Fewer Diners Giving Big Tips.

Inflation and economic uncertainty are influencing consumer spending behavior, but support for restaurants continues. Although the number of consumers who typically tip restaurant staff 20% or higher is trending down, 41% of consumers report tipping more this year than last year and 70% expect to be extra generous with gratuities over the holidays, according to a survey by Popmenu, a provider of cloud-based restaurant tech.

Tipping restaurant workers at least 20% became a new norm during the pandemic. Consumers continue to rally around neighborhood favorites, but tighter household budgets are impacting the size of gratuities in some cases. Forty-three percent of consumers typically tip servers 20% or more, down from 56% last year, while 32% typically tip delivery drivers 20% or more, down from 38% last year.

"Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant knows how hard the everyday hustle can be and how much tips matter," says Brendan Sweeney, CEO and...