Exit Through the Gift Shop by Kim Fielding

One hurdle for restaurants using service fees are taxes: Service fees are counted as revenue when restaurants pay their taxes, whereas tips aren’t. Going against the tide is challenging, restaurant owners said. “The flip side of it is, (at) many of the restaurants where servers are making huge amounts of money, the kitchen is making a fraction of that.” “It’s really challenging because people in many restaurants who are making below the minimum wage make far more with tips than they would at a restaurant like ours,” Schor said. People who thrive in competitive, sales-oriented environments might want a job at a restaurant where they work for tips, she said. The service fee system is not for everyone, Schor tells prospective candidates interviewing for front-of-house positions. “As well as try to professionalize and legitimize any career within this industry, which is to say, if you’re a server that doesn’t mean you can’t go to the dentist, or if you’re a cook it doesn’t mean if you fall down and hurt yourself, you can’t go to the doctor.” “That’s what we’re trying to rectify as much as anything else,” she said. “I would work 12, 15, 18, 20-hour days, half of it off-the-clock making $11 an hour, while the servers who worked with me would work six-hour shifts and make $500. The restaurant also offers a 401(k) program with a match for employees who have worked there for at least a year. Split-Rail now has a 20% service fee, which goes toward paying employees higher base wages - the lowest-paid employees at the restaurant make $18 an hour - and benefits including health care for full-time employees and paid vacation time. Zoe Schor, chef and owner of Split-Rail, a new American restaurant in Ukrainian Village, was another restaurant owner who took the leap after the pandemic. “Now, everybody’s working for the same team.” “If you’re trying to get tips, then you’re gonna say to the bartender, ‘I’m not gonna ring that drink in, but I need an extra margarita for table six,’” Bayless said. Servers and bartenders who rely on tips are also working in part for the customer rather than the establishment itself, which can create conflicts of interest, restaurant owners said. According to a February report from One Fair Wage, more than 1 in 7 Illinois restaurant workers who lost their jobs at the start of the pandemic have not returned to the industry. The service fee model helps Daisies, a Logan Square pasta restaurant with a 25% fee, retain employees at a time when restaurant workers have left the industry in droves, said Joe Frillman, chef and owner. Some restaurant owners cited business reasons for reducing their reliance on tipping.

Exit Through the Gift Shop by Kim Fielding