Tipping promotes good service in food establishments. This question has sparked an intense conversational battleground between consumers, etiquette experts and industry insiders. As the country’s dining habits evolve, more and more people find themselves asking whether it’s right to tip in a fast-casual restaurant. Sarah Aynesworth, a Texas-based etiquette consultant, provides some fascinating details in this conversation. Patrons chime in too with testimonials that influence tipping behavior.
As Sarah Aynesworth, trained at the Protocol School of Washington, teaches etiquette and diplomacy. She believes that the practice of tipping is an American tradition centered around service, beyond a transactional exchange. “The thing is, tipping is really tied to service—not just, ‘Hey here’s a pre-prepared order’”—which is more typical with delivery, she points out. This view begs the question of what gratuity looks like in quick-service contexts, where the customer experience is typically shorter.
As for table service, their own survey from the Pew Research Center found just 12% of U.S. adults tip at fast-casual restaurants. According to this statistic, a large number of consumers still view tipping in these ecosystems as not needed, or more importantly, as downright puzzling. To Dubinsky, a frequent tipper of fast-food employees, this is a courtesy, not an expectation. “Dealing with the public is tough, and this is one way that we can say thank you,” he adds.
The etymology of the word “tip” adds even more depth to the historical relationship with gratuity. Aynesworth notes, “‘TIP’ is an acronym for ‘to insure promptness,’ which began during Prohibition.” This recent historical context underscores the notion that tipping was originally meant to reward efforts towards better service in more upscale dining environments.
Consumers expressed a lot of confusion and anger over fast-food tipping. Chris Nordstrom is a Kansas City, Missouri based commercial real estate executive. In this interview, he concedes that the tipping prompts at quick service restaurants sometimes surprise him, too. He admits, “It’s just that fast food, by nature, has historically been a no-tipping experience.” He’s concerned that if tipping becomes expected in every dining scenario, it will no longer mean anything. Tipping must go back to being a reward for extraordinary service, not an accepted standard.
Nordstrom contends that if tipping is an expectation in all situations, it won’t be special. Rather than compensating great service, it would be in practice more like an extra tax. To his heroic credit, he usually avoids tipping. He makes an exception if the staff really try hard or if the place has a local owner.
Customers differ tremendously on their tipping preferences in terms of timing and tipping amounts. Many people on sites such as Reddit have claimed they don’t tip when paying in advance. The argument against it has a lot of supporters who feel that gratuity should be based on the service one personally receives. A significant 77% of people indicated that the quality of service plays a major role in their decision-making process regarding tips.
Aynesworth implores customers to pay attention to the math on their screen before selecting a gratuity. Keeping these things in mind will help you make well-informed tipping decisions. “For example, sometimes they are encouraging you to subsidize with even a higher rate than you would typically get charged,” she warns. This creates anxiety or aggravation for patrons who do not know what they should or should not be doing.
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