A few things from a guy that's been around the block on serving and bartending. I've been doing it for over six years and have worked between 40-60 hours a week for the last four of them, between a variety of styles and types of restaurants and bars and high class and dives.
Most of my good friends in this town became that way through my serving them at the bar.
A buck a drink is good if you're at Applebee's (my bread and butter), Chili's, Red Lobster, etc etc etc or at your local dive bar. If you're a regular, throw down an extra five at the end of the night once in a while. Not every time, but every week or two.
A buck a drink at fancier places is not so good...When I was in the fine dining business I would get anywhere from a buck to four or five per drink. Granted, these were fifteen and eighteen dollar drinks. A two hundred dollar bottle of wine, though its not fifteen percent, I was always happy with ten or fifteen bucks...ya don't do much even though your sales are high.
Beers, tip a dollar a piece. Blended drinks, ice cream drinks, pain in the ass to make drinks, tip a little extra. If the bartender knows "your" drink and has it sitting on the counter before you are, tip extra. I could probably name a hundred different people in this town, between the six bars I've worked at over the last five years, and exactly what they drink. Some of them are even the PIA's that drink a Dewars and soda first, move on to a Young Girls Panties next and finish up with six or seven beers. If the bartender remembers you and your drinks, take care of him.
On food, fifteen percent is "customary." It's up to 18 and even 21% in some places now, but i'm always happy with fifteen. Remember, that server has to tip out the bartender, food expediter, hosts, sometimes the cooks and dishwashers even. Not all of that dollar goes to them. I bring home, on average, 11-12% of my sales after tipping out my fellow employees.
Another thing that screws us servers and beerslingers is things like giftcards. I can't tell you how many times someone has come in with a $50 giftcard and had a seventy five dollar ticket. They pay the other 25 bucks on a credit card and tip like it was a 25 dollar ticket, $4-5. I don't know how or why, but without fail, they seem to forget that they had fifty bucks worth of their tag taken off.
Another classic thing I like to blame on mistake and innattention, not cheapskates, is the $27.85 dinner ticket. They leave thirty bucks thinking they've tipped three bucks. Nope, only two-fifteen. They don't take into account that they should round up to the dollar before adding tip.
Another one, (haha, now I get to pick on Jesda!!!) is when the tag is pretty big, say, 80 bucks, people will tip ten, thinking its a big tip. Nope. Just because its ten dollars doesn't mean its a big tip, because that's only 12.5% Not a very good tip, especially on a bigger table which was probably more work.
Easy way to figure out ffiteen percent, at least in California, where sales tax is 7.25%, is to double the sales tax and add 1%. Comes out to just over fifteen percent.
Now, that said, I'm in California and lucky. Many many many states all tipped employees are paid next to nothing. Last I heard, Texas and many other states minumum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 an hour. Mine is $7.5 an hour.
Pabst, judging by your math, you should maybe drink less.
If you're tipping 7-12 bucks on a 15-25 dollar tag, you've got to be giving more than a buck a drink...and if you're NOT, I want to come drink in your bar where drinks are 2.25 a piece!
I wouldn't worry about it, if you really ARE tipping that well, I'd be ecstatic to have you at my bar three times a week.
(And the server with the cajones to say that to me would be looking forward to a greatly-reduced gratuity. ahaha)
