What is the standard tip percentage at a restaurant?

The standard restaurant tip in the US is 15–20% of the pre-tax bill for sit-down service. 15% is the baseline for adequate service, 18% is the informal midpoint, 20% is now considered the polite default for good service, and 25% or more signals exceptional service. Anything below 10% is widely interpreted as a statement about service quality rather than a financial limit.

Should you tip on the pre-tax or post-tax amount at a restaurant?

Etiquette advisors are split, but tipping on the pre-tax subtotal is technically correct — the server didn't pour the sales tax, so you're not obligated to tip on it. In practice, the difference is small: on a $60 pre-tax bill with 8% sales tax, tipping 20% on the total vs the subtotal is only $0.96 apart. Most people tip on the post-tax total for convenience, and servers appreciate the slight bump.

How much do you tip on a $100 restaurant bill?

On a $100 restaurant bill, a 15% tip is $15, an 18% tip is $18, and a 20% tip is $20. For a table of four splitting equally, that adds $3.75–$5.00 per person on top of the food. If the bill is post-tax and you want to tip on the pre-tax amount, subtract the sales tax first (divide the tax line by the rate to find the subtotal), then apply your percentage.

How Much Should You Tip at a Restaurant? (2025 Guide)

August 17, 2026 · 7 min read

The bill arrives and suddenly everyone at the table stares at their phone. How much should you tip at a restaurant? The short answer: 18–20% for good service. But the real answer depends on service quality, the type of establishment, whether you're on takeout or dine-in, and how your group decides to split things. This guide covers the math, the standards, and every common variation — so you can stop second-guessing the final line and start paying with confidence.

What is the standard tip at a restaurant?

The informal consensus in the United States has shifted upward over the past decade. Here's where things stand today:

10% or less: Signals dissatisfaction with service. Servers and industry professionals read this as a deliberate message, not a budget constraint. If service was truly poor, leaving 10% while speaking to a manager is more effective than leaving nothing.
15%: The historical baseline for adequate service. Still acceptable, but increasingly seen as the floor rather than the norm.
18%: The informal midpoint. Many restaurant point-of-sale systems suggest this as the low option on the tip screen.
20%: The modern polite default for good service. Easy to calculate (move the decimal, double it), and now the expectation at most full-service restaurants.
25% or more: Reserved for exceptional service, a regular server who knows your order, or a celebration where the staff went out of their way.

The shift toward 20% as the baseline reflects both rising awareness of how restaurant workers are paid and tablet-based payment systems that default to higher starting suggestions. You are never obligated to accept the pre-populated options — choose what reflects the actual service you received.

How to calculate a tip at a restaurant

The arithmetic is simple once you have a method. Here are the three fastest approaches:

The move-the-decimal method (for 20%)

Move the decimal point one place to the left on the pre-tax bill to get 10%, then double that number to get 20%.

Bill: $48.50 → 10% = $4.85 → 20% tip = $9.70
Bill: $73.00 → 10% = $7.30 → 20% tip = $14.60
Bill: $122.40 → 10% = $12.24 → 20% tip = $24.48

Adjusting for 15% or 18%

Start with 10% (move the decimal), then add half of that to get 15%, or add 80% of it to get 18%.

Bill: $60 → 10% = $6 → 15% tip = $6 + $3 = $9
Bill: $60 → 10% = $6 → 18% tip ≈ $6 + $4.80 = $10.80

In practice, most people round to the nearest dollar. A $10.80 tip becomes $11. Servers would rather you round up than wrestle with change.

Use a tip calculator

When you're splitting among a group or want to verify the math quickly, a tip calculator handles the arithmetic in seconds — enter the bill total, your tip percentage, and how many people are splitting the check to get exact amounts per person.

Should you tip on the pre-tax or post-tax amount?

Etiquette experts say tip on the pre-tax subtotal — the server didn't pour the sales tax, so there's no obligation to tip on it. In practice, the difference is negligible:

Pre-tax bill: $60.00 — 20% tip = $12.00
Post-tax bill at 8% sales tax: $64.80 — 20% tip = $12.96
Difference: $0.96

Most diners tip on the post-tax total because the math is simpler and the check they see already includes tax. Either approach is acceptable. If you want to be precise about it, you can find the pre-tax subtotal by looking at the itemized section of your bill before the tax line is applied.

If you're ever unsure what percentage the sales tax adds to your bill, a sales tax calculator can show you the exact breakdown for your state or local rate.

Tipping by service quality: a practical guide

The percentage you choose should reflect the actual service experience, not just a default. Here's a framework:

Leave 20–25% when:

Your server was attentive, checked in at the right moments, and handled requests without friction
The kitchen had a long wait and your server proactively communicated and kept drinks filled
Your server accommodated dietary restrictions or special requests correctly
You camped at the table for hours and occupied prime real estate through a second seating

Leave 15–18% when:

Service was functional but impersonal — orders taken correctly, refills slow, no real engagement
Small errors were made but corrected without pushback
The restaurant was clearly understaffed and your server was visibly overwhelmed

Leave 10–15% and consider speaking to a manager when:

Orders were wrong and not corrected, or corrected only after significant effort on your part
Your server was dismissive, rude, or ignored the table for long stretches
Food safety concerns went unaddressed after you raised them

A note on systemic issues: when the kitchen is slow, food is cold, or the restaurant is disorganized, that's usually a management problem, not a server problem. Your server typically does not control kitchen timing, food quality, or staffing levels. Penalizing them for structural issues the restaurant created is worth thinking twice about.

How to split a restaurant bill with a group

Group dinners are where tipping math gets complicated. Three common approaches:

Split evenly

Add the tip to the total, then divide by the number of people. Easiest and fastest, but creates friction if one person ordered a $12 salad and another ordered a $45 steak. A tip calculator makes this exact — enter the total bill, your tip percentage, and the group size for the per-person amount.

Split by what you ordered

Each person pays for their items plus a proportional share of shared items, then applies tip to their own subtotal. More fair for uneven orders, but requires itemizing the check — easier when someone photographs the bill and inputs items one by one.

One person pays, others Venmo

The simplest execution: one card goes down for the full amount (including tip), and everyone transfers their share. Calculate the tip first, add it to the total, then divide. The person paying the full amount should determine the tip before announcing the per-person amount — after-the-fact "we should've tipped more" conversations are awkward.

Tipping for takeout, delivery, and bars

The standard 20% rule applies cleanly to full-service sit-down dining. Other contexts have different norms:

Takeout (picking up yourself)

No tip is strictly required for counter service where you order and collect your own food. A 10–15% tip is appreciated and appropriate if someone packaged a complex order, the restaurant is a local spot you frequent, or the staff went out of their way. Tipping nothing on a straightforward counter pickup is socially acceptable.

Delivery

Delivery drivers work for tips. A floor of $3–5 regardless of order size (to account for their driving costs), or 15–20% of the order total — whichever is higher. For large or complex orders, lean toward 20%. Check whether the platform adds a delivery fee separate from the tip; that fee rarely goes to the driver.

Bars

The bar standard is $1–2 per drink for casual drinks, or 15–20% on a bar tab. For a single round of beers, $1/drink is fine. For cocktails, detailed preparation, or a full evening at the bar, 20% is the expectation. Tipping at the start of a long bar visit often results in noticeably better service throughout the evening.

Buffets

A 10% tip is reasonable when servers are clearing plates, refilling drinks, and managing the table throughout a buffet. The server's workload is lighter than full-service, but they're still working for tips. Skip it only if no tableside service was provided at all.

What happens to the tip money?

Not all of a tip goes directly to your server. Most full-service restaurants use a tip-sharing or tip-pooling arrangement where servers "tip out" a percentage of their tips (or sometimes total sales) to support staff — bussers, food runners, bartenders, and hosts.

A typical tip-out structure might look like: your server keeps 70–80% of the tips they receive and redistributes 20–30% to the team. In some restaurants with full tip pooling, all tips are collected and divided equally among eligible staff. This means the 20% you leave doesn't fully reach one person — it goes to the whole team that served you, which is arguably fair given how restaurants actually function.

Doing the math quickly with a tip calculator

If mental math isn't your strong suit or you're splitting a complex group check, there's no reason to approximate. Use a tip calculator to enter the exact bill amount, pick your percentage, and get the tip and total — then divide by however many people are paying. Takes ten seconds and eliminates the table debate about whether $11 or $13 is fair.

Split the bill exactly right — no math required

Try the Tip Calculator →

The mechanics of tipping at a restaurant aren't complicated once you have a system: 20% for good service, adjust for reality, use the move-the-decimal shortcut for quick mental math, and use a calculator when splitting with a group. The harder part is the judgment call — reading the service you actually got and deciding what it's worth. That part is always yours to make.