The Tipping Divide: Study Finds Differences in Tips by Black, White Restaurant Patrons

National Public Radio ^ | 7/11/2003 | National Public Radio

[07055]

July 11, 2003 -- A new study finds many waiters and waitresses feel that black Americans generally tip less than restaurant diners who are white. The study, by a researcher at Cornell University's School of Hotel Administration, found that blacks tip on average 20 percent less than whites. In addition, restaurant workers of all races dislike waiting on black people because they assume the tips will be less no matter how good the service. NPR's Juan Williams reports.

The study found that 63 percent of blacks and 30 percent of whites didn't understand that the standard restaurant tip in the United States is 15 to 20 percent. The difference between how blacks and whites view tipping has serious ramifications for restaurants, including lawsuits and lost profits, Williams reports.

"The average tip from a black customer is about 13 percent of the bill. The average tip from a white customer is about 16.5 percent of the bill," says Dr. Michael Lynn, the study's author.

In some cases the difference in tipping may be the result of poor service, but blacks interviewed in one of Lynn's studies rated the service slightly higher yet still tipped less than whites, he says.

Jerry Fernandez, president of the Multicultural Food Alliance, which represents food servers and restaurateurs, says the expectations of a lower tip from blacks can often lead to poor service.

"If a [waiter] says, 'I don't want to wait on that table because they're black or they're Hispanic, then they tend to give less service and it's a self-fulfilling prophecy," Fernandez explains.

He says cultural elements -- blacks have avoided sit-down restaurants in favor of take out or self-service eateries -- institutionalized racism that exists in the restaurant industry and education about tipping are all behind the discrepancy. "How do people learn about tipping? If you don't go, you don't know."

Lynn suggests that the American restaurant industry begin a campaign to inform people about the basics of leaving a tip. He urges the use of advertisements, educational pamphlets, and even putting tipping information on menus. And Lynn suggests that restaurants could introduce a game in which dining parties would have to tip at least 15 percent in order to be eligible to win a contest.

[Hacksaw]

Anyway, the jerk dealer kept telling me that it was standard to tip at least 20%!, just like a waiter.

So, does the dealer tip you 20% if you lose 3K?

[Hacksaw]

I any large enough group, there is always someone scaming to eat free. Either that or they can't remember how many drinks they had. In big groups I've been in, we always come up short -- the tip is the first thing to go.

What I hate is when I have a credit card and everyone else has cash, and want to geive me monely to put it on my card. I usually discover that I have paid for a 10 dollar cup of coffee. Needless to say, I don't use a card with a group any more.

[visualops]

Anytime you have to look for them to get something

According to you one should just stand by the table so your highness won't have want or wait.
People like you who want the server's undivided attention are worse than the bad tippers.
Back in the day, I would have much preferred someone who was polite and understood I couldn't be everywhere at once than someone who felt their "big" tip entitled them to anything more than my usual excellent level of service.
Tipping is something that comes at the end of the meal to express satisfaction and say thank you. To put money up front and say 'let's see how much of this you get to keep' is insulting. Most people are completely unaware of what a PITA they become once they sit at a table. Every little picayune like, dislike and fetish comes to the surface.
Nitpickers aside, people generally are just as one would imagine and I had the pleasure of serving many excellent and interesting people over the years. Never a dull moment and you get all kinds...Cleavon Little once tipped me $20 for bringing him a ginger ale, Judd Hirsch dumped his Canadian change in with the tip, and Roberta Flack was rude and snobby and walked out without paying the check or leaving a tip.

[BADROTOFINGER]

Many times servers are taxed on a percentage of total sales for any given shift. It is called the 'tips allocation' method. It rolls at around 8%. Basically, if you were to ring up a $30 tab, the server gets taxed as tho they made $2.40-$3+, depending on how the sales spread out (on an average, it is kind of confusing). Basically servers pay income and payroll taxes on their customers food...JFK

[BADROTOFINGER]

Then the waitresses should get a job at a more expensive restaraunt, if they want bigger tips.

Very much easier said than done, trust me. Many times these servers work there until they die. Ten consecutive years of employment and more is quite common in the higher end places, and they are quite discriminating on who they hire, and the politics can be brutal...JFK

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Thank you both! I have been getting boned on that deal for years, and really need to exercise better sense than being the only guy with a credit card when it is time to settle the bill.

The other trick is to make sure you're not the one sitting in the position to hold the check and do the tally - thats a good way to get screwed, too.

[A_perfect_lady]

And I can't figure out why you think it's alright to heap insults on me, and then accuse ME of "taking it personally" when all I have said, over and over, is that the tip is the customer's way of acknowledging the service, and it should remain voluntary.

You need to look back over my posts and see where I have "taken personally" anything you have said. Then you need to look and see what I did say. You'll find I have been very consistent. The principle is: the tip is the customer's feedback.

You obviously want something else. Well, you can't have it. Sometimes life is just like that. You'll survive.

But I really would suggest you get control of your emotions.

[The Coopster]

Your post makes me skepltical that you are a good tipper.

What do you consider a "good" tip?

[A_perfect_lady]

Joe, your post #263 was very informative and valuable. You teach a great lesson that some others here would do well to learn!

[HairOfTheDog]

The other trick is to make sure you're not the one sitting in the position to hold the check and do the tally - thats a good way to get screwed, too.

I get stuck with that too! - Not sure how to avoid it! - Getting a chuckle though, picturing everyone in a large group desperately trying to look away and look busy or unapproachable when the waiter comes around! I had a friend who, when out at a bar would order a drink and then *disappear* when the waitress came back with it wanting cash on the spot.... At first I thought it was an accident so I would just pay it for her... but it happened too much! So I stopped! You should have seen the look on my friend's face the first time I said "Oh - the waitress came around with your drink, but you weren't here, so she said she'd come back".... She knew she was busted.

[Trace21230]

Back in the day, I worked as a waiter at both a hotel restaurant (in Illinois) and at a Bennigan's here in Maryland.

Yes, the study is true, blacks generally tip worse than other ethnic groups. That having been said, the best tip I ever got was from a black couple. You just never can tell.

What I found to be interesting was that the black guests I waited on tended to order the same things at Bennigan's: hot wings, frozen drinks (usually strawberry daiquiri's, and ribs, also hot tea, which is a huge pain in the ass for a waiter.

Even though blacks were usually substandard tippers, the worst by far were senior citizens. Plus, they were the most whiny.

Best tippers? People on dates. Men tip better than women. Groups are horrible, thank god for the 15% rule.

Waiting on tables is a demanding job and those people count on at least a 15% tip. They're getting taxed on it. I usually leave at least 25%, just to make up for the cheapskates out there, and there are plenty.

Trace

[Guillermo]

People are not entitled to a job, and people in the waiting industry are not entitlted to the higher tipping jobs either.

If they're not getting enough tips to support themselves, then they should find other work.

[chiller]

The point is someone without a lot of money is more likely to skimp on a "voluntary" tip. Auto dealers don't ask for tips in my neck of the woods.

The whole premise of the original story about tipping tendencies is DUH and DUHMBER. It's a non-story because its so obvious if you accept the premise that minorities have less money to spend.

[krb]

I hang out sometimes with the staff of the restaurant up the road from my place, and I hear the waitresses there bitch about black folks who don't tip.

They make it sound like "common knowledge" in the restaurant industry.

[BADROTOFINGER]

Sorry, I dont recall saying that people were entitled to a job. I merely stated that moving up to a higher end resturant isnt as simple as picking up a pebble on the sidewalk. I really dont understand how you could think I did say that from what I actually posted...JFK

[Pablo64]

"I guess American restaraunt owners figure that they'd get better waiters if there was an incentive to hustle."

That does work if you go at it with the right attitude. Years ago, before I was married, I waited tables at a resort hotel that automatically included a 15 percent gratuity on everything; all food and beverage items. Guests checking in were made aware of this and told that they did not need to tip since it was "built in". If a guest left a tip we were required to inform (remind) them that the tip was already added to their bill.

The trouble with this system, from the servers point of view, was that the hotel set up a point system for breaking down that 15 percent. The hotel got a piece off the top (even though you, not "the hotel", waited on the customer), then the food and beverage manager (from all 3 restaurants on site), then your manager, and then you got a portion of that 15 percent. If I recall correctly, it worked out to you getting about 7 to 7.5 percent. Some might say that at least it helped even out for those who don't tip, but it didn't really offer incentive to "bust it" for the customer.

What worked for me and some others, was that the customer could still decide to leave you some cash anyway. If you made sure that they understood that the gratuity had already been added to the bill and they still wanted to leave you something, then that "side money" was all yours (no splitting required, but it never hurt to tip out to the busboys and dishdogs...they'll cover your back if you treat the well). Once I found this out, I made it my goal to provide more service than the customer expected. I worked in a burger and sandwich shop at the resort, so it wasn't like the other two high-end dining rooms, but I would do things just like the waiters who wore the tux's and my customers felt special. When you clear the paper plates and then discretely brush the crumbs into a linen napkin so the customer has a clean table to enjoy their after-dinner coffee and conversation, or other services like that, you can affect your income for the better. It's all about attitude. Nothing wrong with serving others.

[The Coopster]

Dead on, brother! And your point about black guests being more demanding for the crappy tip at the end was even more dead on.

Stereotypes aren't always true, but they happen for a reason.

[BADROTOFINGER]

I hang out sometimes with the staff of the restaurant up the road from my place, and I hear the waitresses there bitch about black folks who don't tip.

They make it sound like "common knowledge" in the restaurant industry.

It is kind of. The way I deal with minorities in my resturant is to try to give them the best service I can. With black people, many times I can tell when they dont believe that they are going to be treated well. I simply try to surprise them with good service. If they have had bad experiences in resturants before, and attribute that bad service to racial difference, then I make them happy that they were my table. Black women without men accomanying them, are the absolute worst. The hostility is immediate; they dont look at you, they GLARE at you, scowling the whole time. Dunno why, but I am nice and give good service even tho my tip is always zero.

Oh well, 2 years from now I wont have to do it anymore...JFK

[SarahW]

Am I typical? I overtip for decent service.

[BADROTOFINGER]

Am I typical? I overtip for decent service.

No, but when you return to that resturant, is your service typical, or is it superior? We servers remember peeps like you...;-)...JFK