How Much Should You Tip At A Fancy Restaurant?

Anyone who has ever worked in the food service industry will tell you the same thing: "If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to eat out." No biggie; stay home and cook a nice meal instead. Tipping isn't a suggestion — it's how hardworking people make their livelihoods. Singers at concerts call out, "Be sure to tip your servers" for a reason. As Best Life puts it, "If you'd really wanted to save some money, you could've gone without that extra cognac at dessert — don't take it out on your server."

When it comes to dining at a fancy restaurant, there are all sorts of rules. Picking up the wrong fork at the wrong time might cause you to blush — which, in any other setting, would make zero sense. The menu should touch the table at all times according to etiquette coachMyka Meier (via Food & Wine). Many fine-dining establishments even make chefs provide their own knives. It's weird! But if the head chef preparing a meal for you at your special-occasion restaurant isn't exempt from the secret, idiosyncratic, kind of bizarre rules of fine dining, then neither are you — and your server almost certainly isn't. Adequate tipping is perhaps the one rule of fine dining that isn't strange or unfamiliar at all – at least, it shouldn't be. Here's how much you should tip at a fancy restaurant.