It's Christmas. Consider Tipping Servers Extra Generously

[MineralMan]

Restaurant servers have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. If you go out during the holidays, and you get good service at a local restaurant, consider boosting the tip you give to say thanks to your server for showing up and helping you enjoy your outing. If he or she wears a mask, even better.

Yesterday was our 30th anniversary, so we went to a nice restaurant near where we live and splurged a bit on our meal. Our server was great, and helped make the occasion pleasant.

The tab was about $100. I paid with a credit card, but my wife handed our server $60 in cash as a tip.

[Haggard Celine]

1. That's great, MineralMan!

My parents and I are going to a Japanese place Christmas Eve, and we'll take good care of our server, too. Seems like the least we can do for them since they're working while we enjoy the holiday. I used to do that job and I know that most of them would really rather be home with their families, but they need the money. Everyone should make it worth their while.

[MineralMan]

4. I think it means a lot to those servers.

It can be an OK job, but it has been so spotty for the last almost 2 years. Too many people ignore the fact that it is a real person serving their meal.

[VarryOn]

2. We love doing this! It's become a tradition for us..

In the few days before Christmas, we go out to eat and leave a $100 bill in the credit card holder after I sign the check. We're going out tomorrow night.

[MineralMan]

5. That's a great tradition. We always tip well. But at Christmas, we

try to tip even more, just to let those who serve know we appreciate their work. Plus, on our anniversary, we want to share our good fortune of being together for all those years.

[VarryOn]

8. My dad, God love him, is a horrible tipper....

He'll take my wife and me to dinner, spend $70 or $80, then leave a five on the table. He insists paying the check. So, everytime, I let him leave first so I can leave a decent tip.

[MineralMan]

14. Yeah, my Dad was the same way. So, I'd always tip separately

after he got up and started walking away. He would never let anyone else pick up the check, no matter how many people from the family were in the restaurant. But, he was a lousy tipper. Most of us added substantially to the tip to offset that. He never knew. We often went to the same place for big family meals. Whenever we showed up, the wait staff was always very attentive to my father and the family. They knew there would be plenty of tipping, I guess. I'm sure my father thought they just liked him.

[helpisontheway]

3. We don't eat in restaurants right now..However, my 27 yr old

took his fiancé out to dinner the other night. He said their total was just under $100 but he gave a $30 tip. ❤️ The date was a splurge for them.

[beaglelover]

6. I'm a very big tipper year round, but at Xmas time I give my regular service providers extra.

For example, with tip I pay my stylist $150 for a haircut and color once a month. In December I give her $300.

The gardner gets $120 a month, but gets $240 for the month in December, same with the housecleaner.

I always tip my masseur a dollar a minute, so an 80 minute massage gets an $80 tip.

I'm fortunate that I can afford to be generous and I very much enjoy doing it.

[MineralMan]

7. Yes. Those of us who can should be as generous as possible.

It makes a big difference to the people who work for us in one way or another. Newspaper carriers, who show up even in blizzards, deserve a nice big tip at Christmas time, too.

[MineralMan]

9. A plug for the restaurant. Biaggi's is a small Italian restaurant chain in the Midwest.

Every time we've been there, the food has been quite good and the service excellent. I think there are only about 16 restaurants in the chain, in Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa mostly. Good places to have a meal.

I recommend their Capellini di Mare, if you like shellfish. Mussels, clams, scallops, shrimp and calamari in a garlic sauce on angel hair pasta. The scallops were lightly seared and not overcooked like they are at some places. I've ordered that more than once and it's always on point.

Share their tiramisu, too.

[nolabear]

10. Every year I give one server a $50 tip.

I’m a big tipper anyway. I grew up waitressing in my grandparents’ blue collar cafe where shipyard workers hardly tipped at all, and then on the midnight shift in New Orleans. You do NOT want to be a young woman easily intimidated in those jobs!

But though I don’t hang around to see what happens, I love the fantasy of making someone feel really worthwhile and having a bit extra.

[MineralMan]

11. We always tip servers with cash. So, that means we hand it

to them when they pick up the check and the credit card. Last night, our server almost cried. We just wished her a Merry Christmas. Who knows?

[nolabear]

13. Exactly. Who knows. It can't be a bad thing.

If I can I leave a note thanking them and wishing them a happy holiday.

[Trailrider1951]

12. And not only restaurant servers

I went online and ordered 3 replacement windshield wipers for my car from the local auto parts store. When I picked them up, I had the lady that brought me my order install those wipers on my car. When she was finished, I handed her a $10 bill and said, "Thanks for your help. Merry Christmas!" Every little bit helps!

[frazzled]

15. What servers?

Everything is closing down again. We haven’t been going out to restaurants, and especially not since Omicron, despite being triple vaxxed, but even if we wanted to go to one, it’s likely it won’t be open.

The dark days of the coronavirus pandemic have arrived for Chicago’s bars and restaurants once again.

In a scene reminiscent of a year ago, a winter surge of COVID-19 cases — and the swift arrival of the omicron variant — has led to chaos and closures across Chicago’s hospitality industry, including more than two dozen bars and restaurants that have at least temporarily shuttered in recent days.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/ct-food-chicago-bars-restaurants-closing-covid-19-winter-2021-20211221-khiumcwimnb77hzirzhezvaqr4-story.html

PS: we’ve been extra-tipping to all service people since the pandemic began.

[MineralMan]

16. Well, that restaurant was open yesterday.

Full house, too. Server was masked. So we're we, except when eating.

[beaglelover]

17. We're redoing our kitchen at the moment so we're totally reliant on restaurants for lunch and dinner

Hope they are able to stay open here in L.A. Really don't want to have to eat fast food. Yuck!

[frazzled]

18. Starting Jan. 3 we have to show vax proof

to enter not only restaurants but all indoor spaces, including gyms and entertainment venues. Wherever food or drink is available. We’ve had to show them at occasional places all this past year, but now it is a mandate citywide.

Hope your kitchen turns out beautifully! We just redid a guest bathroom (first “visible” upgrade we’ve done in years). It really lifts the spirits just to see something new and different.

[Poiuyt]

19. I haven't been inside a restaurant since the pandemic started

Good thing I like to cook