My daughter bartends in Boston (tavern in the square) to pay rent. This is on top of her full time dpt program (she’s one of two in her cohort who work). The best money making sets are also the hardest, it’s WORK, and then she gets to walk home alone at 3 am. She also gets shifts like Sunday mornings where she is there for the same amount of time for much less money.
I’ve know the owners of the Tavern Group for 20+ years. Maybe I’ll have my son do the same if he does his DPT in Boston. 
1 Like
Her restaurant always needs staff (her boss is a jerk so high turnover).
Regarding bartending, the CNBC article shared by @dadofjerseygirl points out,
If you go to an event with an open bar, the bar staff may or may not put out a tip jar. As a rule of thumb, “keep in mind that the host of that event has likely already taken care of the tip,” says Swann. “That tip would be included in what they’ve had to pay for the venue or to the bartending service.”
Also, in the CNN poll shared by @BunsenBurner, the average reader tipped their barista 10%, while tipping their bartender 20%.
There is also a “bribe” factor for bartenders. There is always some thought that if you tip generously, you will get your orders taken care of faster while waiting at a crowded bar and the pour will be more generous.
3 Likes
I can confirm that “bribing” a bartender works frequently.
“Make it like you hate the owner,” is my mantra.
2 Likes
Except for about 2010-2014 and 2022, wage increases outpaced our usual inflation rate of about 2-2.5%. So those were real wage increases.
2022… while the wage increase was fairly high, so was inflation.
1 Like
Until lots of people start randomly tipping me for my hard work and jovial attitude, I don’t plan on tipping everybody else I encounter during the day 
9 Likes
We paid for the bartender/servers, including tip, at our daughter’s wedding. When we saw they had also out put out a tip jar, we thought it was in poor taste and asked them to remove it. We didn’t want our guest to feel obligated to tip for their drinks, especially because we had already taken care of it.
16 Likes
Good for you!
1 Like
That’s just rude of them.
Case of don’t ask, don’t get.
1 Like
I used to work on the committee of a very high end charity gala and would have to continually monitor the open bars to make sure tip glasses weren’t put out. It wasn’t the servers (who knew not to do that, they were tipped generously in their contract – but who also didn’t put them away 
) but tipsy patrons. Other patrons would get steamed to be expected to tip after they paid big bucks for the event. I would still see the tipsy big shots slipping bills. Nothing I could do about that.
I think there’s a generational difference as well. Many of us remember a time when 15% was totally acceptable - for table service! So 22% and 25% feels excessive, especially for counter service.
But my daughter and her friends (teens) think anything under 20% is stingy.
2 Likes
Are they paying tips themselves.
1 Like
My teen and his girlfriend went out to dinner at a nice little Italian place last night. He tipped 25% on a $100 bill because he said the waitress was really good.
Yes, they have part time jobs.
My 19 year old eats out often and works. He tips 20%. He had bad experience with a server once, sometimes they do profile a table of young people, and he said they tipped less.
Funny comic. I had the same experience recently, so I decided to pay cash and left some change in the tip jar!
2 Likes