Do you tip less or differently if you eat at the bar?
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Is reaching into a cooler to get me a beer or working a tap worth a dollar? I don't think so. Certainly not for the witty banter. Spend any time in a bar and you will notice a few things. Half of the people there are hanging out with their friend the bartender. The bartender will take breaks to bitch about work, last night, etc... with a fellow disgruntle wait staff member. Which invariably leads to the 'I was so drunk last night' story. None of which makes me feel any different about not tipping them at the same rate I do when I eat at a table.
Why would you? If you don't think bartenders provide the same service, don't sit at the bar. I'm not out to tell anyone how to tip, but if you go into a restaurant looking for reasons to tip less, you will find them. Just be honest and admit that it has more to do with you not wanting to tip than the service you recieve.
I'm just kidding....I don't tip at all. I am better than everyone.
I think it's actually harder for bartenders to serve food - usually cramped quarters, having to set places when people order versus having them pre-set, reaching over speed racks, etc. It's got all of the same challenges of table service plus invariably food comes out at the same time you get an order for a 6-top and they're all different drinks involving separating an egg and muddling fruit.
At bars I never tip less than a dollar a drink, and if I have food I never tip less than 20% of the tab, usually rounded up to the nearest dollar.
The only difference is that if I sit down to a meal and have my own tab, I won't tip less than $5.00 to a server, even if I only get a $7.00 lunch special. At the bar I go back and forth on that and sometimes will tip the greater of 20% of the whole bill or 20% of the food plus a dollar per drink, which sometimes comes out to less than $5.00.
I've never eaten at the bar at any restaurant (I don't drink alcohol), but I can't imagine tipping less than my usual 20%. It would never occur to me to act as if there was some exception.
I tip based on service.
I have eaten at the bar, had great attentive service and a little conversation and tipped very well. I have also eaten at the bar and felt like an outcast who was getting in the way of the bartender flirting with a waitress or doing other things.
If I feel like I am a problem for you, then I will let you know it in the tip, if you make me feel like a valuable customer who is there to enjoy a meal, I tip very well.
I'll tip 20% or more, but I'm not tipping on every drink like I would if I was just out drinking. I'll tip on the full tab.
I thought it was a given that meal service is a 20% tip. It never would occur to me to tip less-I require the same amount of service at a bar as I do a table.
Ah yes, the one time the semi-retarded suddenly become math whizzes...anytime the "perceived uppity servant entitlement" algorithm is required. I'm kind of rusty, but I think it's based on the gross total of what you assume a bartender DOES get paid divided by the net figure of what you think they SHOULD get paid...then that figure is applied to a sliding scale of percentages derived from negative past service experiences you received because you're generally an asshole offset by just how lucky these people should feel to serve you. It sounds complicated, but it's NOTHING compared to the quantum physics required when the same type of asshole invokes the "I just saw these scallops on sale at Price Chopper for $10 a POUND, how in THE HELL are you charging me $20 for TWO SCALLOPS" theorem.
The bar is a great place to eat, especially when travelling, and I always tip the same for a meal at the bar as I do at a table. When it's a busy night and I'm taking up valuable real estate that could be used by someone pounding drinks, I generally go far above the norm. If you have to use a crystal ball to look into the drama and intrigue of tip-outs and wages in order to attach emotion and math to it, you either need to drink a whole lot more or a whole lot less.
Whoever said bartenders make a full minimum wage is definitely misinformed. Bartenders have to be responsible for the entire bar AND all the drinks for every table in the restaurant. The tip out for bartenders is usually 10%. So if you make $200, all you have to tip them out is $20. If $100 of that was all fancy, time consuming, cocktails, $20 is nearly a rip off. Do NOT feel bad for servers and tip bartenders less. Servers are spoiled. Its a fact. Tip your bartenders at least the same. If a server rings in 10 drinks and entrees at the same time, trust me, that doesn't mean servers are doing anymore work than the bartender/kitchen. They are doing way less. If you tip the bartender less, no matter the situation, that is not cool. Tip 20% at least always, or I guarantee that all the staff will shit talk you after you leave and the next time you come in they'll fight about who has to take you. You don't want that, do you? If you can't afford a 20% tip, eat at home. Simple.
Suck it bartender. You are an idiot. You must change bars on a daily basis. It's hard to get away with that crap when you're sitting so close to the bartender. You'll most likely get called out, I know anyone at my car would. Things are different in corporate strip-mall places though. That's probably more your style anyways. Also, you usually have to put in your time at a restaurant to become the bartender, so yes, they have earned the right to make more money. I'd like a list of the restaurants you go to.
I do tip less. The bartenders are usually paid a full minimum, plus tip outs from the servers, and all the one off dollars for one beer. Bartenders don't have a gripe to make. Everyone forgets the servers have to fork over a percentage to the bar, plus do the bartenders running. My rule of thumb is 20% rounding up to the whole dollar amount on the bill for servers. For bartenders it's 15% rounding down to the full dollar. I also try to tip the servers in cash so they can screw the bartender. Bartenders always on the credit card so they get to report the full taxable amount. I spent a number of years at war with the bartenders at various places over the shoddy service I was getting for the tipout I was giving.
If I'm eating, my food and all my drinks are on a single tab so I tip like I was at a table which is 20% or a bit higher (I round up for a whole dollar total).
If I am drinking, I tip every serve. Usually a dollar or so every drink. If its a pricier drink or I am buying a round I tip more. I don't usually bother to figure out the percentage tho. I would say I usually average above 20% over an evening but it's not a given.
"Do you tip less if you eat at the bar?".....only if you're a moron. Enough said....
The bar is our prefered area to eat in, since we're sports watchers and that's where the best peoplewatching can be done, usually. And no we do not tip differently when we sit at the bar. Well, unless we're given free drinks. Which is likely because we are pretty fucking awesome people. ;)
In that case, I tip much higher than I would at a standard table, because I compensate for the lack of drink charges on my bill. So it's not unusual for me to tip close to 40% when we're at the bar. (We get quite a few free drinks, depending on the crowd/night.)
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