South Park's creators have eliminated tipping at Denver's famed Casa Bonita. Servers now make $30 ..

[sl8]

https://www.businessinsider.com/south-park-creators-eliminate-tips-casa-bonita-pay-30-hour-2023-6

South Park's creators have eliminated tipping at Denver's famed Casa Bonita. Servers now make $30 an hour — and some are mad.

Lakshmi Varanasi Jun 29, 2023, 5:08 AM EDT

• Casa Bonita, a 50-year-old Mexican restaurant in Colorado, reopened after a $40 million renovation.
• South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker bought the joint, which was featured in their show.
• They eliminated tips, and are now paying $30 an hour. Some staff members are mad about that.

[...]

Days before opening, though, the restaurant reportedly asked employees to sign new contracts that offered hourly wages for servers and bartenders of $30 an hour, according to Axios Denver. The catch was that they would no longer receive tips to supplement their wages, Axios reported. (The minimum wage in Colorado is $13.65, according to the state's labor department.)

Employees were given one day to decide whether they wanted to sign the new contract or quit, Axios said, citing a conversation with one employee, and documents provided by another employee, who both asked to remain anonymous due to a confidentiality agreement.

[...]

[vercetti2021]

1. Why not?

You'd rather get paid 2.15? Stone and Parker are good guys paying 4x the normal paycheck

[jimfields33]

3. Tips can be hundreds of dollars a night in a place like this.

If they work 8, they do get 240 for the night (totally taxable). Yes cash tips are supposed to be counted towards taxes, but….. I’d rather the tips in a place like this. Now Denny’s? I’d take the 30 an hour.

[vercetti2021]

7. When you work in a coffee shop

I'd be dying for a contract

[jimfields33]

8. Of course. But they are going to a place where people will earn less.

Why do they do thing backwards? The friends should have started at a lower scale place and give 30 bucks an hour no tips. A coffee shop would be perfect.

[MichMan]

4. If you were making more than that with tips (which likely weren't taxed) you might.

[sl8]

6. The article says they thought they were getting about $15/hr plus tips. nt

[Haggard Celine]

2. I would've signed the contract gladly back

when I waited tables and bartended. Working for tips can really suck, depending on who your customers are. The waiters and bartenders don't have to worry about how much to claim in tips now. It really sucks to be dependent on the customers' generosity. And restaurants shouldn't be making the customers pay their workers.

[MichMan]

5. Aren't the customers the ones ultimately paying the workers either way?

Where else would the money be coming from?

[Haggard Celine]

9. Not exactly.

Now customers are depended upon to add an extra amount to pay the workers' wages. A lot of people tip as little as they can get by with. Sometimes they don't tip at all. When they don't tip, you don't have a base wage to fall back on. Whether these customers would have tipped the server or not is a moot point now. Those staff members will be working solely for the owners now. That way, when a customer expects a lot of extra shit for nothing, you just have to worry about your boss's interests. I predict there will be a lot less bullshit to deal with at that place.

[MichMan]

11. What other revenue streams do restaurants have other than customers spending on food & drink?

I worked in the automotive supply base in manufacturing for my career. All of our revenue ultimately came from people buying cars, trucks, and replacement parts for them, even though we only manufactured parts and not vehicles.

[Haggard Celine]

13. As things are, they're dependent on the customers to

pay their staff for them. Customers have to add extra money to their check to pay the staff for doing their jobs. They won't have to worry about that anymore. Sure, the restaurant lives off it's customers, but if they expect the customers to pay their staff, they're setting up a situation where the staff have divided loyalties between the customers and the managers. People expect extra things sometimes for their tips, and it can cost the restaurant money. Now they'll just do what the boss says and that will be it. If there's a problem, they can talk let the manager handle it.

[MichMan]

14. It's going to depend how much they raise the prices

If an average tip is 20%, and the menu prices go up an average of 15%, then customers will be on average actually paying less than they did before. On the other hand, if prices are raised 25%, than it will cost the customers more than they were paying before.

Either way, it is ultimately the customers who pay the wages

[viva la]

10. And you had to work hours with no customers

You might earn a lot for two hours at lunch, and then it'll be 4 hours at $2.50 an hour.

[Haggard Celine]

12. Yes, good point.

We also had all sorts of side work to complete before we could leave. Cleaning, rolling silverware, and whatever else your boss wants you to do for the day is expected. You're only making $2+ per hour while you do that shit.