How much should you tip at a restaurant?
In the United States, the generally accepted tip range is between 15% at the lowest to 25% at the highest as a standard.
However, tipping more—and more often—is on-trend right now, even if consumers aren’t too happy about it.
Now, TikTok user Maddie (@maddiejio) has sparked debate after asking workers at a BJ’s Restaurant how much they tip when they go out to eat. The video has more than 31,000 views.
@maddiejio Respect for brandon 👌🏽
♬ original sound – Maddie Jio
In the clip, employees claim a wide range of average tips. The lowest claimed tip is 18%, while some claim to occasionally tip as high as 50%.
Commenters were split on the issue, with users’ stated tip averages varying considerably.
“I thought 15-18 was the standard,” claimed a user.
“Y’all trippin,” stated a second. “the base is 15%-20% if it’s good service.”
“20-50% depending on how much you wow me,” claimed a third.
“25% to 45% fosho unless they was really trash I still feel bad and can’t leave less than 10%,” shared an additional TikToker.
“I tip 30-50%,” offered a further user.
According to a 2019 survey, the average tip left by customers is 19%, with men tending to tip slightly more than women. That said, women were more likely to tip more often.
Back on TikTok, a few users said that whether or not they tip depends on where they are.
“I tip at restaurants only. Sometimes if I’m doing pick up. But if I’m at Panera sorry I’m not tipping,” wrote a user.
“that’s exactly how I feel,” agreed another in response. “if I sit down and get waited on I’ll happily tip, even on take out if I have a few bucks, but never at a counter.”
We’ve reached out to Maddie via TikTok comment.
Update 12:13pm CT, March 27: In a TikTok DM exchange with Daily Dot, Maddie elaborated on her reasons for making her videos.
“[The restaurant I work at] is closing, so I’ve been wanting to document little glimpses into it. I’ve worked here for almost 5 years and it has a special place in my heart, so I wanted to showcase the beautiful people that I get to be around every day,” she wrote.
“…It’s been nice learning more about all of my coworkers,” she continued. “It is a bit surprising when guests tell me they saw my videos because I would just never expect it. I really only thought my coworkers would watch my videos, so it’s surprising seeing that a lot more than just my coworkers are watching these videos.”
She also commented on her tipping video specifically.
“It’s interesting seeing the difference in responses,” she shared. “For the most part, most in the industry say that the standard is 20%, while there has been some back and forth debating between tipping 10-15% or 0%.”
