Seattle restaurant owner Jeremy Price is jettisoning the usual restaurant tipping procedures in favor of a flat service fee for all customers. Price, who owns three restaurants (The Whale Wins, The Walrus and the Carpenter, and Barnacle), says starting in May there will be an 18.5 percent service fee on all meals instead of tips. The move is in response to the higher minimum wage as well as extra costs associated with the Affordable Care Act.
"It's going to free up and help us to provide benefits to our employees, health insurance, as well as matching retirement accounts," Price told Seattlepi.com. He says the service fee will help balance the scales between front end servers and those working in the back who traditionally have not gotten tips.
Not waiting for the full phase-in of Seattle's minimum wage law, Ivar's Restaurants have already jumped all pay to $15 per hour. The restaurants are encouraging customers to abandon tipping, since the costs have been built into new, higher menu prices.
