Commenters were left divided after a restaurant goer shared an Atlanta restaurant's tip policy which says that if customers cannot afford to tip then they should stay home.
The Original Poster (OP), known as u/Eltsoh, posted a photo of the menu to Reddit's "Mildly Infuriating" forum where it received nearly 55,300 upvotes and 7,800 comments. The post can be found here.
Tipping Culture
While tipping is not custom in all countries, servers in America make the majority of their money through customer tips rather than their hourly wage.
In other countries, restaurants charge service fees and servers do not expect tips for regular service.
As Robin DiPietro, the director of the College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management at the University of South Carolina, told Newsweek, "tipping is most definitely more of a U.S. thing."
DiPietro explained that servers in many locations around America get paid lower than an hourly minimum wage because their employers supplement wages with their tips.
"I think what's important is to remember that tipping for most servers is a real part of the wages for their work, it is not only a type of 'bonus,'" DiPietro said.
Although restaurants cannot have a tip mandate, the average tip is between 15 to 20 percent of the bill, with exceptional service sometimes receiving more than 20 percent.
"The correct way to tip is to tip on the amount of the bill before taxes, many people forget that," she said. "Another thing to remember is that you don't have to tip on the price of an entire bottle of wine—it is nice to do, but it is not mandatory to tip $20 on a $100 bottle of wine. Service that includes proper wine service and pouring should be rewarded, but a 10-15 percent tip on alcohol is appropriate."
'Stay Home'
In the post, the OP shared a picture of an Atlanta bar's menu that says "tip or die" in bold lettering.
"What I found on the back of a menu," the post read.
On the menu in bold lettering read "Tip or Die—or drag your cheap a** too [sic] Mickey D's."
In smaller font, the policy stated that tipping is custom at this restaurant and how servers and bartenders make a living.
"If you think tipping is a scam, then you should probably stay home, microwave yourself a TV dinner, and binge-watch your favorite reality show," the menu reads. "Because if you can't afford to tip, then you can't afford to eat at a full-service restaurant. That's life."
Redditor Reactions
More than 5,600 users commented on the post, many criticizing the restaurant's aggressive language and others applauding the policy.
"Truth is I can't afford to eat at a full service restaurant, so I literally do eat at Mcds a lot. With the app codes as well," one user commented.
"'We're too cheap to pay a decent wage, so we guilt customers into subsidizing our employees,'" another commented. "Historically, tips were given for service that went above and beyond. They were a 'bonus' for good work. Restaurant owners decided they could cash in on people's goodwill and lobbied for special laws that allowed them to pay less than minimum wage."
"As someone who always tips, this would make me want to leave and go elsewhere," another commented.
"Okay so I get tipping at a full service restaurant...but I think we're at a point where you're expected to tip pretty much everywhere," another user commented.
"AKA We underpay our staffs, so you better shore up for our faults," another commented.
"No tipping in Australia (yet). F**k tipping culture," one user commented.
"If you can't afford to pay your employees a fair and livable wage. Relying on generosity. You can't afford to be in business. Just saying," one comment read. "Not cheap. I tip. But f**k signs like that."
"As someone who worked in the service Industry in the south for years ($2.13/hr, baby) I can tell you that tipping is absolutely how we survive," another commented. "We usually get checks for $0 since they take the taxes from the chump change they call an hourly wage. Tipping, esp in the south, is usually 100% of a server's income."
Newsweek reached out to u/Eltsoh for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Samantha Berlin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on trends and human-interest stories. Samantha ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
