St. Louis ranks first in Zagat survey for tipping waiters

[Blue_Tires]

ST. LOUIS – If St. Louisans prefer understatement, we thoroughly enjoy being called friendly and generous.

A recent national restaurant survey gives us a chance to feel good about ourselves. The annual Zagat survey of restaurants ranked St. Louisans and Philadelphians as the nation's most generous tippers, at least by a few dimes.

The 30-year-old rating service says the average tip in St. Louis and Philadelphia equals 19.6 percent of the bill. The national average is 19.1 percent. Hawaii, San Francisco and Seattle share the bottom at 18.4 percent.

On a $75 tab, there's not a big difference between our fat tippers and the average American. Thirty-eight cents, to be exact. St. Louis would beat the alleged deadbeats by 90 cents — although running up a $75 tab is much easier in San Francisco, Zagat's second priciest city in America for dining out.

St. Louis didn't even rate the top 23 expensive cities listed. The survey put the average meal cost nationwide at $76, with pricey San Francisco costing $115. We're somewhere lower than $50, the least expensive tab on the list. So maybe we have more money left over for tips.

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