Customers at Larry’s will no longer have to hesitate when it comes to deciding how much tip to leave on a bill. The French café is eliminating tipping on Monday.
“We’re really wanting to drive towards this industry becoming more professional,” said Larry’s co-owner and chef Marc Cohen.
The restaurant will be adding 20 per cent to its dine-in dishes. As a result, all front of house staff will be getting an hourly wage that is roughly equivalent to the average that they were making with tips.
“So it will be easier for us to be able hire people at a higher starting hourly rate and to give raises more freely and to reward people for the work that they do in the kitchen,” said co-owner Sefi Amir.
A number of reasons led to their decision, one being that the tipping system contributes to pay difference between the front and back of house. In restaurants servers get tipped, whereas kitchen staff do not.
“What we want to do is get everyone on the same pay scale, so everyone has an hourly wage. Yes at the moment there is still a gap, like it’s definitely not gone completely but there’s transparency to it now,” said Cohen.
The hourly wage also allows for a more stable income. Katherine Daehler has worked in the industry for almost 15 years. The single mother was a pastry chef before switching to service so she could earn more.
“It’s finally knowing what you’re going to make and have a proper salary,” said Daehler. “I have this feeling of complete shock that this is going to change my life definitely in a positive way.”
Quebec’s Restaurant Association thinks the no-tip policy could be a good solution, but spokesperson Martin Vézina says other restaurants have tried the idea without success.
“So the prices are going up, but we present the tipping that you will have done at the end of the meal. But people doesn’t understand that,” Vézina said.
“And what they are saying is that, oh, it’s too costly. The price of the meal are costly, so I won’t go there.”
Larry’s owners agree that there will definitely be a learning curve. But they hope other restaurants join them in their pursuit to make the industry more professional.
“I think there’s lots of other things that we’re still working on and that we need to address,” said Amir.
“There’s no way we’re done doing what we need to do to be a really great place to work.”
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