Utah Woman Relies On Suggested Tips At Texas Roadhouse. Now She’s Urging Customers To Do Their ‘Own Math’ Before Tipping: ‘They’re Trying To Get Ya’

A couple went to Texas Roadhouse for the restaurant’s two-for-$50 deal, happy to save some money on a night out. Then they noticed something weird when they double-checked the suggested tips at the bottom of the bill.

In a video with over 171,000 views, Utah-based TikToker Sadie Farnsworth (@mailladysadie) shows the receipt she received for their $54.17 meal.

“It says 22% tip was $21,” she points out. “That is in fact a 42% tip on a $50 meal.” Farnsworth warns others that Texas Roadhouse tries to “getcha” with the suggested tips and tells others to double-check the math.

In the caption, Farnsworth clarifies that they still tipped well because their server did an “amazing job.”

“Just your reminder that they take whatever you give them haha! We didn’t mind giving a nice tip especially on a super busy night but sneakily doubling the tip amounts like this is crazy,” she writes.

How Does Texas Roadhouse Calculate Its Suggested Tips?

While the TikToker is right that the tip percentage doesn’t add up with her final total, Texas Roadhouse isn’t just putting an inflated number. Instead, many restaurants calculate suggested tips based on the original pre-tax and pre-discount amount.

However, some Texas Roadhouse customers still question the restaurant chain’s math. On the r/restaurants subreddit, one diner says that they noticed the suggested tips on their bill used the after-tax total.

“Some quick math and then a recheck disclosed that the tip was based on the after tax amount for the bill. I normally tip 25%, instead I tipped 15% of cost of the meal before tax. This was based on the fact that TRH was trying to get over me,” the original poster writes.

UPDATE: In an email to BroBible, a spokesperson for Texas Roadhouse confirms that “suggested tip amounts are calculated after tax and before any discounts are applied, which can affect the suggested totals you see on the receipt.”

Should You Still Tip On The Original Meal Price?

In the comments of the viral TikTok, servers suggest that it’s customary to tip based on the non-discounted meal price since the amount of work they do stays the same.

“I’m a server and when they do discounts we get tipped based off the original order because we still have to tip out on the original price,” one wrote.

A second commented, “Before discount is what you tip. Just cause tot take it off doesn’t mean I didn’t serve it to you. Lol.”

That may not be the case, though. Farnsworth notes that the pre-discount amount was just $56. For the math to be correct, the total bill would need to be close to $100.

Others shared potential explanations for the overstated tip amount.

“I work at roadhouse and my guess is they rang it in wrong and when they rang it in again the total would be around $100 and they got the wrong stuff taken off and the tip didn’t adjust to that lower amount,” a viewer suggested.

However, many customers disagreed with tipping on a higher total.

“I’m tipping on the total they give me. I don’t care what it was originally. It says $50, you’re getting $10” a commenter remarked.

That goes against what the experts recommend. According to Reader’s Digest and the Splitty app, diners should be tipping based on the pre-discounted total.

“Your $100 dinner cost you $60 after the Groupon. You left a generous 20% tip — $12. But your server did $100 worth of work and got paid for $60 of it. The standard 20% on the full meal would have been $20. That $8 difference wasn’t your intention. It’s the math,” the Splitty app explains.

However, you shouldn’t be tipping on taxes and fees—as one other viewer pointed out. They wrote, “I always do my own math. They calculate the tax in the tip. I’m not tipping on tax.”

BroBible reached out to Farnsworth via email and TikTok direct message.