Eating at a Japanese restaurant in the US

[winterpromise31]

My husband and I found a local Japanese restaurant and visited tonight. The food was GREAT. I tried tempura for the first time and I believe I've found my new favorite restaurant.

I've read that in Japan you don't tip at restaurants. What about the US? This shop is owned and operated by a husband and wife. When we paid, we walked up to the register (no bill was presented) and paid directly to the owner. There was no tipping jar, no paper bil like at a chain, and we weren't sure what to do (and were too shy to ask him, unfortunately). What is the tipping protocol in this situation?

[Belton]

Can't say about US but in the UK where tipping is also usually the custom I've seen one Japanese restaurant explain on their menu that they don't accept tips but if you really have to tip they donate it to a local charity.
But wholly Japanese operations are rare. (Often they are run by Chinese as a sort of theme restaurant. Even the Japan Centre's restaurant had Korean waiters as my Japanese host found out when he tried ordering in Japanese!) so tipping as per local custom is common but probably less common overall than I believe is the case in the US.

I'd ask the owner next time. Say you really liked the food and service and would like to tip but don't know whether he follows American or Japanese customs.
I must say I prefer the Japanese way. and in the longer term think it allows for a better relationship with regulars, where a compliment and return business is probably worth more. (Pay staff properly, provide consistent service, price properly and don't ask for charity)

[winterpromise31]

Thank you for your reply. We will definitely ask next time. This restaurant was fully Japanese - owned by the couple, the husband was the server and the wife cooked. No wait staff.

I hope we didn't offend them, as we do wish to return. The food was really good.

[Andygakusei]

I think the typical protocol is to tip in Japanese restaurants in America where you do sit down dining and they serve you the food. I typically tip from 15-20%. However, I don't think it is necessary to tip if you are eating Japanese food from a food court restaurant (there are Japanese food courts associated with Japanese supermarkets like Mitsuwa).

[untmdsprt]

But wholly Japanese operations are rare. (Often they are run by Chinese as a sort of theme restaurant. Even the Japan Centre's restaurant had Korean waiters as my Japanese host found out when he tried ordering in Japanese!) so tipping as per local custom is common but probably less common overall than I believe is the case in the US.

I must say I prefer the Japanese way. and in the longer term think it allows for a better relationship with regulars, where a compliment and return business is probably worth more. (Pay staff properly, provide consistent service, price properly and don't ask for charity)

More often than not it was the case in the US where you'd go to a Japanese restaurant and all of the staff is either Chinese or Korean. Reason being that all Asians look alike, and what are the chances of someone coming in that CAN speak Japanese? I did find one sushi place where the staff were Japanese and most of their customers were Japanese on assignment for the local Nissan plant.

As for tipping, I enjoy the Japanese way, and employers' should pay their employees a decent wage. I was at one restaurant in the US where they automatically added 18% to the total if your group was over a certain number.