Tipping on wine with dinner?

[nogohawk]

QUOTE(twiley @ 6/5/06 4:19pm)

 

Now, if you brought a bad wine they may have laughed at you but one bottle is fine. There's also a few things you should have done:

 

1) Call ahead about their policy

2) Offer the sommelier or waiter the opportunity to sample the wine

3) Tip off of what your total should have been had the wine been included on the menu.

 

 

 

Posted this question and would like to get some input.

 

What do you tip on the wine with a nice meal? I always thought that since they were usually gouging you with the price (or markup) on the wine, I either tip on the meal portion only or discount the entire bill.

 

Thoughts or comments?

[twiley]

QUOTE(twiley @ 6/5/06 4:19pm)

 

Now, if you brought a bad wine they may have laughed at you but one bottle is fine. There's also a few things you should have done:

 

1) Call ahead about their policy

2) Offer the sommelier or waiter the opportunity to sample the wine

3) Tip off of what your total should have been had the wine been included on the menu.

Posted this question and would like to get some input.

 

What do you tip on the wine with a nice meal? I always thought that since they were usually gouging you with the price (or markup) on the wine, I either tip on the meal portion only or discount the entire bill.

 

Thoughts or comments?

 

I always tip on the entire meal. IMO, You're tipping for the service, not the markup on wine. I do the same if we have a gift certificate as well. I tip on what the total SHOULD have been.

[twiley]

I bring up this argument because a friend of mine — who has a dazzling knowledge of fine wine — likes to make a big production of ordering rare and costly vintages at local restaurants. When the check comes, he doesn't tip a percentage of the final tally of the bill; instead, he deducts the cost of the wine. Servers loathe him.

 

My friend Larry Roth, author of the Living Cheap News, is very frugal, but he still tips: "The wine, like the food, the service and the ambience, is all part of the dining experience," he says. "I tip on the whole package."

[Bier Meister]

for me it really depends on the bottle i get. if i get one bottle under $100, i'll just add it into my meal and do my standard tip.

 

 

 

if there is a sommelier, and they actually offer some assistance i give them a little tip.

 

hey, maybe i'm stingy, but all they are doing is opening wine so i don't add a ton for tip to the server for bigger bottles i order.....

[twiley]

I recommend tipping 10-15% on the alcohol and 15-20% on the food. 10% on the wine is perfectly acceptable. Whether to tip 10 or 15 percent would depend in large part on how helpful the server was in choosing the wine and serving it.

 

* Food server - 15-20%

* Cocktail server - 15-20%. For free drinks in Vegas, tip $1-2 per round.

* Bartender - 15-20% or $1 per drink. If at the bar before a meal, settle up with the bartender before you go to your table.

* Wine steward - 10% of wine bill.

* If a bar has a cover charge, you do not tip on it.

 

 

 

If I order a bottle at the bar I'll usually tip 10%.

Edited June 6, 2006 by twiley

[keggerz]

Tips are also supposed to be factored prior to sales/food tax but most people dont realize that

[Bier Meister]

Tips are also supposed to be factored prior to sales/food tax but most people dont realize that

 

 

 

 

on cheaper meals i'll tip the whole thing.... on more expensive meals i'll exclude tax.

[keggerz]

on cheaper meals i'll tip the whole thing.... on more expensive meals i'll exclude tax.

 

same for me...

 

lasrgest bill I ever had to cover was like $2000 for a business meeting(my boss forgot his card ) and the taxes were crazy and our AP dept was nasty if you "over tipped" so they got 18% on the pre tax amount

[nogohawk]

same for me...

 

lasrgest bill I ever had to cover was like $2000 for a business meeting(my boss forgot his card ) and the taxes were crazy and our AP dept was nasty if you "over tipped" so they got 18% on the pre tax amount

 

 

I can see the AP dept. getting nasty just because they weren't invited and it was all those "Big Shots and their company perks!"

 

Tell me, did you do the math in your head (18%)?

[Furd]

Posted in the other thread:

 

I always tip on wine. Unless the wine is really expensive, I'll include it in the total and tip 20%.

 

Two bottles of $100 wine with $40 of appetizers may be a different story. Maybe then it would be $8.00 for the food and $20 - $30 for the wine, rather than a $48.00 tip. If I'm with a new date, or in a similar situation, I won't do that though (some women peek at the tip.)

[Caveman_Nick]

In the end it all comes down to the level of service. I tend to tip 20+ %, but if I am paying a lot for a meal/wine and getting poor service, I will tip appropriately. But I don't separate different things out of the check.

 

Truth be told I don't generally like to order bottles on wine with dinner, because I don't want to have to go through the whole ceremony. I don't know enough about wines to feel anything but dumb when they go through that, so I prefer to go order by the glass (provided they have a decent selection...I won't drink bad wine to save embarassment).

[billay]

In general, I would say yes, tip on the wine. There are exceptions, of course. Where I used to work, we had one regular who was our biggest wine buyer. He would regularly run up $1000-$1500 for 2 people. Usually his food only came to $300 or so and the rest was always wine. He wouldn't tip on all the wine, which is understandable, but he would still tip well over 20% on just the food.

 

To withhold tip on a $50 bottle of wine is cheap.

[ChuckB]

don't be cheap, that's all I have to say.

[Seattle LawDawg]

I've always tipped on the wine....never even considered not doing it. I also take quite a few bottles to restaurants for special occasions. If the restaurant has an established sommelier, I will offer a taste but there is no way I'm letting some 23 year old waiter have a taste of anything I deem worthy enough to take for a special occasion.

[Sir Loins of Beef]

I always went with the way the service went--usually if there is a sommelier or captain involved the tips are pooled at the end of the night and divided between bar-waiter etc. --so I never tip individually--if the service is one waiter then tip accordingly --if you ordered wine or not if you feel you were treated special and you feel good about the service tip accordingly. This is a service industry and we make our money on tips so when I go out and have a great meal I don't tip on percent ---if it's great meal=great tip, sorry meal=sorry tip wine or not---sorry rambling--I tip on the whole check wine or liquor