According to Steve Lyle, the owner and chef at Village, a Greenwich Village restaurant whose low-key atmosphere attracts local celebrities, among them Uma Thurman, and playwright Sam Shepard and his wife actress Jessica Lange, 18% is the going rate for tips. “A good waiter should be tipped in the 20% range,” Lyle explained. “Anything under 18% suggests bad service. People do still tip 15% but that’s a really bad tip.”
Waiters typically earn minimum wage. It’s their tips—usually pooled and distributed on a point system depending on how many hours you’ve worked—that pays the rent. Bartenders and bus boys, by the way, are included in the pool; a maitre d’ may or may not.
But, according to Lyle getting good service is more subtle than the size of the tip you leave at the end of the evening. As old-fashioned as it sounds, especially coming from the owner of a restaurant in a countercultural part of Manhattan, the trick is to dress the part (and that doesn’t mean displaying your tattoos.) “Look really well dressed,” Lyle coached. “That doesn’t hurt. People will assume you’re richer and will tip better.”
Another way to earn your server’s respect is the most obvious—by spending generously—or, as Lyle genteelly put it, by “ordering well.” “A cocktail,” he said, “an appetizer, an entrée, wine with dinner, and dessert. By the time you’ve ordered a fairly decent wine, appetizer and entrée, I’d say you’ve got their attention.”
It may sound counterintuitive, but Lyle added that it doesn’t hurt to be slightly demanding, even sending orders back if you’re not satisfied. “If you show yourself to be somewhat discerning,” he said, “they’re more likely to take good care of you. That and spending a lot of money will get you good service anywhere.”
