One More Dollar: My Guide to Tipping Etiquette

When you are in a restaurant or pub, how well do you tip the wait staff or bartender?

I have a friend who always tells me he feels extra pressure to tip better when he is with me. All of my years in the service industry have certainly affected my monetary generosity, even after I left for a while. And I believe overall the public is more aware of the necessity to tip restaurant employees better and of their low hourly wages.

Industry standard has set the scale at 12, 15 and 18 percent over the years. Who came up with this number anyway? We've all seen our grandmother pull out her tip card when the check arrives. Mobile phones even come equipped with tip calculators now.

I for one am embarrassed to dine with someone that uses one of these contraptions and, in the past, have over compensated for lousy tippers in my party.

My tipping standard, regardless of service is 25 percent + $2-5 extra. If I would have received that as a server, it would have made my night. A tip like that can give someone a little more pep in their step that night, and more often than not, give you even better service next time you come in.

Maybe this isn't something everyone feels comfortable doing. That's okay. Here is what I recommend.

If service was poor beyond belief, then I encourage patrons to tip accordingly and speak to a manager about the poor service. They will appreciate your criticism if they truly care about the service in the restaurant.

If service was good to amazing, then throw out your tip card and your pride. If you have a hard time deciding what a good tip is, then give a minimum of 20 percent. Then, I implore you to add $1 to that. Icing on the cake would be a positive compliment to the staff and manager, as well as a thank you.

A little known fact. Servers in Indiana make $2.13 per hour. On average, the "tip out" a portion (sometimes 40%) of their tips to hosts, bus boys, cooks and bartenders.

The bottom line is, what are you going to do with that extra dollar or two, that you can't give it to your wait staff? I encourage everyone to make a commitment to giving one extra dollar each time the dine out in 2010.