Why some US restaurants are banning tips • Hacker News Board

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#351

Post by Gud » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 2:47 PM UTC

QuantumNomad_ wrote: post #63

rock_artist wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends and also is culture based. In Spain you can find some places (eg coffee place) with 1-2 workers. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to get your order at rush hours, but the culture tolerates patience and waiting.

At least they don’t demand a bunch of extra tips. I’m European (well, Scandinavian, which some Europeans consider European and some don’t) and my rule of thumb is that if I go out I tip 10%. If the service is extra good I might tip extra. If the service is very bad (unreasonably slow, or staff forget or mix up the order in a significant way, or they are very rude), I tip 0%. Of course everyone can mess up things a li…

Your 10% rule is absolutely not representative of Scandinavian tipping culture.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#352

Post by account42 » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 2:52 PM UTC

xyzelement wrote: post #139

FartyMcFarter wrote: post #21

Good. Tipping creates so much mental overhead and unnecessary bad feelings on everyone's part.

You're telling on yourself. Most people I know are happy to leave a tip - especially to reward great service as part of a great night, or in cases where you have a long term relationship with an establishment and its staff. I can only imagine the staff is likewise happy to see the nice tip from us at the end of the night. If you can only imagine "unnecessary bad feelings" - I can only imagine the tip you leave and ho…

> You're telling on yourself.

Thank you for proving his point. This whole accusatory nonsense is why tipping sucks. If you have to pay it to not be an asshole its not a tip and should be included in the menu price.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#353

Post by jgwil2 » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 2:55 PM UTC

account42 wrote: post #330

kubb wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can’t hold two separate people accountable for their contradictory statements.

You can however point out conflicting information.

This is opinion, not information. Of course people's opinions will conflict.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#354

Post by account42 » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 2:57 PM UTC

lgl wrote: post #319

infecto wrote: post #270

It’s quite funny to read the comments. Europeans consider their system one of culture. Americans don’t care about the culture but the time wasted. I am just sitting here thinking everyone is creating a reason why their system is better while trying to diminish another’s.

Not trying. A system where the employer pays a full decent wage to their workers and avoids having employees complain and insult customers because they didn't tip some random percentage number is the better system. Prove me wrong. Extremist capitalism is still extremism.

A system where I'm shown the full price up front instead of being subjected to dark patterns is also objectively better.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#355

Post by jgwil2 » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 2:59 PM UTC

tossandthrow wrote: post #138

getfacl wrote: post #31

The biggest barrier to ending tipping in the USA is that restaurants are almost always over staffed there. The owner wants the maximum ratio of servers to customers possible. In the typical USA system, being paid primarily in tips means the server is highly incentivized to upsell the customer as much as possible and do everything they can to increase the total bill, and therefor increase their tip. Essentially a comm…

> Instead of checking on the customer every few minutes This is likely one of the absolute worst features of the US dining system. So many times I have been sitting in deep conversation with friends or colleagues just for a waiter to claim all attention to ask if we want to have refilled water. That they can even push themselves to such rude behavior is entirely insane to me.

This is just bad training. Water should be brought out and refilled without asking.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#356

Post by NewJazz » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 3:09 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #326

raegis wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The biggest barrier to ending tipping in the USA is that restaurants are almost always over staffed there. Are you sure? I've seen way more staff shortages in real life restaurants over the past 5-6 years than any other time in my life.

The US restaurant industry runs/ran on exploited, immigrant labor, which is now in short supply for obvious reasons. https://foodinstitute.com/focus/labor-shortages-costly-probl... > Nearly 16 million people worked in restaurants last year, representing about 10% of the national workforce, and 62% of operators said recruiting and keeping employees is a real headache. “The reasons for staffing shortages are both cycli…

What do you mean 8 people in a 2 bedroom isn't considered a living wage?

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#357

Post by _zoltan_ » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 3:27 PM UTC

xienze wrote: post #54

_zoltan_ wrote: post #4

finally. they should pay employees a better wage instead of relying on patrons to pay the tips (which might or might not end up with the employees...)

I think you'd be very surprised to learn that in a lot of cases, tipping pays much better than whatever a "reasonable" hourly wage for taking an order and carrying food to a table would be. If you're serving three tables that each have $100 checks and you get at 15% tip, that's $45/hour... yes it may average out higher or lower but you're not gonna like how much eating out costs if employers are expected to pay the h…

in Switzerland we almost never tip.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#358

Post by ChrisMarshallNY » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 3:31 PM UTC

presentation wrote: post #317

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #263

In Japan, I think the servers are paid well, and they don't accept tips. If you leave money on the table, they will chase you down, and give it back. And the service is incredible . Japanese service culture is pretty amazing, if you are used to the US. You really want to tip them -much more than in the US. I think the US underpays waitstaff pretty badly. They desperately need the tips, but in some places, they can do…

I live in Japan and see signs for hiring restaurant staff at restaurants pretty often, because they’re always hiring since there’s always a shortage of labor, and the posted wages are usually at or slightly above minimum wage. In Tokyo that’s 1226 yen/hour (US$7.70 as of now) which is not much to live on. They’re not paid below minimum wage so that puts them ahead of US wait staff in one sense, but I expect that when…

> Which makes it clear that service is not necessarily a function of compensation

This is true. Japan has its issues, but I am a fan of their culture of excellence. Everyone in Japan -regardless of their status- makes sure that they perform their job, the best that they can.

I worked for a company that makes top-Quality photographic equipment. It was a difficult taskmaster, but they have also consistently made stuff that people pay top money for, and stake their entire careers on, for over a hundred years. It was quite an honor to have worked in that environment, and it taught me a lot.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#359

Post by msdz » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 3:34 PM UTC

cheonjc40 wrote: post #303

msdz wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried eating out while not in a rush?

> Have you tried eating out while not in a rush? Sorry, I prefer to eat while rushed. That’s how the median American household income is US$7,600/month. Half of all households make more than this.

Are you sure that’s not at least in part due to the US being the global currency and business hub, importing a good portion of other places’ wealth?

Although, yes, at times unhealthy amounts of productivity probably also play a role, true that.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#360

Post by GuB-42 » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 3:45 PM UTC

I think tipping is getting out of hand. Normally, tips pay for service staff, which would be about 15% of the revenue of a restaurant in a no-tip country.

So, with tips of 15% or less, everyone get their fair share: service staff get a low base wage complemented by tips, kitchen staff get paid normally, owners get reasonable profits.

But when tips get to 20% or more, the system breaks, service staff get more than their fair share and that's when weird things start to happen. Owners pocketing the tips, pooling the tips between kitchen and service staff, hiring more waiters for no good reason, etc... and then it comes to the logical conclusion, which is banning tips altogether.