Quantcast
Danny Meyer’s no-tipping experiment begins at The Modern – Metro US

Danny Meyer’s no-tipping experiment begins at The Modern

Danny Meyer’s no-tipping experiment begins at The Modern
Facebook

When Danny Meyer, the CEO of an empire that spans from Shake Shack to Untitled at the Whitney, makes a move, the food world is watching. Tonight, his biggest experiment yet begins today with the end of tipping at The Modern.

The fine dining restaurant is the first to implement Meyer’s Hospitality Included policy, which eliminates tipping with the goal of providing, will spread to all of his restaurants by year’s end. Eater has the breakdown of the menu changes, the steepest of which is the three-course dinner rising to $122 from $98 — but you probably would’ve tipped about $20 on that meal anyway, so the hike isn’t as steep as it seems.

RELATED: Queens must’ve been very good this year to get two Shake Shacks

The other set menus are also rising from between 9 and 18 percent, while the 17-item a la carte menu is almost evenly split on whether the new prices are higher or lower — and where they did decrease, the restaurant tells Eater that portion sizes did not change.

The Modern is giving out comment cards with checks, so let them know how it’s working for you. A living wage for all — servers typically start out at $2.31 an hour and count on tips to make up the rest — is an admirable goal, but it remains to be seen how the tipping culture change will affect diners and service.