Talking of tipping - % to tip at buffets

[Mom of 3]

I've always been a bit confused about how much to tip at buffets. I don't feel you are getting the same level of service when you have to go up and get your own food but the wait staff does refill drinks and takes away dirty plates.

So, how do you tip wait staff at buffet places as a percentage of the total bill?

Thanks

 

[starbox]

I've always been a bit confused about how much to tip at buffets. I don't feel you are getting the same level of service when you have to go up and get your own food but the wait staff does refill drinks and takes away dirty plates.

So, how do you tip wait staff at buffet places as a percentage of the total bill?

Thanks

We always tip 20%.

 

[sleepingbean]

At buffets, we still need help because of our allergy restrictions, so I still tip 20% and if someone is just AMAZING, we tip above that. 20% is our minimum. If I NEVER saw the server, and got my own plates, drinks, everything...then maybe I would reconsider, but at most buffets the servers still bring drinks, specialty items, bus tables, and provide a level of service. I would still tip something

 

[rentayenta]

20% here too. I think sometimes buffet servers work as hard if not harder than traditional servers. At a buffet, people are getting up and down, eating at different times, needing new plates etc,.

 

[Princess_Belle]

I work in a pretty busy restaurant in Alabama. We are known for being cheap people around here. Traditional gratuity is 18%. That should be the minimum you EVER TIP ANY SERVER!!!!!!! We only get paid $2.13 an hour and if people don't tip well we don't even make minimum wage! So I always leave about 20% - 25% because I know how hard it is to make enough money to pay bills. Please tip all your servers at least 20% because we do have a harder job than you realize.

 

[bicker]

Standard gratuity at buffets is 10% for good service.

 

[prncess674]

20% on a buffet is just ridiculous. Buffet restaurant wait staff generally have more tables than regular TS restaurant. 10-15% is perfectly acceptable.

Tipping 25% is just ridiculous and ludacris.

 

[beattyfamily]

We tip 20%. Isn't ridiculous to us.

 

[wilma-bride]

We usually tip at least 10% at a buffet. If our waiter/ress has been overly helpful we will often leave more.

Edited to add that as this is on the DDP board, do you mean how much to tip in addition to the 18% included in the plan. If that is the question, I would probably only leave an extra couple of dollars for outstanding service at a buffet if I were on the DDP.

 

[prncess674]

We tip 20%. Isn't rediculous to us.

Peggy Post of Good Housekeeping says 10% is customary

http://magazines.ivillage.com/goodhousekeeping/etiquette/peggy/qas/0,,284566_291653,00.html


PS- rEdiculous isn't a word.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ridiculous

 

[beattyfamily]

Peggy Post of Good Housekeeping says 10% is customary

http://magazines.ivillage.com/goodhousekeeping/etiquette/peggy/qas/0,,284566_291653,00.html


PS- rEdiculous isn't a word.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ridiculous

First, wow, thanks for pointing out my spelling mistake.

Second, the key word is 'customary'. Tipping is not manditory and is a matter of choice/opinion. I gave mine as you gave yours; there is nothing to debate.

I tip 20% and to me it isn't ridiculous. You can certainly disagree with that opinion.

 

[traviesojmt]

I work in a pretty busy restaurant in Alabama. We are known for being cheap people around here. Traditional gratuity is 18%. That should be the minimum you EVER TIP ANY SERVER!!!!!!! We only get paid $2.13 an hour and if people don't tip well we don't even make minimum wage! So I always leave about 20% - 25% because I know how hard it is to make enough money to pay bills. Please tip all your servers at least 20% because we do have a harder job than you realize.

While I agree that 20% should be the starting point for tipping, there is no way that I can agree that every server deserves this tip. I have had incidents where the server was too busy talking to other servers to refill drinks or hardly ever came back to the table. We have had servers who were rude and provided horrible service. Why would I reward this person as I would someone who gave decent to excellent service? By the way, I do realize how hard of a job that it is, but I also realize that not every server attempts to work hard at the job.

As far a buffets go, it will always depend on the level of service. The servers at buffets at Disney seems to wait on our table more than the average buffet off-site. They seem to visit the table almost as often as regular sit-downs, so I can see justifying paying 20% at Disney.

 

[mom2alix]

What we do is 15% for buffets and 20% for full service. Obviously, subject to the level of service we might leave more.

 

[graeme1299]

I work in a pretty busy restaurant in Alabama. We are known for being cheap people around here. Traditional gratuity is 18%. That should be the minimum you EVER TIP ANY SERVER!!!!!!! We only get paid $2.13 an hour and if people don't tip well we don't even make minimum wage! So I always leave about 20% - 25% because I know how hard it is to make enough money to pay bills. Please tip all your servers at least 20% because we do have a harder job than you realize.

My one table is not responsible to tip enough for you to make minimum wage. For instance, 3 people eating at a $15 per person buffet is $45 for the bill x 20% is a $9 tip. Most buffets have waitresses that hold down 4-6 tables (we'll use 5 for this example). If the average is 3 people per table and they all tip 20%, that's 5 x $9 per table, $45.

Most people don't take up a table for an entire hour at a buffet so you are actually making more than $45 per hour if everyone tips 20%. Not bad at all but I think it's a bit much.

Just my opinions. By the way, I'm from Alabama originally and I tip well for good service and poor for poor service.

 

[Lewisc]

Disney treats the servers at buffet restaurants the same as the servers in other restaurants. Disney currently gives those servers an 18% tip for guests on the DDP. Parties of 8 or more, rumored to be reduced to 6 or more, have the same 18% gratuity added on to their check as in full service restaurants.

I guess the theory is the total check tends to be less and a good server works at explaining the food, promptly clearing used plates and refilling drinks.

I'll agree most tipping guides say 10-15% is an appropriate tip for a buffet restaurant but Disney seems to think the tip should be the same.

 

[mom2my3kids]

As a server myself, I personally don't think buffet servers do as much work as a full service type server. But as a server I always leave 20 percent tip, Here in Indiana they only make what I do and that is 2.13 a hour..

 

[wilde_oscar]

I hear over and over that servers make 2.13 an hour... if that is not enough for you to live on you should probably work else where. Oh, what is that you say, if you provide good service you will get tipped? if you are quick and smart, do a good job, and provide excellent customer service you can easily make $45 an hour in an average to upscale joint.... hm, me thinks you should be working hard to earn that tip then.

At a typical buffet, a couple bucks per person is plenty. Clearing plates and filling glasses in not on par with discussing my wine selection to match the truffle sauce.

 

[prncess674]

I hear over and over that servers make 2.13 an hour... if that is not enough for you to live on you should probably work else where. Oh, what is that you say, if you provide good service you will get tipped? if you are quick and smart, do a good job, and provide excellent customer service you can easily make $45 an hour in an average to upscale joint.... hm, me thinks you should be working hard to earn that tip then.

At a typical buffet, a couple bucks per person is plenty. Clearing plates and filling glasses in not on par with discussing my wine selection to match the truffle sauce.

Bravo!

My one table is not responsible to tip enough for you to make minimum wage. For instance, 3 people eating at a $15 per person buffet is $45 for the bill x 20% is a $9 tip. Most buffets have waitresses that hold down 4-6 tables (we'll use 5 for this example). If the average is 3 people per table and they all tip 20%, that's 5 x $9 per table, $45.

Most people don't take up a table for an entire hour at a buffet so you are actually making more than $45 per hour if everyone tips 20%. Not bad at all but I think it's a bit much.

also should be noted that a regular TS waiter has fewer tables than a buffet restaurant server.

 

[The Sweetness]

They seem to visit the table almost as often as regular sit-downs, so I can see justifying paying 20% at Disney.

I have never been to a buffet where the server wasnt at my table at least 3X more often than at a traditional TS I tip at a buffet as I would anywhere else 18%, a little more if I feel service was exceptional, or on holidays (I'm weird about that) and less if I feel service was substandard

 

[mom2my3kids]

I hear over and over that servers make 2.13 an hour... if that is not enough for you to live on you should probably work else where. Oh, what is that you say, if you provide good service you will get tipped? if you are quick and smart, do a good job, and provide excellent customer service you can easily make $45 an hour in an average to upscale joint.... hm, me thinks you should be working hard to earn that tip then.

At a typical buffet, a couple bucks per person is plenty. Clearing plates and filling glasses in not on par with discussing my wine selection to match the truffle sauce.

For some reason your comment hits a nerve with me.. Me thinks if I bust my butt as a server and I am a great server at that. Yes I expect to be tipped. This is how our system works, you get good service then you tip what you are suppose to. Today that is anywhere from 15-20 percent of the bill. I bet 90 percent of people on this board could not handle being a server, its one tough job and you put up with the rudest people who want to take it out on you for no reason other then you are a server. Yes I am a 34 year old married mother of 3 who bust her butt to make a living in this world. This is the job I have chosen for the moment, it lets me pick and choose my hours so I can take care of my kids. I don't work at a fancy place, I work at my local IHOP and let me tell you I don't make anything near 45 a hour you are talking about. I am lucky on days to get a 5.00 tip, so please don't look down on servers they have one of the hardest jobs. Wine and truffles no thanks, couldn't afford them anyway.