Margaret and I decided to try Applebee’s Curbside to go service last night. While I was waiting for them to bring my food out, I was thinking about other places that have curbside-to-go service and how that seems to be a growing market. I know that Famous Dave’s has it. So does Ruby Tuesday. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Chili’s or Friday’s had it as well.

Seeing as how I was a consumer last night, I could easily see why consumers like it. We got home pretty late last night and didn’t have time to cook anything, so we wanted to get something good and quick. Without their curbside service, we probably wouldn’t have done it because it would have required coming into the store and waiting for them to find the food in the back. It also makes sense for the stores, as it opens them up to a new market of consumers. Applebees has a dedicated server for their to-go orders, so it must be pretty popular. The empirical evidence that all the to-go spots were filled last night supports that hypothesis.

But it raises an interesting question. Do you tip the to-go server? And if so, how much? Normally, I don’t tip to-go people because usually they are counter people and all they are really doing is handing me my food. But this girl did a bit more as she ran out with my food, ran back in to run my card through, and back out to my car with my receipt. So I didn’t tip her last night (sorry!), but left thinking that I should have. I was thinking like 10%, since she’s not really a full server (she didn’t take drink orders, ask how my meal was, etc.).

Anybody have any thoughts on this? Leave a comment below!