7h ago

Why do i tip my bartender $2 per drink and per bar food order but 20% when I order food from a waitress? Am I tipping wrong?

Im having beers at bar ordered wings and tipped $2 everything the bartender brings me.

Beer = $6

tip for beer $2

wings = $20ish

Tip for wings from bartender = $2

Total tips = $4

==============================

Same order from waitress/er = $26

Tip = $5.20

Now I know this is micro example but extrapolate this over several drinks with food and the difference swings the other way. The question remains tho, am I tipping correctly?

19 comments

You're tipping too much.
In Michigan we passed a law requiring minimum wage for all tipped workers by 2030(?), and they FLIPPED THEIR SHIT. Said they would lose too much money in tips if they made minimum wage. The republicans rolled it back below minimum (still a small increase), and I'm not sure where it stands right now.
If tipped workers are going to fight against wage increases so much, then I'm okay reducing their tips.
You guys sound crazy
non-american.
Couldn't imagine tipping for EVERY drink, idk how I would keep track. I can barely afford drinks as it is. I once got tipped and I politely declined. It's the responsibility of the workplace to pay fairly, not other people who are just trying to get by.
- in australia they serve bottles of water for free. so im not even out there buying drinks. some places have carbonated water for free too.
- True but tipping was created generations ago for the wealthy to not have to pay living wages and it's going to be as hard as taking guns away to get it to change. Remember, all this talk about "fair wages" and "equality" was planted and cultivated for a LONG time with a specific reason to hold down the poor and create different classes. It's a shitty system getting worse by the day.
For anyone who mightn't know, tipping culture is rooted in slavery and exploitation. It existed in Europe to an extent but really spread its wings - like many awful European things - in the USA.
I support workers rights, but I don't tip. The way I see it, if the place requires tips for their staff to get by, then the staff are being financially abused and I would be propping up a system of exploitation. Prioritise places that pay their staff above the minimum wage.
Every aspect of America is insufferable
- And getting worse, or enshittified
Start a tab, tip at the end
Really depends.
Typically, $1 is for a standup bar etc with high volume.
If I'm sitting at the bar top, getting fed, I'll tip like I would were I sitting at a table. If I'm just sucking down beers, probably a buck or two a drink and if I've been a while, a 5 on top at the end.
But, I've known a lot of people in the industry etc... Also I've found that being a good person who tips helps out in the long run, it's nice getting the occasional free drink, having the server on your side when flirting with folks at the bar etc. Best one was the bartender gave me really high end ski gloves that had been left behind a couple nights prior, the cash equivalent would've been huge.
As they say, it's nice to be nice.
This discussion around what to tip hides an employment system that values employees to the point of underpayment and poor working conditions.
Perhaps you should instead frequent establishments where tipping is not expected because the employees are paid a proper wage.
That way, you don't have to argue about tipping your bartender too much, or not enough, instead you can focus on drinking a superbly crafted concoction of your choice.
I'll also note that tipping is not universal.
I think 1-2$ per drink is the recommendation because it's easier to remember than doing the math, and you're more likely to drop the cash and go rather than interacting with a busy bartender more. That said, if they're doing full service for you (food, checking in on you), you should probably tip normally, because they're acting as a server in that case.
I think it’s insane too. I understand that tipping goes (theoretically) to the waitstaff, but I have a hard time tipping $1 per $4.50 bottle of beer handed to me. If it’s more complex of a drink than x and coke, sure it took their time.
Tipping table service used to be good amount only not drinks and tax. Now it seems to be on top the final total with 20% being expected.
I thought bar food is tipped the same as restaurant food.
Tipping a dollar a drink is standard because
It's easy
... that's really it. No thinking, no math, etc. which is important when you're drinking.
Also, you too per drink so the bartender knows you tip right from the start.
Yalls are insane: $1/drink tip. For a sit-down restaurant, 20% minimum because that’s the expectation in 2025. There’s a special place in hell for people who decrease a server’s tip bc service wasn’t up to par. Either tip the full amount or eat at home, this ain’t 1952.
- No
I do 20% for table service by wait staff and 1 dollar per drink at a bar, unless I run a tab over a long session, then I often default back to 20%. Also if the bartender is putting a lot of time and effort into making me fancy cocktails and not just pouring me a draft.
With tips I generally do 20% across the board so a bartender would get 20% just like a waitress. And it's always better to have a happy bartender :)
That said I'm also in the northeast U.S. where everything is expensive so it sort of makes sense that the tips aren't going to be cheap. Maybe I'd rethink the tipping if I was somewhere else less expensive.
Not wrong, but it's okay to tip the bartender 20% as well.
Only you can answer that.
I give $1/drink at bars and cafes(not starfucks).
I give 15% to severs unless it was exceptional.
I give 10% to specific takeout locations because I want to support their staff and I don't usually dine-in.

19 comments