Danny Meyer restaurant doing better than ever with no tipping
When legendary restaurateur Danny Meyer announced in late 2015 he would do away with tipping and raise menu prices to include hospitality, shockwaves rippled through the restaurant industry. Many wondered whether the U.S. was ready for such a drastic change in dining culture.
Meyer made a good leap of faith and recently told the Freakonomics podcast the month after he included hospitality in restaurant pricing, the restaurant's profit "was dramatically higher than any other December we’ve had. And I’ve got to feel that the just unprecedented amount of notice about Hospitality Included encouraged more people than ever to come road test it."
You May Also Like
Meyer's Hospitality Included program includes higher menu prices that account for raising both back of house and front of house wages ("Manager salary went up to $50,000, and cooks made $2 more per hour," when the program was put into place at The Modern," reports Eater) and also eliminates tipping.
In Nov. 2015, when the program was set in motion, the cost for a four course tasting menu rose 9% to $152 and the fee for a full tasting rose to $182, an increase of 11%, compared to the previous no-tip-included pricing. Prices for the same menus are currently $158 and $188.
This new structure seems to be working out, as diners are flocking to the restaurant and Meyer reports both a 270% increase in kitchen staff applications and less turnover of staff since The Modern went tipping inclusive.
Whether this new form of tipping works as well in other restaurants across the country remains to be seen, but as Meyer says about his next restaurant to go "Hospitality Included", "we’ll find out [how the program works], but I’m really confident about it."
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Mashable reached out to Union Square Hospitality Group for comment but received none at the time of publication.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.
Sarah Spigelman Richter is a contributor to Mashable's Food channel. Sarah covers everything edible, from the food industry to D.I.Y. recipes. She was previously the community manager for Tastemade NYC and her writing has been seen on The Today Show's food blog, Refinery 29, the Food Network, and Gothamist. She has also developed recipes for Tabasco and other nationally recognized brands and has blogged for 5 years at "Fritos and Foie Gras." Sarah is obsessed with "Orphan Black" and chili-cheese Fritos and is still depressed that Loehmann's closed.
