No Tipping could be at the Tipping Point

“I think that restaurant patrons have unwittingly believed that they could, if they wanted to, use their tip to punish bad service, and/or to praise great service”, Meyer tells All Things Considered’s Kelly McEvers.

A New York entrepreneur who owns the Union Square Hospitality Group has decided tipping is unfair to a few of his workers and has banned it from his establishments beginning November.

The Modern at the New York Museum of Modern Art will be the first of the group’s restaurants to eliminate the tip line from bills and explain that hospitality is included. New York recently approved phasing in a $15 an hour minimum wage for workers at fast-food chains in the state, and several cities around the country have set the same minimum for all workers.

Chief executive and restauranteur Danny Meyer told The New York Times, “There will be one total, as if you were buying a sweater at Brooks Brothers”.

Meyer’s move marks a cultural shift and will have an impact on the New York restaurant world.

“Once these changes are implemented, the total cost you pay to dine with us won’t differ much from what you pay now”. We will now have the ability to compensate all of our employees equitably, competitively, and professionally.

Famed restaurateur Danny Meyer earn kudos for eliminating gratuities and hiking worker salaries. Union Square Hospitality Group has 1,800 employees working at 13 notable restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern, Union Square Cafe, Porchlight, Blue Smoke and Marta.

Melissa Fleischut, president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, said other restaurants could be inspired to follow Meyer’s lead.

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