These were my thoughts. Thanks for saying it better than I could. J&V are not the same young dudes who opened the first three restaurants.
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for what it’s worth, jon and vinny have a whole bunch of things going on besides their restaurants: food for sofi stadium (SoFi Stadium partners with Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo to make food at venue), food for delta one (Delta Partnership — Carmelized Productions | Events and Catering in LA), food for hollywood parties (https://www.lamag.com/digestblog/jon-vinnys-excellent-adventure/)
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I was just talking about why Animal might pay better and/or attract more experienced and better staff than the J&V pizza chain.
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Whether J&V restaurants pay more than average may soon be clear.
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These charges have become a nuisance here in the New York area as well. Nickle and diming everything. Let me ask a question: using random numbers, what is the difference between charging a customer a $5 service charge, or just charging the customer $20 for that $15 burger? Please explain the rationale…
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Sticker shock mostly, borne of experience. Customers spend more when displayed prices are lower (however seemingly illogical). There is also FOH/BOH dynamics and employee retention. Danny Meyer talked about these things when he went to then away from service included.
Armchair psychology but I think customers perceive a loss of control without discretionary tipping.
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Thanks for posting that. Still reading the article but I like how in depth it is
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Under California law, as you would already know if you read this whole topic, 100% of tips must go to the servers, no portion can go to the restaurant or managers, and they’re taxed as server’s income.
Service charges go to the restaurant, sales taxes apply, they’re counted as part of gross receipts (a portion of which often go to the landlord), and the restaurant may use them for any purpose.
Some cities require service charges to be treated much like tips. Some of these details vary in other states.
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After years of struggling on how much to tip when prompted, this is my current wisdom:
-
I never tip outside of table service dining
— This includes iPads prompting boxes with different tip amounts, such as for coffee or ice cream. -
I usually tip 15% or 18-20% if that’s the default service fee.
— I count service fee as tips, so I’m not paying extra. -
If I were to tip extra, I’d ask the server for information where the tip money goes to. I don’t want my extra money to go to upper management.
This is coming from a guy who barely eats out and only do so on special occasion. With costs skyrocketing, I find myself eating even out less and I am more motivated to cook for myself.
I used to be more generous in tipping to support workers (20% and higher). Tipping is getting more complicated these days and much more places ask for them. I won’t feel guilty for not tipping more.
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Just to add a data point, encountered this in Maui at an upscale Japanese/Filipino place called Macadangdang.
Note the hilighted part.
It was vacation, so I was in no mood to debate management (or, frankly, do a lot of math) so I just settled on some roundish number between 15-20% and called it a day.
But I probably opted to round down rather than up in this case.
okay, stop me if you’ve heard this story before (like you have any way to do this, right?):
Over 30 years ago, co-workers and I had lunch in a small Polish place in the East Village, NYC. It had been there for years and the owner/waitress was a hoot, known to be one of those cranky older folk (like I am now) who will tell you off at the drop of a hat. At any rate, the menu had peirogi with several different fillings. Of course, sour cream was extra & so was apple sauce, but each filling you may want had its own price as well. I’m making up the actual prices since I don’t remember them, but you’ll get the idea here:
Me: “why is cheese filled $3, cabbage $3, potato $3, meat $3.50 & a combo $4? I get that meat is more expensive, but why would a combo be more than any of them”.
Her: “Because I want to… don’t be a pain in my ass”.
I pretty much think this is relevant to the topic. It’s all about the business owner. You want to eat there, you accept his/her business model, as absurd as it may be. Has everyone seen “The Menu” yet? (that’s right folks - I edited my previous senior moment mistitling the movie)
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Is this a movie? tv show? Where can one see it?
Movie. HBO Max.
Christine’s? Little Poland? KK?
The Menu?
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Are you in fact thinking of ‘The Menu’? (Ralph Fiennes as a high end chef of a VERY exclusive restaurant?)
If so, then yes, and I just loved it. I believe there’s a thread of it here:
and another over on HO .
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Quintessential NYC experience
I was at a market type place yesterday that also sells prepared foods. They had an iPad at checkout with the typical tip percentages.
At this rate we’ll have tipping options at Stater Bros soon.
Maybe I’m an A-hole but I don’t tip at markets, counter service or if you own the business. Those are my hard no’s. Charge what you need to to run your business properly.
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Senior moments are more frequent these days. No wonder I couldn’t find the thread 
Yes, “The Menu”.
No, none of those places. Since you’re not old enough to have senior moments, you’re also not old enough to remember some of the long gone Polish restaurants in that neighborhood. Of course, I had trouble remembering the name, but it came to me (with some Googling help). It was Odessa on Ave A.
I had a Christine’s bumper sticker on my car when we lived in Rome in the 80s.
I was sad last time I went to NYC and it was gone. Best perogies I’ve had. Some of the best babka, too, though wherever they got it from might still be in business.