Eateries cook up ways to cap costs

ORLANDO, Fla. — The combination of a tax overhaul and a rising minimum wage has restaurants tweaking their operating recipe.

At Shake Shack, management is doubling down on technology as minimumwage hikes go into effect across the US.

Last year, the burger joint, with 89 locations in the US, opened an eatery in Manhattan at Astor Place that does not have cashiers and accepts only cash via kiosks.

The workers at that location were moved into an oversized kitchen and are being paid a starting wage of $15 an hour despite the fact that the minimum wage in New York City is just $13 an hour.

“We saw [the higher wages] coming and we wanted to test what this would be like and this notion of no hospitality,” CEO Randy Garutti told The Post.

The chain is now testing the kiosk technology at a second Manhattan location, though that location also includes cashiers, The Post has learned.

“We will open more of these restaurants this year,” Garutti said.

“We are paying our employees more than ever, and [labor] is the biggest pressure on our P&L,” Garutti told a group of investors and analysts at the ICR retail conference here.

Separately, Darden executives told attendees they are investing $20 million in their workforce this fiscal year because of the windfall they are receiving from the Trump tax reform plan.

But management was mum on whether hourly workers would see some extra cash.

Managing directors and general managers can expect to get a tidy sum. Darden declined to disclose how much but said it is not a one-time event.

The $20 million represents less than half the sum Darden will get as a result of the tax act.