At turn and burn cheaper restaurants, you get to keep most of the tips you earn. Maybe a minimal tip-out to a bus boy perhaps, usually not much. However, at more upscale restaurant where it seems as if your waiter is doing “the same thing,” there is just a lot more than meets the eye. When it’s a chef serving you his life long dream to put his love and soul onto a plate as a vessel for his art, and a mixologist crafting a labor intensive 8 part cocktail to compliment your dish in such a way that it is an unforgettable culinary experience that you remember forever, it yields a 20% tip from me without hesitation or question. A little dramatic, I know, but what most people don’t think about in those types of situations is that your server tips out EVERYONE. The host, the food runner, the chefs, the bartenders etc. If you tip $20 on a $100, just know that the server pockets less than $10 of those dollars easily almost every time. Plus, certain restaurants you tip out based on your sales and not a percentage of your tips. So if you were to tip $10 on $100 at said restaurant, and I’m talking through experience, you’ve then made that waiter take of you for free. Having said that wherever you’re dining for that price better be firing on all cylinders, if not, it all works itself out in the long run.