By Valerie Phillips  Deseret News Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010 3:00 p.m. MDT

The rising popularity of "fast casual" restaurants, such as Noodles & Co., Rumbi Island Grill and Pei Wei, has blurred the traditional lines of tipping etiquette.

In a full-service restaurant, when you sit at a table and someone takes your order, brings your meal, fills your drink glass and clears your dishes, it's obvious that a tip is in order, at least if you live in the United States.

And it's also apparent that a tip isn't necessary at fast food restaurants, when you order and pay at a counter, bring your own meal to the table and then bus your own table.

But, at Noodles & Co., you order at the counter, then wait at your table.

"Within minutes of ordering, a fresh, made-to-order dish will be delivered to the table on real china with real silverware," boasts the company's news releases.

"You also don't have to clear your table or leave a tip. We just aim to please."

At the new Blue Lemon restaurant in downtown Salt Lake's City Creek Development, customers order and pay at the counter. Classy items, such as Citrus Seared Salmon or Fresh Black Bean Ravioli are brought to the table on gleaming white dinnerware.

Yet, "Tips are greatly appreciated, but we don't expect them," said Chris Petric, manager of the Blue Lemon's first location in Alpine.

"Our design concept is express casual, so it's not a full-service restaurant."

Why are tips expected in some restaurants but not others?

The answer is in Utah's "tip credit."

In Utah, restaurants can pay servers $2.13 per hour, with the expectation that their tips will give them at least a minimum wage. But "fast-casual" or "express casual" restaurants pay the staff minimum wage or better, so tips aren't the majority of their salary.

It's not always easy for a customer to tell if a tip expected.

For instance, at Sweet Tomatoes salad bar buffets, "dining room attendants" are paid at least minimum wage, according to Tracy Marks of the chain's Gardenfresh Corp.

The attendants remove used plates, and "some go beyond expectations and refill drinks and so on," said Marks.

"If you receive good service, you're welcome to tip, and that's an extra for them. If you don't tip, that's OK because they are making a minimum wage."

Meanwhile, at Chuck-A-Rama's buffet, the wait staff rely on tips for the majority of their pay.

"In the state of Utah, there's a tip credit option for companies to follow, and what they get from us is $2.13 an hour," said Duane Moss, Chuck-A-Rama's owner. "But as an employer, we need to make sure they at least make minimum wage through tips."

Although customers help themselves to the buffet, Chuck-A-Rama servers "get drinks, keep dishes and plates cleared and look for other ways to help, such as getting high chairs, silverware or napkins, or condiments," said Moss.

Although the company doesn't keep track of the tip percentages, he estimates that Chuck-A-Rama's tips are "probably 10-12 percent."

That's well below the Zagat Guide's national average of 19.1 percent for full-service restaurants.

But the staff is able to take care of more tables at once time than at full-service restaurant, and the tables usually turn over more quickly.

"So, if you're really good, you can make a good living," he said. "It's the most popular position in our restaurant."

At Sizzler restaurants, servers are also paid $2.13 per hour, according to Gary Shatswell, Sizzler's vice president of marketing.

Customers order their meal and pay at the register, but a server brings their entree, refills drinks and buses the table.

"Clearly, our servers are receiving less in tips with the economy the way it is," said Shatswell. "We recognize that people have less money, and we are responding with lower price points on our menu. But we would encourage people to keep tipping the same percentage of the amount that they are purchasing. Please remember that these people have lives they need to support."

Shatswell acknowledges that the fast casual, no-tip concept is a growing segment of the restaurant industry.

"It's a cheaper way, but you sacrifice the level of service," he said.

Some restaurants drop subtle hints when tipping is expected.

Moss said over the years, Chuck-A-Rama servers have asked management to install a "tipping permitted" sign, "And we've said no. We've left it up to the individual customer. Tipping is accepted but not required."

But, when Chuck-A-Rama opened a location in Boise, customers simply didn't tip.

"We had to be more clever in presenting to them that 'We are a server, and we'd like to be treated as such,' " said Moss.

"So we had the servers leave mints for the people at the end of the meal as a thank-you and another little service to clue them in that there's a tip."

Melva Sine of the Utah Restaurant Association said tipping is "a totally individual matter. A lot of casual restaurants leave that feeling that you don't have to tip. But if they made my experience easier or more comfortable, I feel like it was service, and for that, I will compensate them at a certain level."