Florida is 48th worst for tipping. What to pay at the Miami ventanita or hotel pool

Miami is confused about tipping.

Are you supposed to tip at ventanitas? What about the hotel pool?

Are the waiters at your local mom and pop restaurant relying on tips to make a living? What’s the “service charge” at the bottom of your bill, and who pockets it?

Florida is one of the worst states for tipping, coming in at 48. On average, Floridians tip 18.3 percent on the Toast system, according to a survey by the hospitality tracker.

COVID has complicated things, as has the rise of new technology like the point-of-sale systems Square and Toast. What do you do when the barista tells you that the screen will “just ask you one more question” —and you’re prompted to tip?

Miami has a robust service industry, which means that it’s nearly impossible to avoid encountering a tipping situation.

Here’s what workers and consumers say about tipping in South Florida, and what you should know:

Sit-down restaurants

Standard amount: These days, 18 to 20 percent is a standard tip if you’re dining in at a sit-down restaurant. If you’re impressed by your service, tip more.

Automatic tip: You may have noticed that many South Beach restaurants add an automatic 18 percent tip to the bill. As a booming tourist destination, Miami Beach attracts visitors from all over the world. European tourists, used to tipping around 5 percent in their home countries, often didn’t shift their tipping norms when they visited the U.S. So the automatic gratuity appeared to guarantee a standard tip for servers.

Service charge: Service charges also gained popularity during the pandemic to offer more wage stability for restaurant staff.

Is a service charge the same as a tip?

Where the money goes: Service charges are not the same as a tip. Tips go directly to your waiter, but there’s no requirement for where a service charge goes. Restaurant owners can divide up the service charge between waiters, bussers and hosts. They can also use it to raise the overall salaries of all of the employees. But at the end of the day, they can do whatever they want with the money.

Suggestion: So should you tip on top of a service charge? If the service was exceptional and you want to directly support your waiter, add an extra 5 to 10 percent in tips. But it’s not necessary since the service fee is (hopefully) going to restaurant staff.

Delivery drivers

Door-to-door app service: When the pandemic started, indoor dining took a massive hit. Apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats and GrubHub soared in popularity as people craved restaurant meals while stuck at home.

Incentive: Delivery apps also use tips as an incentive. Drivers can see how much you plan to tip before accepting your order, so the higher you tip, the more likely you are to get your order fulfilled quickly. Customers are resistant to tip their food delivery drivers. According to a study by Forces Advisor, 32% of Americans don’t think delivery drivers should ask for a tip. Earlier this year, a DoorDash driver was caught on a Ring camera spitting on the food he delivered after being tipped $3 on a $30 order. DoorDash refunded the customer and removed the Dasher from the app.

Suggestion: Consider tipping 10 to 15 percent for delivery drivers. If the weather is bad, you might want to tip more.

Who makes less than minimum? Why tipping is necessary

Subminimum wage: Waiters are classified as “tipped employees,” which means that their wages rely heavily on tips. Employers don’t have to pay tipped employees minimum wage. Instead, they’re only required to pay subminimum wage, which varies from state to state.

Who makes less than minimum in Florida: A tipped employee is anyone who is expected to make more than $30 in tips per month. The state’s minimum wage is $11, bumping up to $12 on Sept. 30. However, the state’s subminimum wage is $7.98. That means that the waiters at your local Italian place, valet attendants and your favorite bartender are usually making below minimum wage, and rely on tips to cover the difference.

Reaction: Ian Meighan is a valet attendant in the Design District who makes subminimum wage. “They come back with bags from Louis Vittoun, Diore, Hermes, and they search through their hundred dollar bills to find a dollar or two to give us. To be fair, there are some people who do tip in excess because they understand how it is. But that’s few and far between.” Meighan said that he relies heavily on tips to make a living. Employees with the valet service make between $8 and $9 per hour depending on their role, and “that’s not enough for any adult to survive off,” Meighan said.

Hotels, beach resorts and spas

Drinks, beach chairs: Ordering a piña colada to your beach chair at a Miami Beach resort? It’s good practice to tip the workers who set up your beach chair and bring you food and drinks. They typically make subminimum wage and work long days running in the sand under the hot Miami sun.

Spa service: The same goes for spa services like massages, waxing and facials. A 20 percent tip or higher shows that you appreciate their hard work and their business.

Coffee shops

Baristas: Do you tip for your morning coffee? If you do, you’re in the minority of people nationwide. A study from the personal finance website Bankrate found that only 22 percent of Americans tip their baristas.

Best tippers: A barista for Sabal Coffee in the Design District, for instance, relies on tips to make a living wage. But customers often don’t see the tip screen on the Square system. The best tippers are regulars who come in every day and know the staff well. Weekends and the high season tend to be better for tips.

Cash or screen: Sabal Coffee has both a cash tip jar and a tip screen on the Square tablet, but they get many more card transactions. Baristas estimate that for every $100 made in online tips, $15 are cash tips.

Ventenitas

KNOW MORE: The first ventanita: How Miami invented the windows that imported Cuban coffee culture

Cuban coffee windows: Technology has even changed the ventanita window.

Best practice: Ventanita culture is typically all about leaving some spare change. You get your coffee for 75 cents, leave a dollar bill, and call it a day. Now, more and more cafes and restaurants have incorporated online transactions into their ventanita window exchanges.

Tip prompt: The owner of Latin Cafe 2000, Eric Castellanos, uses an online system with a tablet that prompts customers to tip at his restaurants’ ventanita windows. Not everyone tips, and he estimates that the average tip at the ventanita is 14%. But plenty of people will leave a large tip on small orders, Castellanos said. Customers picking up a coffee and croqueta for $2 often click the $1 tip option by default, giving the workers a 50% tip. “The ventanita girls like to stay in the ventanita because it’s a lot quicker and they’re making volume on smaller tips,” Castellanos said about his window employees.

Cash: The system at Latin Cafe 2000 isn’t the default, though, and plenty of ventanitas still operate the old fashioned way — cash-based, spare-change tips.

Location: Neighborhood location makes a big difference. The Latin Cafe 2000 location in Brickell sees credit card transactions 90% of the time, Castellanos said, while his Hialeah location is closer to an even split of cash and card.