Restaurant tips . . . finally!

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

I have always disliked that restaurants got away with paying their staff low wages and having patrons augment servers' income with tips. It's not that I didn't tip, after all I had three girls who worked after school and college waiting tables. It was the principle of the thing.

There is now a restaurant chain in NYC that is doing away with tips and raising wait staff and others salaries. This will now include kitchen and other staff members sharing in the extra $$.

They are going to start with their museum restaurants and slowly branch out to their other restaurants. Sorry, but I don't know the name of the restaurant chain.

They admit that will mean higher prices for the food, but no higher than an average tip would be.

As for rewarding for excellent service, it will be management who will be doing that, not the patrons. Hopefully this will work out to the benefit of all. And imagine not having to figure out tips everytime the check comes.

What do you think?

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

tends2dogs · ‎05-08-2010

I, personally, don't care for this idea. If you receive poor service there is no way to reflect that. I suppose you could always speak to the management, but I find that a hassle.

I would bet that they aren't raising their wages that much. There are higher end restaurants where the wait staff may make a few hundred dollars a night. I doubt that the raise in salary will compensate for that. JMHO

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Iwantcoffee · ‎03-11-2010

I agree with the restaurant paying their staff higher wages and eliminating tipping.

The New York Times has an article "Danny Meyer Restaurants to Eliminate Tipping" about this topic.

LilacTree · ‎03-25-2012

@Iwantcoffee wrote:
I agree with the restaurant paying their staff higher wages and eliminating tipping.

The New York Times has an article "Danny Meyer Restaurants to Eliminate Tipping" about this topic.

Thanks for posting the name of the restaurant. Let's hope this catches on!

Formerly Ford1224
We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Elie Wiesel 1986

millieshops · ‎03-09-2010

I think several things. First is that it will make life easier for patrons in a way, and in the restaurants where they plan to start this process, I think many are already tipping 20% or even more. At first it could make meals sound expensive and people might pull back, but I bet not for long and not much in those top establishments.

Also, I think more workers could benefit - especially those who do not work outfront at all and have never benefitted from any tips. If their wages go up, it should make it easier to hire kitchen staff. Will the wait staff go home with the same or more money? That's a maybe, especially for those who know how to relate to their customers well .Unless the restaurants raise prices more than 20% in order to pay the whole staff more, I don't see where the money comes from to pay the whole staff more.

So many restaurants don't survive long, There's not nearly as much profit apparently as we who just eat there think there would be. Especially in the transition period, I think we'll see an even larger percentage of failures while owners work their way through the maze.

Laura14 · ‎06-09-2014

As a former server, I'm not sure about this idea since it seems to depend on the fairness of the manager in splitting up the tips and treating everyone equally which allows bad or mediocre employees to skate on other's good hard work and/or favoritism on the part of the GM.

And I'm not sure what they consider kitchen staff, but I don't see where a chef or cook really needs a tip. It's the servers who are on the front lines running themselves ragged. I would never discount the hard work of the kitchen in pushing out tickets but other than the bussers, dishwashers, and runners if you have them, I don't agree with taking a small pool of money and giving it out to everyone in the building so at the end of the day it's just not worth the effort. At some point, for some people, hard work by itself is just part of their job.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

A good waitress makes a lot of $$$ on tips. They will not get good, experienced waitresses in this restaurant.

Snoopp · ‎02-02-2015

The customer will wind up paying more for the same meal to cover the costs for the restaurant.

Krimpette · ‎03-09-2010

I certainly agree that wait staff deserve more, and I'm sure that's true for most of the kitchne staff. Why not just raise the required minimum raise for all restaurant employees? As mentioned, some wait staff deserve much more (or less) than others and that amount should remain at the customer's discretion.

MacDUFF · ‎05-29-2015

@LilacTree wrote:

...doing away with tips and raising wait staff and others salaries....

...They admit that will mean higher prices for the food, but no higher than an average tip would be.

...rewarding for excellent service, it will be management who will be doing that, not the patrons.....

How much/what percentage of a raise?

This statement is "subject to change without notice." And, who is determining what an "average tip" is?

Could be different definitions of "excellent service"...one from management's POV and one from the patron's POV.

That said, generally speaking, I'm in favor of higher wages for waitstaff, but have learned that you might want to be careful of what you wish for.

~~~ I call dibs on the popcorn concession!! ~~~