Tipping The Bartender

Why should I tip a bartender?

The great thing about being a bartender versus being a server is that being a bartender you reserve the right to have a little bit of an attitude. If you are a server, someone comes up to the table and complains that their steak is overcooked. When you are a bartender you can say "look, if you are not happy I won't serve you. Have a nice night. Who's next." You reserve that right. We even sit behind the bar at my nightclub. We've got 1000 to 1500 people in that nightclub all night long, people coming up to the bar. We guage who tips and who doesn't. If a guy comes up to the bar and orders three corona's and doesn't leave a tip, I go to my co-bartender and say "See that guy right there, green shirt and blue jeans? Don't serve him, he doesn't tip. As soon as he comes up, I won't even look at him. I'll just wait until I get around to it. If you are not a tipper, just be gentle enough and courteous to people that are working their butt off for you. What goes around, comes around.

When should I tip a bartender big?

There's so many different reasons why you might want to tip big. I mean, maybe you're out on that great first day and you want to look really good. Maybe you just feel really good about maybe some money you made that week. I would always want to tip big if you want to basically befriend someone. If this is a place that you constantly frequent, and you always want to feel like it's the kind of "Cheers" environment, then, yes, tip big. So when you do bring new friends into your familiar environment, it makes them feel better to see that you're treated well, and you guys are friends, and it's not just "Here, open my bottle of wine for me." If you're in a packed restaurant and you see that these people are really, really hustling, and you've got six--seven people at this table, that extra fifty bucks not only makes you look like a sound person that is considerate, it is also a better representation of your party, especially if you're the host. So try to spread the wealth a little bit.

When should I tip a bartender small?

You know, I'm kind of conflicted about that. Because there are situations where you can get into where people will give you bad service. It probably isn't intended, you know, maybe somebody is just really overwhelmed, they overlooked something. All right, well, he didn't give me good service. I'm not supposed to tip that person, but if I tip low, what does that say about me? Why don't you just kill people with kindness? But then again, you know, you may be the kind of person who has a short fuse. I had a guy that came into a bar and he was talking to a young lady and they were talking about tipping. I got four quarters for him and his girl and he puts fifty cents on the bar. I looked at him and said, "Do me a favor buddy, go make yourself a phone call". If you feel like you can't tip me, don't tip me anything at all. Don't give me change.

Is there a bad way to tip a bartender?

I've got four people deep, twenty people to my left and right. I have got six drinks at one time, turn around I have got two credit cards going. I have got people screaming at me left and right. There's nothing worse than a customer not being prepared. "Alright, sir, your total is thirty dollars." Here. What am I supposed to do with that? Not only do I not have time to sit here and uncrumple your little Rubik's cube worth of money, but it's insulting. However, people don't think about these things. You might as just well chuck it at my forehead. The way you keep your money is a direct representation or reflection of how you keep yourself in your world. If your money is crumpled up in your pocket like that, I can't imagine what your apartment looks like. You know, nice, straight, crisp bills. Here you go. Don't give me crumpled up dollars. I don't want wet money. One, two, three, thank you sir, I really appreciate that, I hope you enjoy your drink. Definitely come see me, I'll hook you up next time.

What was the best tip you ever got?

I used to work at a high-end restaurant, A-list Hollywood jet set. A guy sat at the bar and I just had a great time kicking it with him, and I knew him from different television shows. After a really great conversation, he ran up about maybe $35.00 in martinis and he wanted to move to his table, and as a bartender that is no good. I can't ask someone for a tip. The customer can decide as to whether or not they want to tip you out. On $35.00, he ended up tipping me $200.00 cash and gave me two Sky Box Dodgers tickets. I ended up in the Sky Box and we had the whole thing and it was great.

What was the worst tip you ever got?

The worst tip I ever got was a fist fight. It was like, having been a bartender, I've done everything from bowling alleys to college bars, dive bars. So I cut the guy off, he probably had about sixty, seventy bucks on his tab. He says “What do you mean, you're cutting me off?” Well, I reserve the right to cut you off. If you leave here and you slam into a wall, odds are in the court process, if it gets prosecuted, it's going to be my ass. So I give him his credit card slip and he puts a zero on it with a big slash across it, a big slash across the whole receipt. I was like “Look buddy, what did I do wrong?” He takes his beer and then he splashes it on my shirt. So the guy splashes a beer on me and I just lost it and I splashed a beer on him. Next thing you know the guy comes reaching over the bar and he grabs me by the shirt. My boss comes in and just clocks him. I grab him backward and we're clocking him and beating him on the bar. That was probably a bad tip. I would say that was a bad tip.