Restaurant Tipping Around The World: 25 Countries' Gratuity Protocol

Daniel Maurer at Grub Street recently covered the findings of a new French study that found that people dining to songs with "pro-social" lyrics are 11 percent more likely to tip than those who listen to "neutral" songs, which got us thinking about the starkly different sets of tipping protocol around the world. Flip through the slides below to see just how different North American tipping customs are from the rest of the world.

UPDATE, 8-6-10: Oh, and there's the nagging question of whether it's proper to tip pre- or post-tax. Luckily the LA Times' David Lazarus cleared that one up just this week. According to Lazarus' research, although restaurants often show suggested tip amounts calculated post-tax, it's perfectly proper etiquette to calculate the tip pre-tax.

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A tip of 15-20% is customary for good to great service, 10-15% is common for poor service and 20% and up for excellent service. What about your barista? Well that's complicated. (Photo from Flickr: larryjh1234)

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A tip of 15-20% is customary for good to great service, 10-15% is common for poor service and 20% and up for excellent service.

What about your barista? Well that's complicated.

(Photo from Flickr: larryjh1234)

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Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Nonsensical. Smart.

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Comments

[KristinNoelle]

01:20 AM on 09/02/2010

There's a very large group of people in the US who need to read this article. Former waiters/waitresses, you know what I'm talking about.

[TheGripester]

03:06 AM on 08/22/2010

Here in New Zealand, there's no tipping except for the tip jar at cafes. That's because we have a living wage - it's a minimum of $12.50 per hour (it may have gone up, actually), and waiters at good restaurants usually make much more than that. Prices are a little higher at restaurants, but still not bad. Good place to visit when the US dollar is strong.

[gia303]

01:10 PM on 08/14/2010

Tipping in Australia is NOT compulsory. Often there is a small jar labelled 'Tips' at the register, where customers will throw in the coinage from any change they received after paying.

[MetrointheWoods]

03:49 PM on 08/08/2010

On the surface, it makes me feel a little better that Americans are a generous people (because I think we are generous). It should be noted that just about every country on the list does have a generous social service package for its citizens.

I think the greatest travesty of the past decade is that Americans weren't properly sold on the idea of public healthcare. If we would have gotten some reasonable cost controls: i.e. malpractice limits and real pharma concessions, it would have passed handily.

[HypocrisyAlarm]

05:59 AM on 08/24/2010

Labor laws in most other countries do not exclude servers from minimum wage laws. Thus, servers receive wages plus tips. In America, a server usually earns a nominal wage (less than the government's minimum wage for most industries) and must rely mostly on tips.

While this often leads to good service, it also leads to servers trying to turn the table as often as possible. I get very irritated being rushed out of restaurants by servers. "Can I get you anything else?" every two to three minutes gets old rapidly.

[Ramart]

02:45 PM on 08/06/2010

You're fooling yourself if you think tipping more or less than 15% either encourages or punishes good/bad service. In fact, such beliefs have been refuted by scholarly social scientists who've done in-depth studies of tipping. Servers do what they do (good or otherwise) and take what they get, and generally never feel they've been tipped enough. The whole system is an archaic throwback to rigidly class-conscious societies, feudalism, aristocracy-vs.-peasantry, etc. The custom of tipping induces guilt and anxiety among tippers and recipients alike. That said, there's an implied social contract in the U.S. that requires patrons to tip for table service in a sit-down restaurant. Leave exactly 15% of the pre-tax total and think no more about it. Despite all their whining and inflated sense of entitlement, servers don't work any harder than many nontipped workers, and less hard than countless more deserving laborers who'll never receive a tip, like crop pickers.

[LouisvilleLiberal]

03:14 PM on 08/08/2010

Having waited tables in college....I beg to differ. The place I worked was rather up-scale and we were taught the tricks of excellent service. Tips were always higher if you had the opportunity to do a little something extra or were gracious about taking food back to the kitchen for better preparation and if you were inattentive or hurried, it was reflected in your tips.

I tip 15% if my service was adequate but not spectacular and 20% or more if I got above and beyond service. I sometimes also tip 10% or less if my waiter left me sitting without food or drink or explaination for a large percentage of the meal time, rushed me out or made excuses for badly prepared food.

For me, a server can make my dining experience better or worse by their service and I feel that expressing my appreciation when the server helps make it a pleasant experience will insure that I get good service from the same server the next time I return.

However, I am always confused at the expectation that I must tip "servers" at buffet restaurants.

[MetrointheWoods]

04:11 PM on 08/08/2010

Where are you eating? Good restaurants hire good people. I'm skeptical of any social scientist conducting 'research' on this when so many social problems need attention. No reputable scientist would do such a thing; they leave this for the 6 o'clock news.

[Aaron Cogan]

01:31 PM on 08/06/2010

I think it's a shame we in America don't consider Serving a profession like the rest of the civilized world. (Not as great a shame as Universal Health Care, but still.) We delegate waiting tables to the kids still in school or as a part time job for actors and the like. A good, professional server can guide you through the menus and the wine, spirits & cocktails and make a good experience a great one.

And for those who think trying harder as a server automatically equals a better tip, think again. I don't try harder solely for a better tip, because I take pride in my job and I do consider it my profession.

We refer to the vice-like handshake given by a guest in lieu of a good tip as The Vulcan Death Grip. Most times, the more effusive the praise, the more likely they left a bad tip. But not always. In short, I can tell who's cultured & who isn't by how they tip.

Oh, and if they use the phrase, "President Palin" in any sense other than ironically.

[Aaron Cogan]

07:01 AM on 08/06/2010

Three important rules, everyone:
1) If you're going out, learn what constitutes a good tip.
2) Never eat at a place called, "Mom's."
3) Never take advice from the skinny waiter.

[cafecat]

08:37 PM on 08/11/2010

Read Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw about commentary regarding weight of kitchen crew (I know you're talking about waiters, here). Most kitchens have tight quarters and crews don't want to have to work around someone's (pardon me -- I'm going to say it) fat ass. Same applies to food service crews. The person who can't reach up or bend over, lift poundage, and run back and forth to the wine cellar, etc., isn't working as hard as everyone else. They slide and they make other staff work harder. Please don't give credit to some server simply because their calorie intake is higher.

[Aaron Cogan]

12:27 AM on 08/12/2010

With all due respect to you and Master Bourdain, you don't know what you're talking about. As I was reading your post I was finishing my French Onion Soup. And Hell, yes, I finished it all; soup, sop & 150 day aged Swiss Gruyere.

I am a Level One Sommelier. In addition to being the go-to guy for wine info, I am constantly asked by my fellow servers to answers questions about the sauces, the origin of the fish we're serving, etc. I carry my own (considerable) weight and then some, thank you very much.

The problem with generalizations is one can look the proper fool when one is met with someone who doesn't fit one's stereotypes.

[pg in yvr]

01:09 AM on 08/06/2010

Some North American restaurants add on a service charge automatically with larger groups. This is often disclaimed by a tiny message on the menu. They tend to play on the psychology of peer pressure and the fact that few people will bother noticing that service is included. They know that 90% people will not notice service is added automatically, and larger groups tend to tip higher. Restaurants therefore make double tip.

I was with some people in a restaurant and because my friend's wife is a waitress, she always tips for service no matter how poor, explaining that it's not the waitresses fault. My attitude is that while this may be true, they manage the customer experience and have the power to make sure everything is right. The restaurant we were in automatically added service charge but just wrote S/C. When it was time to pay, my friends were busy working out a huge tip and I explained that it's already included. Regardless of this, they still insisted on leaving a tip on top of this, which I had to be the party pooper and refuse to partake. They reacted to me as if I hadn't given a tip. Very bad practise on the restaurant's part in my opinion and I've neither returned to the establishment or dined with these friends. I don't ming paying a tip for good service but I refuse to pay twice, or be left paying once and feel that I haven't then tipped.

[pg in yvr]

12:46 AM on 08/06/2010

The UK tipping guide is incorrect. A vast majority of people tip but as restaurant prices are already amongst the highest in the world, it's very common for people to always leave 10% regardless of the service. British people tend to tip even when the service is sub-par, and rarely go over 10%. They are often oblivious to different tipping amounts while abroad, and their goodwill gesture often falls flat on its face, especially in North America. But waiters in Britain do not rely on tips as much as in North America, although 99% will claim probably claim they do.

People DO tip in pub restaurants the same as other restaurants. But it's unusual for people to give a monetary tip to a barman when only buying drinks and bar snacks, especially as these are normally ordered and served directly over the bar, not via waiter service. Hot bar food is often delivered by the manager or chef directly, but UK pub goes tend to pay for their drinks and bar snacks in advance. Occasionally people will invite the barman/woman to have a drink, which is certainly more common than monetary tips. Example "Three pints of bitter and whatever you're drinking". Bars tend to set protocol on how to accept such offers.

[RickO]

04:50 PM on 08/05/2010

I tipped this old waiter a little too much my first day in Budapest (trying to figure out the forint) and he laughed at me. He took the tip and waved it in the air and yelled something to a couple of young girls in the restaurant and everyone else looked at me. I asked somebody what he'd said. Apparently he asked the girls if they wanted to get a room. I made it a point not to make that mistake again. But I recommend Budapest if you've never been there.

[yemaya]

04:40 PM on 08/05/2010

Just a note that european waiters dont' get paid the measley less than minimum wage as those here in the US. They don't rely on their tips to live, which is the way it should be actually.

[Ramart]

02:57 PM on 08/06/2010

Servers in seven states, including California, are paid the full minimum wage in addition to their tips. The 43 other states allow payments of subminimum wages to servers, whose tips (or estimated portions thereof) can be credited by employers toward their minimum-wage obligations. Consequently, you might think the better-compensated California servers would provide better service than do peers in those 43 states. You'd be wrong.

[yemaya]

03:16 PM on 08/06/2010

ok, but 1- minimum wage sucks and you really can't live off it. seriously

2- it's relative to the standard of living in any given place.
3- it's still sucks.....

[SneathLane]

09:04 PM on 08/26/2010

Minimum wage is not a living wage in the U.S. Unless you live under a bridge and use hospital emergency rooms for medical service.

[GSR]

03:52 AM on 08/05/2010

In Australia restaurant workers are paid a living wage by law and are not reliant on tips.

[Wonderpants]

03:13 AM on 08/05/2010

A lot of servers have to claim a percentage of their sales for taxes, as well as tip out to chefs, bussers, hosts, bartenders, etc. In the U.S. at least, this means that when a server is stiffed on a bill or given say 10%, that means that it actually cost them money to serve a (usually sh*tty) table. It can be heartbreaking. The whole thing is sort of a ghost economy, really. Many restaurants have their servers claim a percentage of sales as tips when tipping is not a socially mandated activity and many cheapskates tip poorly or not at all. It truly is amazing how many ways some people can rationalize not leaving an extra buck or two for even a great server.

[yemaya]

04:41 PM on 08/05/2010

i agree. most folks don't know how little they get paid in wages. They truly do rely on tips to survive. I know I used to wait tables.

[hopefull]

02:18 AM on 08/05/2010

I would expect the waiter to receive a decent living wage.I object to subsidizing the restaurant owners wage bill.

[yemaya]

04:42 PM on 08/05/2010

except that they don't get a decent wage. At least not here in the US. Tip them good, cuz they rely on it to pay their bills!

I always tip in cash. Credit card companies charge the merchants between 2-5% transaction fees.

[Ramart]

03:04 PM on 08/06/2010

Everybody has bills to pay, including nontipped workers. Pity for supposedly underpaid and overworked servers is only one of the many distorted guilt-trips associated with the archaic custom of tipping, which causes anxiety among tipper and recipient alike. Leave 15% of the pretax total and think no more about it.

[SneathLane]

09:05 PM on 08/26/2010

You can expect whatever you want - but that's not how the system works in the U.S., so if you don't tip adequately for good service, you are actively hurting the waiter.

[KIVPossum]

02:08 AM on 08/05/2010

I don't like places that add the tip in automatically. If they want to charge more for their meals and service, that's fine, just don't specify a tip amount as a requirement.

The photo guide is a bit off. Most of the better restaurants in Turkey add 15-18%. At the small cafes a small tip is sufficient.

In East Europe tipping is a new thing. Westerners leave their 15% and it pees off the locals who are used to 2-4%. For good service I leave 8-10 and my wife scrapes half of it into her purse. Of course that's because the staff is paid a fair wage, unlike the US where they get almost nothing except their tips.

[yemaya]

04:44 PM on 08/05/2010

exactly, but why does it tee em off? I guess maybe they know folks don't do their homework regarding overseas tipping customs. I dunno....

[KIVPossum]

01:20 AM on 08/06/2010

If I leave a 10% and the local guy leaves 2% it makes him look cheap. If enough foreigners come into a place and leave bigger tips, the staff start expecting it from everyone. Also it is considered a bit 'showy'.