Table-Service Tipping: Is 25% the New 20%?
Electronic devices ask for higher and higher tips for table service. Do diners need to comply?
A few weeks ago, I had a pleasant lunch on the patio of a sit-down restaurant. Food, service, ambiance—all good, if not exceptional. When the server came to run my credit card through the card reader, I was given the option to tip 20%, 25%, or 30%.
This led me to wonder (as I have in similar situations recently): When, exactly, did 20% become the lowest suggested tip for table service?
Actually, we all know when the standard took off: The Pandemic. We knew that there were people out there doing heroic work on the front lines of this catastrophe. Health workers come top of mind, of course, but service workers were out there, too. To show gratitude to restaurants in peril and to those who worked to keep them going, many customers tipped beyond well.
“This new era of tipping from our customers was extraordinary,” says Lynn Pritchard, chef-owner of Table 128 and 503 Cocktail Lab. “Some customers were tipping $100 on a $19 burger.”
Certainly, no person with a hear…