Kitchen-staff tips now on the table
FRUSTRATED YOU CAN’T tip the kitchen staff in addition to your waiter? Willie Degel is betting the answer is yes.
The Uncle Jack’s Steakhouse chain owner — and former host of Food Network’s “Restaurant Stakeout” — plans to add a new line to his restaurants’ bills for small tips of about 5% for dishwashers and line cooks.
“The public is more receptive to this than ever before because they understand how important these workers are,” Degel told On the Money. “It’s harder to hire kitchen staff than servers right now.”
He estimates the tip option he’ll offer at his two New York restaurants and four Georgia eateries could add another $50 to each shift and help him reduce turnover.
Degel, who faced heat complaining in 2018 about New York’s rising minimum wage, admits that some might ask why he simply doesn’t pay his kitchen staff more.
“It’s about time the back of the house is rewarded for something by the public,” Degel said. “How much can I raise my prices before people don’t come in anymore?”
Tipping kitchen staff has been considered, but rejected, by other restaurant groups, said Carolyn Richmond, chair of the hospitality practice at Fox Rothschild LLP. They’ve been concerned about higher customer tabs and that diners might split the tip between the server and the kitchen, spurring a server revolt, Richmond said.
“It’s complicated, although there is a big disparity in wages between the front of the house and the back of the house that’s problematic,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance.
Legally, there is nothing keeping restaurateurs from adding a second tip, provided it’s the diner’s choice, according to Richmond.
“I’m more concerned about the lack of tips for the front of the house staff due to the drastic dip in business,” Jimmy Haber, who owns BLT Steak and BLT Prime among other restaurants, told On the Money.
‘It’s about time the back of the house is rewarded for something by the public. ’
— Willie Degel