Siun wrote:As the mother of a line cook, I'm mighty glad to see a beginning discussion of the inequity of restaurant wages. I have no trouble tipping but knowing that the BOH gets none of that cash is ridiculous. In Chicago, line cooks at good, high end spots are getting around $12 an hour or so with no benefits and often a bunch of hours off the clock (and folks who cook at Next, etc get less than that). The ones I know can't imagine doing anything else - but can't survive on what they make.http://www.lthforum.com/2015/05/assumptions-ground-up/

I'm happy too. Ultimately, I suspect this will mean that waitstaff will take somewhat of a hit, but hopefully the fact that some higher end restaurants are going this route means that others will have to do the same to keep quality kitchen staff. But the primary factor in me choosing a restaurant is the food coming out of the kitchen, and I find the disparity in wages between servers and kitchen staff (especially when you consider that cooking is simply far more difficult work) to be very troubling. Service charges included, and no tipping, may not be the complete fix for kitchen wages, but it's a start.

Interesting article. Opens up some new discussions.

http://resto.newcity.com/2016/09/29/truthabouttippinglaws/

thetrob wrote:Interesting article. Opens up some new discussions.

http://resto.newcity.com/2016/09/29/truthabouttippinglaws/

Very interesting, thank you for posting.

Kman wrote:

thetrob wrote:Interesting article. Opens up some new discussions.

http://resto.newcity.com/2016/09/29/truthabouttippinglaws/

Very interesting, thank you for posting.

Agreed. Thoughtful, detailed article.

One type of place I prefer the status quo, and would hate to see it change, is restaurants we frequent often, at which we are likely to get the same waitperson again and again. I feel that tipping generously on one visit will pay dividends in the form of attentive service from that service person on subsequent visits.

I feel the same when staying in a hotel for several days, when I am likely to encounter the same room service waiter, or have the same housekeeper, on a repeated basis. Or when ordering delivery at home, for the same reason.

I practically always tip generously, whether I expect to see that person again or not. But the expectation that I will see a service person again provides IMO a very rational reason to do it.