A sushi restaurant in New York City has found a way to avoid the awkward post dinner arguments about the math abilities of friends and accusations of cheapness; Sushi Yasuda has decided to eliminate tipping, according to ABC News.
"The diner doesn't [have to] think about how much to leave and make calculations [after] a contemplative and special meal," restaurant co-founder Scott Rosenberg said. "We're really sort of just staying connected to that classical approach [of fine Japanese dining]."
Sushi Yasuda has been well known for its lack of frills and devotion to tradition since the high-end restaurant opened, the menu sticks to traditional ingredients and strays far away from the avocado and mayonnaise that have become sushi staples elsewhere, according to The New York Times. So it seems only natural that the process of paying for the meal was simplified by eliminating the tip.
While customers may enjoy not having to add a little something extra at the end of the meal the people who benefit the most from the change are Sushi Yasuda's servers. The servers are now paid a salary that includes paid vacation time and sick days, benefits that are almost unheard of within the service industry, according to ABC News.
Daisy Chung, executive director for Restaurant Opportunities Center of New York, a nonprofit that advocates on behalf of restaurant employees told ABC News that she supported Sushi Yasuda's decision.
"It started a good conversation about tips and restaurant compensation," Chung said. "We definitely feel there shouldn't be a separate system where tip workers rely on tips to subsidize their wages. Workers should be fully compensated."
Andrew Moesel, a spokesman from the New York State Restaurant Association told ABC News that the management side of a restaurant also benefits from the removal of the tipping system.
"It can also be easier for the house," Moesel said. "Wage and tip lawsuits are on the rise, since rules are becoming increasingly complicated."
Moesel noted that he had not heard of any other restaurants in New York that had switched to a no tipping policy but that some high-end restaurants in Chicago, such as chef Grant Achatz's acclaimed restaurant Next which sells tickets ahead of time with a service charge included, have done so.
Sushi Yasuda raised their prices slightly so as to offset the tipping ban. Old habits die hard for diners as Rosenberg told ABC News that many people still try to write in a tip on their bill even though the tipping line has been removed from the receipt. Overall, customers have viewed the ban quite favorably.
"One [young guy] said, 'I'm going to eat 20 percent more sushi,'" Rosenberg said.
