Are you visiting the UK and wonder about tipping? We have all the answers.

Generally visitors from the USA would probably expect to leave a tip in a restaurant, but if they asked someone in an English pub how much they should tip, they might be told “Tip?… In this place?”

Tipping in restaurants is a practice that the English perceive quite differently from people in the United States. The instinct for an American to add at least 15% to the bill – and considerably more if the staff is outstanding – is based on the recognition that tips form part of the regular income of people in the service profession. Waitstaff in the US are automatically taxed on an assumed amount of tips they’ll receive. In some states, restaurant owners are even allowed to pay them below the minimum wage because of that expected extra income. The very expectation of a tip helps keep the whole interaction between server and customer cordial. Tipping norms in England depend on various factors, including what kind of restaurant you are in.

A tip would certainly be expected if you are dining in a fairly elegant restaurant. But even there, it wouldn’t usually be more than 10%, and locals would think nothing of skipping it altogether if they did not receive good service. A certain degree of helpfulness and courtesy, they feel, is simply part of the job for which the restaurant owner is paying the staff.

In a less fancy eaterie, tipping your waiter or waitress is less expected. A small tip may well be appreciated, but 10% would be the norm in most places.


For an American on vacation in England, it’s a good idea to think of tipping as a service fee – in the most absolutely literal sense. If you don’t get good service, don’t leave anything for the server. If the service is good, leave about 10%. Then again, if it’s really very good indeed, go crazy and leave a 15% tip. You’re on vacation, after all.