Are restaurants and service prices cheaper due to tips?

Posted by Huzaifa_69420@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 22 comments

Compared to other countries in similar price range like Canada or UK, are the prices on the restaurant menu cheap? Because I have seen videos and people generally spend the same amount to other countries based on fast food, mom & pop or high end restaurants. This feels weird to me because you are expected to pay 20% in terms of tips i.e. you bear the cost of the waiter and not the restaurant.

So the food should be significantly cheaper compared to other countries. Based on the prices I have seen that doesn't seem to be the case.

If tomorrow tipping was abolished, all prices would increase by 20% making the US a lot more expensive compared to its neighbors?

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CycadelicSparkles@reddit

Because I have seen videos and people generally spend the same amount on fast food, mom & pop, or high end restaurants. This feels weird to me

It should feel weird, because it's just not accurate at all lol.

I can go get like 10 burritos at Taco Bell (fast food) for the same price I can get two breakfasts and coffee (mom&pop) or MAYBE a salad (low end of high end).

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TehTJ13@reddit

Fuck no! Tips are a subsidy for the company to charge what they wanted but also push the obligation to pay their employees onto you. In fact, in relation to Germany and France, non-chain restaurants are significantly more expensive. I remember eating a half-euro egg sandwich in France in 2024, even the cheapest American diners would probably charge $2 plus tip for that.

To be frank, if you don’t want to tip don’t eat out. Just buy your own food, if you refuse to tip you’re just fucking over the employees (most restaurants these days distribute tips to employees who worked that day, it’s not all going to your server) and your money is just going to the company.

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Equivalent-Pin-4759@reddit

In my experience dining abroad and in the US tipping does not make dining cheaper. It is generally more expensive, even if you don’t tip. It doesn’t necessarily lead to better service either. I’ve had great servers in the US, but the best were in Europe. They tended not to interrupt the meal to see if everything was alright, instead European servers were more attentive.

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davdev@reddit

I can only compare it to Ireland but dining prices in Ireland are significantly cheaper.

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Donner_Party_Animal@reddit

Same. My experience in Austria is that dining prices were a bit lower overall. Service was different but not any worse.

Sure the menu items were slightly inflated but without the tipping, total pricing was lower. And I didn't feel the obligation to support the server because tipping culture is absolute ass.

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Schenectadye@reddit

Just got back from Ireland and so many people from Boston were vacationing.

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BananaJelloXlii@reddit

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Ear_Enthusiast@reddit

I'm a career bartender. I make about $75k per year inntips..My restaurant couldn't come close paying me and my coworkers a salary in what we make in tips. If they did, they would certainly price themselves out of the local market. Having me and my eight coworkers go from $2/hour to $70-80k per year in wages is not sustainable. If the restaurant suddenly switched the wage format and started paying us $20-25 per hour, we would all quit and go work at a bar down the street, and we'd be replaced with some college kids that wouldn't give a rats ass whether you get good service or not.

I was in the UK about a year ago. We dined at several nice restaurants. The service was bad just about everywhere. The servers didn't give a damn. One of my current coworkers used to work in the service industry in Oregon. He says the servers out there, making a high hourly wage, are just going through the motions, because of the hourly wage.

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FunTricky903@reddit

Who keeps telling you guys Canada doesn’t have tipping?

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Purplehopflower@reddit

No, they aren’t less expensive. We travel frequently and restaurant prices in the UK, even in London, were roughly the same. Ireland was fairly equivalent earlier this year.

We didn’t eat fast food, but in the past fast food has been less expensive in the US, but we don’t tip at fast food restaurants so it’s not the tipping making a difference.

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OpposumMyPossum@reddit

Prices are a bit more expensive here but we make maybe a bit more spending money.

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Diego_refer@reddit

True, it’s not really “cheaper” or “more expensive” overall just different where the cost shows up.

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Athrynne@reddit

Canada also has tipping.

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btnzgb@reddit

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sultrie@reddit

No. and theres definitely a price difference from a high end and mom & pop. i can go to a local spot and get dinner for 2 doe $20 each. I can go to a higher end restaurant and that can range from $50 each to $800 each. and yea you still have to tip. My last fancy meal was $532 with a $100 tip extra.

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