How much should I be tipping at restaurants? What is the tipping etiquette in Buenos Aires or Argentina?

[Bharat]

I arrived a few weeks ago and I really love this country. I didn't know what to expect and was so worried about exchanging money. I thought it was all cash culture but was surprised and happy that I can use my credit card at almost all restaurants and cafes. Only very small places I can't pay with my card. Only disappointing thing is I must pay tip with cash. How much is normal? I heard 10% was an okay tip and I have been leaving that. Is that enough? Sometimes I feel bad when service is very very good and I leave 15% as it so small amount.

What is the amount you all tip? In my country in India we tip 10% or if it is VERY good we can tip 15% so I do this same here. The locals I hear make so little so I like to help them if service is very good 15%

 

[Che Vos]

I arrived a few weeks ago and I really love this country. I didn't know what to expect and was so worried about exchanging money. I thought it was all cash culture but was surprised and happy that I can use my credit card at almost all restaurants and cafes. Only very small places I can't pay with my card. Only disappointing thing is I must pay tip with cash. How much is normal? I heard 10% was an okay tip and I have been leaving that. Is that enough? Sometimes I feel bad when service is very very good and I leave 15% as it so small amount.

What is the amount you all tip? In my country in India we tip 10% or if it is VERY good we can tip 15% so I do this same here. The locals I hear make so little so I like to help them if service is very good 15%

It is very nice for you to give 15% if service is good. My friends and I we give 10%. My very cheap friends don't like to tip and complain but we make fun of them for be so cheap. You should give 10% if service is good.

 

[Wally]

I give at least 15% in most places. If the service is just ok then 10%.

 

[Betsy Ross]

I am probably too generous but I give 15% and if very good 20% but I realize that is too generous but it's one of the ways that I think I can contribute the most to help people that are working hard. Most of my friends and locals give 10%. Some of my expat friends give 15% to help out the cause. Most of these people make very little money so it is one way you can help them quite a bit.

 

[sergio]

I tip at least 10% which is normal. Service isn't particularly great at places here but usually service is decent enough. If service is extraordinary or the girl service me is especially cute then I go to 15%. 🙂

 

[sophos]

You should tip a minimum of 10% in Argentina unless the service was very bad for some reason. If service is very good then consider leaving more. Most places you can't tip on the credit card but I notice more and more places allow it now as I believe they figured that many don't carry cash. Always consider to pay the tip in cash if you can so the worker can get the tip right away.

 

[Pink Panther]

I will go anywhere from 10% up to 20% if the service was over the top good. Also, the latter at places where I am a regular customer and I get the same person each time. I feel I have a personal relationship with this person when I go to the same place for years.

 

[Larry]

I really wish restaurants and cafes paid their employees a living wage so they can make enough to survive. I really hate cultures where the workers have to depend on the tips to live and survive. I despise the USA because of this with it's tipping culture. I do tip 10% here as the wages are so horrible and the employers treat people bad and pay them so low. I wish they would change the system here but I know they never will. Owners of places here are very greedy.

 

[Spend Thrift]

I tip generously because when I was in college I worked at a restaurant. A person could make or break my day! I learned it's always better to make someone's day. If service is bad, I will usually tell them. Yes, I'm that type. I still usually give 10% but I have been known to give someone 100% on a restaurant bill if they were very kind and over the top. Most places here I'm giving 15% to 20% tip.

 

[Johnny]

I tip generously because when I was in college I worked at a restaurant. A person could make or break my day! I learned it's always better to make someone's day. If service is bad, I will usually tell them. Yes, I'm that type. I still usually give 10% but I have been known to give someone 100% on a restaurant bill if they were very kind and over the top. Most places here I'm giving 15% to 20% tip.

I am the same way @Spend Thrift. I was just in Buenos Aires with my friend and he also tips too much. I was giving about 20% if the service was very good only because the servers were very cool and we talked to them a lot. My friend is known to be too generous! He gave an Uber driver $100 US for a $9 US fare but he had his reasons. I have never seen anything like that in my life.

 

[Used]

OMG! I feel so dumb. Someone told me Argentina was a non-tipping country. I haven't been leaving tips. No wonder people keep giving me dirty looks at the restaurant when I leave! Oops.

 

[Vero]

Wow some of you are overly generous and nothing wrong with that. That is very kind of you and I agree it's the one way you can make an immediate impact and make someone's day. Most of these jobs are not easy. You are on your feet all day and people are very rude sometimes. The tips add up. My daughters were servers for many years and it makes a big difference for them when you are kind.

People should leave at least 10% tip in Argentina.

 

[Silvia]

10% is bare minimum. You will find in Argentina most customer service isn't overly friendly. It is atypical to have really over the top friendly service so if you get it then you can leave more.

When I have my regular servers for the places near my home I go a lot and know the people I give 15% or sometimes more. But the typical place I don't know the staff I give 10%.

 

[Handy Andy]

I leave 10% propina. The people are very honest. My first week I had an amazing experience. I chatted with the waitress and talked about her home town of Salta. She as very friendly. Asked where I was from. Had great English. I am fluent in Spanish but I could see how excited she was speaking English so we spoke in English. I was so impressed with her I left her a 25% tip. She was in the back when I was leaving but she caught me as I was coming from the bathroom before leaving the restaurant and she told me I accidentally left too much.

I told her in perfect Spanish it was a tip for great service. She started crying she was so happy. If you can make someone's day then you should do it.

 

[Uncle Wong]

I am the same way @Spend Thrift. I was just in Buenos Aires with my friend and he also tips too much. I was giving about 20% if the service was very good only because the servers were very cool and we talked to them a lot. My friend is known to be too generous! He gave an Uber driver $100 US for a $9 US fare but he had his reasons. I have never seen anything like that in my life.

It is kind that you are generous but I feel like 20% is too much. I'm not sure of the story of the $91 USD tip to an Uber driver but that is just too much. I worry that it will create unreasonable expectations for other foreigners or expats to tip such crazy % amounts.

In the USA we have gotten to a crazy point where everyone expects a tip. At many restaurants they add on 18% tip and some have 4% healthcare fees for workers. It is crazy.

I don't want to sound like a cheap person but I feel like if you leave too much then it creates a bad environment for tipping.

 

[Vince]

I actually think the flat 10% rule for local places is good but I find myself leaving usually 15% or sometimes more when I'm eating alone. Sometimes the bill seems so low in USD terms I want to leave more. But the salaries are so low here I always tend to tip more to help them.

 

[RN in BA]

I've been tipping at least 10%. A few local friends that I hang out with don't seem to tip much at all. I always leave some but my friends locally don't seem to always tip or leave a very low amount. Sometimes when we split a bill and I ask how much we will tip I tell them 10% or 15% and they look at me like I'm crazy. They don't actually say anything but I usually just tell them I want to pick up the tip. I don't want it to be backward where we are leaving different amounts so I just say I will pick it up.

 

[McDonald]

It is kind that you are generous but I feel like 20% is too much. I'm not sure of the story of the $91 USD tip to an Uber driver but that is just too much. I worry that it will create unreasonable expectations for other foreigners or expats to tip such crazy % amounts.

In the USA we have gotten to a crazy point where everyone expects a tip. At many restaurants they add on 18% tip and some have 4% healthcare fees for workers. It is crazy.

I don't want to sound like a cheap person but I feel like if you leave too much then it creates a bad environment for tipping.

I totally agree with you. I tip 10% and think that is enough. When you tip more than that I think it causes problems for locals living here or even expats living here in Argentina. Almost NO Argentines can afford to tip more than 10% and even that for them is a lot. So you are just raising expectations to a level that isn't possible for locals.

I get some of you are going to argue that I'm cheap and they are helping locals (both of which MAY be true). But I think it's better not to mess with local customs. Local customs is 10% and not more and less if the service was poor.

 

[Colin]

Local customs is 10% and not more and less if the service was poor.

If that is your criteria then I'd say that most locals wouldn't get ANY tip. Service often times is poor but that's more the norm I've found that great service. I leave 10%.

The crazy devaluation makes it a bit strange. When the cost of lunch was 200 pesos or less than someone would willingly leave the 20 pesos 10% tip with no issues. Now that same lunch might be 800 pesos and waiters will expect 100 pesos as they often times don't have 20 pesos for change.

 

[Aussieland]

If that is your criteria then I'd say that most locals wouldn't get ANY tip. Service often times is poor but that's more the norm I've found that great service. I leave 10%.

The crazy devaluation makes it a bit strange. When the cost of lunch was 200 pesos or less than someone would willingly leave the 20 pesos 10% tip with no issues. Now that same lunch might be 800 pesos and waiters will expect 100 pesos as they often times don't have 20 pesos for change.

But let's get real. That 100 peso propina is just 10 US cents! I don't think that being generous a few times will create unreasonable expectations for locals! I think all servers expect locals to be very cheap and not tip well and they will be extra appreciative when they get a generous foreigner or expat that is generous. That isn't going to cause them to expect that from everyone as they just assume that hell would freeze over before locals left them 20% tip! If you don't want to tip generously don't.