Tipping in Mexico

How much tip to leave in a restaurant? Always a difficult question when traveling internationally.

I don't know about Mexico, but back in St. Vincent in the Caribbean there was a problem that when you left a tip by adding it to your credit card billing, the owner of the restaurant would not pass it on to the servers or the kitchen. In fact, once a waiter alerted me to this and asked me (on a business lunch) not to add a tip - because they would never see it. So, I had made it a policy to always ask the owner, in the presence of a waiter or waitress, whether I could add a tie and whether the personnel would receive it. Of course, everyone assured me they would!

Now, my suggestion is that, wherever you are, do not hesitate to ask! And ask in the presence of both an owner and the personnel!

And don't be afraid to tip "too much": the waitress may receive only some 4 or so dollars a day as a wage, so you definitely will not hurt her when you leave a good tip! And I make it a general policy NOT to add a tip to a credit card voucher but to give it to the waiter/waitress DIRECTLY!