When Maddy Joss gets a table of patrons, she typically asks if they’re celebrating anything. If they are, she often offers “freebies,” which could boost her chances of earning a big tip.
“You’re using the restaurant’s resources to get more money in your pocket,” said Joss, 27, a part-time restaurant server in Brooklyn. She added that her restaurant is fairly relaxed about what freebies servers can offer — such as a dessert or drink — though other establishments can have stricter policies.
While Joss said she hasn’t noticed any big changes in tipping habits — she thinks people are dining out less, which can lead to fewer tips — other servers are facing a tougher tipping environment as some Americans scale back their gratuity due to rising prices and frustrations about being asked to tip more often. Data shared with Business Insider by the point-of-sale platform Toast — drawn from more than a billion transactions at roughly 134,000 restaurants — showed that the average tip at full-service restaurants fell to 19.3% by the end of last year from 19.9% in early 2021. On a $50 meal, that means a server’s tip dropped to $9.65 from $9.95.
While there’s limited data on bartender tipping specifically, 53% of Americans said they always tip when buying a drink at a bar, per a Pew Research survey from 2023.
Overall, 35% of Americans said that tipping culture was out of control last year, up from 30% in 2023, per Bankrate.
Three tipped workers who spoke with BI said they rely heavily on tips because a chunk of their hourly earnings, which range from roughly $8 to $12 an hour, go toward federal and state taxes.
Making an impression on customers can help combat “tipping fatigue”
Amy Burke, a bartender in New Orleans, said that over her 30 years in the industry, she’s developed some strategies to nudge people toward bigger tips.
Burke said it’s easier to connect with customers and get tips if they know your name, but that introducing herself or wearing a name tag wasn’t enough to make her name stick. That’s why she decided to buy light-up letters from Amazon that spell out her name — and display these letters behind the bar where she works.
“It’s a big conversation piece,” she said of the letters. “I get a lot of compliments on them.”
Burke, 49, said this strategy has helped her land tips. She estimated that 98% of her customers leave a tip and said many tip at least 20%.
Another one of Burke’s favorite strategies is the stamp she puts on customers’ bills that says, “Thank you 🙂 Amy B.” She said the hotel where she works encouraged staff to write a thank-you note on bills, but she thought a stamp would be faster and more personalized.
“I pop it on the bill when I hand it to people,” she said. “It adds a personal touch that people appreciate.”
Providing exceptional service to customers helps Lindsay Ruck, a server at a restaurant in Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport, combat some of the “tipping fatigue” she’s seen in recent years.
She believes some of this tipping resistance comes from customers who are often asked to tip at more businesses. She said her restaurant provides customers with a checkout machine that suggests a tip of 18%, 20%, or 22% — and that many people choose 18%.
“They’re still tipping, but they’re not necessarily tipping what a lot of us consider standard, which is 20%,” said the 42-year-old.
However, Ruck said she hasn’t seen a significant decline in customer tipping and that, in her typical workweek, only a couple of customers don’t leave a tip.
She said the key to earning big tips is building a connection with customers. Since many are travelers passing through the airport, it’s often their first time at the restaurant, which provides the opportunity to offer them a unique experience.
“It’s almost like being on a stage,” she said. “You’re guiding them through this process at a new restaurant they’ve probably never been to.”
While some restaurants have introduced screens for placing orders, Ruck said many customers still prefer to interact with her and ask questions about the menu.
“You start to develop a relationship with these people within a 45-minute timeframe,” she said. “I like to make sure that people have what they need before they think they need it.”
