Friend group left speechless by robot waiter requesting tips: 'The audacity of that restaurant... I absolutely did NOT tip'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 5, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

Some restaurant trips are "zero tip" situations. This should be rare – after all, it's common courtesy to tip your server if they provide you good service. Usually, at a casual restaurant a server gives you the menus, takes your drink order followed by your food order, then brings your meals out,  refills your waters and drinks, and gets you any other food you're hungry for during your meal. It's nice to give other humans a little extra tip for their hard work if they serve you well… but what if that job got outsourced to a robot? 

It's become a running joke that robots might take a lot of our jobs! But there are some you just don't expect to see a robot doing. In America, it's not common to have robot servers, although this is more common in other parts of the world. I think many of us would be surprised and befuddled if a robot came beep-booping up to us and offering to take our orders. I suppose it's not that different than ordering food online — I usually tip for that service at least, because the tip still goes to the chef who made my delectable dish. But, like this person, if a robot waiter asked for a tip, I'd probably decline just based on the optics of the transaction. Where is the tip actually going? To the owner of the restaurant? Towards maintenance for the robot? Just towards general revenue? It's quite the conundrum, and people had lots of thoughts about it, as you can read all about below. 

Next, read about the bosses who were downright giddy about firing their least-favorite employees, like one who got to say, "Enjoy your holiday and don't bother coming back." 

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  • 01
    I went out for dinner with a couple of friends last weekend and was pleasantly suprised to see our food bring brought out by those funny little robot servers. Got the end of the meal and the robot brings us the plastic tray with the bill and a big laminated sign that says "Electronic waiters work hard, don't forget to tip us II
    via u/Whitershadeofforever
  • 02
    . | Im sorry but What The F was actually a little taken aback at the audacity of the restaurant to pull that.
    via u/Whitershadeofforever
  • 03
    No, electronic waiters do NOT deserve a tip. They deserve a tip even less than regular waiters do, which they also do not deserve, to be clear. Was so legitimately angry that I didnt even take a pic. And no, when I paid my bill at the front I absolutly did NOT tip.
    via u/Whitershadeofforever
  • 04

    This person has a great point!

    Hefty-Cicada6771 I've run into this as well. The restaurant should use the money they save on payroll (because of the robots) to pay the existing help a better wage.
    via u/Hefty-Cicada6771
  • 05
    westcoastcdn19 One of my regular sushi spots has one of those robot servers. I was not fussed, but the thing kept bumping into tables and could not navigate tight spots. A human server took our order, but the robot delivered the food. At the end when the bill came, minimum tip was 18%, after tax.
    via u/westcoastcdn19
  • 06

    Good joke!

    4eyedbuzzard I just leave a couple of AAA Ray-O-Vacs as a tip -- Energizers if the service was outstanding.
    via u/4eyedbuzzard
  • 07
    ConcertMajestic... Crazy that you can't go get food without them begging you to pay them extra money
    via u/ConcertMajestic
  • 08

    Another good point!

    Lopsided-Ad7725 The point of automation is to, save on labor
    via u/Lopsided-Ad7725

    If you don't even have to pay a server a measly like $2.50 per hour to work for you, what exactly are the tips for? Paying off that $20,000 robot that'll break in a couple of years anyway? 

  • 09
    Man's hand full of cash outstretched toward robot server in restaurant
    via Morgan Vander Hart via Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 10
    Kazureigh_Black Just remember that it costs them nothing to ask. And it. costs you nothing to say no. also, if you enjoyed this tip, please leave one of your own! [ 25% ] [ 40% ] [ 60% ]
    via u/Kazureigh_Black
  • 11
    fdefoy So they replace their employees with comparatively inexpensive robots but want to keep the tips?! The problem is again the owner's greed. Would be nice if we could start running ads about the "end tipping" movement. I'd save my tips to finance this.
    via u/fdefoy
  • 12
    Kainlow These robots pay for themselves very quickly. No payroll. No payroll Tax. They are equipment, and as such can be depreciated and written off as a business expense.
    via u/Kainlow
  • 13
    Robot server in restaurant
    via FDATA ROBOT via Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 14
    Upstairs-Storm1... So who keeps those tips? Do those go to the staff, management, or does the restaurant just keep them? Regardless that's a zero tip situation
    via u/Upstairs-Storm1006

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Tags

money problems robot tipping restaurant robots money restaurant server tipping culture
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