a few restaurants in two states but my experience is that most servers prefer the tipping system. With the people that think they hate the American system don't understand is a lot of servers do not want to work a full shift. They want to make their big tip money and then get out. Not because they would barely make anything if they stayed but because they really just don't want to work more. I will explain a typical day in a restaurant. They come in an hour before opening and set everything up. They work hard for 2 to 3 hours and they are likely to go home with anywhere from 50 to $100. Most of them will leave after being there for only 4 hours. Some of them will stay 6 hours. They might make an average of an extra $10-20 an hour. Most tables tip if you are in an area that's not black to be blunt. So for the people who only want to stay for hours and they just do not want to stay longer, they are likely going to take home $100 for 4 hours of work. The average person makes $100 working an 8-hour shift. They would be bored out of their mind staying the last 2 hours. I hope you understand why tipping culture is popular with servers. They get paid more than most people per hour and they work less. Trust me they often get paid more than the back of the house too. Sure the back of the house is money is more stable and they don't have to deal with people so there are pros and cons. Also the kitchen staff is usually not as attractive so they wouldn't make as many tips anyways, to be honest

[@FridaTwin]

I can only speak for Italy, as this is where I live, but the tipping culture here is CRAZY different. tipping here is considered an extra if the service is particularly excellent, but it is not expected, and the restaurant has to pay the server. that said, here the general idea is that the server is not necessarily minimum wage: someone who works in a small hole-in-the-wall diner probably does make very little money, but for someone who works for a Michelin star place or just works in fine dining it's a very different matter. we even have hospitality schools which specialize on being a high level server, or a maitre d'. so I guess that here the whole concept does not make a lot of sense because where you work influence how much you make, tipping or not... I don't know if I make much sense 😅

[@SBqwerty]

Still better off with tips unless the restaurant is perpetually empty

[@nicoledoubleyou0621]

You nailed it. Couldn't have explained it better myself. I served at a friendly in CT (just a temporary gig because I was waiting until the end of summer to move down south. Best decision ever!!) servers at the time.made 5.25/hr plus tips... However on wedsnesdays was kids eat free day and all the low income people (sorry not sorry) would come in with their litters of kids. Run you into the ground and never tip. Every week multiple servers would end up crying and breaking down it was awful. ​@@waltermh111

[@rufrogi]

You're paying someone else to do things you don't feel like doing. Keep that in mind.

[@amandachapman2951]

Thank you so much for explaining this to people! I was a waitress for 10 years an the late 80s-90’s. So many people didn’t know that we didn’t get a paycheck.

[@Legendary-zh9hd]

everyone fucking knows that its not a fuckin revolation that worthless servers get paid 2 bucks since they do nothing its a fuckin scam get rid of all servers replace them with a tablet. Ill gadly go up to the counter when my number is called and refill my own damn drink its not hard and 100% worth not having to tip

[@brandondallaire]

and let me guess, you did like all the other idiots like you, and when you did not get enough money, said the customers were cheap insteado f saying your bossi s cheap?

[@madmonet0914]

I live in Idaho, and work as a server. My official wage is $3.50 an hour with tips. Some nights I bring home $300+ (weekends and event nights) and some nights I make barely $50 (weekdays and dead seasons). Its not consistent and that is why is can be really difficult to live off server wages.

[@Zvwry]

I agree, when it hits November it gets so slow that up until February even on weekends I won’t make more than 50 a night but still work 10 to 12 hour shifts. Any time we make more than that through the busy months we have to put a lot of that aside for those next 3 to 4 months where it’s gonna be slow when you’re not gonna make anything I don’t think people understand that that’s why average servers still make around 30 K a year, which is basically around minimum wage annual earnings for other people.

[@Birkenlaubers]

This is truly dystopian and i really can't fathom how this is legal in the US. I'm a server in germany, the cafe i work at pays minimum wage (~13€) and the tips are not mandatory for the guests but serve as extra income for us. (This specific cafe splits all tips between all workers at the end of the day to be fair because not all of us get customer contact. I've gone home with anything from 15-50 euros in the past two months and accumulated quite a bit of extra savings i wouldn't have gotten in a non-server job.)

[@smith9157]

You have greedy servers who prefer it because of the good times - these people are dumb stability and consistency help people get ahead financially not random spikes in funds

[@kirin1230]

As an Australian, where our minimum wage is over $21 an hour... That is terrifying

[@KevinZ.000]

This is the reality. I was reading some of the comments I worked 2 nights a week in a college town / city and made bank. Not every town or city is a college town / city.

[@shortlivedglory3314]

I hate tipping culture and really wish we could get rid of it. As a customer, instead of being told an accurate price of what my meal will cost, I'm expected to pay more than I was told so that owners can continue to underpay the employees. It's terrible and I think the owners should feel shame that their employees are reliant on the generosity of their customers. For the record, I have ten years as a server, line cook, and manager.

[@NoxDefensor]

Completely agreed! If a 20% tip is expected across the board, why not just increase the price of the food by 20% and then pay the servers a living wage? It doesn't actually change how much I'm paying for my food, it just makes me have to do less math!

[@slickmaster4248]

The problem comes in that as soon as you add cost to an item in the form of wages, supply, utilities, rent everything gets rounded up to provide a cushion to be sure the restaurant isn't losing money. To be clear I'm an outsider never ran a restaurant never worked in one but I have run businesses. It comes down to if a customer wants to dine in an environment where they pay the server Fair wage so they don't have to add 20% at the end they should be prepared to pay $30 for a decent stake not 15. (I know what everybody is thinking, when was the last time you went out for a steak LOL) The same people that for advocating for a $15 minimum wage for fast food workers are now shocked at the price of a Wendy's baconator are asking the server at Subway what happened to the $5 footlong The other place this comes into play is the people bemoaning the fact that goods aren't manufactured in America anymore. Yet they buy $15 sneakers without looking at the label to see where they were made. And if they need a laptop they better be able to find one for $300 or that store just ripped them off LOL One more and I'm done I promise. We all know the cost of food at the grocery store has skyrocketed over the last few years 4 years to be precise. Most contribute that to corporate greed. What they fail to realize is the skyrocketing cost of fuel in the same period better times meant spending $100 for gasoline to fill up a 20 gallon tank also increase the cost of delivering food and product to stores in the form of increased fuel prices Please servers I don't want you to take this that I don't think you deserve a fair wage. I'm directing this rant at customers who don't understand why tipping is so necessary

[@gl0wTech]

@@slickmaster4248 if a business cannot afford to fairly pay their employees then the business should not exist. profit should not be placed above the wellbeing of the worker

[@somerand0mdude7242]

@@slickmaster4248They are plenty of countries that don’t have tipping culture though??

[@Georgieqturkey]

I do not believe anyone who has been a decent server wouldn’t agree with tipping you probably just sucked

[@itsonlyme303]

I worked as a waiter in the early 1980s. When I went back to restaurant work in 2018,at a corporate restaurant, I found that much of the work that used to be strictly back of the house, was now assigned to servers because they only cost $2.13/hr. In example, the server made the salad, there was only one dish washer & the server scraped, sorted & stacked all dishes, flatware & glasses. The pantry handed you a slice of cake and the server scooped the rock hard ice cream & dressed the dessert with chocolate,caramel, whipped cream, nuts & cherry. They changed the buss person to a server assistant because the only want them wiping the table but the server is to buss the table completely beforehand. In conclusion, I made $500 a week when rent for a new two bedroom appointment was $230/mo & $350 a week when rent for that same apartment was$ 1200/mo in the DFW area. The corporate owners were making 4times their 1980s salaries while servers were making a 1/4th when adjusted for inflation.

[@Necroyeti]

Wait, "there was only one dishwasher"??? Did you actually work somewhere with multiple dishwashers in the early 80s?!

[@itsonlyme303]

Yes, and I’m speaking about employees. The waiters used to not buss the tables and the buss person would not have to separate flatware or put like dishes on the same stack. The pantry would make complete salads and desserts.

[@agin1519]

I despair of some allegedly sentient Americans who believe in a servant class. I listen to a couple of podcasts where they say funny things, occasionally about their Uber drivers. Then the state of California votes to make sure they’re not entitled to employee status or benefits. Which I understand is worse because healthcare comes from your employer? It makes all those funny jokes not at all in anyway. It seems equally bizarre that your employer doesn’t pay you- but that’s tipping culture in general I guess, and there’s a reason our host ended up in a minimum wage state perhaps.

[@edward9232]

Sounds like an olive garden

[@horneytoaster4773]

@@agin1519I gotta say, you can’t find a company that will pay me and my flight of servers what we make in tips. And we make good money. Let’s just not generalize the servers as a whole here because you’re talking about chilis servers. Not all servers XD

[@daughterofthestars08]

My large fam went to a brand new restaurant once and a few things happened that made the experience not great, but none of it was anything the servers could control. So when i realized our party wasn’t going to give a good tip, i snuck off and asked our server to split my drink off the bill so that i could tip her more. She really appreciated it, and I really don’t think skimping on a tip does anything to punish a restaurant for a bad experience… it just means the waitstaff who were doing their best suffer instead.

[@carolmyer9677]

You're the reason I worked in restaurants. Great people outnumber the not so great. Thanks for being kind.

[@R-ok3cl]

See that's why percentage tips is just stupid. Say you tipped a generous 25% on your $40 of the bill, so $10. Nothing stopped you from throwing in that $10 bill as a tip for the table's bill. But then it would be part of, say, a 5% tip and look cheap. Still it is the very same dollar note going into the server's pocket.

[@ozelot250]

I was a waiter supporting a family of three . Tips paid my rent, utilities, put food on the table, milk, diapers for the baby. It was rough to live off of tips.

[@HelloThere.....]

@@R-ok3cl I'm sorry that's just wrong dude. First off if we do more work then we earned more money. If I go in and quickly get one beer I shouldn't have to tip as much as someone who ordered 20 beers. We have to tip the busser and the bartender, the more you order the more drinks the bartender makes and the more stuff the busser cleans. Also, the more work I do for you means the less i can do for other tables so if I don’t get tipped the amount of work I did for you then I'm missing out on the money I could've made if I took other tables or served other customers instead of having to focus on you. And you can't do it based on number of items either as that defeats the entire purpose and tipping system. It's extremely unfair to the guests and server to not use percentage. The food costs less due to tipping to protect the customer from bad service and reward the server for good service. If tipping wasn't based on percentage, it wouldn't match the difference in price you pay for the food so you'd pay more than you should if you got less than the amount of food your tip would cover the labor cost of, and if you got more the restaurant and server would lose profit based on the decreased price they're paying for the food that is not proportionately compensated for by the tip. A bad idea all around to do anything other than percentage.

[@HelloThere.....]

@@ozelot250 but you could do it though. That says a lot of tips can support a family of 3, that's means it was a great job actually

[@MsFeline81]

Drew, I love videos like that! Please make it into a series like "restaurant history" or something like that. Doesn't even have to be on KZbin. A podcast eoukd be amazing. Also, you could invite guests like Alana, who does "restaurant stories".

[@20newleigh]

Yes to all of this!!!!

[@micahdoxtator1487]

That is such an awesome idea. I love it

[@NIMBY470]

Yes. Please. That would be a fun listen. P.S. WTF is wrong with me that I want to Laugh my as off about the industry, even on my days off! LETTING OFF STEAM! Like a sweet little teacup 😅

[@emkkahn6013]

My wife and I both started out working in restaurants, she was a server, and I was a busser/dishwasher. We were paycheck to paycheck for a long-time raising kids, but now are retired and doing OK. We have nothing but pure respect for the workers in restaurants and try to tip well, especially when service was good. And now, after Covid, we REALLY try to tip well so that servers, cooks and dishwashers will be motivated to come to work because they can make a living. The Covid response killed so many small restaurants and it was heartbreaking to watch so many great people their jobs. Love this channel!

[@TheLocomono9]

My personal feelings are that the customer shouldn’t have to flip the bill for what in every other industry would never be expected. Why should a meal that costs .10 cents per plate, that generates 15 dollars in revenue is not enough to pay the employees, so that revenue is expected to be 21

[@chinchillamdgamer]

The fact that you could afford to have kids and raise them and not be homeless while being servers amazes me because nowadays those paychecks wouldn't did up ..

[@emkkahn6013]

@@chinchillamdgamer We Started as restaurant workers. We both left those jobs and ended up as govt. workers... Tho my wife worked both jobs for a while after starting at the bottom of the govt. system.

[@jhsrt985]

​@@TheLocomono9tell that to the owners and high management, and the fda who artificially hike prices like the diamond market because farmers get paid to NOT grow food so there's no over abundance of food like there should be. It's all fkd up

[@sirshrooma]

@@TheLocomono9 On paper that might make sense but also on paper restaurants are one of the most notoriously unprofitable business ventures out there in terms of how much you have to invest back into it to keep it afloat. At least on a small business level, franchises obviously have more resources and standardization to help mitigate costs. Unless it's a food truck or a really bare bones simplistic menu with a high public interest, most businessmen stay away from the food industry entirely.

[@fakihashah6123]

This was such an informative video. I'm from Pakistan and seeing the dismal situation of servers in the US breaks my heart. Here, in Pakistan, servers are paid very well but it's not considered a "respectable" job that's why ppl usually avoid it. Tips weren't a norm few years back but when you feel like the servers are expecting it then you leave whatever you can. Your issue with the servers is reflected in Pakistan when it comes to food delivery guys. Companies Haven't adjusted their salaries for inflation and they rely a lot on ppl's kindness.

[@johnp139]

It’s NOT “dismal”!!!!! It WORKS WELL!!!! STFU!!!

[@chrischarman8707]

Interesting that third world workers have compassion and pity for restaurant workers in the USA. Capitalism there is just too much

[@jhsrt985]

Oh wow ok

[@jhsrt985]

​@@chrischarman8707you know they have major cities over there right but I agree completely with everything else

[@bart_ender6116]

Servers generally make pretty good money compared to the kitchen staff.

[@jenny1054]

Great info! This video felt sooo 2000’s behind the scenes/dvd special features kind of vibes, with the little cut screens to actual scenes from the videos wedged into it. Loved!!

[@jackscott8371]

I worked as a chef in a high end restaurant in south Florida for a few years, the kitchen were on 12-16$ an hour and didn’t get any tips while some waiters went home with a thousand dollars in tips each night.

[@joecentral-o9984]

I've seen this. I used to bus and dishwash with occasional line duties.

[@Mr.QuICK89]

I was lead cook for four years in Galveston Texas and my servers made more than double my wage from tips. And they still had a check all there credit card tips had to go on a pay stub.

[@EndFreemasonry]

Cooks mess up servers money all the time. The server can’t mess up the cooks money. Also a very large portion of cooks are illegal, so it keeps cooks pay low.

[@MexBaker]

@@EndFreemasonry Do you come to restaurants for the food or just to see the servers? Food is the reason why people even go to restaurants.

[@Lv3Wizard]

@@MexBaker yes ppl come for the food. But his point is that servers gets punished (lower tip from guest) if the dish was bad. In other words, if a cook makes a bad dish, the server might be the one punished monetarily.

[@metalheadgamer665]

As a cook in Florida that used to be a server, I don't plate my food as best I can, as quick as I can, and cook my food as perfectly I can for the guests, but for the servers. I do my best to be the guy they can ask for something from even if it's not my station cause I know how stressful it is dealing with guests. I know how much I'm taking home each week, they don't. Go kitchen staff!

[@Mcwollybob]

I love that you think and care about the servers! I worked in retail, but food service sounds like hell. And it requires a lot of solidarity to survive that. I appreciate what you do to help the servers!

[@mckenna8663]

You would have been a dream. I never worked with kitchens like you.

[@compliantpleb4712]

As a cook in California for 5+ years - discovering the servers make the same minimum wage as I do, BUT they take home $50-500 a night in tips, when I'm taking home $5-$10 a night, I always walk to the kitchen and tip the cooks and dishwasher in person and have THEM split the tip money with the servers, if they choose. This is fair.

[@queenizzy01]

@@compliantpleb4712 I’m just curious, if you’re the cook where are you getting money to tip the kitchen and then have them share with servers? Surely you can’t be suggesting that you’re taking all of the tips made by the servers and giving it to back of house to share with front of house.

[@horneytoaster4773]

@@compliantpleb4712ah no. That’s not fair that’s theft. Surely you must have a typo in there somewhere because if you don’t what you’re doing is foul. Edit: I realize now that you’re doing this when you dine in which is still foul. My cooks all make a min of 18.50 so you still have zero idea what you’re talking about.

[@Branabis]

This was actually pretty wholesome and I learned something. It's nice seeing you out of character just talking about life sometimes.

[@Starcraftmazter]

In Australia tipping exploded in 2018-19 and rapidly went away and nobody wants to pay tips on top of already very expensive meals, in a country where minimum wages are almost the highest in the world anyway. Nowdays I don't remember the last time any restaurant asked me for a tip.

[@Jeb.07]

Yeah tipping in my area here is just a gesture you absolutely DON'T have to do, it's only if someone was really exceptional and even then nobody would bat an eye if you didn't tip. Really the only tips i see are "keep the change/coins" after a transaction and more often than not it more just seems to be because it's convenient for the customer to not have to carry too many coins around. I'm visiting Canada/America soon and i'm so worried about how i should handle and feel about tipping, it'll stress me out i'm sure

[@timepass4783]

Yeah same, here in India too tips is generosity, if you like the food, or the service, you give them an additional amount on that, and it’s never a percentage like the US, a concept I’ll never understand Like for a server how is it different bringing to me a $10 meal and $100 mean? You expect an additional $18 dollars for doing what???

[@dampaul13]

"Nowdays I don't remember the last time any restaurant asked me for a tip." I've never had or know of any restaurant in Australia that would ask for a tip.

[@apimente1]

As an old fart I have seen tips creep up from 15% pre tax to 15% post tax, 18%, 20%, and now when I go pick up my $6 boba tea the credit card guilt machine suggests I tip 22%. IMHO it would be really nice if restaurants just paid their staff a living wage and priced that into the food costs. That way any tip customer left whether it were 5% or 30% is appreciated by the servers. Edit: Sorry for the late reply, all. Funny I just got a notification today that people have been replying to my comment. Thanks KZbin. Please allow me to clarify my stance. According to MW Dictionary tips (formerly or formally known as gratuity) is something given voluntarily or above expectation. In the US the meaning seems to have shifted to "bridge the gap between what my employer pays me and funding whatever lifestyle I believe I deserve" or in the case of servers in California "bridge the gap between the ridiculous $2.13 minimum wage and what I need to not starve to death" Yes. In California the server minimum wage is $2.13. The bottom line is I personally would like to see a change in structure so that tips/gratuity went back to the "here's something extra because I appreciate you for a job well done reward" that is actually just something EXTRA for that person rather than it making a difference between the server eating stone soup for dinner or a wagyu A5 ribeye. Give it a couple of years and soon you'll be asked to tip vending machines. I promise you :)

[@AllisterH]

This is one thing I think might be different in Canada...pretty much nobody tips of you are picking up the order yourself

[@keshaartis8365]

I understand most of what you said here but I have to question two things: 1) how does a credit card machine "guilt" you by simply having a button? I'm assuming there is at least one other button on the machine. 2) How do you know if someone appreciates your tip aside from the obvious "thank you"/"I appreciate it"? Is it possible that staff DOES appreciate the tips but is running on fumes (forcing them to lack the spark ppl tend to associate with genuine thankfulness)? Working in a restaurant, sometimes ppl don't hear softer responses and can mishear louder ones.

[@mxspokes]

​@@keshaartis8365the machine guilts you by printing a recommended gratuity on the bottom of the receipt, or offering a range of gratuities before the signature/pin line that you have to select skip/no tip on on touchscreen models.

[@KrissyMeow]

Don't get me wrong, I find the "would you like to tip" options given for regularly paid hourly employees who just cashier really silly, but the tipping average has went up because the cost of everything has went up. The best way to change this is to tell government you want the change, and not to eat out if you don't or can't tip appropriately. Whether we like it or not, it's how serving in the US works.

[@nw42]

They’re not saying they don’t tip appropriately, they’re just saying they don’t like how the system is structured. And honestly, I agree: I would happily pay higher menu prices if it meant no tipping and guaranteed a living wage for the staff. At the end of the day, tipping is a weird shell game where restaurants advertise deceptive prices by gambling with their servers incomes. It’s exploitative.

[@jaggerstephens6276]

Quick note about the laws surrounding the $2.13 figure. If you make under minimum wage, the restaurant is required to pay the difference to bring you up to that state's minimum wage (usually $7.25), however, most chain restaurants will let you go if they have to pay you more than the 2.13 (at least in my experience). There is a lot more information surrounding the situation but I hope this sheds some light.

[@johnp139]

That usually indicates that the server isn’t good at serving and should be let go. Or they naturally quit because they aren’t making much money.

[@jaggerstephens6276]

@@johnp139 true, depending on where/when you work

[@chibigirl8545]

Yeah, they have it in their policy, but they don't. They make you enter that you made at least enough tips to cover minimum wage (which you get taxed on), or you get written up or suspended for "not following the schedule" (aka, arguing with the manager, because you need manager approval to clock out of your tips didn't make it to minimum wage). 2 different restaurants this happened to me at, and they depend on broke college kids and single moms that don't have the time or money to sue them for wage theft.

[@CoreReaper1]

Adding to this: On slow weeks where this actually might apply (like the first week or 2 of January aka Holiday fatigue month) I had to monitor and ask for this. Managers are not going to do this for you.

[@EmilyFuger]

Came here to say this. But in my experience, the restaurant usually ends up paying more not because of bad servers, but because of slow days or shorter shifts. For example, nicer restaurants usually require more prep work to start the shift so a server may come in 2 hours before getting a table, if it's the morning, and the lunch crowd is slow, you may not have had that many customers AND one of my restaurants required waitstaff to wash all their tables' dishes on weekdays. Or you get stuck with the old ladies who order one sandwich to split, and have you refill their coffee 24 times while they play cards. There's also poor management decisions like putting your best servers on the slowest shifts because that way you only have to pay one person, even if you get a bigger surprise crowd. (This sounds good to the manager in principle, but results in all their best servers leaving for other jobs.) One thing to note about this is that often restaurants can pay different wages to the same server for different duties. For example, as a server if I came in to do 4 hours of prep before a big event, I could be paid the "regular" rate for that whole shift, or sometimes, clock out when I was done with that, then clock back in when I was switching to server duties where I could earn tip. At all of the restaurants I worked at, hosts got the regular no-tipped pay rate.

[@FistralG]

It’s great watching Drew speak and seeing all his different characters fleetingly appear as his inflections subtly change during his monologue.

[@frankkiejo5560]

Right?!? I love seeing that when the person speaks as themself.

[@NIMBY470]

Your History of this was enlightening. Makes total sense. The restaurants cater to the lawmakers in my state.

[@killaz5526]

Well im from Northern Ireland and i worked as a dishwasher in a pretty popular restaurant. The tipping situation was basically shared evenly across all waiters and dishwashers (not sure about cooks) depending on what hours they did and what tips came in that day. You don't really tip to certain waiters (unless you hand them cash personally), you put it in the tip jar when paying the bill and its shared at the end of the week. And tips aren't as required as the U.S. they're seen as more of a gesture than an obligation. The only reason we got a lot of tips there was because most of the customers were older citizens, and they usually like spending money on things like that. For example my grandfather always sneaks up to the counter to pay the bill and tip before anyone else can, even on his own birthday. If you read this I hope you found it somewhat interesting, not sure what else to add about it.

[@arlettasloan6453]

I found it very interesting, if that helps to know.

[@davidgallardo4357]

I would also like to add that there are some restaurants in which tipshare is determined by your sales and not by your tips. So if a waiter doesn't get a tip from a table they literally lose money for serving them.

[@aliasnamesake9407]

Yep, the restaurant I work at does this. Usually giving at least 30 dollars to the tipshare based on sales.

[@heffy5606]

@@aliasnamesake9407 we were also tipping out based on sales and that was over 20yrs ago. I enjoyed working as a waiter in college but if I had to live on tips now it would be way too stressful. Too many entitled A-Holes out there today

[@AndyfnB]

That's illegal.

[@Zeltress]

@@AndyfnB no it’s not

[@AndyfnB]

@@ZeltressMust depend on state than 🤷🏼‍♂️. Here they can not require you by law to do that.

[@vincentmusolino7267]

I live in Australia and the idea of tipping is so foreign to us. Like it never happens, but it is also not expected. This has caught my family and others I know out when visiting the US and we had to learn the hard way at first.

[@prihaps]

Americans will have you believe its not feasible to pay their workers a fair wage bc then the food will be too expensive 😂

[@Nalianna]

I had a customer tip me $32 as a bottle shop attendant... for giving him directions. blew my mind. (I'm also in Australia)

[@Scope34]

​@@prihapsthey dont know how much bank the owners and managers make lmao

[@crystalescobales]

Tipping in America is ridiculous, in my opinion. You have to tip for almost everything. Drive thru, haircut, taxi service, EVERYTHING! It is getting out of hand, and most of the business who expect to have their employees tipped make ridiculous amounts of money. I worked in a hotel, and the restaurant would make over 2 billion in profit!!! While the employees made minimum wage.🙄

[@jordanwardle11]

​@@prihapsit's like putting the tax on the in-store price tag. Stupid loud people will claim that stuff is more expensive when in reality, it's the same price

[@jhopper01]

I have always been a cook, or supervisor in restaurants in Ohio. I did fill in for managers before and remember paying out a minimum wage differential. Meaning that whatever the server wage was, plus tips didn't equal out to at least minimum wage, then the restaurant was responsible for paying out the difference. I recently left restaurants after 21 years and took a job as the chef of a local homeless shelter. Everything about it is so much better and more fulfilling

[@sarahillona]

I worked at both fine dining and casual restaurants and my tips on paper were really high in fine dining, but by the time I was done tipping out hosts, bartenders, back waiters, food runners, front waiters, bussing staff, the maitre d’, and sometimes the sommelier, that pile of money very quickly dwindled down. Sometimes I actually made more at the casual restaurant where I only owed the house 3% of my sales. The worst feeling in the world is to get a table that spends a lot of money but stiffs you on a slow night. You could actually end up owing the house to go to work that night.

[@E4Sierra]

All customers should be aware of this when calculating gratuity .. Avoid getting "tunnel-vision" on the server alone, and instead realize they're paying several people.

[@adaml2932]

Idk what state you are in but owing the house is illegal in most states. "Charging" you a % to work there can only be done on an independent contractor basis, NOT regular employment.

[@Max-zg2ci]

Fine dining is such a double edged sword. The tips can be ridiculous sometimes but tipping out out barback, bartender, busssers, hosts and then kitchen took a bite. But it’s not like you weren’t walking with anything, just wasn’t the original big tip. I learned to enjoy and request closing shifts because most of the floor had been phased by the time I clocked in, which means less people to tip and I could get a shift drink at the end while doing paperwork haha

[@sarahillona]

@@adaml2932 I’m in New Orleans. But I don’t think it’s uncommon to have tip out be deducted automatically regardless of what you were actually tipped. Owing the house is an uncommon, worst case scenario, but definitely not unheard of. Some places also charge their servers the credit card fees if they are tipped on a card. Or force their servers to pay for all or a percentage of the bill if they have a dine and dasher. All of it may be illegal but in my experience restaurants have never overly concerned themselves with legality. In my area, restaurant staffs tend to be disproportionately made up of college/ high school students, people with criminal records, undocumented workers, and people absolutely desperate for a paycheck. It’s not the crew who feel empowered to get a lawyer and sue. Most restaurants seem to view labor laws as mere suggestions. As for minimum wage, a lot of restaurants here make the calculation once a month, or once a year and average all your shifts together making it very unlikely that you’d ever be compensated for those shifts where you made under minimum wage.

[@AlexMint]

Yeah, that's especially frustrating if it's the kind of restaurant that doesn't quickly flip tables because guests stay three hours. I was a host and a barista but I absolutely pulled my weight. Though it was frustrating because sometimes people would dodge tip-out and I was also making less than minimum.

[@Tom_Hillman]

I grew up very poor in Britain, I was constantly spoon-fed this narrative that 'look how great it is here compared to America, we don't have to tip!' It was a very awkward discussion with my colleagues when we went to my first really 'nice' restaurant after work, and they start discussing how we'd tip 💀

[@TheBT]

I think it's better to say that over here that tipping is normal but not expected.

[@bk83082]

That's the thing they point to? Tipping? Not the fact that a trip to the ER in the States might leave you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt?

[@FallacyBites]

​@@bk83082and our complete lack of parental leave, sick leave, vacation time, or worker protections?

[@katfoster845]

​@bk83082 I have an uncle in the US. He went to the ER because he was having a heart attack. It was an in network hospital, but his doctor was out of network. Insurance wouldn't cover it, so he had to raid his pension fund to pay.

[@lokey9263]

What i always find crazy about our so called absence of tipping culture here in the uk is the fact that we all pay 10% service fee on everything no discussion

[@Mallenaudrix]

Just started as a server like a month ago, worked in gyms for almost 10 years. I’d like a video about how you account for taxes. Also I’m like dying every other night with certain guests asking for every little thing and still leaving less than 5%. The computer didn’t even believe I made less than 15% that night…

[@Whychannelisneeded]

When you greet a table you should pay attention to body language, how they’re sitting, and how they respond to you. And then when you’re on the other side of the restaurant, you can look over and see if they may be missing something, once you have a little more experience you’ll be able to realize what they need and it gets a lot easier. Also combining tables. Whoever trained you should run through what they typically ask for. And then when you get double-quadruple sat, taking it as one table so you arent running yourself ragged

[@gunnerj480]

Served for 5+ years and trained many other servers. My best advice for you is to set aside about 15-20% of your reported (😉) tips for the night every night. At tax time you should end up fairly close to the amount you’ll owe. Obviously depends on other things such as dependents, second jobs etc. but unfortunately I don’t have experience with those situations so I don’t have any advice for them. Hope this helps

[@aleksa6548]

There are always those tables that give so much trouble but tip a very little always, they complain, expect etc

[@quinniewinnie1276]

My favorite are the verbal tippers 😂 you were amazing just fabulous service wow incredible and then a flat fucking 5 dollars..

[@gunnerj480]

@@quinniewinnie1276 lemme just pay my bills with compliments 😂

[@orielwiggins2225]

this was a great break down and history as well as wonderful pulling from your videos for the reactions from the staff. Love it. and yes, Pickles. Like a hug!!!!

[@Sara-fx3yl]

Having to rely on tips was incredibly stressful. I waitressed for a summer (waitress, hostess, bartender, all at once it was a nightmare) and I never saw a paycheck. I relied super heavily on tips and it was so stressful. It really kills your soul and your faith in the people around you.

[@gwouru]

How about just getting a job that pays you, rather than being a freelance butler?

[@orangeziggy348]

Does it feel like begging?

[@Deborah-ii4kd]

@@gwouru If everyone did (or could) do that, who would serve you when you went out to eat? What the actual F@ck is wrong with you?

[@WanderingExistence]

That's just straight up exploitation. The more I learn about the service industry the more I'm surprised that there hasn't been an outright anti-capitalist revolution.

[@deathburrito23]

​@@gwouru"just" is doing a lot of legwork there

[@emilycummings9755]

Adding the little snippets makes this easy to learn while still being entertaining, I love it!

[@alexxsignor]

Thank you for speaking up and out about this and utilising your platform for awareness.

[@Canadia_Ball]

He intentionally left out the fact that if the employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. This means that servers also get at least minimum wage. But he wants you to feel bad, so you'll tip more.

[@spacejam_ki2677]

@@Canadia_Ballsurely every employer follows this rule

[@isaiahvaldez3330]

@@Canadia_Ball hey he was in the game for 22 years, gotta help out his fellow servers.

[@gene8447]

​@canadianmapper6267 given that minimum doesn't pay for living, the job is worth more than minimum wage.

[@alyssahuenniger6823]

Thank you so much for breaking down how tipping culture came to be and how it continues to affect our lives today! Very informative- hopefully this video helps those who have never worked as a server/ bartender understand why we typically rely on tips to pay our bills.

[@jackattack5209]

Many years ago, I worked as a bartender in Texas. At the time, you weren’t supposed to tip out to the kitchen, but at our particular establishment, we all agreed to give the kitchen about 10% just so they have some play money at the end of the night. The kitchen wasn’t particularly busy and there were only two guys back there, so it wasn’t a big deal. The front of house split the tips among the bar and waitstaff. We usually left with $300 a night during the week and $500-$600 on the weekends. Everyone went home happy. Unfortunately, the bar started getting a reputation for violence and closed down.

[@anthonylosego]

Explain this to me, as a salary worker which means I get the same pay no matter the work load or hours, if you get $300 a night, that's $1,500 a week or 78k a year. How is this working out? I assume you don't get $300 every night M-F? If so, I need to change jobs. lol

[@orielwiggins2225]

@@anthonylosego usually folks in this position aren't working 5 nights, they may be up to 12 hour shifts. and don't forget taxes. those aren't taken out of tips.

[@g1mmedatdome284]

@@anthonylosego That's roughly the pay. I bartend, but have a 401k, so my taxes said about 69k, plus 6k in non-taxed 401k, plus a few stacks that might've gotten 'forgotten' to be claimed in cash. It is a hard life though. Guests can be violent or entitled. Management (like other jobs I guess) can be completely inept. Liquor laws are strict, and can land you in jail, or your licenses to work in an alcohol vending job revoked for 7 years or more. Had a woman cut off BY MY MANAGEMENT, AT THE HOST STAND, that I was told to inform, scream at me in the middle of a crowded restaurant in a theme park, whole table swearing at me, management didn't do ANYTHING. In order to make that, you need to basically only work nights, weekends, and most holidays. Sick days/calling out has historically been EXTREMELY taboo, Covid helped a LITTLE. I actually called my boss to see if they needed me once, while I was being detained by police, after witnessing a shooting, treating the person shot (not victim, he instigated the whole thing, and attacked the other guy), being covered in blood head to toe. I was scared they'd tell me to come in, and I would've actually done it. Where I am now, management somewhat respects us, but 98% of them don't see you as a human.

[@Omnipotentous]

Do more videos on the history of restaurant service, that was really interesting

[@3arthIsGhetto]

Honestly Drew, you've done it again! You kept that easy to follow for those not in the States or Industry and fun with the little clips sprinkled throughout. Great job dude!

[@user-sj7xv1er1u]

That was a Great Post, Thank You

[@dizzyingheights]

I liked that you mentioned that (to a certain extent) we choose BOH or FOH. I've worked at just under ten restaurants in a two decade career and tip sharing hasn't always been super relevant to me, but I hear there's all sorts of odd super-specific policies and tricky maths involved. I worked at one restaurant where each senior chef (de partie and above) was tipped out 0.5% of total server tips, busboys were something like 2-5% server nightly tips, and bartenders something like 10% but only on tables with drinks. Yes ideally we would all be paid a living wage, but the important thing is to try to be honest and to try to do your best to take care of each other.

[@OgdenM]

WTH? Why do busboys get tipped out more then a senior chef????? The restaurant wouldn't exist unless there was food. That place better be paying the kitchen staff more then anyone else per hour then.

[@Ab-hh2fd]

All restaurants pay the kitchen a higher hourly wage then servers. In a nice restaurant, someone in the kitchen with the title of senior chef (probably does not get tipped out) and are very likely making more take home than an average server. I would also remind you that everyone is important for a restaurant to properly function. A good busser significantly contributes to a higher tip percentage from a table. Based on your statement, I would assume you tip very well when you order take out.

[@Sam-ps8zz]

Although it can be hard, I wouldn't feel too bad for us. Sometimes we bring in a couple hundred a night

[@katziliaf]

It's pretty dystopian how tipping became normalized as "instead of living wage". I'm from Germany and this shit culture has slowly started to creep here. One waiter once served us the bill, then served us a second mashine where we could choose a tip (no tips not available). Not only was I REALLY confused, because that's not custom here... it also immediately made me worry about the waiter. Like "hey. They do pay you... right?"

[@CyberKirby]

That's the American way

[@maryl8614]

I noticed that as well in Berlin and some other “touristy” areas. Thankfully, it’s not everywhere yet.

[@TheFakeyCakeMaker]

Grüße aus NRW 🙋🏾‍♀️

[@TheFakeyCakeMaker]

​@@maryl8614 it's nowhere. It's a tourist tax nothing more.

[@kraknoix0075]

In belgium as well, but this is only in the big city's. It's basically trapping people that are used to tipping. Locals just hit 0 tip without shame lol

[@brickchains1]

Drew Talbert has got to be a top 10 youtube channel. How is this not at 1 million subscribers yet? TIP THE MAN

[@TheFrenchPug]

Totally agree. Not sure what is holding him back from blowing up.

[@TheFakeyCakeMaker]

Seriously. I found his channel accidentally and watched everything he'd done in the space of hours. Amazing talent.

[@JuniorCYT]

U should donate to his patreon

[@JuniorCYT]

@@TheFakeyCakeMaker U should donate to his patreon

[@JuniorCYT]

@@TheFrenchPug U should donate to his patreon

[@carolann811]

5:02 - Bridgette totally showed up looking like Drew.

[@RebeckadV]

In Sweden we have unions instead of any minimum wage. Tips are rare, most places don't even give you the option. However at high end restaurants it sometimes is expected.

[@davidkramer333]

In America having a high quality server that actually cares if you have a good experience can ONLY happen with tips.... otherwise it is not worth their time

[@HerrGrimmigerPetz]

You crazy northmen also stopped using cash in restaurants. Stop spreading that diseas to the rest of the world...

[@gwgwgwgwgwgwgwgwgw]

@@davidkramer333 "high quality server" how about any server whatsoever. if you don't tip your server and then come back to that restaurant, don't expect to have the same server again

[@ruxtonau]

@@davidkramer333well it could happen another way.. actually paying them what they're worth ;P

[@purpleXpotion]

@@davidkramer333 Exactly. In Germany for example, they’re astounded by the American concept of ‘free refills’ & ‘sending back food you ordered, but just _don’t like_ for a full refund/replacement meal.’ Well, that’s the trade off they’re accustomed to for paying servers a ‘gracious’ livable wage.. $1.95 per refill, and a _‘I don’t give a dam what you _*_like,_*_ Consumer.. _*_Eat_*_ the shit you ordered, _*_Pay_*_ up, then _*_Get_*_ tha hell outta here!!’_ 😡 Law dictates servers make the same top dollar regardless of customer experience ..meaning restaurants can’t afford diner complaints (let alone any ‘freebies’) ..so what more could anyone expect? 🤷🏻‍♀️ In America, restaurants are essentially ‘paying’ employees by giving them access to provide customers with ‘free menu items’ at the restaurant’s expense.. in exchange for those workers being able to collect tips off the restaurant’s dime. It’s not an unfair system.

[@Emmeepie]

I worked in a restaurant kitchen in Canada around in the early 2000's and we received minimum wage $6.40/hour and the servers didn't share tips the kitchen. It was the hardest I have ever worked for the least amount of money.

[@jolenethiessen357]

Same! I worked in the kitchen in several restaurants in the late 90s and we made maybe a buck more than the servers, but they got the tips. I mean, I didn't have to deal with the customers, but it's hot, sweaty, back breaking work..

[@jhsrt985]

Oh wow Canada must pay alot on average. Not here buddy

[@tanyawest2017]

Emmeepie: my brother, my best friend and my roommate who I have lived with for 16+ years are all cooks in Vancouver and that’s just not how it is anymore. Restaurant work -particularly line cook jobs-used to be the worst jobs out there because there were so many people available to fill a relatively small number of jobs. So it used to be that if you didn’t basically suck up to management, they would happily fire you and find someone to replace you the same night. Now there is a shortage of cooks and they are treated a lot better. In BC, 2000 was also right around the time BCLiberals just went on the attack on the whole working class, changing the rules to make it better for the wealthiest and getting rid of all sorts of mandatory worker protections (like a rule that if you were called in to work, you had to be paid for at least four hours was changed to two hours, meaning your transportation might not even be covered by your shift, also cutting back paid breaks, removing safety rules, removing requirements that parents sign off on kids working and keeping kids out of high injury industries-lots of those sorts of things were scrapped) and it was really a Wild West for restaurant workers for a few years. Now cooks are starting out at $18 an hour and even dishwashers can get by on their wages (no one can afford rent in Vancouver, nonetheless), and one can move up pretty quickly as well. From what I’ve observed, it gets ugly again when cooks get promoted off the line and become like second cooks or sous chefs or those kind of things and first get put on salary. Their salary is based on 40 hours a week at a wage not much higher than a line cook and all of a sudden everything stops with you. There’s no overtime, no stats to speak of, there’s getting called in for ‘emergencies’ that the Chef wouldn’t tolerate, there’s multiple closing shifts every week, you get some responsibility for menu planning and orders and all sorts of chef type responsibilities that mean you end up working sixty-plus hours a week for a salary based on a forty hour week. And you still aren’t the chef, so you can’t shrug any of it off on to anyone else- especially hourly workers because management/owners won’t pay wages or sometimes time and a half to get something done, when they can put it on a salaried sous chef. As soon as you’re on salary, you find yourself doing shit jobs that no one would dare ask a chef to do, because chefs can make a restaurant, sometimes just by their name and connections to other chefs. The lowly salaried second cook or sous chef or anything in between, however, gets all the extra work. It’s probably at least partly why chefs have a reputation for being mercurial and sometimes even being divas; they don’t want to ever give the impression that they can be stuck with all that extra work that they probably had to do when they were first salaried.

[@Three-Headed-Monkey]

In Australia we have a fairly high minimum rage that is regularly adjusted so tipping is not really expected at restaurants. You can, and when eating out to dinner with large groups you generally do tip something. For drinks, coffees, or lunches and breakfasts at cafes you generally don't tip.

[@spyrosource3]

It is actually pretty perverse in Australia. Tipping is not very common, and lots of people hate the idea. The only places I see it are high end restaurants where realistically staff probably need them far less than in the average restaurant.

[@skcrary]

I once heard, “If you’ve been served, they deserve a tip.” This video was So Helpful! Thank you! Drew, I’ve been enjoying your content for a few months now - really good stuff!

[@rebeccarosepicache8146]

I’m not sure why, but realizing you as Drew is as calm and proper as can be is weirdly surprising. But a very pleasant surprise. I love your work. Hope to see more of them for as long as you can make them.❤

[@steriopticon2687]

Roll Tahhd.

[@theriggsmama]

I was a hostess at Ruby Tuesday around 2010-11 and on my seating order chart, servers who hadn't been tipped an average of at least 17% the shift before got skipped being sat every other time for their next shift because management thought they couldn't handle the workload. Which is crap because most people I grew up around thought tipping 15% to be really good. Hopefully, that has changed. I took a lot of crap for skipping, too, because no one would tell the server they were on a skip until I skipped them.

[@friedchicken371]

I've worked as a cook my entire life, I've been tipped out maybe four or five times. It's really frustrating because while the servers I've worker with don't make minimum wage, they usually averaged a least 20 an hour when I made 13. The servers I work with now make 15 plus tips in a high traffic restaurant, which gives them usually over 40 an hour, double what I make as a sous chef.

[@pkgood9223]

This is so informative and nicely edited. Thank you so much for the schooling 😊

[@nickmeale1957]

I'm from Aus, and when I went to The States, I was just wildly confused about tipping and service charges, like you also have to tip bartenders. I just couldn't believe when you purchased something that the price shown is not the final price.

[@drnobody418]

This was really well done! Hope to see more educational behind the scenes of the restaurant business!

[@Tailstraw_xD]

The only time I ever got tipped as a cook was when I worked in an open kitchen style cafe where I was more or less a short order cook. Most days I went home with 4 or 5 hours' worth of extra work in tips

[@emmmahezw]

I love these informative videos just as much as the skits.

[@ThaneAnderson]

This video slaps! More like this whenever you feel like you’ve got something to discuss!! Woooo!

[@kalimdorkush3715]

Went to culinary school spent a lot of time and restaurants knew everything in this video and still found it to be a great video. Andrew you know what you're doing for sure

[@X150t]

We need more facts videos like this

[@APixieNinja]

Places I've worked, servers also had to tip out their bussers. Thank you for explaining this Drew. I try to explain to people why tipping is so important!

[@SprayPaintMusic]

Hi Drew! Very factual and non biased way of explaining tipping, loved it. I've been working in the service industry for 13 years, the last 4 bartending. Have you considered doing a video on how tip pools and tip share work for bartenders too?

[@Canadia_Ball]

He intentionally left out the fact that if the employee's tips combined with the employer's direct wages of at least $2.13 per hour do not equal the federal minimum hourly wage, the employer must make up the difference. This means that servers also get at least minimum wage. But he wants you to feel bad, so you'll tip more. That sounds like bias to me.

[@justsomeguy859]

@@Canadia_Ball Right, because $7 an hour should be plenty for anyone to live on.

[@Canadia_Ball]

@@justsomeguy859 Yes, it should... everyone just sucks at managing their money these days.

[@jae15.]

@@Canadia_Ballthink about this for a second. how often do you think they actually pay out the difference? wage theft is the most common form of theft in the U.S. i’d bet 9/10 times that difference isn’t calculated until at least the end of the shift instead of hourly. there’s probably a fair number of places that wait until it’s time to write the checks to do the calculations. but honestly, since there’s such a push towards cash tipping, i wouldn’t be surprised if they just lied and said the servers made more than they did on a slow week, and expect the servers to just make up the difference when it speeds up again.

[@tolsti1]

A donut shop near my home accepted tips at the register, and I often gave a 20% tip. Until one day I asked out of the blue “you guys get these tips, right?” She said no. The company kept all the tips. I was flabbergasted. I ended up writing the business several messages arguing with them that the expectation of the customers who tip is that the employees get the tips. Ultimately, the business said they spoke with their lawyers and agreed to give the employees the tips. So if you work in a service industry and tips are collected, remember to research the laws or even speak with your state’s labor board to make sure your employer is in compliance.

[@crystalscashgoals]

Good job. That would piss me off too

[@Borsiethebongobanger]

Years ago I worked in a BBQ restaurant and the owner pocketed all the tips so I straight up told the customers to keep their money when I saw them go for the tip container

[@habloespwnol2117]

That's expressly illegal everywhere. Ownership is legally prohibited from taking tips meant for service staff; it's wage theft.

[@Lúthien_Tinúviel89]

@@habloespwnol2117 I worked for a restaurant a couple of years back who paid us $10/hr but the kicker was that unless the customer left a cash tip we couldn’t keep our tips. The entire time I worked there I only made less than $200-250 in cash tips. Meanwhile I had well over $4000 in credit card tips 😑 I worked there for like 4 months. There was one day I got a $100 tip on credit card and when the customer handed me the receipt I almost started crying, the customer thinking I was crying because I was happy told me I had deserved it & I said thank you but you don’t understand I won’t get to keep this money….. & i quietly explained to her the situation. She immediately took the receipt back, ripped it up, then got up went the counter & asked for another copy of the receipt as she had “spilled her drink & ruined the receipt” she signed and left $0 for the tip, came back and handed me $100 in cash. And told me not to say anything. She was completely pissed about that. From that day on any time she came in she always left a cash tip. My manager saw her hand me the cash and asked me how much it was, I lied and said $10 😅 because I know if I told the truth they’d want to keep part of it even though it was cash. But yeah, that was a regular occurrence. Once I had a customer bring his family out & leave me a $75 tip (it was within my first week of working there) and I went to my manager and asked that since it was such a big tip could I keep it? They said no 😢 I cried my eyes out. And was pissed off the entire time I worked there after that. We also had to “share” tips when we had big parties come in, so if they left $200 in cash tips we had to share it so you only end up with $30. The cook would constantly screw the orders up and then come out and scream and cuss you out IN FRONT of the customers and blame it on you. So what little chance you had of getting a cash tip went out the window at that point, because whose gona believe the sever over the head “chef” as she called herself??

[@Lúthien_Tinúviel89]

@@habloespwnol2117 so yeah it may be illegal, but it’s a known practice that everywhere does. The last place I worked at kept all tips on take out orders unless it was Friday or Saturday night & we had a server working the take orders. So it didn’t matter if you took the call, packed the order and brought it to the customer & checked them out & they left you a $20 tip think you’d be getting it… nope my boss got it because it was a “weekday” 😑

[@nora22000]

Well-researched history, neutral, informative delivery. You could be a prof in even the best universities. Great job, Drew!

[@snigdhadas2518]

Thank you it was informative and much needed

[@Rose-kq7db]

This was actually very interesting to find out about! Thanks for the info!!

[@sandrajames7961]

Years ago in my 20's i was a waitress and you are right, i fully depended on my tips to literally put food on the table and pay bills for me and my 4 kids. I never forgot how hard that was and neither did my kids. I always tip way over 20% and so do all my kids. I have the upmost respect for waitresses and busers. I love your videos! It brings back memories of my waitress days and brings a laugh!

[@HarRasser]

Tip culture is out of hand so now I rarely tip, if you dont like you're wage then get a different job

[@sandrajames7961]

@@HarRasser Well you are entitled to your opinion the same as i am entitled to mine :)

[@HarRasser]

@@sandrajames7961 you're opinion is deeply rooted in slavery but since you make out it must be an okay thing 🤣🤣🤣

[@nicholastyler2714]

Sandra did you find it hard to not know what you were making? I am not in this industry. I know what my cheque is going to be each week.

[@sandrajames7961]

@@nicholastyler2714 Yes i did find it hard. I knew on certain days i would make a lot in tips and certain days i would not. I was only a waitress because i was having health issues and could not do the job i was used to doing. I worked as a CNA for most of my work life.

[@riftsix3211]

I worked as a cook for many years (in canada), and we got tipped out. We had a tier system in my specific restaurant. So the more you knew, and how well you did your job put you into the higher tiers. On top of a decent wage, I would have about $400 cash in tip out bi weekly. I miss being a cook. Now I've turned into a Terry. Lol

[@shawneross1067]

Hahahahaaa

[@sirfizz6518]

Roll Tide.

[@riftsix3211]

@@sirfizz6518 roll tide brother

[@SusannahPerri]

Thank you for that detailed history, Drew. I have been a server at several restaurants in the past, all in California. i’ve also worked in customer service in several capacities. I cannot believe the laws in the U.S. are still stacked against servers and I think it’s absolutely disgusting that so many states can get away with paying zero dollars to servers! I am always friendly and polite to everyone at a restaurant and tip at least 20%. Everyone deserves to earn a living wage.

[@davidintrone3914]

Thank you, thank you, for going into the history, so relevent to the conversation.

[@Scribdoodle]

In my early 20s I worked two restaurant jobs at the same time, one was an over the counter restaurant for $10/hr and an optional tip jar (think, idk, subway maybe, but it was a small family owned business). Any tips put in that jar throughout the day were divided equally among whoever worked that day. The other was a full service restaurant but a low price pizza joint, the only real server job I could get at the time. I made the $2.13/hr + tips there but between it being a new restaurant without a steady clientele and affordable, I made pretty much nothing in tips (very few tables, sometimes as little as 2 in 5 hours, very small bills). You probably can move up to a better restaurant after a year or so and make that great tip money everyone talks about but I couldn't do it anymore. Like a lot of people I had 2 jobs because neither would give me 40 hrs a week to live off of, but of course the over the counter restaurant was still paying most of my bills. Eventually I quit and went into a call center job which would at least give me a chance to sit down and have a full work week, which I was incredibly grateful for when March 2020 happened and I could work from home safely.

[@EpicAlcatraz99]

This type of content is awesome!! Would love to see more history foods and restaurants/ restaurant culuture

[@ashleymarkert9738]

Thank you for sharing that with the people! Love your videos you really do a fantastic job! 🙂

[@Slimetime69420]

What's super interesting is how it goes across cultures. For me I tip 15% if the service was bad. 18% to 20% for normal service. And if it was really good 20+%. My girlfriend is Nigerian and she is always shocked that I tip that much. Her normal tip would be like 10%. I've definitely had to talk to her about American restaurant culture. Also that you never order a well done steak 😂

[@johnp139]

That well done steak alone is a reason to break up.

[@drudle]

I tip 15% for shit service, 20% for all other service. Unless, like, the waiter takes a bullet for me. Then they get 25%.

[@sleazymeezy]

I tip 0% because it's not my job to pay servers wages. What sort of fucked up world is it where your job relies on people paying for their food AND your wages. Get a grip.

[@HostileAtHeart]

If I buy the steak, I'll eat it however I want to eat it. Keep your opinions to yourself, you're not the one eating it or paying for it. And if you ARE paying for it, don't attach strings to that kindness. Either you want to pay for the food out of love, or you can 1uck right off with your gate-keeping attitude.

[@slimjimminet]

Are we in love with Drew and his multiple personalities? Yes.

[@crystalsanders2571]

YES!! YES WE ARE!! 😂😂💜

[@AbsitInvidea]

You mean they are not real different people? JK. It's easy to forget though. He is has worked hard to make all his characters unique.

[@GeoffCook1000]

I'm an Australian that lives in the US. It always feels weird when I go back to Australia and you go to a cafe or restaurant where you don't even have the option to tip.

[@Croz89]

I was actually quite surprised that tipping is pretty much not done in the antipodean countries. Few places in New Zealand seemed to expect tips, it wasn't common to see a tip jar. Though I was quite surprised to see surcharges on the menu for public holidays. In the UK you'd just factor the extra wages in to your regular prices.

[@ludaMerlin69]

It surprises me in aus, that some places are starting up the tipping hustle.

[@MJ-he1hf]

As an Australian I seethe any time tips are even mentioned in a restaurant. Employers should pay workers a good wage. End of story.

[@alex.profi27]

​@@ludaMerlin69 because the greedines imported from the US( and no,i m not talking in regards to wages versus tipping in the US,i m talking about people working entry level jobs who now think that they should become rich just because they feel like it,and OTHER PEOPLE should pay towards that) has affected other countries too

[@imasinnerimasaint]

@@Croz89 Public holidays in NZ: some stay closed, some advertise a surcharge, some have already factored that into their prices and advertise no surcharge. You just have to make sure you pay attention to the signs / double check while being seated.

[@milodack1599]

Thank you for this very informative video! I just came back from holiday in the US and 20% was always added automatically on most checks, or at least calculated for you already. Where I’m from, the minimum wage is also different for service and non-service employees. Service employees earn $4.50 an hour versus $6 an hour (minimum wage) but employees are required to top it up if they don’t make that difference in tips. It’s not a huge amount still at the end of the day, but it means on a slow day, they’ll still make a minimum $6 an hour. On a side note, I’ve now watched so many BistroHuddy videos I recognise pretty much all of the cutaways you used throughout your video!

[@host9973]

I also think it's worth mentioning that tipping out depends a lot on restaurant policies. I work at a corporate restaurant in Florida and the servers get about $5.70 an hour, and than they have to tip out the bartenders and the bussers, but hosts don't get tipped out, whereas other nearby restaurants hosts do get tipped out

[@kuroneko4276]

I explained the history of tipping to my students recently. (Middle school.) Some of them made little index cards with math shortcuts to figure out 20%, 25% and 30% tips easily, and after talking to some older siblings who are servers, they suggested bringing new pens as a present for a server you see often if you're 'a regular' somewhere on your visit closest to a gift-giving holiday. (We are doing a class project on etiquette this year.)

[@shannsimms9072]

Aww that’s so nice. This is a cool class activity. And the pen idea is so cute and thoughtful and useful.

[@XFizzlepop-Berrytwist]

I always heard tipping started up around because of the great depression. I guess this could be wrong though. Because times were tough, a restaurant would have to fire people or close down during that time period, and so servers relied on tips. Never heard about it being from the slaves thing. XD

[@erickg3508]

25% 30% is ludicrous

[@melp7614]

25 & 30%? Well, I guess you can wishcast when you've never even had a job.😂 I waited tables thru college & a little beyond, & regardless of what this guy says 15% is average. And it's pretty easy to make good money on 15%. Want 20%? Then go above & beyond. But 25-35% is nuts!

[@anonymall]

​@@melp761425% - 35% when you're cheaping out on the food I guess?

[@CallsignFrostie]

I love how he’s bringing up facts about realistic tipping wages and how it works today. I’ve been in the restaurant service industry for 3 approaching 4 years now and granted I’m a prep but I used to be a sous chef and a server as well and man I had to work several jobs at once and flip flop between restaurants just so I can keep building my wages and find better benefits within companies. Dallas, Texas

[@KD-wz8tp]

You perfectly embody all of your characters!! Thank you for the lesson 😊

[@shaneh7519]

It’s definitely dependent on many factors like Drew said, but the last few restaurants I worked in servers made double what the kitchen made even though they worked far less hours.

[@OgdenM]

Yeap, that happens ALL the time where I live in Oregon... honestly though its probably frequently four times the amount then what the kitchen staff makes. I know servers that probably walk away with $500+ in cash at the end of a shift.. plus the now $15 hour minimum wage. And the annoying thing is, that THEY are the ones that complain the most about having to tip out rest of the staff. While servers that work at less expensive restaurants and get tipped less typically are like, "We're a team, it makes sense". One of my acquaintances was making $300 a shift in tips after a four hour shift 10 years ago!!!!!

[@rhettblair6186]

Dude I love your content and I'd love more videos in this format. Hilarious how you tied in old clips of the characters reacting to you 😹😹😹

[@3headedpuppy]

Almost a decade ago I dated and lived with this guy who worked at a high paying job for his uncle while I worked multiple positions in a chain restaurant (host, to-go, server, then later I did dish washer, salads, and morning deep cleaner) and in the beginning he couldn't understand why I was barely able to pay bills. He would go on these vacations with his family and be confused on why I couldn't afford them. I got annoyed with it so I just showed him my pay check and he got super mad (not at me) because apparently he didn’t realize tip wage was that low. He felt so bad and stopped complaining about my financial inadequacies after that. He also tipped better at restaurants lol. He was a good guy, just not aware of a lot.

[@dayne746]

Thank you for this information! In Singapore servers are typically paid monthly full time wage and each check includes 10% service charge. Customers can top up $ if desired but it's not common or expected to do so.

[@christophernotorfrancesco6683]

Love this, you should discuss tipout structure in restaurants as well. Seeing as how tipout is usually percentage based a poor tip can result in a server effectively loosing money on your table. Bill is 300, tipout on the check in 21.60, you tip 15, the server bites 6.40 cents from another tables tip just to account for what you ordered.

[@Persephoneia01]

This is why I hate large parties. So many think because they have a huge bill that a low tip is okay...

[@jamesmaile]

Great video! I worked in restaurants for 6 years in South Africa when I was in high school and college, some high end and some real dive bars. Servers are meant to earn a minimum wage and in my experience it is expected to tip 10-12%, anything higher is considered generous. The service industry in SA has a big problem with restaurant owners not following the law and in many cases, exploiting their staff, especially foreign nationals. I find it crazy that most states in the US still have the minimum rates of $2.13 for tipped employees set in the 90s.

[@ryuk65]

I would love it if he got to do a Wired Twitter Questions video cause that would be very enlightening.

[@Uapa500]

Very informative video, thank you. In Italy we don't have a minimum wage and hospitality sector is a bit of a wild grey area, with a lot of shady contracts, where people often do far more hours than stated and paid less. Tips are usually left if service has been nice and depend on the customer's pocket and if their hands can reach them 😅

[@headers12]

The tipping expectations at least here in the U.S. is out of control. Ever since the introduction of the new pay system, every business asks for a tip. Subway, McDonald’s, etc. now asks if you want to leave a tip on their screen. Something as simple as ordering a smoothie to go, now requires a 20% tip. It has inevitably led me to eat out less.

[@YvonneHoerde]

Then, actually, the whole maths with that "win-win" experience some people argue here does not work. You go less when the prices get too high. and you go less when you have to tip too much. But to me, I would rather go with too high general prices than with expected tipps of a huge amount because with these tips, I feel not being treated honestly.

[@rakka64]

Wow this was so insightful, I always thought servers being paid less than minimum wage was insane and this explains how it got started

[@thefriesofLockeLamora]

If last week tonight ever do a piece on restaurants in the US I hope they use your characters for the final sketch

[@TinaLilBite]

Love this! Chef here. Never did see any tips. Only from directly from the guests occasionally.

[@mastod0n1]

I live in a tip credit state and worked BOH at a restaurant in a college town from 2012-2015 and all the BOH staff got a tip out at the end of the week. Every shift servers would tip out like 2% of food sales that would get pooled and distributed based on hours and shifts worked. It usually came out to about $40-50 in a 32 hour work week. Had no idea it was technically illegal, but I wouldn't have cared because I was paid $11.50/hr by the time I left.

[@cnferrara]

I didn’t know servers expected 20%. I thought 15 was standard and 20 was great service. I always calculate 20 then round up to the nearest $5 increment but now I’ll be sure to up that. Thanks for sharing!

[@drudle]

I think 15% is the expected minimum but 20% is the expected average. It used to be rule of thumb that it was 15% for average, 20% for exceptional but .. times are tough out there, lol.

[@maimonguy123]

​@@drudlemad isn't it? I couldn't imagine tipping 25%, it's literally adding a quarter of the cost. I thought it was 15 and would tip 18-20%

[@nenamichelle]

15% is absolutely considered a bad tip. In New Orleans I averaged 25%. In Los Angeles it was closer to 20% but we also made 12.25 an hour.

[@JKElemenopi]

Almost 40 years ago when I was in training to be a waiter, I was told, "Standard tip is 15%. What's expected is 20."

[@DarksideOfLuck]

If I get 15% I try to figure out what I did wrong or write you off as a terrible/ignorant human being. I average roughly 24%

[@ImperialAgent]

This honestly helps as I know tipping was different in different states. 20% is far easier to work out especially for us in the UK where tips are nice but not expected. I worked in a pub for 2 weeks as a dishwasher. Crap pay, under the table, and worked a long shift only not to get paid that week so I quit. I was still a college student so didn’t really need the job.

[@PrinceAllen777]

Thanks for the insight into tipping with this content. I will continue cooking my own meals.

[@jojokeane]

Thank you. This is all new to me. I worked in jobs in which there wasn't tipping. Then I started a business and the first time someone handed me too much money, I started to give it back. Then I realized it was a tip! It felt so good, I've been sharing as much as possible with servers because they make a hard job look easy. I appreciate the profession very much.

[@rainerhorn7547]

Worked in Texas, tip law state, and we tipped out 4.5% of our sales to the restaurant. That was for the bussers, bar back and such. This was also based on sales, not tip, so if I sell 100 bucks of food, I owe $4.50 even if they tip nothing. It will just come out of the next table.

[@willgallegos2601]

That would be illegal in Texas. If that happens to you, contact a lawyer.

[@kotymccallister5150]

​@Will Gallegos is that also illegal in West Virginia?

[@c.garcia2363]

How does the four fitty come out from the next table?

[@klyffjohnson]

@@c.garcia2363 Your tip out is at the end of the shift based on total amount of food sold, so the $4.50 comes out of the tips you did earn from your other tables, not literally coming out of the tip from the next table.

[@SBqwerty]

Many restaurants have tried going tipless, and they generally don't succeed. The reality is that servers make more money on tips than they do making a "living wage", especially in states like California where they're paid a full min wage. A lot of that has to do with the fact that server shifts are very short, often 3 hours. If it wasn't for the extreme cost of living, tipping 20% in California wouldn't make sense. Hell, it still doesn't make much sense .... But server prefer it, the industry shames non tippers, and so here we are

[@the_hearthfire]

I like the tipping culture here. It’s actually a win-win for all parties more often than not. If the servers were paid normal hourly/fixed livable wages, food would cost more to account for the service fees to pay the employees. Servers then have less motivation to be as efficient and attentive as possible, being guaranteed their normal pay and no more. They need not worry. I know lots of servers who would take that as liberty and reason to slack off or slow down, and even lessen their overall service quality. The nice thing with tipping like this, is that you as the consumer directly control the worth of pay according to the quality of service provided. With a fixed hourly pay comes a fixed built in service fee within the cost of the food you purchase [aka it will cost more than it does now], yet the service can be poor, while you still pay the same service fee [it’s like having an automatic gratuity added, except you’re tricked into thinking it’s not. But you as the consumer still pay the worker’s wages]. The only difference is that you can actually save money by tipping less if you feel the service and work ethic of the server was sub par or lacking. You do not have that choice and freedom when the service fee is fixed and built into the cost of the individual dishes/menu. I think the tipping culture keeps the employees on their toes, more motivated and competitive, as well as encouraging improved performance. There’s always a chance of a “raise”, aka a “higher than average tip”. I personally like the system. Yes I never see my hourly $2.13 as it all goes to taxes and comes back to me as a $0 check. But often times I can make better money than I would in any other job that’s available to me. It’s a very accessible job, especially for immigrants and lower income families that may not have good access to higher education and degrees, for young people getting a start, and those with former criminal records, etc. It can really be a blessing of a job and very valuable/accessible to anyone needing a high paying job. Yes sometimes us servers really are left with the short straw and I’ve made minimum wage or less consistently in a slow season before and has to pickup another job to pay bills, but there was also over-staffing at play so management was more to blame than the service industry style. Another thing to note is that many servers need to tip out other employees based off of their total sales from the night, not off their income. This is nice if you get extra tips. But if you get stiffed by tables, you have to actually pay for them to eat there. Worst example I have was when a party of about 12 people came in. They took up a lot of my table section and time. The hosts also skipped seating me too, not wanting to overload me with tables. They ended up being one of my only tables for the day for these reasons. This party was a wealthy family who had a bill of about $500. Our corporate did not allow gratuity. I gave them great service, they were very sweet people. So of course they assumed we had gratuity already included in the bill. They didn’t even check the receipt and just handed over a card to pay. Turns out they never even signed the receipt and checked to find out there was no gratuity. Someone overheard them mention that the tip would be included in gratuity with the bill. They assumed wrong so I was left with no tip once I got the bill after they had left. I technically would have had to tip out $15 off that $500 in sales. So I was expected to pay $15 for them to eat at the restaurant, while also working my ass off to take care of them, effectively for free, or in the negative I guess. Luckily my coworkers that night were ones I was very close with, and they felt bad and didn’t keep the money I was supposed to tip out to them, so I thankfully didn’t actually have to pay that $15. But from what I remember, I walked out with minimum wage or less that night. I may have cried a bit. I felt like corporate had really said “screw you” to all us servers, as they had revoked their gratuity policy that week [from what I remember parties of 10 or more would be notified prior to dining that 18% gratuity would be included in the bill total]. It seemed that family was used to coming and having the gratuity in their bill, and I didn’t think I’d need to tell them , “by the way there’s no gratuity here”.