study<\/a> by Talker Research found that \u201cguilt tipping\u201d has gone down significantly in 2025 compared to 2024. In a study of 2,000 people, research found that the amount of money people tip \u201cunder pressure\u201d has gone down from $37.80 per month in 2024 to $23.60 per month in 2025. By year, it\u2019s gone down from $453.60 to $283.20. Plus, research found that customers felt they had guilt-tipped about 4.2 times per month this year, down from 6.3 times last year.\u00a0 <\/p>\nAs customers seem to be growing tired of the dreaded tablet flipping, employees of these establishments are also getting frustrated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe staff don\u2019t like it,\u201d Lowes says. \u201cThey find ways to ask the question, but they don\u2019t really ask it. It\u2019s got this really awkward energy about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whether as employees or customers, we\u2019ve probably all done the dance around tipping at least once. You\u2019ll hear things like \u201cit\u2019s going to ask you a quick question\u201d or \u201cit just needs a signature,\u201d but we all know what it really means.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019ve got great staff and I think our products are awesome,\u201d Lowes says. \u201cBut I also think that kind of ease of that daily interaction with us does contribute to our success.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sergio Zamora is a barista at LDU\u2019s White Rock location, but has previously worked as a barista at shops that accept tips. To him, the contrast is glaring.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard not to notice the difference in terms of service and workflow,\u201d he says. \u201cThere\u2019s definitely a bigger focus here about being forward-facing. It\u2019s more than just handing off a drink. It\u2019s building a community with people that come in, coffee is just the bridge for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zamora says that he prefers LDU\u2019s style to the more transactional nature of shops that request a tip with each service.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat focus on hospitality is something that I grew up with,\u201d Zamora says. \u201cIt just feels kind of natural. You can be yourself and get to know the customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The same goes for his experience on the other side of the counter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little bit of a letdown when I go somewhere and I can sense someone is a little frantic,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
But ultimately, tip or not, a job is a job and Zamora, like his coworkers, is there to get paid. He acknowledges that at times, he made more money at shops that do accept tips, but that the stability of LDU\u2019s base pay, which starts at $15 for day one employees, makes life a bit easier.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what you\u2019re gonna get each pay cycle,\u201d Zamora notes.<\/p>\n
Natalie Villegas knows all about the hustle and bustle of the service industry. They currently work two serving jobs, at Jinya ramen bar and at Thai Square, where the base pay remains low and tipping is the name of the game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Full-Service Still the Exception<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never felt awkward about it,\u201d Villegas says. \u201cI feel like everyone understands the position as the server.\u201d<\/p>\n
Villegas says that the base pay at their jobs is $2.13 an hour plus tips, forcing servers to be highly dependent on tips from customers. Villegas calls it \u201ca necessity to pay for my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
They previously worked at Flying Squirrel, a Denton-based coffee shop that permanently closed in 2022 after the death of its founder, Adam Hasley. At the shop, a 20% gratuity was included for each drink, and Villegas says that it was never a big issue among customers. But in 2025, what could an employer do to keep employees like Villegas around without offering the possibility of tips?<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a restaurant, it would have to be $20 an hour to make the equivalent,\u201d Villegas says. \u201cThere\u2019s good days and there\u2019s bad days, if you want to keep somebody, $20 an hour would be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amy Broad of JD\u2019s Chippery finds herself in this exact dilemma. The Broad family has operated the Snider Plaza bakery since 1983. For 41 years, tips were not accepted at the shop until Broad couldn\u2019t find employees who would stay at a place that didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Changing Labor-Market Expectations<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to shift our policy,\u201d Broad says. \u201cNot because we wanted to, but because the labor market changed. We found that in order to attract and retain quality staff in food and beverage, we had to stay competitive with other businesses offering similar wages plus tips.\u201d<\/p>\n
The policy change came with two strict rules: 1. Employees are not to prompt or linger at the register in front of customers, and 2. Children are not allowed to tip. Broad says that if a child paying was prompted to tip, JD\u2019s Chippery would no longer accept tips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAllowing tips has helped us attract team members who genuinely enjoy customer service and engaging with people,\u201d Broad says. \u201cIt\u2019s no longer just about filling a role; it\u2019s about finding the right fit, and tipping can be a deciding factor for those who take pride in delivering great service and being recognized for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, registers at JD\u2019s Chippery offer preset tipping options of 5%, 10% and 15% for orders over $25, or $1, $2 or $3 for smaller ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a bakery setting, where average check sizes are smaller, a tip of 5% or even $1 or $2 is a meaningful show of gratitude,\u201d Broad says. \u201cOn the other hand, I don\u2019t believe 20% tips are appropriate in this context. It feels disproportionate and doesn\u2019t align with the type of service being provided.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with customers and employers alike growing increasingly fatigued by modern tipping culture, we\u2019re not expecting it to change anytime soon. Unfortunately, most employers just can\u2019t afford to stay open without it, so the responsibility falls on the consumer, just like everything else seems to. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, we pride ourselves on providing joy and great service, whether someone tips or not,\u201d Broad says. \u201cThat\u2019s our standard, not a transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Do you feel like you\u2019re tipping too much? If so, you\u2019re not unlike most Americans.\u00a0 In November 2023,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":302733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,15713,1596,79,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-302732","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-coffee","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-tx","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115372791161650334","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}