Tipping, service charges and table manners

Tipping at a glance

Customs, not rules. The figures below are what travel guides describe; nobody can make you tip.^[2]

Our quick answer Do you tip in the UK? and the money guide cover paying by card and cash.

Service charges and the law

• Some restaurants and gastropubs add a service charge to the bill, usually marked optional. Read the bill before you add a tip.^[2]
• Since 1 October 2024 the law requires all tips to be passed on to workers without deductions. A statutory code of practice covers how tips, gratuities and service charges are shared out.^[1]
• Tipping is not mandatory, so a tip screen on a card machine is your choice.^[2]

In the pub

• Order at the bar. In most pubs nobody comes to take your order. Queue at the bar for drinks, order food there too, then carry your drinks to a table.^[2] Some chain pubs let you order through an app for table delivery.
• Rounds. In a group, or when the bar is busy, one person orders and pays for everyone’s drinks, and the others take turns.^[2]
• Driving. Scotland has a lower drink-drive limit than England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and GOV.UK says it is impossible to say how many drinks any limit equals.^[4] If you are driving, the safest choice is not to drink.

More in our pubs guide and the short pub etiquette answer.

At the table

A travel guide’s summary of what British diners notice:^[2]

• Rest your wrists, not your elbows, on the table.
• Eating noisily or with your mouth open is seen as rude.
• At casual meals with friends it is normal to split the bill per person.

Age and alcohol

GOV.UK sets out the rules:^[3] under-18s may not buy alcohol; 16 and 17 year olds with an adult may drink (but not buy) beer, wine or cider with a meal; under-16s may be able to go into a pub with an adult, depending on the pub’s own conditions. Families should see travelling with children.

Questions

How much should I tip in a UK restaurant?

Travel guides describe about 10 to 15% as customary for good service in restaurants, but not expected or mandatory. If the bill already includes a service charge, you do not need to add a tip.

Do you tip in pubs?

Tipping for drinks in a pub or bar is not normal; you can take all your change.

Do staff get the tips?

By law, since 1 October 2024, employers must pass all tips, gratuities and service charges on to workers without deductions, under a statutory code of practice.

Can children go into pubs?

Under-16s may be able to enter a pub with an adult, depending on the pub’s conditions. 16 and 17 year olds with an adult may drink, but not buy, beer, wine or cider with a meal. Nobody under 18 may buy alcohol.