Tipping out the Bartender

[jamesglewisf]

Question via email - What is the percent a waitress should tip out a bartender at the end of the shift?

[jamesglewisf]

Answer - I'm not really an expert on tip outs. It varies depending upon the restaurant. It is usually somewhere between 2-5% depending upon who all is part of it (bartender, busboy, maitre d', etc. The best thing would be to ask your manager.

[teleburst]

Different restaurants do it different ways. Some restaurants require 1% of sales across the board. Others, like the last restaurant that I worked, require 5% of alcohol sales and 15% of transferred bar tickets (tickets that are added to the total dining room bill). I happen to think that the last system is the fairest to both parties, since sometimes you might not utilize the services of a bartender and sometimes, the bartender has actually served the drink themselves, and different restaurants have a different mix of alcohol/food sales.

[jamesglewisf]

Thanks, teleburst. That's good info.

[Pinkwoman]

I work at a fairly formal resturaunt and we tip out 6% of our beverage sales and 15% of transfers.