no-tipping

A receipt from Centre Street Cafe in Jamaica Plain, Mass., includes a 3 percent "hospitality administration fee," which comes out to 39 cents on $13 of food sales. The entire fee goes to nontipped employees in the kitchen.

National

Restaurants Cook Up A New Way To Pay Kitchen Staff More: A Cut Of Sales

8:40pm March 31, 2017

by Simón Rios

Revenue sharing is taking off in restaurants in cities like Boston and San Francisco. The model varies from place to place, but the idea is simple: funnel a percentage of sales to kitchen workers.

Queue Listen Now

Thad Vogler, at his restaurant Bar Agricole in 2011, says the no-tipping model didn't work out for his two San Francisco restaurants. Looking back, he would've hiked up his prices even more so the money flowed to the staff more evenly.

Economy

Why Restaurants Are Ditching The Switch To No Tipping

10:33am May 15, 2016

by NPR Staff

It's customer and staff complaints that did away with the model to start, but that's also what's bringing the tradition back to restaurants that've been experimenting with the policy to even out pay.

Queue Listen Now

Imported from Europe, the custom of leaving gratuities began spreading in the U.S. post-Civil War. It was loathed as a master-serf custom that degraded America's democratic, anti-aristocratic ethic.

When Tipping Was Considered Deeply Un-American

5:29pm November 30, 2015

by Nina Martyris

Imported from Europe, the custom of leaving gratuities began spreading in the U.S. post-Civil War. It was loathed as a master-serf custom that degraded America's democratic, anti-aristocratic ethic.

A handful of restaurants across the U.S. are experimenting with no-tipping models, opting instead to charge higher set prices for menu items and give their servers higher hourly pay.

Customers Can Keep The Tip — Which Might Please Restaurant Workers

3:45pm October 14, 2014

by Alan Greenblatt

A handful of restaurants are experimenting with no-tipping models, guaranteeing their servers a base level of pay. So far, satisfaction is up and turnover is down.