Why some US restaurants are banning tips • Hacker News Board

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#311

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 12:58 PM UTC

cheonjc40 wrote: post #301

walrus01 wrote: post #33

We need to at least normalize not tipping for counter service. Given the current wage structures and labor laws in the US and Canada, if I sit down at a table and I receive table service, I'm going to tip 15% unless the service was abhorrent. I am not going to tip if I order and take my food from a counter and serve myself (and then almost certainly clear my own table as well), or I buy any other form of product stan…

> We need to at least normalize not tipping for counter service Most people get 4-5% credit card cash back at restaurants (Amex, Chase, Cap1). I prefer getting 18-25% cash back by leaving $0.01 tip. I leave 1¢ so they know I didn’t forget. It saves a lot of back and forth.

[deleted]

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#312

Post by JohnFen » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 1:01 PM UTC

chung8123 wrote: post #35

Rygian wrote: post #6

As a foreigner in the US, I've made the faux-pas of assuming waiters and waitresses were being paid a full salary by their employer. I even suspect that I received sub-par service from some of them, who may have identified me as a "no-tip risk" from the first moment.

To be honest they are paid a full salary. Tipped wage does not preclude the minimum wage. In addition there are many states like CA that do not have a tipped wage.

> Tipped wage does not preclude the minimum wage.

Likely depends on the state, but in many states, traditionally tipped positions have a different, lower, minimum wage than non-traditionally tipped positions.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#313

Post by yuye » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 1:02 PM UTC

manarth wrote: post #164

donohoe wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I go to a restaurant and it’s all handled through a tablet I leave. I can get that treatment at the airport.

It's good for some neurodivergent people. Overly-solicitous hospitality staff can make me tense. At the far end of the scale are bathroom attendants who want to help me wash/dry/moisture my hands after using the facilities.

Or the sales staff in the fancier retail stores that after I tell them I'm just looking around, will proceed to stand behind me and stare at me.

Maybe they judge me too poor for their products and it's an attempt to get me to leave...

>At the far end of the scale are bathroom attendants who want to help me wash/dry/moisture my hands after using the facilities.

I've never ran into these and I hope I never will.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#314

Post by mschuster91 » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

sofixa wrote: post #266

ghaff wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you say "I'm good or maybe in a bit." Was that hard? (Versus trying to chase someone down to get your beer refilled.)

And if you say you're good, you'll get the check (assuming end of meal). If you don't pay it, they'll come back and ask you if you want something else. If you say no, they'll give you a few minutes and come back. They want you to get the fuck out of there as quickly as posible. In the average place in most European countries (excluding places with a queue outside or highly sought after reservation only places), nobod…

> In the average place in most European countries (excluding places with a queue outside or highly sought after reservation only places), nobody would bat an eye if you stay talking an hour after you're done.

That's because most European restaurants operate on a single sitting model when it comes to financial planning. Someone coming in later in the evening to fill an already vacated table is a nice and welcome extra income for the restaurant, but that not happening will not cause a financial loss either.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#315

Post by JohnFen » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 1:03 PM UTC

yuye wrote: post #306

tdeck wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're going in the other direction. In Seattle it's common for restaurants to tack on an extra "service charge" that's not a tip, just because. It's supposed to be declared somewhere. With tip your bill can easily end up 40% higher.

If I see "service charge" I'm going to assume that it covers the tip. I'm not going to tip on top of that.

This is what I do as well. Then I don't return to that restaurant on the basis of shenanigans.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#316

Post by JohnFen » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 1:05 PM UTC

eagerpace wrote: post #213

The bigger story for me is tipping fatigue. Almost every service worker requests a tip now. It seems to be from the rise in digital payments where everyone just turns on that feature. As a consumer, I have no idea if the worker’s compensation model is tied to tips or not and it feels like the ones who aren’t have hijacked my generosity.

> Almost every service worker requests a tip now.

That it's become ubiquitous has made me able to decline tips without feeling weird about it.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#317

Post by presentation » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 1:07 PM UTC

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 taking into account tips, US wait staff probably come out ahead.

Which makes it clear that service is not necessarily a function of compensation, and that eradicating tips does not necessarily make wait staff economically better off.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#318

Post by yuye » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 1:08 PM UTC

JohnFen wrote: post #315

yuye wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I see "service charge" I'm going to assume that it covers the tip. I'm not going to tip on top of that.

This is what I do as well. Then I don't return to that restaurant on the basis of shenanigans.

It's pretty common where I live in Asia, and they almost always write it on their menu, too. I don't really see it as shenanigans as long as it's communicated in advance. We don't have a tipping culture, though.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#319

Post by lgl » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 1:08 PM UTC

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.

Re: Why some US restaurants are banning tips

#320

Post by paul7986 » Tue, Aug 25, 2026, 1:12 PM UTC

rock_artist wrote: post #37

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…

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.

And in Paris waiting to be seated a good amount of time is also part of their culture. As an American visiting it was a different experience but an interesting one.