Tipping at a food truck?

I bought lunch the a couple of times this week from a food truck. When they gave me the credit card receipt to sign, there was room for a tip. One even had a tip jar. What do people do in this situation? I generally don't tip when picking up take out from a restaurant. I will occasionally add a tip if I get the food from a bartender because I know that that's a job that counts on tips and I 'm getting service from them. I'm generally a pretty generous tipper, but here, I assume the people in the truck are the business owners, so a tip seems like a convert price increase. Was I a Scrooge?

Jonah

Jonah wrote:I bought lunch the a couple of times this week from a food truck. When they gave me the credit card receipt to sign, there was room for a tip. One even had a tip jar. What do people do in this situation? I generally don't tip when picking up take out from a restaurant. I will occasionally add a tip if I get the food from a bartender because I know that that's a job that counts on tips and I 'm getting service from them. I'm generally a pretty generous tipper, but here, I assume the people in the truck are the business owners, so a tip seems like a convert price increase. Was I a Scrooge?

Jonah

Tipping on takeout is a judgment call. There's no wrong or right.

Do you tip at Starbucks or similar coffee places? I always consider a tip at coffee places or food trucks/carts entirely optional (unlike restaurant tips, which I consider mandatory). If the server did anything more than simply take my order (like maybe smile or offer some helpful suggestion), I tip something (maybe just change).

I consider myself a "pretty generous tipper," too. I wonder if most people perceive themselves that way.

David Hammond wrote:Do you tip at Starbucks or similar coffee places? I always consider a tip at coffee places or food trucks/carts entirely optional (unlike restaurant tips, which I consider mandatory). If the server did anything more than simply take my order (like maybe smile or offer some helpful suggestion), I tip something (maybe just change).

I consider myself a "pretty generous tipper," too. I wonder if most people perceive themselves that way.

Dining in at a table service restaurant, my thought is that if I can afford to eat there then I should consider the tip as part of that cost, so 20-25%, depending on the situation. Take-out is another thing entirely. I used to do take-out from Tampopo under the previous ownership. It was usually a sizable order and one of the hostesses would always take time from her table service to prepare the box for take-out. It warranted a $10 tip. I have a couple of spots that I go to for take-out in the morning (coffee and a breakfast-y thing). I always leave $1 because they treat me like a valued customer. I can't stomach the corporate faux-friendliness of Starbucks, so I don't go unless I'm forced to.