Restaurant
Restaurant tip calculator
The check came. Here is the total.
$0.00
$0.00 tip
| Tip | Amount | Total |
|---|---|---|
| 15% | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 18% | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 20% | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 22% | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| 25% | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Three things that trip people up at a restaurant table
Automatic gratuity. Parties of six or more often have a service charge added automatically, usually 18% or 20%. It is a line on the check like any other. If it is there, the tip is already paid — anything you add is on top.
Tax. Tipping on the pre-tax subtotal is more precise; tipping on the total is faster. The gap is around a dollar on an average check, and nobody is keeping score. Enter whichever figure you have decided to use as the check amount.
Wine. An expensive bottle can make the percentage look strange, since pouring a $200 bottle is not four times the work of pouring a $50 one. Some people tip a flat amount on the bottle and the usual percentage on the food. The flat tip box handles that: type the total tip you want to leave and the calculator tells you the percentage it comes to.
When everyone ordered differently
Open Split by person. Enter what each person had, add the tax if you want it shared proportionally, and pick whether the tip follows the order or the head count. Both are defensible and groups genuinely disagree — the calculator does not pick for you.
If you work here rather than eat here
The other half of TYPTAPP runs the shift-end math: tip outs, tip pools and splits by hours, with your house rules saved so it takes seconds next time.
Common questions
- Do I tip on the total or the subtotal?
- Both are common. Tipping on the pre-tax subtotal is the stricter reading; tipping on the total is simpler and a little more generous. On a $60 check with $5 tax the difference at 20% is a dollar.
- What if there is already a service charge on the check?
- Read the line before adding anything. If a 20% service charge is already there, adding another 20% is a 40% tip. Whether the charge reaches the staff varies by restaurant, and the check rarely says — asking is fair.
- How much should I tip at a restaurant?
- There is no single correct number. In US sit-down restaurants most people land between 15% and 25%, with 20% a common default. It varies by country, by service and by situation.