It looks like my days as a waiter have come to an end. During my year-and-a-half stint as a Cracker Barrel “server,” people often asked me about the difference between a normal tip and a good tip. Since we represent Jesus Christ wherever we go, even a restaurant, I assume that all Christians want to faithfully represent the Savior through their generosity. Here are several tips to becoming a good tipper.
1. Realize that your waiter/waitress probably knows you are a Christian.
Think about it. Did you pray before the meal? Are you attending just after church, dressed up and looking nice? Do you know other people in the restaurant (who are coming from church too)? Have you mentioned your faith at all during your conversation with those at the table?
2. Remember what your waiter/waitress is making an hour.
Most servers make around $2 an hour. Virtually all of the money they make comes from tips. The money they need to bring food home to their families hinges on the generosity of the people they serve.
3. Remember that you are not usually a server’s only customer.
During peak times (and sometimes during an unexpected rush of business during an off time), a waiter/waitress might have anywhere from three to five tables. Put four people at each table and you are talking about serving 12-20 people at one time. If you aren’t getting good enough service, before you blame it on the waiter, consider how many tables the server is waiting on.
4. If you leave a tract, PLEASE leave a tip too!
The most frustrating tip is the one that comes in the form of a tract, without any cash at all. (The worst ones are those tracts that look like a $20 bill and are actually just a tract!) I am thankful for people who want to share their faith with their server, but if you don’t leave a good tip, just keep the tract. Don’t undo the evangelistic efforts of your waiter’s Christian co-workers by being such a terrible testimony.
5. Astound the server with your generosity.
If the service was acceptable, leave 15%. If it was good, leave 17-18%. If it was fantastic, consider leaving 20% or even 25%. Reward good service. But don’t figure a tip by looking only at the bill. Consider the amount of work your server did. Did you have salads? Hot drinks like hot tea or hot chocolate? Did you ask for extra bread? How many Diet Cokes did he/she refill you? And please! If you share the Gospel at all with your server, make sure you astound them with an extra-generous tip.
written by Trevin Wax. © 2007 Kingdom People Blog
This is great advice. My wife worked as a waitress for some time before we were married and she says that the worst tips ever were on Sunday afternoon from the church folks. And she got her share of the tract-without-a-dime tips too. What a terrible testimony for our Lord Jesus Christ!
Comment by mjtilley — January 23, 2007 @ 9:26 am
Before I came to Southern, it was inconceivable to me that a $20 bill looking tract would even exist. We shouldn’t have to TRICK people into believing in the Gospel. Avast human gimmickry; the Word of God is effective enough on its own.
Comment by G. F. McDowell — January 23, 2007 @ 9:07 pm
Another thing I have done and seen people do is to ask the server when the meal is served if there’s anything we (the diners) can pray for them for. Then, of course, leave a good tip!
Comment by Dootz — January 24, 2007 @ 9:19 am
[...] tipper, fret not there is some help. You can start by reading 5 Tips for Good Christian Tipping by Kingdom People: 1. Realize that your waiter/waitress probably knows you are a Christian. 2. Remember what your [...]
Pingback by How Much Should A Christian Tip Waiters? | Lo-Fi Tribe — January 30, 2007 @ 10:00 am
This is really good advice, even for those who aren’t Christians! A lot of the time, people leave a tip based only on their check (working in a restaurant, I’ve seen SEVERAL people whip out the calculator come check time!) and don’t stop to consider that it’s a peak hour, there are SEVERAL tables that a server is working with, and sometimes, those other tables can be difficult to serve.
Anywho, great advice! :)
Comment by Caitlin — December 14, 2007 @ 4:00 pm
That is exactly the advice I would have given before I quit serving in 1997.
Comment by James — March 17, 2009 @ 11:20 pm
a year and half at the barrel after 3 years i learned many things the target demo is old people so a meal for 2 under 10 dollars is in the ball park. if you get 5 bucks from 2 or 3 tables at the barrel your doing amazing. people think thats the all get out. if your looking for people that know how to tip there not gonna be at the barrel. don’t expect people to tip at a place like that. or at a small diner. if your lookin for tips go to applebees or wherever. the only way you get tips is being insanely charismatic but some nights you just don’t care.
Comment by scott — March 23, 2009 @ 8:24 am
As both a believer and a server, I can tell you this is all true. I’d add a few things, however:
Don’t go out with 10+ of your church buddies to a restaurant with only a moment’s notice and expect to be seated at a single, long table. Most restaurants offer a limited large group menu and encourage you to submit your orders beforehand. But if you arrive together, and insist on being sat together, expect things to take much longer and cut the server(s) a lot of slack.
If you are in a large party, don’t go crazy with the odd orders. Every raspberry lemonade or salad with extra Ranch dressing and no onions you order, you slow the server down just that much more, expecially when it comes to refills. “Tea refill? No problem! Let me just get this pitcher I made just for this table. Peach tea refill? That’ll be a minute, because I have to go back to the back, pour you a new tea, go to the bar, get the peach flavoring, mix it in and then bring it back out.”
If you’re in a large group, sit near the person paying your check. If you have to have separate checks and have to point to another table for people whom you’ll be paying for, you’ve just added 10-30 minutes to your overall time to sort all the checks out.
In a large group? Pay cash. It takes time to run the charge cards of 10 or 15 different people. Cash is good everywhere.
Don’t complain when one part of your large table receives their food before you. For example, let’s say you’re part of a table of 20 with 2 servers assigned. Each server can carry about 4 plates at one time. That means about 3 trips back and forth between the table and the kitchen. It’s going to take a little time.
Don’t pester the server with refill requests and requests for more rolls, etc. There will come a moment when he or she will ask, “Does anybody need anything?” That’s when you tell him or her you’d like more soft drink.
Finally, when the ticket comes, if you still feel you’ve received poor service, ask to speak to the service manager. Explain the problem. They may remove items from the ticket. They may not. Either way, tip a t least 10% on the remaining ticket. Especially on large groups. Your table is likely the only one they’ll have their entire evening. If you leave them nothing on a $200 ticket, they’ve lost the money they could have made taking other tables during the period they served you, plus they’ll have to tip out between $4 and $10 to bartenders and bussers, plus they’ll have taxes taken out of the $2.xx/hour wage they received for the night.
I don’t know a single server whose goal it is to provide poor service, so if you experienced poor service, things could be blamed on a slow kitchen, or they’re simply having a bad night (like everyone does from time to time) or maybe your table’s demands were a little over the top.
I’m not saying you have to tip 20% even when you receive poor service, but I am asking you to consider all of the circumstances and at least consider the effort your server(s) put forth in taking care of you.
Comment by Charles Stricklin — May 25, 2009 @ 11:39 pm
As a general rule I tip at least 20% and sometimes more. I do not mind doing that…. What I do mind is the expectation that I SHOULD tip… Why am I, a working man, be expected to make up for the proprietor’s failure to pay his wait people a living wage?
Comment by michael Phillips — May 29, 2009 @ 1:45 pm
Don’t ever leave a tract. It’s pretty destructive.
And where I’m from (philadelphia) anything less than 20% is the standard minimum for tipping.
Comment by walter — June 10, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
One time, I left a 75 percent tip.
Comment by Kyle Brooks — June 25, 2009 @ 11:33 am
That tip – the 75 percent tip I left – was all of my change. The meal cost around 12 dollars, and I gave a 20 dollar bill. I got around 9 dollars back,
Comment by Kyle Brooks — June 25, 2009 @ 11:35 am