CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Across the country, there’s a not-so-silent frustration brewing among consumers, over the practice of “tipping.”
A recent WalletHub study shows nearly 3 in 4 Americans think tipping has gotten out of hand, and 64% of people think a tip should be given when you feel it is deserved, instead of any time there is a tip jar by the register.
A west Charlotte restaurant known for its interactive culinary experience is hoping to pioneer a new way of serving its customers, no more tips.
"Counter is an immersive, full-experience restaurant," Chef Sam Hart said.
Hart, the award-winning mastermind behind the culinary creation Counter, is telling their customers “please don’t tip us,” but how is Hart able to make this work?
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"But also, along with it, we pair wine, music, even art with all of our menus," Hart said.
Hart is now paving a new path in Charlotte, doing something many restaurants wouldn’t even dare to do.
"We are approaching Counter more of a traditional business rather than kind of this makeshift service business that restaurants have been looked at before," Hart said.
This means getting rid of what Hart calls the “antiquated tipping method."
"So there will no longer be a line item at the bottom that says 'service charge' or an amount that you can write in for gratuity," Hart said.
Hart said their employees are always No. 1, and it’s his job to take care of them.
"Making sure that they're taking care of their getting proper benefits, time off, proper rate wages, things like that, and then not throwing it into weird random percentages or hoping that our average guest that comes in will pay them a strong wage," they said.
The famous chef agrees this no-tipping concept might sound a little far-fetched, but he said it can and does work. Business owners just have to sit down and really take a look at their overhead costs.
"You look at how much it costs to keep the lights on, how much it is for oil, how much it is for a protein, how much it is to pick up something from a farm," Hart outlined.
At Counter, Hart said their employees love what they do, so that becomes their motivation, not generating better tips.
"So here you meet everyone that works in this building, everyone from the chefs to our sommeliers to our servers to even our dishwasher," Hart explained.
Even so, Hart believes more traditional restaurants could do without tips, too.
"The restaurant should be taking much more of a responsibility of taking care of their employees because you don't see any other industry with this problem," they said.
Hart said instead of tips, guests can, if they choose donate to their 501(c)(3) partners.
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