A Tipping Question

Went out to dinner with the wife tonight. Upscale casual restaurant. Nice place we go to often.
Long story short, the kitchen screwed up while cooking my entree. They apparently messed up a whole batch of one of the specials and after waiting for almost an hour I had to order something else. The manager comped the whole meal (would've been about $65 without tip if we'd paid), and threw in a few extras as well.
The service was good. Appetizers came out on time and we got plenty of refills. Other than the snafu and waiting about 90 minutes total for a main course, it was all top notch.

So, what's the tipping etiquette in that situation? Do you tip like normal? Tip more? Less?

 

You're tipping the waitstaff, not the schlubs in the kitchen. Base your tip on their service. At least the manager stood up.

 

If the servers were good and genuine and honest about the problem, leave a 20 and be done.

 

I might tip on what I originally ordered and not include one on the freebies. Kind of case by case basis. Definitely tip, definitely tip 20% based on your original order. Anything else is a gray area, depending on how good the staff and manager were, if you got ticked off at any point, etc. I would porobably, from what you described, add a bit more tip for the extras, but maybe not at a 20% rate. And add more if you are in Central PA.

 

Leaving a 20 on the table would've been fine.

 

Also, tips are often divided. A friend of mine got a $70 tip because she was excited about her patron's haircut. $70 / 4 isn't going to make that happen.

How could you slip someone $70 directly without getting them in trouble with her job and coworkers?

 

Almost 25 years ago, I was a blackjack dealer in the Midwest. Native casino.

To pass the time, I would count cards in my head. If you were a good tipper at the table, I might tell you the count on an advantageous situation.

There was a man, about 50, who over the course of a Saturday afternoon, won about $6,000 off my table. He said he wanted to tip me half of it but not if they would be shared with the rest of the dealers. I said all tips were pooled.

He looks at me and asks.

"When do you get done today?"

"Six." Only an hour from now.

"You should probably go fill up your car at the gas station down the road."

Sure enough, he was in the corner with an envelope. Thousand bucks.

That tip got split one way.

 

I ended up leaving a $10 tip. Might should've left $20, but I did the math wrong in my head and $20 felt like way too much.
$15 would've actually been my sweet spot -- if the bill had come I probably would've rounded the $65 total up to $80 -- but I only had $10 and $20 bills on me.

 

How about this. Go back and leave a $10 or a $20 in an envelope. Or mail it.

You'll feel good about it and you'll make someone's day.

 

Seems like I'd also want to tip more if it was a place I frequented.

 

I go 20% across the board, rounding to the nearest dollar because I hate arithmetic.