Other

I am normally a 15% tipper. Bigger, if the service is really good. Not having to ask for a drink refill is a big helper for the waitstaff to get a good tip.

I also just ate at Olive Garden this week and didn't leave a tip. Had to ask for refills. Had to wait 10 minutes for salad dressing, so had the salad ate before the dressing showed up. Had to wait 15 minutes for the first serving of breadsticks and salad. Had to get up and find the waitress to get our check (she was in the hall with a styrofoam cup, drinking and talking). I believe she got a $1 tip from 2 different people in our foursome but she didn't get anything from Mike and I. I believe waitstaff earns what they deserve. Oh, this was at 4:30 and the restaurant was very empty!

I was a waiter at two different restaurants and have always said it was my favorite job (as crazy as that sounds) but I got good tips because I DESERVED good tips. I don't expect anyone to give me what I don't deserve, so I don't give others what they don't deserve.

Ok service gets ~15%. Good service gets 20%. Excellent service gets more. I've given a ~50% tip before because the service was excellent.

I've also given nothing for crap service, so it depends.

think about it like this, a waitress can choose to spend all of her time really taking care of one table and let the other ones suffer if she knows that one table will tip well - or she could divy up her time btw the others based on how much each table looks like they'll tip, it's simple economics.

I tip at least 15%. If the service is outstanding, the waiter can count on above 20%.

If my waiter/waitress doesn't do their job - basically they are horrible - they will get a small tip. I do this to let them know I thought about it and decided that they didn't do a good job. Otherwise, they might think I just forgot or never tip. If they are good, I normally don't go through any calculations, but I just give generously. Why do they act like they have something else to do sometimes?