Earlier this year, Milwaukee e-mailers expressed outrage over an alleged scam operation by a popular local Mexican restaurant that was purportedly charging gratuity on their bills as a "service charge." This practice, it was said, confounded diners who didn't read their bills and potentially double-tipped their servers.

Granted, the distinct possibly lies that the servers were not pointing out this line item to every diner, but in reality, the concept of "gratuity included" is hardly new in Milwaukee or any other hospitality marketplace.

Many Milwaukee restaurants include gratuity on tables of six or more, but, understandably, tables of two with this service charge were likely surprised to find a similar charge on their bills.

Before we get into how much tips should be and the social practices surrounding tipping in restaurants, let's take a step back and investigate further why we tip in the first place.

A little help from Wikipedia and some old school etymology books provide us with the background and history of tipping. The word tip originates from the 16th century verb tip, which meant "to give unexpectedly." In other words, tipping is something that is given as an above and beyond form of compensation for a service job done well.
In the United States, and specifically in Milwaukee, this form of compensation has become increasingly complex over the years.

A tip is supposed to be calculated from the cost of goods and services, minus sales tax. As a general rule, it is figured at an average of 15 percent. Some people determine their tip based on food service without drinks, which is generally acceptable, especially in the case where a nominally priced dinner is accompanied by a very expensive bottle of wine.

Some diners will tip 15 percent on food items and then 5-10 percent on beverages. Others determine their tip based on their entire bill including tax, and still others on the number of diners and/or drinks consumed. And likely there are hundreds of thousands of other people who each determine their tips using other methodologies, some which may be more acceptable to servers than others.

The dollar amount which goes to the server initially then may be distributed by the restaurants in different manners. Some servers keep all their tips. Others pool their tips with all the other servers on the "floor." Some restaurants require a "tip out" to the kitchen, bar staff, and dishwasher of varying percentages, others mandate a minimum IRS tip declaration of 20 percent of sales.

In Milwaukee, servers typically start out at $2.33/hour, bartenders somewhere in the $5 to $6.50/hour range, and then tips ring on top of that.

In Milwaukee, most places do not follow what is common practice in Brazil and other countries of the aforementioned included service charge, although we do commonly follow the practice for larger tables.

Robert Weiss, proprietor of Shaker's, a 25-year Milwaukee mainstay, notes, "We practice special gratuity of 18% for dinner tables for six or more; we charge 20% for specialty dinners which have an unusual theme or exotic products and foodstuffs.

These types of dinner parties attract more sophisticated diners who have the types of backgrounds where they expect to see gratuity as a service charge line item."

But, Weiss notes, the included gratuities seem not to be as needed in the more recent past here in Milwaukee. "The tipping environment has improved tremendously in the last several years-the entire restaurant and hospitality landscape has improved," he said. "Once upon a time it was only those places that had a niche market where the servers did well in tips, now no more."

 Page 1 of 2 (view all on one page)

Next >>

17 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by CoolerKing on Nov. 15, 2007 at 8:57 a.m. (report)

I agree that you should not tip for crappy service, however, if your waiter/waitress has been attentive and you had a poorly prepared meal you should not take it out on their tip. As a former restaurant bartender, I have seen wait staffs both slack and bust their asses. In Florida, they pay their staff very poorly, saying they'll make up the difference in tips. This is flat out wrong. Not only that, but you give the waiter/waitress the impression you "owe" them. I was in a near empty bar in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. I had one cheap bottle of beer and left, leaving a buck. I found out later from a friend who worked there that this bartender railed on and on about how poor the tip was. There were other times my friends and I had been generous at other establishments and it seemed that it was STILL not enough. Again, this is a tip not a living. You don't need to kiss up to me, just acknowledge I'm there and you'll most likely get a tip. And you guys who have a tip jar at the counter of the liquor store I go to, who are you kidding?

Posted by Hckyboy00 on Nov. 14, 2007 at 11:39 a.m. (report)

As far as the "do you need change" comment is concerned, it is typically something that people who aren't tipped accordingly just work into their vocabulary during billing to remind people that you should leave something extra. Over the course of my job, the first year i kept my mouth shut, hoping people would realize, but they didn't, so now i tack on, things such as "would you like your change in singles", and with credit card slips i specfically mention that "i need you to fill out the tip and the total, and sign on the X" otherwise people just scribble their name on the X and leave without a tip. If i'm not going to be tipped, outside of extreme circumstances, quite frankly, i'm at least going to embarass them about it.

Posted by Wez on Nov. 13, 2007 at 3:57 p.m. (report)

Whenever my husband and I go to a bar or restaurant, the bartender will ask us what we would like. We would tell them and then right away they would almost cut us off and ask for ID's. Once the bartender looked over our ID's, they would ask, "What did you want again"? I HATE that, it's so rude.

Posted by T15 on Nov. 13, 2007 at 3:49 p.m. (report)

Oh my god!! Did I just read all these talkbacks and give everyone a five??

Posted by OCMEX on Nov. 13, 2007 at 11:27 a.m. (report)

Being a chef and my wife a server at the same resturant for almost 15 years together we have seen the ups and downs of the Milwaukee foodservice world. Like I've read here already, there are two sides to this story. One is the customers the other the servers/waitstaff. I agree with most who write some folks blame the server for things out of their control like long waits for tables or poor food quality. I also agree that you 20 % all-time tippers do not help the situation. Don't reward poor or normal service with an exceptional tip. And for those of you who don't want to pay a gratuity thats been automaticly added to a bill , DON'T !!! There 's no law that says a customer has to pay an automaticaly added gratuity, and bring your issues to the attention of an owner or manager.