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 Oct 1, 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 Oct 1, 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.