There are more than 4,000 restaurants in New York City where, according to Zagat Survey, servers receive an average tip of 19.1 percent. But that is no longer true for an upscale sushi restaurant that has implemented a no-tipping policy.
Sushi Yasuda is changing the way New Yorkers think about tipping by including the cost of service in the price of the food. The restaurant compensates its waiters with salaries and benefits so they don't have to rely on tips. According to the New York Times, if customers do choose to leave a tip, it will be returned. In fact, on the credit card slips there is no line for gratuity.
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Forgoing the tip may be a foreign concept to customers in the U.S., but it is a common practice in Japan. One of the restaurant's owners, Scott Rosenberg, told the Times, "The reason we did it that way was because in Japan, that's how it's done. We thought, 'How great would it be when you go to a restaurant not to have to think about the tip?'"
So far the concept isn't totally understood by all despite the explanation on the menus, which reads, "Following the custom in Japan, Sushi Yasuda's service staff are fully compensated by their salary. Therefore gratuities are not accepted. Thank you." Some customers have even complained saying that if they had known about the no-tipping policy they would have ordered more sushi.
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Yet Sushi Yasuda is not the first restaurant that has experimented with the no-tipping policy. According to Bloomberg food critic Ryan Sutton, The Linkery in San Diego and Austin's Black Star Co-op both do not accept tips as payment for service is built into the restaurant's prices.
Do you think all restaurants should build in the gratuity and change to a no-tipping policy?
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