Sail2Wind, as someone who spent all my early years in the food service business, and was taught to tip generously, but also as someone who's been to parts of the world where tipping is not the norm, I've got to say that the USA's tipping system does NOT work. Try living on the less than minimum wages that many servers have to live on because tips are assumed. And to boot, taxes are paid on assumed tips that sometimes don't show up. The USA needs to raise its minimum wage for all employees, especially those subject to the Federal $2.30 an hour that tipped employees get in many states. The cost of my being served at a restaurant should be part of the price I see and then pay on the menu. If you want to add sales tax to that, fine, but that needs to be printed on the menu as well. Personally I like what I saw in Australia, the menu price was it, totally it, food, service and tax. A small tip could be left for exceptional service, that waiter that made you smile, that waiter that changes an order after you ordered something you don't like, etc. But nothing extra should be expected for someone who performs his basic job, other than the wage his/her employer pays. And that should be paid out of the price on the menu. It's not my job to make the waitstaff happy, it's the employer's job to keep his staff happy, so that they keep the customers happy. And good STABLE, not based on the whim of the night's customers, will do that.