Having waitressed at times in my younger days, as did our daughter......we are generous tippers.
And not just for that reason. Our feeling is that if we feel we have to chintz somewhere, it's not going to be at the expense of some person doing a hard job for not such great pay.
We don't usually tip at a carryout place unless there is a tip jar in evidence, but we always leave a decent tip at buffets where the servers bring you a drink and carry away used plates.
Our motto on saving money is never to save money at someone else's expense. If we have enough money to eat out, we have enough money to tip well. If tipping will make us feel strapped, we shouldn't have been eating out in the first place.
LooseChickens