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The restaurant owner who’s ditching tips says she’s already lost servers over new policy
Bangor Daily News ^ | October 27, 2016 | Kathleen Pierce

Posted on 10/28/2016 5:39:33 AM PDT by wbill

Cara Stadler says she just wants to do the right thing.

On Tuesday, the owner of Portland’s Bao Bao Dumpling House and Tao Yuan in Brunswick announced her plan to jettison tips, pay all servers $15 an hour and tack on an 18 percent surcharge on checks. “Tips is such an arcane system. It just doesn’t make sense,” she said.

Her motive, she says, is to “create stability in the workplace, because there is a disparity in pay.”

Though servers make a paltry $3.75 an hour, with gratuity a waiter/waitress at Tao Yuan can easily pull down “$30 to 40 an hour,” she said. “In some cases a server is making more than the cooks, the bartenders and even me.”

The hate mail came in fast, and a few servers have left, she said. “Many people write in saying ‘we will never come to your establishment again.’ I’ve been slandered online, saying we will take this money and put into our pockets,” she said. “It’s frustrating and hurtful.”

But Stadler is committed to the overhaul, which kicks in Dec. 1. She is looking at successful models by NYC restaurateur Danny Meyer and joins the soon-to-open Old Port takeout spot Baristas and Bites.

Why now? With a federal law on overtime pay kicking in soon she wants to create a fair and equal workplace. And with more revenue to train staff, she hopes to stem the serious chef drought plaguing the nation.

“This gives me the ability to invest in full-time employees and grow the company,” said Stadler, who wants to offer paid vacation, training and health insurance to all servers and full-time employees and eliminate anxiety on slow nights.

The move comes amid a statewide vote next month to raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020. Stadler is getting a head start.

As one of the first full-service restaurant owners in Portland to nix tips, she is crossing her fingers her dream of a better workplace sticks. When her third establishment, wine restaurant Lio opens in Portland next summer, she will have a total of 70 employees to look after.

“There is a lot to figure out. This is not the be all end all. I’m trying to put in better systems,” she said. “This is the first step into that foray.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: restaurant; tips
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OK, Freepers, what say you? I've not worked in the Food Service Industry, so I've no idea on this....

Is it better to make $30-$40 / hour on good nights (and bupkis on bad ones...) - OR - get a steady $15/hr with some bennies? I know what I'd take, however, I just have an opinion with no experience to back it up.

1 posted on 10/28/2016 5:39:33 AM PDT by wbill
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To: wbill
It's a service industry. Tips "work."

That said, she'll get stability all right. Nothing more stable than being out of business. The ultimate cost reduction!

2 posted on 10/28/2016 5:41:26 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: Cboldt
:-) Yup. That was my opinion, roughly. Ticking off your staff AND customers generally isn't a good rule.

Foolishness and arrogance are a bad combination.

3 posted on 10/28/2016 5:44:12 AM PDT by wbill
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To: wbill

Sounds like her goal is to transfer $15-$20 an hour from her waitresses to herself. And $15 an hour isn’t that much more than you can make in fast food around her (I’ve seen signs on doors offering $10-$11 for counter workers).


4 posted on 10/28/2016 5:44:19 AM PDT by PAR35
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To: wbill

Why will the waiters/waitresses hustle? They get 15 an hour fast or slow.


5 posted on 10/28/2016 5:44:38 AM PDT by xzins ( Free Republic Gives YOU a voice heard around the globe. Support the Freepathon!)
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To: wbill

Tax free dollars are the best type. Even income with wages and they pay more in taxes which lowers their spendable income. On the plus side, once they start paying more in taxes they tend to become more conservative.


6 posted on 10/28/2016 5:45:49 AM PDT by Boomer One ( ToUsesn)
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To: wbill

Why the forced 18 percent surcharge? Put the 18 percent in the menu items. Tips give incentive to both customer and server and involves freedom and liberty. Liberland hates that though and so does the Federal government.


7 posted on 10/28/2016 5:45:59 AM PDT by taterjay
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To: xzins

That would be the money quote.


8 posted on 10/28/2016 5:46:17 AM PDT by MrEdd (Heck?Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: wbill
Though servers make a paltry $3.75 an hour, with gratuity a waiter/waitress at Tao Yuan can easily pull down “$30 to 40 an hour,” she said. “In some cases a server is making more than the cooks, the bartenders and even me.”

How many work hours can they make that kind of money? Every day, all day? I doubt it. Let's see that "$30 to 40 an hour" reduced to an average hourly wage.

9 posted on 10/28/2016 5:46:43 AM PDT by upchuck (Voter fraud is like an iceberg. 90% of it cannot be seen.)
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To: wbill

She will lose not only her servers but her customers, too.


10 posted on 10/28/2016 5:46:57 AM PDT by Paine in the Neck ( Socialism consumes EVERYTHING!)
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To: wbill

I like the option of adjusting my tips (I am on the generous side.) I find tipping far more personal. I WAS a cook in my youth, and the waitresses usually made more than I did. They earned every penny.


11 posted on 10/28/2016 5:46:58 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana (There is no salvation in politics.)
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To: wbill

If nothing is done within a few years all restaurants will have to do this to comply with Federal labor law.


12 posted on 10/28/2016 5:47:32 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: PAR35
Sounds like her goal is to transfer $15-$20 an hour from her waitresses to herself

Hmmm. Didn't think about that. That money is going somewhere, would be interesting to see if menu prices went up as the tips went down. If that's the case, you're *absolutely* correct.

13 posted on 10/28/2016 5:48:13 AM PDT by wbill
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To: wbill

Libs want the USA to be a “living wage” Europe no matter what the cost. It’s for the chil’run.


14 posted on 10/28/2016 5:48:25 AM PDT by TADSLOS (Vote Trump. Defeat the Clinton Crime Syndicate. Reset America.)
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To: wbill

I’ve known waiters/waitresses who made great money, and it was never a surprise. Those are the ones who brighten my day even bumping into them at the grocery store. I’ve known others who said they couldn’t get bus fare in tips, and again, that’s what I expected them to earn. Some people do dramatically better at serving others, and they deserve to earn more. I like having the incentive for wait staff to provide that excellent service and the reward for those who deliver.

I rarely eat out, but when I do, I rarely tip 15%. Good service often earns 25% or more. Bad service often earns 5%. I’m perfectly capable of cooking, so eating out is about the experience. I like rewarding those who make that experience what I’m looking for, and I don’t like no-tip restaurants.


15 posted on 10/28/2016 5:48:26 AM PDT by Pollster1 (Somebody who agrees with me 80% of the time is a friend and ally, not a 20% traitor. - Ronald Reagan)
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To: wbill

This is one I have been struggling with. I tend to use 20% as my starting point in tipping, but why should I tip when the server is making a “living wage?” Aside from the fact my meal is probably costing more, with a starting point of $15 per hour, add tips, these servers are making extremely good money.


16 posted on 10/28/2016 5:48:52 AM PDT by Yogafist
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To: Boomer One

Exactly..Once the taxes kick in for that higher wage,those tax free tips will be looking real good....


17 posted on 10/28/2016 5:49:55 AM PDT by Hambone 1934
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To: wbill

The advantage of tips for the restaurant is it reduces the employee cost. With tip income the employee is taking on some of the owners’ risk in running a restaurant; their pay has a fixed portion (a cost to the business) and a variable portion which, in a way, reflects the business’s success or failure.


18 posted on 10/28/2016 5:51:09 AM PDT by captain_dave
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To: wbill

I hate paying tips. As a customer, I don’t evaluate the cook so it isn’t my job to evaluate the server. That’s the manager’s job just like it is with every other job in the workforce. Employees represent the company. If they do a good job, the management can give them a raise. If they do a bad job and lose customers then the management can give them a pink slip. Customers aren’t getting paid to be the management.

We all knew the $15/hr wasn’t going to satisfy them. We were right. The wage is chicken feed. They don’t work for the wage, they work for the tips. The wage could be $0 and they’d still show up for work to get that $40/hr.


19 posted on 10/28/2016 5:52:23 AM PDT by bgill (From the CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola")
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To: wbill
#ForwardTogether


20 posted on 10/28/2016 5:53:12 AM PDT by libertarian27 (FR Cookbooks - On Profile Page)
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