Restaurant requests ‘no tips’ — will it start a new trend?

In an effort to shake up what many have called a toxic culture, one restaurant is asking customers to keep their tips, telling customers to keep the extra cash and enjoy their meals instead.

Mario Trejo is the owner of the restaurant Greek Streak , located in Logan, Utah, and he shared with KSL-TV that during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was looking to break away from the norm.

He said that while his restaurant had to change to a new counter-style ordering service, he was left with tension caused by the tip screen that consumers have become all too familiar with.

“You can tell the tension when the screen is flipped. People are uncomfortable,” Trejo said. “They don’t know what to do.”

So, in order to work around what was becoming a negative aspect of the customer experience and still keep his employees happy, Trejo decided to raise menu prices and drop tips altogether.

“How are people going to react? Is it going to be good? Are we going to be able to afford it?” Trejo said he wondered after making the decision.

But since he made the jump, his employees and consumers have seen an improvement, from not having to worry about shifts or splitting tips to customers being able to pay what the menu lists their meal at.

“Now our staff is able to have a higher base wage,” Trejo said. “It helps them have a dependable income.”

As for the customers, Trejo shared with KSL-TV that they were surprised. While some accepted the change, others have complained that they can’t show their gratitude to the staff.

However, the owner says that dining in is gratitude enough.

“You show your gratitude by coming,” Trejo said.

Tipping culture in the United States has become a topic of heated discussion as of late, with 1 in 3 US adults arguing that tipping has gotten out of control since the pandemic, with everywhere from coffee shops to hairdressers requesting gratuity for their services.

However, a recent survey from Bankrate has found that despite more places appearing to ask, Americans are tipping less frequently.

The trend of anti-tipping isn’t general to one generation either, as the surveyors found that both older and younger Americans are getting sick of it, though some are more likely to leave a tip.

The survey shared that two-thirds of respondents said they always tip at sit-down restaurants, while only 35% of Gen Z said they do. The survey also found that 20% may not be the norm anymore, as just 37% said they always tip that amount, but many said that their tip is dependent on the service they received.

“Older Americans seem to have the most sticker shock about the rising cost of tipping, yet they’re still much more frequent tippers than Gen Zers and millennials,” Ted Rossman, a Bankrate senior industry analyst, said in the report.