How to tip when dinner is half off

Here is the whole rule, in one line: Please tip on the full, pre-discount amount.

Your server carries the same plates, refills the same glasses and remembers the same allergy whether your food is half off or not. The restaurant chose to open its Early or Late Table to you; the people working that table didn't choose to take a pay cut.

So when the check arrives, look for the total before the 50% comes off. Most restaurants print it. If yours doesn't, double the food total, add the drinks and tip on that. Twenty percent of a $120 dinner is $24, even when you only paid $60 for the food.

It's a small thing, and it is the reason restaurants keep saying yes to DinePlenty. Generous diners get remembered, and a remembered diner gets a warm welcome next time.

Every booking card and every reminder we send says the same thing, because it matters that much.