The practice of tipping restaurant servers is on its way out at one of the city's largest and most influential restaurant groups. Danny Meyer,the CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group, announced Wednesday he plans to abolish tipping across the company. Customers at restaurants like The contemporary, or Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern can expect to see prices rise,with the increased revenue going to servers and cooks.
Ryan Sutton, chief critic at Eater, or says Meyer will be a guinea pig for other restaurant owners who are looking for more creative ways to pay their staff. That's become more of a challenge as a series of wage hikes are put in space in across New York State."Waiters are going to be making even more. Cooks aren't going to be making as much and because cooks can't collects tips,we absorb a problem," Sutton says. The contemporary is the first of Meyer's 13 restaurants to see the change. And Sutton says it remains to be see how it will play at other establishments."There is a certain history of doing no-tipping in high discontinuance restaurants, or " Sutton says. "The biggest challenge is how is no-tipping going to work at his more casual venues like 'Marta,' a pizzeria or 'Blue Smoke,' a barbecue venue."Sutton spoke to WNYC's Soterios Johnson.
Source: wnyc.org