Should you tip on to-go orders? My answer may surprise you (it won’t).
I’m hesitant to write about this because I love the Bachelor franchise and the former cast of the series, and I don’t want this cast member to read this blog and get offended or talk shit.
In order to avoid that, I’m not going to tag Tanner Tolbert or the Bachelor franchise.
Disclaimer, I adore Tanner and his wife, Jade. I watched both their seasons, and their season of BIP + watched their televised wedding, so in case this makes it way back to Tanner, no disrespect, I just want to provide an inside perspective to tipping on to-go orders.
So here it goes. Maybe I should explain first. I have a twitter where I follow some people and I happened to see this tweet from Tanner Tolbert, from the Bachelorette & Bachelor in Paradise, tweeted this poll:
“We are having a debate at work, how much do you tip for a take out order at a restaurant?
Nothing-its take out. 55% agree.
$1, just to say thank you. 31% agree.
20%, the standard amount you should tip. 14% agree.” (What I voted for).
Here’s why I think I’m a credible person to have this discussion. Out of serving, hosting, and doing to-go orders, I’m probably the best at doing to-go orders. I’m a trainer at my job for host, to-go, and server, and even though I was good at all three job titles, I can admit that I’m the best at to-go.
So hi, I’m serverthoughts, I’m credible and I’m here to inform you all that you should tip the to-go person. There were many nights where no one would tip me when I would do to-go which is why it’s my least favorite thing to do, and at times the hardest.
Although juggling 10 tables and having multiple things to do is still pretty difficult.
I was the main person answering the phone (when I did to-go), and sometimes, occasionally, a server would answer it, but for the most part everyone would ignore the phone.
Sometimes three people would be calling at once, and I’d be the only one answering calls, while putting in a to-go order while the damn phone won’t stop ringing.
When food was taking forever and I quoted my guests a certain time, it’s not like serving a table where I can just tell them that the kitchen is behind and they’ll get their food shortly. People are literally 10 feet away from me, looking pissed off and impatient, as I ask the cooks how much longer for a well-done steak, a well-done hamburger, and three kids meals.
Also, your guests aren’t meant to be there for long. They don’t want to eat at the restaurant, they want something quick and easy (I’m available. Sorry, I couldn’t not make that joke), and want to get out of there fast.
Your friendly to-go person is yelling at the cooks to hurry up because the food should of only took 15 minutes and their customer is waiting, and they have someone on hold who wants to place an order, and then someone came in and wants to place an order, and they have to grab the melting milkshake that should of been in a to-go cup but the bartender put it in a regular glass, and great, they just got an online order that takes up half their screen, and they’re already short two cooks so food is taking forever to make, and then they have to make sure that the burger you asked for no onions with, and a side of loaded mash potatoes, is actually no onions and not with french fries.
But serverthoughts, why not just quote your customers longer? Well young padawan, at our restaurant they typically don’t want us to quote more than 15 minutes unless it’s a big order or well done steaks, then maybe we can extend the time to 20 minutes. Twenty-five if I’m drowning in the fucking weeds.
Things I hated about being a to-go hoe:
When people would order online and come before their pick-up time and ask me if their food was ready.
Fries with no salt. There’s a story behind this, read it here.
When people would order online and either call or come in person and ask if they could have the order earlier than their pick-up time, so I would have to show the cooks proof of the order, and they would still not believe me and begrudgingly make it for me, and the order still not be ready by the real pick-up time.
Always running out of stuff. Silverware, cups, spoons, soup cups, lids, boxes, ramekins.. you name it, we’re out of it.
The stupid stuff people ask you on the phone. Someone told me to go fuck myself once, and I said, “thanks, you too,” and hung up because fire me. They didn’t fire me, my manager actually laughed when I told her. Read that blog post here.
Being the only person doing to-go and being swamped with taking orders, cashing out people, and boxing up food. It’s a lot more stressful than you think, and I tried to describe above the different issues you might face while doing to-go, but I can’t truly describe how it feels to be in the weeds if you’ve never worked in a restaurant.
Literally just find any server ran account on Instagram that posts pictures of server memes, and you’ll see the struggle.
So no, Tanner and fans, I never expected people to tip me because I wasn’t personally waiting on them, like I would while waiting the table. But I am still feeding you and making sure your food is correct - so maybe that doesn’t warrant a 20% tip, but you should always tip the to-go person something, unless they completely fucked up your order. Even then you should tip. Maybe? It depends on the circumstance, really.
Or if their insanely rude. One of our current to-go people is very timid and quiet and if I didn’t know her, I might think she was coming off snobby or rude, so there’s that little tibbit you didn’t need to know.
But I do think you should check your order yourself before you leave the restaurant to make sure everything is right.
I was pleasantly surprised when I got tips because most people, (55 percent) of the poll, don’t think you should tip the to-go person, and 31 percent only think you should give a dollar.
5 dollars is cool for a to-go order, I looooooved when people would tip me 5 dollars. Obviously the people that tipped 15 percent and up were my favorite, but I was a realistic person.
I always tip when I order to-go and even sometimes when I get a coffee or sandwich. Minimum wage is not enough to live on and I get that struggle. Tipping $5 on a to-go order is not going to break the bank, and if it does maybe you should cook at home.
I was going to post screenshots of some of the replies that Tanner got from this tweet but I don’t want to get upset and rant about it, so I’m just going to quietly exit and hope Tanner or anyone from the Bachelor family never reads this, k bye.
P.S.S. Maybe I’ll include the replies to the tweets in my next “Replying to Yelp reviews” because I already screenshot the replies and blurred out the twitter handles.
