Do you tip on takeout orders?

[Barrister]

So I've noticed this increasingly since the Covid lockdowns.

You order some kind of food or drink for takeout - which means you go to the store and pick the food up yourself.  Maybe it's some pizza, maybe it's just your morning coffee.  But as they hand you your food they give you the point-to-point terminal to pay and up it comes - 'How much do you wish to tip'?


My thought has always been is that tipping is for service.  So if you're getting table-service at a restaurant, or your food is being delivered to you, you're receiving a service.  But on a pick-up order you're just getting your food.  So I hit "0%".


Bonus question to those so inclined - do you tip at buffets?

[HVC]

I tip at takeout depending on the interaction. So if it's like subway or like a burrito place where they assemble I tip, but if it's just something standard like a burger I don't. Not a hard or fast rule, just a guideline.

I tip at a buffet because they still come around with drinks and clear off plates. Though I haven't been to one in years.

[HVC]

Actually, this got me thinking, do those working at places that are basically take out joints make less then minimum wage like restaurants? Never really thought about it.

[Barrister]

Actually, this got me thinking, do those working at places that are basically take out joints make less then minimum wage like restaurants? Never really thought about it.

I'm mostly sure they get minimum wage.

[Jacob]

I'm mostly sure they get minimum wage.

I believe "you're tipped so we can pay you a smaller (or non-existent) minimum wage" is legal in some American states, but I don't think it's legal in Canada.

[Gups]

I don't do pick up but I tip a couple of quid for deliveries.

[HVC]

I'm mostly sure they get minimum wage.

I believe "you're tipped so we can pay you a smaller (or non-existent) minimum wage" is legal in some American states, but I don't think it's legal in Canada.

Different provinces appear to have different rules. None of the tip provinces seem to have as steep a cut as the US.

https://www.restaurantscanada.org/industry-news/minimum-wage-by-province/


*edit* Ontario got rid of the tipper wage, so I guess I should stop tipping?

[Barrister]

I don't do pick up but I tip a couple of quid for deliveries.

Yeah I have no problem tipping for delivery.  You're getting a service - your food is being delivered to you.


Buffets - I rarely go, but when I do I'll tip 10%.  You're not getting full table service, but they do clean your plates and maybe bring you drinks.

[viper37]

Actually, this got me thinking, do those working at places that are basically take out joints make less then minimum wage like restaurants? Never really thought about it.

They are supposed to get minimum wage in these places.  McD, Subway, Tim, etc all give minimum wage and a few cents above for experienced workers.   I don't know about the other, les common ones, but I imagine it's the same, despite the tipping prompt on the machine.

To answer the question, yes, I do give tip on take out, usually 5% when it's a fully prepared meal.

[Tonitrus]

I have noticed more and more being overtly presented a tipping option at walk-up counter orders (say, inside a Starbucks or burger joint)...usually always as a "10%, 15%, 18%" option on the little payment devices.  Forcing one in a face-to-face "maybe I'm a cheap asshole" showdown before you're even served.

[Valmy]

I always tip. Even when I buy things at sporting events where everything is already crazy over-priced. I always want to make sure the service people are decently compensated, I know that job sucks.

[Barrister]

I have noticed more and more being overtly presented a tipping option at walk-up counter orders (say, inside a Starbucks or burger joint)...usually always as a "10%, 15%, 18%" option on the little payment devices.  Forcing one in a face-to-face "maybe I'm a cheap asshole" showdown before you're even served.

That's exactly what I'm talking about.  And in locations where that never used to be a thing.

[HVC]

They're just more efficiently passing the costs of raises to consumers. Capitalism!

[Zanza]

I tip on takeout, but much less than on delivery or when sitting in the restaurant.

[Jacob]

I have noticed more and more being overtly presented a tipping option at walk-up counter orders (say, inside a Starbucks or burger joint)...usually always as a "10%, 15%, 18%" option on the little payment devices.  Forcing one in a face-to-face "maybe I'm a cheap asshole" showdown before you're even served.

That's exactly what I'm talking about.  And in locations where that never used to be a thing.

I've noticed a few of the cafe type places I go to have dialed that back to $1 or $2 options - which matches my personal pattern as well. During Covid I got into the habit of tipping barristas and the like a buck or two as appreciation for their essential worker status. I don't mind continuing that habit. But yeah, tipping 20% on a $30 order of coffees and muffins for the table seems a bit much at this point.