No tipping in restaurants!
 

Heard on the news this am that Lobster Shack is joining Danny Myers in making all of their restaurants no tipping. The waitstaff in the former will now be earning $15 per hour (not bad for a chain place I guess). Menu prices will increase 12 to 15% to cover the staff's increased salary.

So - to all of those who say they hate the practice of tipping - now you can see what the alternative looks like. (Thinking the owners would pull the increased salaries from their own pockets is laughable considering the profit margin for most restaurants).

If the meal winds up costing the same but I don't have to tip I, for one, will be delighted. (Now, if they'd just include the tax in the price as well).

There's some law that says you "have" to tip?

I'd love to stop tipping, but a two-tiered system seems more confusing.

How do I know what a server is paid in the restaurant I'm in?

How do I know I'm in a Danny Meyer restaurant, lol? (Does the average NYer know this? The average tourist?)

@NewbE - no doubt they will say some version of "no tipping" on the menu, just as many European ones say "service included".

Tax cannot be included in the price - it has to be a separate item that has to be tracked since it is paid to the state.

One can of course stiff the waitstaff if you want - but IMHO if people don;t have the money to tip they shouldn't be eating in a restaurant. Or expect their servers to work for next to nothing.

"Tax cannot be included in the price - it has to be a separate item that has to be tracked since it is paid to the state."

Yep, and.. tax rates change over time, so menus would have to be reprinted whenever there is a change. In the case of chains, tax rates are different in different areas, so they'd have to have location-specific menus printed.

It's ganna be mighty difficult to keep a trained waitstaff at $15 an hour unless it's at Chuckie Cheese. They will run like the wind to work for tips which can mean $50 an hour or more.

I agree, $15 per hour is not much for an upscale place and I just do not see this catching on nationwide, maybe a few places in large cities like NY, SF and maybe LA.
And can you imagine how confusing this will make things for visitors from overseas who are already confused about tips?

Don't follow the logic. The new tipping policy results in diners automatically being charged an equivalent tip amount, regardless of the quality of the service received. It also results in restaurant employees who have zero vested interest in doing a good or better than average job.

Of course tax can be included in the price, it's easy to do, when you get the bill it shows the total price and the tax component

It should be part of the initial set up, including which state you live in, determines the tax rate, that's how it's done all over the world except the US.

Is the chef paid by tips, if not he / she has zero vested interest in producing good food, which is why you go to the place in the first place.

Maybe, the hostess, the person who brings the food,the bus boy and the person pouring the drinks may be consigned to history

"It also results in restaurant employees who have zero vested interest in doing a good or better than average job."

Have you ever traveled outside the US? Wait staff in other countries provide fine service without the US's bizarre tipping culture. You can actually enjoy your meal in peace without the server trying to become your new best friend and interrupting the conversation.

The US isn't the only country with a tipping culture - biazrre or not ;)

In which other country are you expected to tip 15% - 18% - 20% and up to wait staff? Which other country has a two tier minimum wage system? Which other country expects customers to make up a substantial portion of server's wages instead of having the employer pay a living wage? Not to mention all the other people in the US expecting tips. (I was just in France. I needed a hair cut. I asked my hotel for a recommendation, and then I asked about tipping the stylist. It was clearly a foreign concept to the receptionist, who eventually allowed as how you might round up to the next euro.)

>> thursdaysd on Nov 11, 15 at 1:23pm

>> "It also results in restaurant employees who have zero vested interest in doing a good or better than average job."


> Have you ever traveled outside the US? Wait staff in other countries provide fine service without the US's bizarre tipping culture. You can actually enjoy your meal in peace without the server trying to become your new best friend and interrupting the conversation.

Have you ever traveled inside the US? Nobody cares here, and when they do care it's specifically because it pays more than not caring.

I'm another person who would rather pay more for the meal without tipping, and hope to see this movement catch on in the U.S. I'm not convinced it will -- but I'm glad to see that its being given a try!

And FWIW, I find the idea that a server would have no incentive to provide good service without tips offensive. There's plenty of research showing that people prefer to do their jobs well, regardless of how much (or little) they are paid for doing so. And of course, whether tipped or not, servers may choose to pay little attention to those who are rude to them.

In many European countries being a server is a profession. At least in NY, there is just a small percentage of the servers who consider it a career. That is the major difference.

I live downtown Manhattan and there are few people who consider being a sever something nothing more than a way to pay the bills. Some are knowledgeable, some show up on time.

"In which other country are you expected to tip 15% - 18% - 20% and up to wait staff?..."

Here's a simple infographic showing generally where tipping occurs and where it doesn't.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3779911.html

Or if you want more info, here is a link to a CondeNast article with much more info:

http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/20...-tipping-guide

As you can see, the US is clearly not the only country where tipping is expected.

Lobster Shack is hardly upscale. I would suggest that some workers might prefer a salary with the accompanying benefits in terms of social security etc - when they aren't making that much anyway.

Obviously in more upscale places the waitstaff would have to make more.

" no doubt they will say some version of "no tipping" on the menu, just as many European ones say "service included"

Actually in most cases where prices have been raised to cover the tips the general understanding is (and sometimes even suggested on the menu) that for exceptional service tips above those prices will still be appreciated. Like it or not.