Tip or No...?

I don't tip for take out either. I haven't received any service, so I don't feel a need to tip. Just like I don't tip if I just order food at a place with counter service, seat myself and then bus my own table.

I don't tip when taking out either. Wait staff make less than min wage with the notion that they make up for it in tips. Kitchen staff makes at least min wage.

when it's a carry out deal? No I don't. I only tip at nicer diners and when get delivery. I don't even tip to get my hair or nails done. I don't see why they need the tip, esp at this last places i mentioned since they get paid usually pretty good and don't go out of their way to do anything for me.

Okay, so if you're supposed to tip based on the argument that someone had to prepare, pack & bring your food to you, do you tip when you go through a drive through? Or a hole in the wall/casual joint? Because they all have to do the same thing to get you your food when you pick it up, regardless of the type of food, or the cost of the food.

I don't normally tip on to go orders. No one is checking on me, filling my drink, etc. I do tip generously (usually over 20%) if I am at a sit down/non fast food restaurant.

Someone had to take your order over the phone, go back to the kitchen, get your food in a to go container and then pack it up in a bag for you. You may not need to tip the full 20% but it sure is nice to throw a couple of bucks in there for good measure.
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It's not necessary to tip, but it can be appropriate if the hostess/bartender does something "extra" for you. For example, I usually tip if they offer me water while I wait or if I have an extra request like sides of sauces, extra silverware, etc. When I do tip, it is anywhere from a dollar or two up to 10% if they really go above and beyond.
I had a restaurant set me up with water for me and my dog once when the food wasn't quite ready and it was a hot AZ summer day, that got a 10% :)
Emily Post says it is optional, but 10% is sufficient.

I was always told that if you are not going to tip, you should write in a 0 or draw a line through the blank to protect yourself. Otherwise someone can go back and write in a tip for you.

YoU should tip because it is still the waitstaff that gets to order ready for you. It doesn't just appear in the bag with all the extras like plasticware and mints all by itself. Usually the schedule one of the waitstaff to fill these orders so instead of waiting tables they are getting your order ready.

I only tip for home delivery or in restaurant service. If I am picking it up to take home and serve myself, no tip is needed IMO

Yes, you tip 20% on takeout. The person who took your order over the phone, assembled it , and bagged it up had to take time away from tables to do so.
Restaurant employees get paid about a third of minimum wage for every hour they work, and are taxed on the assumption that they bring in enough tips to equal minimum wage.

It depends on where I order the food. Local pizza place? No.

But at some restaurants, especially chain sit-down restaurants, I have been told that the order is taken, gathered, packed and checked by a member of the wait staff, not a member of the kitchen staff. Since the wait staff is paid based on the expectation that they will receive tips, and since your order will count toward their nightly total when they have to tip out to the bartenders and bus staff, it is appropriate to tip them, or they could end up, in a way, PAYING their employer for the "privilege" of preparing your order.

I don't think it is right of employers to do it this way, but I don't think the wait staff should end up losing money because their employer is a cheap jerk, so I'd tip.

I don't think it is expected nor "required" but unless they are particularly dismissive of me when I arrive for my order, or make me wait to pay while my food is sitting there getting cold, then I'll give them $1.00 maybe 2. That's it. Not at the local pizza place, though. Just picking up a carry out pizza for whatever reason, just doesn't "feel" necessary to me. I don't mean from Pizza Hut, but from a "real" pizza place, lol.

But I HAVE been to places that sit there with no one doing nothing while you wait for your food that isn't quite ready, but don't bother to go ahead and ring up your order. So that when it IS ready, you then have to stand there making the transaction while your food gets cold. Or someone else will have walked up and be trying to place an order so you are stuck behind them waiting to pay before you can leave. That is just rude, to me. I will not give them a dime if they do that to me. But treat me right so that when my food is ready, so am I, to get it home immediately, then you will get a dollar or two. No, it isn't a lot, but it shows that I appreciate their attention to keeping my experience with their food (as much as is in their control) as positive as possible.

I agree with others... I don't tip unless they do extra. Their JOB is to prepare my food and get it ready for me... whether I dine in, have it delivered, or carry out. So I don't tip for that... I DO tip (very well) for good service. So if I have a nice waitress who sees to my needs, or a fast delivery driver who doesn't let my food get cold, THEN I tip. Heck, they don't even have to be that good... just not bad... But to tip them just for putting my food in a bag? Where is the service there? That is just like any other checkout job. I HAVE worked with carry-out dining before... It really doesn't take any more work to package food to go than to arrange it nicely on a plate...

If I pick up the food, I don't tip. They may have to work to put it together and hand it to me, but that's what their employer pays them for.

If they were going to do something special, or extra, I might tip, but it would have to be above and beyond what they normally do.

I don't tip at McD or BK or Hardees, or KFC or Taco Bell. I know they have tip jars out, but any source of income is a good source of income (as long as its moral and honest). I went to Wendy's and they didn't even top off my frosty. And they want a tip for short changing me? NO WAY.

Good luck to you and yours.

I tip 10% on to go orders. It's for the person who took my order and brought it to me at the counter. That person is usually a waitress/waiter. They have provided me with a service. The tip is for the wait staff as you said. I usually tip 20% when I eat in because the wait staff have to do more.

I never have. Granted, I could be 'rude' like you too?? When I order from the counter and have to pick up my food myself, I don't tip there either. Will leave a $1 on the table for the bus-boy though.

Only if I know they went above an beyond to make sure my order was correct or gave me "extra"...

I didn't used to tip, but then I talked to a waiter once who was saying that it's actually a lot of work for them to package the food and prepare it to take home without spilling, getting too cold, etc. So I usually give a few dollars or 10% tops.

I tip on "to-go" orders for several reasons. As Karen mentioned below, a lot of work goes into preparing it well and getting it right. I was a server in high school and college, my daughter is now and in college as well. We needed to claim those orders as sales and pay taxes on the "would be nice if it's there" tip. I tip on room service in hotels, pretty high because of their policies. Always, always on people that do my hair and nails - most of the time they are paying to rent out that station. Most of these people will remember who I am and that I tip well. I always remembered when I was a server!! To me it's just a few bucks, to them it might make their day...heck yea!!

When its a sit down restaurant (like when we ordered from Outback last month), we tip $3-4. Someone takes and organizes the order, and we always have special requests (I have allergies), so we always appreciate the extra effort.

i don't tip if i am doing carryout. only delivery or dine-in. but i'm talking places like pizza hut, or the local mexican place. i don't do five-star carryout so the rules might change i don't know... :) lol.

If it's a place that normally does take out, no. If the bartender or a waitress with stations has to pull it together,yes. Don't know if that's right, but it's my rule.

Well these people still depend on the tip for their wages that day. I don't always, because I figure if I'm going inside to order it and pick it up, it's no different from McDonald's, but they aren't paid the same. Still...sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. I guess it depends on the place and my mood.

Yes, I do tip if it's a "sit down" restaurant, not a fast food kind of place... If the bill is 20ish, I tip like 2.00-3.00.....

I wonder about this too. When I waitressed, the wait staff did put together the To Go bags with all the plasticwear, napkins, salad dressings. I also made the salad or soup and put it in a To Go container. Of course, this was all still a lot less time consuming than waiting a table. And we only had 2 or 3 workers in our kitchen each night, so they werew too busy to do it. Perhaps in better-staffed kitchens the sous-chef takes care of this? When I prepared these To Go dinners, I would get tips (though not at the 20% rate) about half the time. It didn't bother me to not get tips, but then we only got To Go orders once in a blue moon. Maybe it's different in chains where curbside pickup is more common.

I tip in between... usually a buck or two, depending on the total. It IS some work to assemble, but not as much work as waiting on table.

When i waitressed it was the host/ hostess job to put together the to go bags and they weren't allowed to accept tips so the money went to the manager... (or whichever snotty waitress that got to it first) i say don't do it.

I always close out the slip, they can add to it if you don't scroll a line down to the total area then write the final amount in the slot. I think if the person went out of their way to make sure you have napkins, the right sauces or extras you asked for, they put everything together in a nice, easy to carry package or sack, etc...then they deserve the tip due to doing more that required of them. But if they don't even check the order and just hand it to you then no, they didn't do anything to get a tip.

I do...especially if it's a usual place.

I don't tip for take out. I do tip the delivery person for delivery.

Granted its thier job to do this for you, but yes you should tip.
I have worked in the restaurant scene for many years and someone is getting your food ready for you, taking your order. The person doing this normally relies on tips as part of thier "pay". Their pay is much lower as tips are suppose to bring it up to a certain wage. A few places that I know of only pay $1.18 an hour and heavily rely on tips to bring thier wage per hour up to 6-8 an hour. So yes your order that was taken and put together for you, you should tip to help that person make thier wage per hour. One place we drew straws at the start of the shift to see who would get the take out orders for the night because nobody wanted them because tips are rare and we more or less worked for free on the nights getting that position!

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No, I do not give 20% tip on to-go orders...I typically tip 10% for to-go - maybe more if its done and right...

I don't feel that there is a rule on tipping for to go - I just do it if the service is good and the food is right and ready!

I don't think take away requires a tip, unless you want to leave some. They all work for wages.. and also you dont know that the person preparing the food is getting their deserved "tip". If you have to write it down with the total I am pretty sure they don't see a penny and it goes straight into the company's profit.

NOOOOO way. I leave a tip, in cash when I am sitting down. Take away? Nah. If that is considered rude, so be it.. I would rather feed the homeless.

No, you don't tip when picking up food. You haven't been waited on so to speak and those who are packaging and handing you your food are often (not always) hostesses who get paid minimum wage or more, not server minimum wage ($2.15 an hour in VA) and depend on tips to meet minimum wage +.