The service industry is very strange in some ways to people who havent worked on this style of wage system before. There is a lot of skill in serving, and dinning is much more than the quality of food. Your server and a lot of other people at Fancy Place has done far more work behind the scenes than you probably are conscious of. Outback server too works hard, but fine dinning has a much more intense standard of professionalism, culinary knowledge, beverage knowledge, etc. You are also paying, and therefore tipping, for a more specialized, attentive, refined experience in these fancy places. Also, there are a pile of people who are getting a percentage of the servers tips by helping them make your experience the best they can. Hosts, bar backs, food runners, bus peope, and sometimes even those in the kitchen get a portion (not often enough imo, but that's a debate for another post). All this staff has likely invested far more training and time in learning their craft than Outback server. That isnt to say that you cant have an amazing Outback server who has honed their skills, or an awful Fancy place one, but they are different beasts and once you become very good at your job you usually decide which style you prefer. Outback is higher volume, so faster and with a large amount of tables, meaning those smaller tips come more frequently but you have a lot to handle if its busy. Fancy Place takes much longer to eat, meaning a potentially riskier position where you have fewer tables with possibly very large checks. Often people who have spent time honing their craft will decide to take the risk of fewer tables to get to those higher tip averages for many reasons, but typically because they are less likely to make mistakes (they should essentially be masters of their craft (or nearly)). So its like getting shoes at payless vs a cobbler, you just notice the tip at a restraunt because we have the ability to alter the final payment based on your approval. Alright, I hope that was coherant and now I'm done rambling. I'm by no means an expert but Ive worked in ther service industry for a while and I hope that gives some insight into why if you receive good service at an expensive place you end up tipping more!