The publishers of the Zagat restaurant reviews have released a new survey on the tipping habits of diners in 13 cities and Hawaii, with the isles coming in No. 12. Philadelphia tippers were the best, with almost half the Philadelphians surveyed saying they tip 20 percent or more when they dine out.
Conversely, 64 percent of Hawaii respondents said they tipped 15 percent or less, leading the nation in that category.
The Hawaii portion of the survey involved 600 diners and 400 restaurants across the state, said Zagat spokesman Allan Ripp. Diners were given three categories to choose from - 15 percent or less, 16 percent to 19 percent, and 20 percent or more.
Twenty-nine percent said they tipped 20 percent or more - "which was on the low end of national figures," Ripp said - while 7 percent said they tipped in the middle range.
"I don't want to say that (Hawaii diners) are cheap, but according to our participants, they tipped the minimum, generally," Ripp said.
All this isn't news to folks in the restaurant industry in Hawaii, according to Paul Mann, president-elect of the Hawaii Restaurant Association and owner of the Korner Pocket Bar & Grill in Kealakekua.
Eliminating diners at high-end restaurants - "That's a whole different class, they know better" - Mann said locals tend to tip an average of 8 percent, basing his comments on experience and what industry colleagues have told him.
"Canadians are worse than that, averaging 5 percent, and the Japanese not much more than that, about 6 (percent) to 7 percent," Mann said.
Kevin Waugh, a general manager of TGI Friday's, which has a restaurant in Waikiki and one at the corner of Ward Avenue and King Street, said his restaurant is putting out a new menu that adds a 15 percent gratuity for parties of six or more, just "to try to help" the staff.
Although "we have people here that definitely make money" from tips, in general, most complaints from waiters/waitresses involve the size of tips, Waugh said.
But what a difference three miles makes. Tippers tend to be more generous at the Ward Avenue restaurant, where 70 percent of the customers are residents, compared to the Kuhio Avenue restaurant, where tourists make up 60 percent of diners.
At the Ward location, the average tip is about 18 percent, Waugh said. In Waikiki, "If you break 10 percent, it's a really good day."
Waugh thinks, at least among foreign tourists, many don't tip because they assume it's added on to their bills or they just don't tip back home.
In Zagat's overall survey, New Orleans came in second, followed by Boston, Orlando, Atlanta, Miami, Detroit, St. Louis, Chicago, New York and Minneapolis. Only San Francisco and Los Angeles ranked lower than Hawaii.
Harry Balzer, of the NPD Group, a consumer marketing research firm in Rosemont, Ill., said "the Zagat figures seem to be pretty close to our national average" of 15.2 percent, for every kind of eating establishment. For medium to expensive restaurants, NPD reports the national average tip is 16.4 percent.