Say you order food online with the option to pick it up yourself. When you pay in the restaurant and the option to give tip comes up on the display, do you tip or not?

44 comments

  1. Less than dining in, but yes.

    Fast food? no.

    Also just to mention I don’t tip the *restaurants* per se, just the server.

  2. No. I tip for table service or delivery, but if I am driving to the restaurant to pick up the food and go someplace else, I don’t see what I would be tipping for.

  4. If it’s fast-food, then no.

    If it’s delivery to my house, I tip the delivery driver.

    If it’s pickup from a sit-down restaurant? Yes, but only the base 15%. I would give extra for excellent service at a table, but if they’re just handing me the food they’re getting the money their employer SHOULD have been paying them for a living wage, but not a bonus for excellent service.

  5. If its a place that otherwise is a sit down place where you tip, yes. Still 15-20%. I don’t want the server who is stuck doing take out to financially suffer just because someone has to man the take out desk for the night.

    If its me ordering food at a counter, I’d starting to do it less and less. Sometimes I do. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I just throw the change I have into the jar.

  11. Yes for regular restaurants. I used to be a bus boy. I know what it’s like not having money from working.

  12. $1 for coffee
    $2 for food to go

    (If it’s a full on restaurant with a bar etc then I tip the regular amount to the bartender (who is generally taking the order in this case))

    I do delivery tips based on distance.. $6 if it’s within a couple blocks.. up to $10 if further. (And don’t really order delivery if it’s not in the neighborhood).. and a little extra if raining or snowing

  14. Sometimes, if I have a couple spare dollars on my I’ll throw them in a tip jar or give a couple dollars on the card. I’m more likely to at places in my neighborhood because I go to them more often and would rather the people there remember me well.

    Tipping for takeout can be weird, sometimes the person getting the tips didn’t have to do much of anything for them, but depending on the specific restaurant it can actually be a big thing. The place where I work the expos get a share of the tip pool and a really sizeable chunk of the business is takeout and uber/DD/GH. To the point where on busy nights it’s necessary to have someone on the line devoted to putting together the takeout orders (in addition to whatever other expo responsibilities come up)

    Because of the nature of takeout tips it’s usually a lot of work for no real gain, but thems the breaks I suppose. I try to see if I can get a feel for a place when I’m picking up takeout for that reason.

  15. I agree with no on fast food. If it is a sit-down restaurant a couple bucks but not like I had full service.

    Used to wait tables and hated the carry out. Time waster and a pain, so I tip a bit.

  17. Yes. Not a full 20% but I always leave a couple of $$ for the person who packed/handed me the order.

  19. Yes, but a smaller tip than sit down service.

    I don’t tip at fast food usually. Maybe some change or a dollar in the tip jar at coffee places.

  21. It’s contextual for me. Fast casual place where they do the same work but just stick it on a takeout shelf instead of handing it to someone in line? Nah. Sit-down restaurant that does less takeout business, where a server or bartender has to take time away from tipped work to put it together and get it to you? Yeah, probably not 20% but I’ll usually throw a few bucks on.

  22. If I’m walking up to the counter, picking it up, and carrying it out – no, I don’t tip for that.

    If someone comes to my table and takes my order, or brings me my food – sure, I’ll tip for that.

  24. If it’s just a counter place, not if I’m picking it up in person. If it’s a real sit down restaurant, that also has a take-out area, I’ll tip the server who is handling the take-out area.

    Table service in the restaurant or delivery? Yes.

  26. If it’s pickup, no. As far as I’m concerned, there was no service there that required a tip.

    If it’s delivery, yes. They’ll get what seems reasonable based on how far they’re traveling and how large a meal it is. When I order Jimmy John’s from across the street because I’m in meetings all day, they’ll get a few dollars. When I order 3 meals for me and friends from a place 20 minutes away, they’ll get 20%.

  31. I might tip a dollar or two, but only if it’s someplace I go often.

    I only ever do pickup, not delivery.

  32. I worked in a restaurant for a while and though I wasn’t a server, my friends who were servers were continually shocked that people would tip them when literally all they did was give the info to kitchen and give the bag to the customer. They obviously were happy to take the money, but they never felt the customer had an obligation, and most customers didn’t tip them.

    Also, tip servers not restaurants. If the restaurant asks you to tip the restaurant itself and not the servers, run.

  38. Takeout from a sit-down restaurant? Yes, usually 10 percent as to-go servers are typically paid more than regular servers

    Takeout from a non-sit down restaurant? No unless it’s a very large order.

    Drive-through/fast food? No.

  39. Usually 5-10% for takeout if it involves any actual extra work on their part, minimum of $2-3. They have to package it all up, and it’s usually a regular server assigned to takeout for the night. Not as much work per order as table service, but a lot more customers over the night, so I try to make sure that working takeout isn’t a hit for them.

    They *do* notice and make records of this. I hate Chili’s, *except* they have wonderful chips and salsa (seriously, if you have never ordered them, try it, and my in-laws are Texans and even they order it here). When I call them (it’s about 5-10 minutes away), they pull up my number and notice that I always tip and always order the same thing (chips and salsa x2). I don’t wait when I get there. It’s always ready to go even if I call when I get in the car to go there. Walk in, pay, leave. That’s worth a tip.

    I overtip the bartender at my favorite fine-dining restaurant because he runs the entire bar area during lunch, which is the actual bar and maybe ten tables. I can text in the morning and ask him to reserve a table for us at 11:45, and get it. Walk in, immediately seated, he has our drinks coming out as soon as he sees us (water with lots of ice for me, Diet Coke for the wife), and takes our order as soon as we sit down. Check arrives with the food (we never eat dessert, and he knows we need to get out quickly) and we can be in and out in 30 minutes. If a tip is paying for service, *that’s* service. Morning-of reservations at a popular restaurant with a server who knows what we want and that we aren’t going to linger? Win-win.

  41. I started tipping pretty heavily during early Covid even when I went to pick up my food. Solidarity with kitchen staff and all. Now, especially with tip inflation, I’ve reverted to not tipping when I pick up my food.

    Like others, I of course tip when getting food delivered.

  42. Nope. Tip culture in America has become almost offensive. I have cut back. I will not tip over 20% and usually I do 18.

    I tip for sit down and delivery only. I was asked at Starbucks if I wanted to leave a tip for the first time ever at the window. It felt pushy and obnoxious. I used to work there and the policy was if people offer great otherwise you don’t say much.

    I get waiters make 2 bucks an hour or whatever but I’m not tipping Starbucks subway or people at the counter spending 30 seconds wrapping a pastry. Call me a grinch but it has to stop somewhere. The problem is the company putting it in the consumer to pay wages. I won’t be guilt tripped sorry.!

  44. I do tip on pick up because there’s generally more of a rush on those orders.

    Source: I’ve worked at restaurants that do pick up.

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