A restaurant with no tipping?

[Just Jack]

Yes, in NYC even....

 

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/nyc-sushi-restaurants-ban-tips-perplexes-diners-181622826.html

 

In keeping with the pared-down aesthetic of the business, owners of the New York City restaurant earlier this year decided they would no longer ask patrons to do any complicated math at the end of the night. Instead of relying on tips, all their servers are on salary with paid vacation and sick leave.

...

The high-end restaurant, which seats only 45 and where the omakase, or chef's menu, can easily run beyond $100, also raised its prices slightly to allow for servers to be put on salary.

[BuffaloBill]

Interesting concept but I wonder if the staff likes it. In a high end place tips can be very lucrative.

[KD in CA]

Interesting concept but I wonder if the staff likes it. In a high end place tips can be very lucrative.

 

Yes, but the staff isn't making less than minimum wage like most waiters. And I'm sure the prices have been adjusted accordingly. It's already pretty easy to drop $200 a head on a top end sushi place in NYC, so the customer base isn't going to be very price sensitive.

[Gugny]

I think it's a great concept, but not sure how worth it is to the restaurant owner. Sure, you'd likely attract the best waiters/waitresses. But how often do you recommend a restaurant based primarily on service? If the food is fantastic and the service is average, I'll recommend a place to anyone.

 

As a customer, I don't think it would be worth it to pay more for food, knowing it's because I don't have to leave a tip. I'd rather have control of the tip and pay an acceptable price for the food.

[Jauronimo]

No tipping is the norm in much of Europe and Asia.

[meazza]

No tipping is the norm in much of Europe and Asia.

 

Yes and how's the service when you go to a fine restaurant in Rome. I think it has to do more with the fact that sales tax is 21% in big cities like Madrid Rome.

[Mr Info]

Interesting concept but I wonder if the staff likes it. In a high end place tips can be very lucrative.

My wife owns a restaurant. She pays regular minimum hourly wage (not waiter hourly) + tips but reg minimum hourly is the highest wage of her competitors (her payroll service tells her that) but she is starting to cut back on hourly wage but it still will be higher than her competitors and her staff will still make good hourly wages when tip is included. One big issue is the tax on tips when using a credit card. A tax is taken from the tip when using a cc - the owner pays that tax but what should be given to the employee? The full tip, tip - tax, should the employee and owner split the tax...many questions. Margins are slim in the restaurant biz and every penny counts. It would be interesting how the wage & benefits offered by that restaurant compared to the hourly pay for the staff when tips were included. It is fairly common not to declare tips on taxes so that is another benefit.

[NoSaint]

I think it's a great concept, but not sure how worth it is to the restaurant owner. Sure, you'd likely attract the best waiters/waitresses. But how often do you recommend a restaurant based primarily on service? If the food is fantastic and the service is average, I'll recommend a place to anyone.

 

As a customer, I don't think it would be worth it to pay more for food, knowing it's because I don't have to leave a tip. I'd rather have control of the tip and pay an acceptable price for the food.

 

you wouldnt be saying that about 5 star restaurants though. the service is a big part of the experience, and they all should have great food and great service.

 

ive seen short term reports of this model being used with great success, but never followed a business long term with it. no reason it shouldnt succeed.

 

Interesting concept but I wonder if the staff likes it. In a high end place tips can be very lucrative.

 

know what else can be lucrative? a comparable amount in guaranteed salary, with benefits like paid vacation and health care.

[Mark Vader]

Mr. Pink would eat there every day.

[meazza]

know what else can be lucrative? a comparable amount in guaranteed salary, with benefits like paid vacation and health care.

 

And a golden parachute if they get fired?

[ajzepp]

I think it's great that some places offer this sort of structure, but it would never have appealed to me back when I was a server. Part of the reason I loved my job was because of the sales aspect. Want to make more money? Learn how to upsell the check. Compel your customers into leaving a higher tip by providing them great service and exceeding expectations. I loved the idea that there was no fixed ceilign on what I coudl earn. When I was in my early 20s I worked at Tony Romas in Henrietta, NY and I could easily walk out of there with $200 on a Sunday. Add in $150 from either a Fri or Sat shift and maybe one weekday, and I had plenty of money to fund my Bills games, audio gear, and bar hopping expeditions. Only two or three of us were making that kind of money and that's the way I liked it.

[meazza]

I think it's great that some places offer this sort of structure, but it would never have appealed to me back when I was a server. Part of the reason I loved my job was because of the sales aspect. Want to make more money? Learn how to upsell the check. Compel your customers into leaving a higher tip by providing them great service and exceeding expectations. I loved the idea that there was no fixed ceilign on what I coudl earn. When I was in my early 20s I worked at Tony Romas in Henrietta, NY and I could easily walk out of there with $200 on a Sunday. Add in $150 from either a Fri or Sat shift and maybe one weekday, and I had plenty of money to fund my Bills games, audio gear, and bar hopping expeditions. Only two or three of us were making that kind of money and that's the way I liked it.

 

That's the beauty of being a waiter. Depending on where you work, tip is a huge chunk of your income. My ex-gf worked at a breakfast place and was making more than I was working three days a week because the place was a hot spot.

 

To anyone who has ever been to Spain, Italy or Greece for example, tipping is a very little part of a waiters income. See the level of service you'll get there.

[ajzepp]

That's the beauty of being a waiter. Depending on where you work, tip is a huge chunk of your income. My ex-gf worked at a breakfast place and was making more than I was working three days a week because the place was a hot spot.

 

To anyone who has ever been to Spain, Italy or Greece for example, tipping is a very little part of a waiters income. See the level of service you'll get there.

 

Definitely...anyone who is willing to hustle and take care of their customers can make a nice roll of cash by the time the week is out. And with great services comes regular customers who will request your station, which leads to even better tips. I loved being a server.

[meazza]

Definitely...anyone who is willing to hustle and take care of their customers can make a nice roll of cash by the time the week is out. And with great services comes regular customers who will request your station, which leads to even better tips. I loved being a server.

 

And if you get breast implants, the tips are even bigger

[mead107]

When you go to breakfast and your total bill is only $23 how much tip do you give your server? I give her $7 dollars. She works harder than the person that served us dinner and we paid $120 for. We give him $25 for a tip. Who works harder?

[BuffaloBill]

 

 

And if you get breast implants, the tips are even bigger

 

That is a horrible mental image .....

[KD in CA]

That is a horrible mental image .....

 

It is?

[Fezmid]

To anyone who has ever been to Spain, Italy or Greece for example, tipping is a very little part of a waiters income. See the level of service you'll get there.

Really? I've eaten at restaurants in Spain and Greece and thought the service was fantastic.... I was only in Greece for a day, but was in Barcelona for 3-4 days and had no issues at all. No problems in London either. Maybe I'm intimidating looking!

[NoSaint]

I think it's great that some places offer this sort of structure, but it would never have appealed to me back when I was a server. Part of the reason I loved my job was because of the sales aspect. Want to make more money? Learn how to upsell the check. Compel your customers into leaving a higher tip by providing them great service and exceeding expectations. I loved the idea that there was no fixed ceilign on what I coudl earn. When I was in my early 20s I worked at Tony Romas in Henrietta, NY and I could easily walk out of there with $200 on a Sunday. Add in $150 from either a Fri or Sat shift and maybe one weekday, and I had plenty of money to fund my Bills games, audio gear, and bar hopping expeditions. Only two or three of us were making that kind of money and that's the way I liked it.

 

Apples to oranges a bit, but you can still do incentives on the restaurant side to promote service. Or, since your taking really good care of career employees, they have incentive to do their job well.

[ajzepp]

Apples to oranges a bit, but you can still do incentives on the restaurant side to promote service. Or, since your taking really good care of career employees, they have incentive to do their job well.

 

Yeah, I think it's great to have different ways to structure compensation. With me though, I'm one of these guys who grew up with a love for sales. It's an art form, and the challenge of it was something that always drove me. Back in 1991 I was nationally ranked as a telemarketer because I got so into the challenge of the cold call that it fueled my motivation. Everyone hates telemarketers, and the same was certainly true back then, as well..but I didn't care about that. It was the same with serving. I loved to turn and burn tables of 2-4 and work the check average up. If my ability to impact my own income was taken away, the job would get very boring for me. Not that I wouldn't appreciate the stability of a salary, but it's just not what appeals to me about a job like that.