How did I miss this question when it was new? I have to throw my two cents in!
I always tip 20%-25% but I generally eat in diners so the atmosphere is a little different than say an olive garden. At the diners I go to, they all know me and my mother so they are extra friendly and often charge us less for our meals. I have learned from my mother that waiting tables, while not rocket science, is extremely difficult and the waiters and waitresses have to put up with a lot of bad behavior from customers. I’ve eaten out with people who have not complained about the service or anything until the very end when it is too late to fix it. instead, they choose to punish the wait person by giving him/her a lower tip. These same people also expect stellar service and whatever service they get is never good enough. I mean, if the waiter takes our orders promptly, checks on us a few times during the meal, more if he sees our drinks are low or there are empty plates, is friendly and brings us the check as soon as we ask, these people would say, “He didn’t do anything he wasn’t supposed to. He gets a 10% tip.”
Of course, in these situations, I try to be vocal and give a bigger tip, but this can come back to bite me in the ass. The first time I went to Hooter’s is an excellent example of this…