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 Portlands 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 doesnt 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. Ive been slandered online, saying we will take this money and put into our pockets, she said. Its 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. Im trying to put in better systems, she said. This is the first step into that foray.
[ She is looking at successful models by NYC restaurateur Danny Meyer and joins the soon-to-open Old Port takeout spot Baristas and Bites.]
Ummm... people (at least smart ones) don’t tip for take out in general!! Stupid comparison!
Over on Reddit, its always a perennial way to bash the U.S. By moaning about the tips system like it was slavery.
So many dopes assuming that servers were getting stiffed every night or that adding a % to a number is “hard”, or just cheap jerks.
And, because bacon, eggs and coffee comes to 4 bucks and I'm not going to insult someone with a 60c (15%) tip.
I suppose if I lived in the city and was shelling out $100 for a meal, I'd tip differently.
My son has a friend who works as a bartender in NYC. She’s extremely pretty and personable and on a good night she can pull in $800+ in tips. I wonder how she’d feel about this idea?
I am a waitress-we wouldn’t do what we do without tips. I’ve seen many lazy employees making $10-15/hour, but I’ve never seen a server who doesn’t work as hard as they can, with a good attitude and a smile, to keep their customers happy. Tips are a huge motivator and account for about 3/4 of my income. Take the tips away and I’m gone. There are far less stressful ways to earn $15/hour.
That’s why I’m worried that Minnesota will go to a $15 min wage. My income as a server would go down.
I will always remember the time a “server” dumped a basket of French fries in my friend’s lap and didn’t even bother to apologize. And no, she didn’t get a tip.
I would hate to have to pay an extra 18% for that kind of service.
On the Flyertalk website, a travel-oriented site, there are often tipping threads. I always get upset when people argue against tipping the bartender in airport lounges. I always respond “Dude, if you’re well off enough to be in an airport lounge you can afford to put a buck on the bar to help some working man or woman feed their family.”
I try to tip well. Good service? I tip better no mater the quality of the meal.
Bad service... the bare minimum? whatever that is, I have a sliding scale.
A good restaurant with good service should garner a server a nice chunk of change and I prefer that. The waitresses (or ‘gag’, waiters) Are most always eager to please and I like paying for that type of service.
Just a secondary note..... rich or poor...... educated or ignorant.... black folks don’t tip. Not trying to be racist. I’m NOT racist. Just an Observation on my part from decades of having lunch with coworkers.
If you want to be a big shot, you gotta throw some money around.
Actually the key in her scheme is the attempt to make things ....
More FAIR.
She thinks it isn’t fair the people who are the “face” of her business make more than the cooks or even herself! Her marketing is mis guided. If the public face of your business gives bad service...you will be out of business. She doesn’t grasp the value or skills of her servers. From providing good customer service, knowing the menu and drinks etc. she thinks all they do is shlep food.
All in the name of someone else’s idea of “fairness”
Actually the key in her scheme is the attempt to make things ....
More FAIR.
She thinks it isn’t fair the people who are the “face” of her business make more than the cooks or even herself! Her marketing is mis guided. If the public face of your business gives bad service...you will be out of business. She doesn’t grasp the value or skills of her servers. From providing good customer service, knowing the menu and drinks etc. she thinks all they do is shlep food.
All in the name of someone else’s idea of “fairness”
From the excerpt: "and tack on an 18 percent surcharge on checks." So yes, prices went up 18%.
Envying one's loyal employees is so déclassé...
The waitress I know would all rather get the tips, even in Waffle House. Those who do not make much on tips all hope to make more and would not like to go to salary. For some of them, the idea is that they will get better at. For others, getting a higher hourly reduces their welfare benefits. Either way it represents a loss of income.
Anyhoo, was sitting around the bar yakking with her one evening when a bunch of college frat guys walked in and sat down in a booth. She said to me, "Just a second.", then tied off her shirt and adjusted things so that it looked like she added a cup size or two. :-) Then, she went over and waited on them.
She came back to the bar. I must've been looking at her funny, because she said, "What? I just doubled my tips."
No guy wants to look cheap in front of a pretty girl!
heh heh heh. Missed that. Actually, read it as "18% in tips". But a "surcharge" is not a "tip". Wonder if that goes in her pocket, or the staff's?
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