After the Michael Bauer stirred up controversy by suggesting the city's Healthy SF program was to blame for San Francisco's crappy tipping, some members of the service industry are pushing to make a 25% tip the standard. Or maybe some members of the foodie press are just trying to cook up some controversy of their own. We're not sure yet, but here's Ed Arnow of the Conta Costa Times quoting unnamed "media sources" inside "high-class restaurants" in the city who are supposedly pushing for this.

In the column, which doesn't actually name any restaurants or folks in the media, many "East County locals, who sometimes dine in San Francisco" are quoted giving their best tipping advice. So, we'll believe the "25% Standard" when we see it written on the bottom of a menu, but in the meantime we can get a nice overview of how the rest of the Bay Area views the tipping ritual:

Like Farrah Harper of Brentwood, who points out the obvious downfalls in setting a flat-rate tip:

"If servers think they automatically will get a 25 percent tip, they could very easily slack off and relax on the service they provide."

Or Andi Rogers of Antioch, who helpfully explains the standard tipping shortcut:

"I just double the tax figure and give that amount. That's about 18 percent and I'm staying with it."

And here's Charles Piggett of Antioch who, frankly, seems a little angry about dining out:

"There is one thing that does affect size of the tip, guilt feelings. Some people are ashamed to appear as a cheapskate so they over-tip. That doesn't work for me. I don't need anyone else telling me how to spend my money."

Yikes. So, what's going on here, 25% Tip Standard, is this a real thing? Or are food writers just hungry to rile up the suburbanites? Grubstreet weighs in as well, calling bullshit on Arnow's dubious media sources. What do you think?

[CC Times via SJMerc]