There's a not-so-funny saying about Canadians when they're abroad or dining out:
Q. What's the difference between a canoe and a Canadian?
A. A canoe tips.
My average hovers usually around 15% of the pre-tax total, 20% if the service is outstanding. Very, very seldom do I ever tip 10% or less, and only if the service and/or food was awful.
Tipping isn't something that's much ingrained in Canadian culture like it is in, say, Europe or Latin America.
So with that in mind, how much do you usually tip the server at, say, a fine dining restaurant, assuming the service and food were not outstanding nor awful, just middle of the road?
I usually tip at least 20%, more if the service is outstanding.
Likewise - also like to have a laugh with the people serving - hate to feel they are "serving me".
I tip a lot at the local diner we go to - hey those girls work their butts off, and they earn it. Other places maybe not so much.
As a former server (decades ago) I am very conscious of the service. We usually tip 15-20%, maybe more depending on variables. We have also been known NOT to tip, but the service has to be extremely bad. We've also walked out of 2 restaurants because no one ever came to our table! 3 examples:
1). At the Grand Canyon, last weekend, we had THE most inattentive server in the history of servers! We had to ask another server for more iced tea, and our server NEVER checked back at the table during the main course. When he finally brought our desserts, he said to my husband, "Sorry my hand is so nasty!" WHAT?! We didn't even want to know what that was about. He got no tip.
2). Another place at the GC, I ordered wild salmon. Sent it back TWICE because it was raw. The second time, they never brought it back out. The server was noticeably embarrassed, and had the manager take it off the ticket. We tipped 15%.
3). Again, at the GC, had the BEST dinner we've ever had in Northern AZ. Food was great-service was great. We tipped a bit over 20%.
I'm still trying to remember to tip for those non-dining services, such as haircuts (I generally get one once per year), and pedicures or massages (very rare).
I usually tip 15% at buffets and mongolian grills(choose your food and they stir fry it for you), but at regular restaurants it's 20%.
If service is really bad, I'll go down to 10%, but they never get stiffed. I usually tell the manager what went wrong then, like they were slow, or inattentive, or put cheese on my salad(hey, I'm allergic and say so). Then they get dealt with by management, because chances are, I'm not the only one to complain.
20% is my standard, most people that tip well were once paid that way.
I gotta tip for ya, don't drink and drive!
If it looks like a skunk, acts like a skunk and smells like a skunk. It's probably a skunk.
About 20% (unless she is smokin)