How much to tip at a buffet...

[postaldoug]

Let's say a buffet costs $13 pp, the girl brings you soft drinks ! How much should , i Reasonably toke ? About $3 seems fair ( for 2 ) , it's a buffet ! $2 is low, $5 a tad high ( it's a buffet ) . $10 seems excessive, what's appropriate ?

How much do you guys toke, at a buffet ?

Serious question.

Doug

 

[JeromeJ]

One grocery $$ per person.

 

[eldiablo]

Depends, if they bring the drinks and don't come back ....$1-2 ......if they take care of you and check on the table ....then $3-5.

 

[TommyMullins]

10 PERCENT IS A GOOD RULE OF THUMB FOR A BUFFET.

 

[hanktee]

If I go some place like Soupplantation or similar, I'll leave a few bucks, depending on how many people I have with me. If it is me and someone else, $2. If there are about 5 of us in the party, about $4.

 

[HacheMan]

I always try to tip as well as I can afford at the time. I simply try and put myself in their shoes and how it feels to have to rely on others' tip money to get a decent days/nights pay, which has to totally suck considering the fact some waitresses/waiters,no matter how good they are, get stuck with cheap people wo never leave a dime.Today I ate at Ruby Tuesday's, the girl never came back to refill our drinks. Another girl noticed and offered to refill them and did. Our waitress deserved nothing but I still left here a few bucks.......

 

[sherman]

$1 or $2

 

[1cheater]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Hache man:
I always try to tip as well as I can afford at the time. I simply try and put myself in their shoes and how it feels to have to rely on others' tip money to get a decent days/nights pay, which has to totally suck considering the fact some waitresses/waiters,no matter how good they are, get stuck with cheap people wo never leave a dime.Today I ate at Ruby Tuesday's, the girl never came back to refill our drinks. Another girl noticed and offered to refill them and did. Our waitress deserved nothing but I still left here a few bucks.......

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>



Hache, My wife and I ate at Uno Chicago Grill about an hour ago, let me tell you I'm still fuming...

We were sat by the "I hate life" hostess, then we sat for over 15 minutes before I had to wave down the mopey hostess to ask if we were the only ghosts in the restaurant... 5 minutes later a smiley faced server (girl) came over and took our drink orders and acted as if we just sat down, no appology, nothing... We get our drinks 5 minutes later and make the mistake of ording an appitizer (mozz sticks) The mozz sticks come out 15 minutes later with NO app plates... 15 minutes later we had eaten the app and I had drank a 20 oz beer which sat empty for atleast 10 minutes.. I ordered another beer and it came to the table 5 minutes after we got our entres..

Now I know some people are speculating how full was the restaurant/her section (about 8-10 people) blah, blah, I feel that's still no excuse for this BS. If the server is swamped then it's management's responsibility to adjust to the situation and atleast recognize the tables that are being un-attended in a reasonable time.

I can tell you that I'am a chef and know what is bad service and this was the bottum of the barrel..

On a posetive note my fajitas were very good, but my wife's personal deep dish pizza was very undesireable..

Needless to say when the check came I wrote a BIG FAT $0 on the tip line, which is exactly what this incompitent server deserved..


Back to the question at hand, the buffet tip, I would definatly say $1 a person is perfect unless your totally abused like my wife and I were.


Lander avoid the Uno Chicago Grill on Maple in Amherst at all costs

 

[Mr.Smith]

so your check was $26 for two. I would tip like its a restaurant, not a buffet. buffet servers work hard too and you can be sure they are responsible to share some tip money to the bussers who clean the tables off. so I would tip $4 or $5. considering how much I probably just took them for in the casino I have no problem tipping 15% plus at the buffet

 

[HacheMan]

"I hate life" hostess,
LOL Cheater.......I don't blame you there. Im not going to lie, there are a few cases in which I haven't, and won't leave a tip. However, for example, I ate at a fine restaurant with some of my family(mother~in~law

), and our waitress was one of the best I've ever had, and my motherinlaw just gave her SUCH a hard time it was pissing me off highly. It just went on and on and on, nitpicking about the most ridiculous things. Anyhow, I threw the girl a 20 when it was all said and done....(Her being gorgeous had something to do with it also.....

 

[HacheMan]

ALSO, now~a~days, what is total BS is most places make all of the waitresses turn in their tips at end of night and they split them. This is the most asinine someone has ever come up with. It's not fair for one girl to bust her behind while another might be compared to a case like yours. So what I do now, is if I have a good waitress, I give the tip directly to her and tell her "This is for you"......and he only, and tell her that if there are any questions her boss can come to me.......

 

[1cheater]

Good man Hache

Also, shell out another $20 for a noose for the motherinlaw

 

[1cheater]

Hache, one of my worst pet peeves is server "helpers/runners" food always and I mean always comes out way to fast plus if you order a steak and it's not cooked to your likeing you have to wait for the server who should have served the steak in the first place!

I highly recomend anyone to avoid any restaurant that has a "runner" system


I agree with the split tip crap Hache, good people always get screwed..

 

[JimFiestSux]

Give 50% and tell the waiter or waitress never to let your cup or glass empty! Tip them before hand! They'll take good care of you! It always works for me!!

 

[ChuckSims]

A buffet? Suckers! The Vegas buffets used to have the drinks where you went and picked out your food, you then selected your drinks on your own. The union says hey these suckers are tipping everyone, why not we get in on it too. So they take away the drink area and move it to the employee area, and a "runner" brings you a drink. I don't tip them because they are not doing anything. If you tip more than a buck you're just a sucker. Remember you are at a buffet.

 

[PO69]

$1 a person is considered fine

 

[Fishhead]

$10

 

[UncleMoneybags]

I start at 10% and based on the type of service received will augment that % in the appropriate direction. I would say that my average tip is in the low 20's as I empathize with the struggles of waiters and waitresses. I have only stiffed one person since I always felt that a miniscule tip was more insulting. I can handle slow service for the most part but if you ridicule me or my guests or give me sh!t in any way that's too much. As far as buffets go, that's a little different. I don't really go to buffets because for me it's a one and done thing but I'd probably give a similar tip.

 

[RPM]

for a cheap buffet, i usually tip around 20%. i mean come on. if your bill is $26 than thats only a $5.20 tip.

if you cant afford that, you should stay home and eat hamburger.

 

[SixthSense]

I laugh at people who say you shouldn't tip well because it's only a buffet. Assuming the waiter/waitress took could care of you (drinks were always filled, plates were taken away in a timely manner), then you should be tipping them 15%-20%.

Consider what happens in a buffet setting compared to walking into a restaurant and ordering a sandwich.

If you are ordering a sandwich:

1) Waiter greets you and asks you what you want to drink

2) Brings drink and takes your order for a sandwich

3) Places order for sandwich and brings you your drink

4) Picks up sandwich and brings order to you

5) Checks back to make sure everything is all right

6) Clears plate and also refills drinks

7) Brings bill

Now, if you are going to the buffet:

1) Waiter greets you and asks you what you want to drink

2) Brings drink and rings in order for buffet

3) Clears plates (more times than the order above) and refills drinks

4) Checks back to make sure everything is all right

5) Clears plate and also refills drinks

6) Brings bill

Tell me how either is different. The waiter has probably done less when you ordered off the menu because they have less plates to clear and probably more drinks to refill. Like RPM said, if you can't afford the extra $1 or $2, then stay home or go to some fast food joint. These people work hard too.

Again, this is all under the assumption that the service is good. And if it is too busy for the waiter to do a good job, don't take it out on the waiter if they are honestly making an attempt to do their best job. Voice your concern to management becuase they obviously don't have enough people working during those times.