Often when guests visit us in the US we are asked about tipping culture. For those not accustomed to it, the ‘rules’ can be considered arcane and arbitrary. While I’m sure my approach will not be without contention, it has served me well to feel comfortable and reflect good service.

Tipping is generally done on pre-tax amount, and most receipts will have suggested tipping % amounts displayed at the bottom. As an aside for those not familiar, usually the place of business will take your credit card to charge the total amount, and the tip is applied/updated later.

Restaurants - 20%. Considerations for tipping is both the service and the total bill amount. If service is exceptional, or we intentionally did not buy many meals or drinks we may up this to 25%. If service is poor, or the waiter has pushed us into over-ordering, we would tip around 15%. I don’t think we’ve ever not left a tip.

Coffee and drinks at bars - $1 per drink or 20% for cocktails. It can be worthwhile tipping extra at bars either for improved future service or more liberal spirit pours - US bartenders don’t really measure shots! Also consider adding a tip especially if they offer you free seltzer water!

Taxi, Uber, Lyft - Additional services only. This one is likely the most contentious, but I generally do not tip for rides. The justification is that I am paying for the base service. This changes if there is additional help or inconvenience, i.e. driver needed to wait for us, or be patient while we do car seats, or helping load and unload luggage. In these instances we’ve tipped 10-25% depending.

Hairdresser, massage and personal services - 20%. Given the above topic, this one feels a bit odd, but it is standard and common to tip in these circumstances and you should treat it as part of the purchase price.

Food delivery - 15-20%. I treat this somewhat similar to restaurants, in that the order size factors in. This is also awkward because you typically have to tip ahead of time in the apps (lest you piss off your delivery driver!). The task is effectively the same for the driver if they are delivering a small or large meal. I feel around $6-9 is fair for the delivery service.

Take away food - 0-10%. This is one category of tipping that irks me the most. Often you’ll order at the counter and be confronted with a pre-filled tip screen from the person taking your order. I tend to manually enter a few dollars or around 10%. I would feel a lot better about tipping here if I knew the money was going to the people providing the ACTUAL service here (the chefs), but that’s not the way tipping goes in the US.

Self service - You get nothing, good day sir. The truely bizarre circumstances are when you’re presented with tip options at self-service type establishments, such as a kiosk at an airport or a bodega. No service? No tip!

Buskers - $1-5. While busking is a more universal patronage opportunity than simply in the US, my rule of thumb here is that if you are stopping to enjoy the performance you are morally obligated to pay something. And, if you are being entertained and the busker starts asking you for money, well that’s on you really (up to the point of genuine harassment).

So that’s my guidelines for now - let me know if you disagree and I’ve got anything massively wrong! When visiting the states this is an unfortunate but culturally significant part of the experience.