Zagat-731068
According to a recent Zagat survey, St. Louis tied with Philadelphia for having the best tippers in the country, averaging 19.6% per transaction. I'm not sure why, but that percentage is shocking news to me.
According to the same Zagat survey, the average tip in the country is now 19.1%. Shocked again. Those who say that "20 is the new 15" apparently are speaking the truth.
And the lousiest tippers? They're in Seattle (18.4%) and San Francisco (18.5%), two of the nation's heralded foodie meccas, cities you'd think would be the setting the tipping standards, not dragging them down.
Although I rarely tip less than 20%, I thought most locals still tipped between 15 and 20% (skewed to the lower end) and that my 20% was still the exception rather than the rule. But alas, according to Zagat, that's not the case, and I am...just average. Shocking. -- George Mahe