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Quick rules for casual tipping
By John Kessler
Cox News Service
A quandary always greets me when I get to the counter of a cheap, quick-service restaurant: What should I tip?
I don't need to pay for the privilege of lining up, pouring my own iced tea or finding my own table. But, then, servers bring the food, warn the kids not to lunge at hot plates and bus our tables
I leave about 10 percent, but is that enough? Is it too much?
Here are some guidelines, but you're welcome to disagree:
Full-service
• Good service: 20 percent.
• Acceptable service: 15 percent.
• Lousy service: your discretion.
• With coupons: 15 percent to 20 percent of what the bill would have cost at full price.
• With kids eating off a reduced-price kids menu: 20 percent to 25 percent.
• With kids eating off a reduced-price kids menu and using the opportunity to smear their food on the walls and empty drinks on the floor: At least 25 percent, a visible effort to help with the cleaning and sincere thanks.
Fast casual
• You order at the counter, they hand you drinks and then bring your food to the table: 10 percent.
• You order at the counter then have to look for your own silverware, napkins and drinks at a soda fountain, they bring your food to the table: $1 a head.
• You go through a cafeteria line, leave with your food on a tray and are asked to bus your own table: No tip needed.
Coffeehouses
• Coffee to go in a paper cup: No tip needed
• Coffee to drink on site in a paper cup: All the coinage from your change in the tip jar.
• Coffee to drink on site in a porcelain mug: $1 in the tip jar.
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OSU vs. Michigan Day
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Here's where you get to tell the world what you think. Every week you get to vote on the best that the Dayton area has to offer in entertainment, restaurants, recreation & and a few other bizarro categories.
Voting in this category ends on Nov. 24.
We have REVISED our official rules »
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Wanna be a Rollergirl? You may get your chance Sunday [things to do]
The Gem City Rollergirls are looking for a few good women to join their team. Basic skating ability and the willingness to learn one of the fastest-growing sports for women in the nation is all that's required. Check out an open practice and workshop for women ages 18 and older this Sunday, Nov. 23, at Kettering's Skateworld. If nothing else, maybe you can get in a good workout to offset some of those Thanksgiving Day calories. More »
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What's happening this week
- 103.9 The X and Live Nation Present Staind, Seether and Papa Roach in Concert at Hara Arena
- Party Crashers at BW3s in Englewood for the OSU-Michigan game
- Party Crashers at BW3s in Huber Heights for the OSU-Michigan game
- Party Crashers at BW3s in Troy for the OSU-Michigan game
- Party Crashers at Cadillac Jacks for the OSU-Michigan game
- Party Crashers at Dunaway's Beef & Ale for the OSU-Michigan game
- Party Crashers at Fricker's for the OSU-Michigan game
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Call it comfort food, gourmet style. From crab raviolis with vanilla lobster sauce, to a hand-cut and brined pork chop served with a fig jam, to a simply "Big-Ass Cake" that's a chocolate lover's dream, Amelia's has the potential to become a destination restaurant — worth the drive to Bellbrook. More »
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