No-tip restaurants gaining in popularity
By Charles Passy, MarketWatch
Is the no-tip movement at restaurants reaching, well, a tipping point?
In recent years, such renowned restaurants as Thomas Keller’s Per Se in New York and French Laundry in Yountville, Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse in Berkeley, and Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago have put no-tip policies in place. So did the recently closed Linkery restaurant in San Diego.
Perhaps the policies at these establishments shouldn’t come as a surprise, since restaurant patrons are increasingly saying they don’t like to play the tipping game. A solid majority of Americans — 75 percent — say they tip less than the customary 20 percent when dining out, according to a new survey by vouchercloud.net, which researches consumer spending habits. Additionally, the website reports that 46 percent of Americans say they are tipping less in general than they did five years ago.
We already have “no-tip” restaurants… they are called fast food restaurants. This sounds like just an excuse to stiff waiters, waitresses and more.
I think the price should be the price for all services. Charge more, pay your employees more, whatever. I hate the tipping game at restaurants, salons,etc…it’s ridiculous. It’s a stupid guessing game, or math excercise that stinks.
Hey Rock : Because there are very few good paying jobs in Tahoe, this no tip policy would probably be a disaster here in Lake Tahoe. So I agree with you if you don’t want this policy adopted here. But, if you ask the public, you may be wrong about what people think. Many people hate our tipping policies. The casinos promote tipping the employees, while there is no guarantee that the customers will enjoy their gambling experience. For the casinos, this has been a clever way to avoid paying their employees a fair wage. This could also be said about the food industry.
I have always tipped according to service because I know that restaurant employees are typically minimum wage workers. But it doesn’t reward good service anymore as tips are pooled and distributed evenly. It’s discouraging and I believe that may be why patrons tip less. As to fast food restaurants, the employees are cashiers, not wait staff.
If anyone here is interested…
Gratuity/tip: an amount of money given to a person (such as a waiter or waitress) who has performed a service.
Service: From Latin servitium meaning slave, the work performed by one that serves.
Yes, SMAKER, math is hard. PIZZA, I agree with you. FAIR, fast food is self service.
well actually in some states, employees with access to tips make less than the regular minimum wage – so yes business lobbyists have used it to save in labor costs – and now there is a move to do away with it because not having tips favors the business? BTW, these restaurants that are used as examples are not your typical restaurant – try eating at the French Laundry to find out? Plus this seems more like mandatory gratuities automatically added to the bill , but what, not paid to the staff? That’s interesting….
But I do have two questions or comments – since when has the standard for tipping at restaurants gone from 15 to 20%? and two, it’s pretty sad if many people’s main reason for not liking tips is because they cant calculate the math!
When I eat out with people that are happy to tip, I notice they seem to compete with each other to see who is willing to tip larger. This is how they silently measure their generosity, and compare themselves to others eating with them. I don’t like to be measured by how I tip. Sometimes I’ve suggested a $5 tip, and they say, “Oh no, we should tip more.” That’s another thing about this custom I do not like.
Pizza eater who are you eating out with? maybe that’s a reflection of the company you’re keeping. I personally tip well but I’ve also had many jobs in the service industry. IF I eat out with people and they do not tip enough to my liking I do contribute more but not because it is a pissing contest but because I have been there and I like to think about how happy the person will be when they receive the tip. I know how good it feels to receive one
Ljames, the math is not the main reason for not liking the tipping custom, I can do that simple math. Personally I would rather see a business pay their employee for their work and have the simplicity of being a customer. If I tip 10% I’m cheap; if I tip 15% I think that is standard, and 20% is telling the server you think they did a great job. Anything above 20% is showing the server/restaurant that you are super pleased. That is my thought process about tipping. – Here is something that bothers me. I have asked hairdressers what is a standard tip because I really don’t want to seem cheap, but getting your hair done can be expensive. I would rather know up front what is the standard tip so that I can add that to what the cost of having my hair done is. I can’t ever get a straight answer so I have no idea if I’m over tipping and look like I’m super generous or a sucker…or am I under tipping and looking like a jerk. Who knows? This is the reason I don’t like tipping. Please just set a price and I’ll pay that!
“Customary” tip of 20%? Maybe in SF and NY. In the rest of the country, 15% is still ‘customary’ unless the service is exceptional. Then it’s 20%. If it sux, you get the penny. But having done the job for nearly 30 years, I’ve only left the penny once in my life. You need to observe, and see if it’s really the server’s fault, or if there are extenuating circumstances.
P.S. I’m pro-tipping, but I don’t believe in mandatory sharing, for obvious reasons; it’s socialistic. If I tip my excellent server, why should he/she be forced to share with the slacker at the next station? That’s wrong. Effort and achievement matter, and should be rewarded.