How much do you tip at cafes and restaurants?

[jblaze5779]

I remember going to a new year's dinner event with some locals. It was expensive at a nice hotel. When we paid the bill the locals said they had paid enough for the experience and didn't even leave a tip. I didn't argue with them. Personally I would have left at least something even with the service being very poor.

 

[Rich One]

I was going to say the same. There is no need to complain about tipping a worker a few hundred pesos. If you don't want to tip a worker a few cents, don't eat out. It's not hard.

Some privileged think in term dollars, euros, or BP. Locals obviously don't, tipping above the local norm of 10 % can create a malaise with waiters towards locals? Anyhow those that want to stick with the local practise of 10 % shouldn't judged.

 

[Rich One]

What would people do if it were 1 peso 1 dollar? I remember that very well. That may not recur but the rate may not always be so favorable to expats with hard currency. Would you tip as generously as some people here say they do? Also if you are earning pesos, you think in pesos and not in USD blue exchange rates. That makes you be more cautious I think. A problem of tipping significantly above the local norm is that it can create expectations that locals can't live up to. I do agree that people who leave a pittance after an expensive meal are mean-spirited.

1 peso 1 dollar not possible imagine a US$400 cup of coffee ..! Now if the Blue would go down to $100 pesos . A cup of coffee would be US$ 4 dollars pretty steep.
Conclusion many expats wouldn't be here, rents would be unaffordable. Next

 

[Girino]

We went to a Ramen & Sushi place last night. Our bill came at $6100. My husband wanted to leave $600 as a tip -- we literally ate two dishes (a roll of sushi - 6 pieces and a bowl of ramen). We argued on the tip amount and he closed the argument with "if you can't afford a 10% tip, don't go there or order something less expensive". I skipped dessert to save on the bill, and I wasn't keen to leave the money anyway for the tip.
In the end we left $400 as one item was billed $200 more than it was on the menu and we also paid for the cubierto! (The place did not offer what justified a cubierto charge in CABA).

The table next to ours, which also seated a couple, only left $100 as a tip. Their bill was definitely higher than ours as we ordered vegetarian meals and water. They certainly had fish or meat and a drank soda.
I come from a non-tipping country and for me, if you go to a restaurant with seating, someone has to do table service and should be taken into account when setting prices. When you start adding the cubierto, the tip and the random trapito, it makes me want to eat at home!

 

[chris]

1 peso 1 dollar not possible imagine a US$400 cup of coffee ..! Now if the Blue would go down to $100 pesos . A cup of coffee would be US$ 4 dollars pretty steep.
Conclusion many expats wouldn't be here, rents would be unaffordable. Next

If you were in Argentina, you will recall that a number of years ago the dollar was not appreciating against the peso due to government intervention. The COL in dollar terms was getting high. My experience over the decades is that all sorts of things can happen in Argentina. I saw the austral change over to the peso with a 1-1 rate, then during the 2001 meltdown the provinces started printing their own Monopoly style money (Patacones etc). Never underestimate the ability of Argentina to surprise. As for your conclusion that many expats wouldn't stay - correct. During the Menem years we had another type of expat: those who worked for foreign companies who were paid by international standards and lived in homes in Zona Norte paid for by companies. These people have mostly left, the American Club slowly contracted and is now dead. A lot has changed.

 

[Traveler]

At the end of the day, in Argentina I (and hopefully the others reading this) live like sated aristocrats on US dollars. I'm thankful for what I have and it seems to me most all Argentines like Americans.

 

[Redpossum]

When you start adding the cubierto, the tip and the random trapito, it makes me want to eat at home!

I vehemently protest that you lump the waiter/waitress in the same category with a trapito!

A waiter/waitress is a worker, who performs a demanding job under difficult conditions. A trapito is a criminal running a protection racket, in which he threatens to vandalize your car if you don't pay him off. He does no work, he contributes nothing to society, he pays no taxes. Trapitos are scum.

 

[Tiluchi]

Agreed Redpossum. I have waitress friends here who are single mothers and who carry trays full of heavy ceramic dishes, silverware and full glasses up and down a flight of narrow stairs for eight hours a day, five days a week, to take care of their children. And sooner or later they take a tumble. So I am incredulous that there are those anguishing over whether or not to leave a 10% or 15% tip. It's not like people here are dropping $400 USD a meal as they would at Le Bernadine. And to count out a 5% tip for a delivery person. Really? That reminds me of the Judge Smails character in Caddyshack. My philosophy is that I take care of those who take care of me.

By the way, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia it was not uncommon for unrequited trapitos to occasionally to remove and sell a tire or a headlight to send a message.

 

[Redpossum]

Agreed Redpossum. I have waitress friends here who are single mothers and who carry trays full of heavy ceramic dishes, silverware and full glasses up and down a flight of narrow stairs for eight hours a day, five days a week, to take care of their children. And sooner or later they take a tumble. So I am incredulous that there are those anguishing over whether or not to leave a 10% or 15% tip. It's not like people here are dropping $400 USD a meal as they would at Le Bernadine. And to count out a 5% tip for a delivery person. Really? That reminds me of the Judge Smails character in Caddyshack. My philosophy is that I take care of those who take care of me.

By the way, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia it was not uncommon for unrequited trapitos to occasionally to remove and sell a tire or a headlight to send a message.

I make a regular habit of leaving a 300 peso tip at the lavanderia, and I get same day service, even when they're telling other customers they will have to wait until the next day. It's a dollar, FFS, and it's worth it.

Not to mention that working in that laundry in the summertime is absolutely brutal. I really pity the ladies working a steam iron for hours at a time.

To me this represents the upside of capitalism. I pay a little more and in return I get a little more.

 

[earlyretirement]

I’ve always tipped 10% and if service is super and above and beyond the call of duty (which honestly almost never happens here) I will go 15%.