Message: | Yes, I'd say 15% is about right, even if it's a dim sum place where you don't get the 1 waiter per table deal.
I also sometimes tip up 25% if the service is exeptionally good, and the food isn't too expensive (I imagine it would be paintful to dish out a US$100 tip).
However, I've probably been to maybe 2 dozen or so restaurants that deserve 25%. Perhaps 20% is more common.
On the other spectrum, I've probably been to only 3 or 4 restaurants where I've given a penny tip. In such instances, not only is service poor, it's also an offensive occasion where almost everything goes wrong, and the waiter is bieng a delibrate jerk. One such place, is the infamous "House of Hunan" in San Francisco, where the waitress was even cursing at me in Cantonese (she didn't know I could understand the language).
Mediocre service from places in LA, like 'Soot Bull Jeep' and 'Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles' (in N. Hollywood), get 5% from me. Lousy service shouldn't get reinforced. If I did tip them 10% or more, it would encouragwe them to serve others incompetently as well, which IMO would be unfair to other consumers. |