Do you really need to tip that much when you order a single expensive bottle of champagne?

TheBestMan:

When you go to a club and order a $2000 bottle of champagne. If you tip the average rate, say 15%. Then, the person who did nothing except bring the bottle from their fridge to your table made $300 in less than a minute. Do you feel that the waiter/waitress deserve that much tip from that little effort?

Yeah, it sucks but pretty standard to tip $300-400 on that.

https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/drinks/a...

To be polite, yes, but it's pretty dumb that they expect a tip that large.

Don't they usually include a 10-12.5% service charge? That usually eliminates the need for OOP tips.

If you're that stretched to just afford the bottle and not the tip, then don't get the bottle. Said another way: if you cannot afford the tip, then you cannot afford the bottle.

I take a two way approach to this, if I'm at a restaurant and order a bottle of wine ill tip 20% on that. Usually if I'm ponying up for a whole bottle/bottles there usually is a sommelier opening it, allowing me to taste, it telling me a story of why this wine (x) pairs with food (y).

But at the club some girl bringing me a bottle of mid grade liquor with a sparkler... I usually tip what the bottle is worth in the store.

The $300 tip is outrageous but the $2000 bottle of shitty champagne you can get at costco for, what $149, isn't?

Agree with the general comments that if you can't afford the tip, you can't afford the bottle. That being said, I would consider a 15-25% tip to be the scale for food service (it would have to be atrocious to warrant a lesser tip), but maybe a lower range for the wine. If I order a bottle and my server just opens it, then maybe I'm only tipping 5-10%. If I'm being given a lesson in what wines pair with my specific meal and an opportunity to make an educated choice and taste the wine, then I'll taste more. It's the same concept - you tip for service, though the range might be lower.

If I was at a club and ordered one bottle, I'd tip 10-20%. If I ordered 3, that percentage number might slide downwards a bit.

Honestly the tipping in the US is plain bat sh1t crazy! Completely out of control.

I think of it this way,let's say you order a bottle of Prosecco for $60 instead of your $2,000 bottle of champagne (on which you are already paying a massive mark-up on) why would you pay significantly more in tip for the $2k bottle?

The same service is provided in both cases.

I like the idea of giving somebody something extra when they go the extra mile and provide really good service but it leaves a completely sour taste in my mouth when a tip is expected regardless of service quality.