Tipping

Posted on June 22, 2007
Filed Under Food and Drink, Expat Tips, Culture | 8 Comments

If you are coming from the US where tipping has gotten completely out of hand, you will be glad to know that tipping inflation has not yet arrived in Uruguay.

When I arrived in the US in the early eighties, tipping was beginning its upward creep from 10%. In a few short years it grew to around 15% where it stayed for many years. Now 15% is the absolutely minimum allowable value, rounding up from there, often way up. People I know tip 20% on a regular basis and even more when in groups.

In order to get data points for this article, I asked Urufish to ask around among his Uruguayan friends for guidelines. Below is a summary of what he sent me. Thanks Irv.

Restaurants, bars, coffee shops - 7 to 8% of the total bill is acceptable. 10% would represent a good tip. On more expensive meals, you tip towards the 7% rather than the 10%.
Taxi – 10% on a long ride and a little more on short ones. For example, on a short trip of 50 pesos, a tip of 5 to 10 pesos would be normal. On a 200 peso trip, 20 would be fine.
Cuida Coches – 5 to 10 pesos.
Hair salon services – 10%.
Home deliveries:

Large item like a sofa – Usually around 20 to 25 pesos per person involved in the delivery.

Groceries – 10 to 20 pesos, will depend of the number of bags etc, but it is rare to tip more that 25 pesos for anything.

Small items like empanadas, pizzas, chivitos, restaurant delivery – Same as a restaurant, 7 to 8%.

The rule I have been using over the years for tipping in Uruguay is to take the total check amount (including the IVA) and divide it by ten. Then I look in my wallet for the bills that will get me close to, but not above, that value. It usually results in a 7 to 10% tip.

Some restaurants charge for cubierto, which usually consists of a breadbasket with assorted bread rolls, butter, mayonnaise. In some restaurants, it may include sauces, olives and few other treats. The idea is to entertain you while your order is being prepared. The confusing bit is that many restaurants do not charge extra for it. In more touristy places, it is more common than not. The problem is that the price varies widely from restaurant to restaurant and you usually only find out how much it will cost you when you get the bill. However, restaurants are usually consistent and will either always charge you for it or never.

I never tried this in Uruguay, but in Brazil, you can say “sem couvert’ (sin cubierto) to the waiter and they will not bring the bread basket thingy (and will not charge you). If you know if this is possible in Uruguay, please write in.

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8 Responses to “Tipping”

Ant on June 22nd, 2007 3:13 pm

Brazzie, This is the single most useful topic on your site for someone living here. I have been very confused at restaurants and taxis on how much constitutes a decent tip. Reading what you’ve written makes me feel better because I’ve been tipping around 10% on an average for both. Muchas gracias!
urufish on June 22nd, 2007 3:26 pm

Hah.. you do exactly what I do too. Today I took a cab for 45 pesos. Gave the drived $100 bill. He gave me back a $50 bill and a $5 coin. I would have preferred to give him $10, but it was just easier to leave the $5 in the tray.

Your question about cubiertos fascinates me. Sometimes, the waiter will ask you if you want it or not. If you say no, there’s no charge. I’ve never been with anyone who initiated the question. Probably because my wife loves breadsticks and if I told them to forget it, she’d be mad at me.
IBMike on June 22nd, 2007 5:56 pm

Another point about restaurants. If you pay by credit card you pay 14% IVA instead of 23% (you’ll see it as a credit on your bill). My only experience is with my international Visa credit card so I don’t know if it works with local credit cards or with debit Visa and MasterCards.

Also, when you pay by credit card there’s not a way for you to add the tip to the charge slip when you sign. You have to pay the tip in cash or most restaurants will add the tip (a flat 10%) to the charge if you ask them to when you give them your card.

I do the same thing with taxis — round it so that I leave them usually between 5 and 15 pesos. Though if I get an exceptionally aggressive driver I won’t leave a tip and if I get one that’s exceptionally pleasant I’ll add to the tip.
Brazzie on June 22nd, 2007 7:14 pm

IBMike, thanks for the credit card tip. However, I remember on my birthday in MVD having to scrounge for cash after being told the restaurant did not accept credit cards. We barely had enough to pay the bill and virtually nothing left for the tip.

Urufish, I also don’t mind the cubierto thing, because I like to eat bread and drink some wine while I wait. But if you are on a budget, it would be good to be able to say no.

Ant, I agree, tipping is an important subject. Maybe somebody should create a tipping customs of the world book. It would be useful.

By the way, if you are going to Brazil, tip 10% and you will never be wrong.
urufish on June 22nd, 2007 8:23 pm

Mike, it works with local credit cards. I have a real local credit card, the one that ONLY works in the Mercosur. I didn’t expect the IVA credit but yep, there it was. BTW, it drops to 10% in the new reform… from 22%.
urufish on June 23rd, 2007 2:36 pm

Just came back from eating lunch across the street in Costa Azul. An observation for you. If the restaurant uses those little sharp paper holders to put the bills on, there’s probably no cubierto charges. I dont ever recall seeing cubiertos in this situation. I’ll keep sending you insights on tips as I come across them.
Chuck Stull on June 25th, 2007 10:10 pm

Gas stations are all full-serve and it’s common to give a small tip to the attendant. (I usually give 5 pesos.)
urufish on July 9th, 2007 10:19 pm

I’ve been told by locals to give more… I guess it depends on how much you spend. We put $1000 in each time, and give a 1%, $10 tip.

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