Do You Tip At Take-Out Windows?

[Ro_Laren]

A lot of restaurants now have take-out windows or counters such as Outback or Chili's. The windows/counters also have tip jars. Do you guys actually tip the peeps working the take-out window? I never have... part of the reason I go to the take-out windows is to save money not tipping the waitors and to save money on drinks. Maybe I am just cheap!

 

[Small White Car]

I admit that I don't, but really there's good reason to tip at least a dollar or two.

Someone had to get the food from the kitchen and box it up. While they're doing all that they're NOT waiting on tables, getting tips from other places.

I mean, it took some effort. Not 15% effort, but we should probably tip them a little bit.

 

[Mr. B]

I usually don't tip at carryout unless I have 'inconvenienced' the people in some fashion or was exceptionally impressed with the service I received. Yesterday I tipped $2, the amount of a discount coupon I submitted.

At sit-down restaurants and bars I tip generously (20-50%) but I don't believe there is any obligation for carryout.

 

[Venardhi]

I tip about as much as I would at a coffee shop or deli counter. Whatever spare change I have on me. A proper 10+% tip? Not a chance.

 

[Canadave]

I don't, myself... after all, I'm the one going out of my way to come into the restaurant and take it home. I'm kind of glad that seems to be the norm, actually!

 

[JimCasy]

I admit that I don't, but really there's good reason to tip at least a dollar or two.

Someone had to get the food from the kitchen and box it up. While they're doing all that they're NOT waiting on tables, getting tips from other places.

I mean, it took some effort. Not 15% effort, but we should probably tip them a little bit.

I don't know, is it actually the wait staff who's boxing shit up? I figured it was just the kitchen workers...and they don't get tips for putting food on plates, so why should you tip just cause they put it in a box instead?

 

[RobertVA]

Since the only time I'm carrying food home is from the grocery store tipping waitstaff is not something I've thought about. When I buy prepared food I prefer to use the restaurant's tables, HVAC and proper plates and tableware that they clean (where available). I usually pay 20% of the check.

Since buffet waitstaff are performing fewer services (I'm bringing the food to the table!) and are presumably getting opportunities at a larger number of tables, I figure for a shift they can get tips comparable to those at full service establishments at a lower percentage of the check.

If I'm coming inside to receive food across a counter or pulling my car up to a window, it's no more than the service at a fast food place, so no tip. I might consider a tip if they have to come outside to a row of reserved customer pickup parking slots, but at a lower rate than I would pay for service at tables inside. Lets remember "pickups" don't require beverage refills, separate desert runs or table busing. .

 

[Small White Car]

I admit that I don't, but really there's good reason to tip at least a dollar or two.

Someone had to get the food from the kitchen and box it up. While they're doing all that they're NOT waiting on tables, getting tips from other places.

I mean, it took some effort. Not 15% effort, but we should probably tip them a little bit.

I don't know, is it actually the wait staff who's boxing shit up? I figured it was just the kitchen workers...and they don't get tips for putting food on plates, so why should you tip just cause they put it in a box instead?

It's the way a local food critic described it when he was asked this question. It's his job to know stuff like that, so I tend to believe him.

 

[Kelso]

Nope.

I also don't tip the guy at McDonald's.

 

[Timby]

I admit that I don't, but really there's good reason to tip at least a dollar or two.

Someone had to get the food from the kitchen and box it up. While they're doing all that they're NOT waiting on tables, getting tips from other places.

I mean, it took some effort. Not 15% effort, but we should probably tip them a little bit.

I don't know, is it actually the wait staff who's boxing shit up?

Depends on the restaurant. At certain chains, such as Joey's Seafood Bar & Grill, packaging and handling take-out orders is the bartender's job.

 

[miraclefan]

NEVER! *Hurumph*!

 

[Cutter John]

Nope. I generally only tip when I'm at a proper sit-down restaurant. Which I rarely go to anyway. I might drop a dollar in if theres a tip bucket at the counter if I'm in a good mood. But thats about it.

 

[SmoothieX]

Hell no I don't. What did they do to serve me other than shove a bag of food at me.

I'm also pretty stingey at sit down restaurants too. Do something to woo me or make my experience or at most you're getting $1-2 per person out of me.

 

[cultcross]

No, I don't tip for carryout food, but tipping is much less part of the culture here - it wouldn't be expected for anything other than a sit-down meal in a restaurant and even then what constitutes a suitable tip is usually significantly less than in the US. 10% is considered suitable, even for very good service. There's a reason the Belgians call a bad tipper "Un Anglais".
Having had a lot of exposure to the US and their way of doing things I tend to tip a lot more than most Britons in restaurants, but that's still the only place I tip anybody, really.

 

[An Officer]

Nope, I don't tip for a takeaway which I have collected myself. If it's a guy on a bike delivering to my home, I usually tip a pound per pizza.

I sometimes collect a takeaway pizza from a local Pizza Express. I had never before been accosted for a tip whilst doing this. Except once, I went in there as usual, and a new fellow tried to take about a 15% tip, for a takeaway pizza, without my permission! He just brought me my box, along with the change, then closed his hand again, saying: "For the chef". Yeah, right. Such cheek. I think he thought I was a dumb tourist from the hotel next door.

 

[Neeka Keet]

I tip at the Starbucks drive-thru. But I always tip there because I've been friends with many baristas and just feel for them on a deep level.

 

[JustKate]

No. I tip for service, but by that I mean service from the wait staff and the busing staff. Just handing me food in a box doesn't count. Not to me, anyway.

But come to think of it, I very seldom use drive-up windows at otherwise full-service restaurants. If I did so regularly, I might feel differently, though I still can't quite see handing me boxes of food as being the same thing as taking my order, getting me a drink, getting my order right, keeping my glass filled, getting me a new fork when I drop the first one on the floor, etc., etc., etc.

 

[Gaseous Anomaly]

Nope, service needs to exist to get my tip. Just handing me my bag of food does not count. Hell they could have screwed the order up for all I know, I won't know just how good or bad the food is till I eat it.

 

[Trekker4747]

A lot of restaurants now have take-out windows or counters such as Outback or Chili's. The windows/counters also have tip jars. Do you guys actually tip the peeps working the take-out window? I never have... part of the reason I go to the take-out windows is to save money not tipping the waitors and to save money on drinks. Maybe I am just cheap!

Sometimes. As much as I'm all for tipping waiters and waitresses can't say I'm the same for "take out windows" where amy of the benifits and services that come with a waiter are rendered non exsistant.

 

[auntiehill]

No. I only tip for service. A take-out counter just hands me my food. That's it. A waiter (or, at least, a good one) at a sit-down restaurant keeps my drink filled, asks me if I need anything, asks if I want a doggy-bag for my left-overs, checks back to see if the meal is OK, etc. That definitely deserves a tip. Unless a counter-service person is super-nice or does something extra-special, I don't see a need to tip them just for standing there, handing me a box or bag, and taking my money.