NY Sushi Bar Drops the Convoluted Practice of Tipping

[Mike Oxlong]

Don't Tip Your Waiter: Sushi Yasuda Eliminates Gratuity In Favor Of Higher Wages

Etiquette experts may quibble over the standard gratuity percentages, but it is more or less universally understood that, yes, in the United States, waitstaff make their wages off tips, and if you don't leave something extra for service, you shouldn't be dining out in the first place. But one of the city's most celebrated sushi joints, Sushi Yasuda, will no longer accept tips, and instead provides staff with higher salaries and benefits.

You see, Sushi Yasuda takes Japanese customs very seriously (which, at $24-or-so a roll, it probably should). And in keeping with these customs, they've eliminated the tip and salaried servers. "The reason we did it that way was because in Japan, that’s how it’s done," Scott Rosenburg, one of the owners, told the Times. "We thought, ‘How great would it be when you go to a restaurant not to have to think about the tip?"

Japan's not alone in its no-tipping policy; China doesn't have a tipping custom either, some countries add gratuity to the bill automatically, and others expect diners to leave a few coins behind for good service. Which, naturally, becomes frustrating for waiters in the States, who often find themselves getting stiffed on tips by overseas tourists who didn't read their Fodors guides cover-to-cover. And Sushi Yasuda's not the first restaurant in the city to try to move away from the American tipping culture; Per Se, another pricey Manhattan establishment, added a mandatory service charge a few years back, and a smattering of other spots do the same, to great debate...

Continues at http://gothamist.com/2013/06/08/dont_ti ... da_e_2.php

[Kanchou]

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-for-m ... l-15603180

[gaijinpunch]

Counter POint of why it should be mandatory across the board: Go to any remotely crowded Japanese bar.

[legion]

Tipping is just an excuse for the shop to pay a minimal wage, avoiding troublesome things like health insurance.

[gaijinpunch]

Tipping is just an excuse for the shop to pay a minimal wage, avoiding troublesome things like health insurance.

Remember that statement next time you're served a kids cocktail.

[Kanchou]

Tipping is just an excuse for the shop to pay a minimal wage, avoiding troublesome things like health insurance.

Remember that statement next time you're served a kids cocktail.

If servers made $10 wages instead of $10 in wages and tips an hour, the bad ones would get fired pretty quickly...

What do you mean a kids cocktail?

[Samurai_Jerk]

What do you mean a kids cocktail?

He's talking about the piss weak cocktails they serve in bars here.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Tipping is just an excuse for the shop to pay a minimal wage, avoiding troublesome things like health insurance.

Do they even pay a minimal wage in a lot of these places?
I feel sorry for people who think this is a decent system.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Tipping is just an excuse for the shop to pay a minimal wage, avoiding troublesome things like health insurance.

Do they even pay a minimal wage in a lot of these places?
I feel sorry for people who think this is a decent system.

In the US there's a special minimum wage at the Federal level for people who work for tips that hasn't been raised in something like 30 years (it's higher in some states though). I don't think it's a good system but I do agree that service in restaurants in the US is often really good because people are working for tips. Service at restaurants in Japan leaves much to be desired with the exception of very high end places or mom-and-pop places where you're a regular.

[Coligny]

Never remember having service problem in any Japanese restaurant...

Audi customer service, yes, especially if your car is more than 6 month old... they gangrape you and bill you for the sand... (Back then I 'm even considering myself happy to have made it out alive from their showroom)

[Samurai_Jerk]

Never remember having service problem in any Japanese restaurant...

Service in Japanese restaurants isn't bad but it's not excellent.

[GomiGirl]

Never remember having service problem in any Japanese restaurant...

Service in Japanese restaurants isn't bad but it's not excellent.

Wages and conditions for hospitality are woeful in Japan.

Peanuts, monkeys etc etc.

There is no real career path for non-chef hospitality and combined with the no tipping, it isn't a sustainable career. This is really sad actually and leads to very inexperienced service staff even at top restaurants. You rarely see silver service here as there is nobody teaching it.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I don't think it's a good system but I do agree that service in restaurants in the US is often really good because people are working for tips.

I get the mentality....sorta like giving the cotton pickers the whip because it gets them moving faster.

The service in the U.S. was great and I tipped well when I knew what to do.
But I find the service in Japan at least comparable, if not better, and the ultimate beneficiary pays for the worker's labor.
I suppose ignorance is bliss.

I had been quite happy with service in Australia until I went overseas as an adult. I think Australia's service has to be down there with the worst in the world. It's fucking appalling at all levels in all sectors.

[wagyl]

I had been quite happy with service in Australia until I went overseas as an adult. I think Australia's service has to be down there with the worst in the world. It's fucking appalling at all levels in all sectors.

You thought it was bad, you would be amazed now, especially in mining boom regions like WA and Qld. Anyone with ability has gone to dig dirt, chasing the wages you need to be able to afford the boom time cost of living. This means that the service industries are reliant on those who can't even do grunt work in mining.

It might be close, but I still don't think it is worst in the world. The British Isles set a very challenging standard to beat.

[omae mona]

I'm pretty easy to please, and also pretty unlikely to be found in very high end restaurants. So I've typically been happy enough with the level of service in Japanese restaurants, which is always adequate for me. They take my order and get my food to the table. As others pointed out above, the U.S. (and other countries) has many restaurants with fabulous, highly skilled staff that do a lot more than that, and really add to the dining experience. But... the U.S. also boasts just as many staff that make you want to wring their throats. When I was living in the U.S. I'd guess I had at least one case per year of a restaurant "horror story".

In the U.S. maybe the fabulous service at good places outweighs the horrible service you get with overworked and untrained staff in other places. I'm not sure. But I don't really like the risk factor, since I never know which one I'm going to get. Rather than the two extremes, I am a bit happier with the average, but consistent, service I get in Japan.

Totally different genre, but want to see some out-of-proportion good service in Japan? Go and spend 550 yen on a cup of the "reserve" coffee at one of the Starbucks with the MIT rocket scientist-designed Clover coffee machines. You'll basically get the barista to yourself for about 5 minutes, an educational seminar about the beans and the brewing, and a consulting session about how to best enjoy your drink (including a choice of mug cups that have different effects, apparently, on the flavour and aroma). I actually *wanted* to leave a tip but couldn't.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

The British Isles set a very challenging standard to beat.

I was in Britain in January and received outstanding service wherever I went....because it was almost entirely provided by Eastern Europeans.
Mind you, I concur with your opinion, so went there with extremely low expectations and left pleasantly surprised.

[Kanchou]

Japanese service is great, overall. Why? Because they actually train their staff. If you have worked in restaurants in America you would realize there is almost zero OJT. Why? Because it costs money. And the service staff in restaurants and bars is basically a revolving door.

Restaraunts also make their wait staff do prep work at virtual slave wages because they can't get tips.

[matsuki]

People make mistakes in all countries but what bugs me about being back here in LA is the attitude of the staff at restaurants (and elsewhere)...the flowchart brained robots in Japan may not be capable of handling anything custom or unusual requests but they usually take your order with a smile and if they see you waiting, they will literally rush over to you. Instead, here I get a "oh fuck" look and a slow "I don't want to be here" stroll over to me with a sigh.

[IparryU]

Japanese service is great, overall. Why? Because they actually train their staff. If you have worked in restaurants in America you would realize there is almost zero OJT. Why? Because it costs money. And the service staff in restaurants and bars is basically a revolving door.

Restaraunts also make their wait staff do prep work at virtual slave wages because they can't get tips.

So having been in the food/bar industry for many years in Japan... it is a complete time waste to give hours of OJT... purley because if you don't have the common sense to do a dirt low job, you shouldn't be there.

Japanese staff are usually good at working overtime and speaking to the customers politely, but when it came down to service and making sure all the dots were connected, they were sloth slow and had issues thinking out of the box.

Whereas foreigners (non-asian)... be it an Ethiopian, Egyptian, Mexicans, Brazilians, Yanks, Canucks, frogs, etc., will try to get the shit done quick and good just so they can go fuck off and have an easy night and not have to deal with any pissed customers.

Koreans and Chinese... are just a nightmare. As customers, they eat like dogs and try to treat the waitresses like slaves or hostesses... and I would walk out of a restaurant if i knew they were working in the hole or kitchen.

At a bars... them Chinese are damn good floor staff because they for some reason have a 6th sense on who has money and how to make them spend it. But you just have to watch the tip jar because they get sticky fingers....

Yes a bit racist... but that is just what I had to deal with in my past life...

[gaijinpunch]

Never remember having service problem in any Japanese restaurant...

Service in Japanese restaurants isn't bad but it's not excellent.

Well said. And again, like with everything else, as long as you don't want anything outside of the box you're probably going to do "okay". Something bad, you want something different, some jack hole blowing smoke into the no smoking section? Sorry, you're on your own.

Don't get me going on the bartenders. I'm convinced there are two Japanese bartenders in Tokyo that know what they're doing, and I know both of them.

[Russell]

Well said. And again, like with everything else, as long as you don't want anything outside of the box you're probably going to do "okay". Something bad, you want something different, some jack hole blowing smoke into the no smoking section? Sorry, you're on your own.

Well, you could ask that customer if he minds that you do not smoke.

And if he does, whether he can please ensure that no smoke comes your ways...

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

like with everything else, as long as you don't want anything outside of the box you're probably going to do "okay".

I kinda like the way Garfunkel and Oates think outside the box...

[wagyl]

I kinda like the way Garfunkel and Oates think outside the box...

Sorry to be the one to disabuse you of one of those outside the box categories...

[legion]

Tipping is just an excuse for the shop to pay a minimal wage, avoiding troublesome things like health insurance.

Remember that statement next time you're served a kids cocktail.

I drink beer

and tipping might work in the home of the free

but in the UK you still get crap service, and to be honest I prefer honest crap service to being patronized by some late twenties boomerang hipster working for 15% of the price of a fizzy drink

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

...to be honest I prefer honest crap service to being patronized by some late twenties boomerang hipster working for 15% of the price of a fizzy drink

Hear, hear!

[gaijinpunch]

And if he does, whether he can please ensure that no smoke comes your ways...

If a restaurant manager doesn't care when cigarette smoke is being blown into a child's immediate area, obviously there is a service issue at hand. I was a little shocked when I was literally, completely stared at like a deer looking into headlights, and then I had a moment of satori and remembered where I was.

[matsuki]

And if he does, whether he can please ensure that no smoke comes your ways...

If a restaurant manager doesn't care when cigarette smoke is being blown into a child's immediate area, obviously there is a service issue at hand. I was a little shocked when I was literally, completely stared at like a deer looking into headlights, and then I had a moment of satori and remembered where I was.

Customer of mine from the US came over and had me ask the jackholes next to us at a restaurant to go outside to smoke or to wait til we were done eating at least. "But smoking is permitted in here" (as he lights up) Then my customer grabs the cigarette from the guy, puts it out, and (in English) says "so is being considerate of others...I thought Japan was all about keeping the Wa?" The guy was obviously pissed but the whole restaurant was looking so he just sat back down and ignored us.

[Russell]

And if he does, whether he can please ensure that no smoke comes your ways...

If a restaurant manager doesn't care when cigarette smoke is being blown into a child's immediate area, obviously there is a service issue at hand. I was a little shocked when I was literally, completely stared at like a deer looking into headlights, and then I had a moment of satori and remembered where I was.

Customer of mine from the US came over and had me ask the jackholes next to us at a restaurant to go outside to smoke or to wait til we were done eating at least. "But smoking is permitted in here" (as he lights up) Then my customer grabs the cigarette from the guy, puts it out, and (in English) says "so is being considerate of others...I thought Japan was all about keeping the Wa?" The guy was obviously pissed but the whole restaurant was looking so he just sat back down and ignored us.

LOL. This story gives me good vibrations.

I had a somewhat similar experience.

In a restaurant without a non-smoking area there was this guy holding his cigaret away from his kids and his wife, so as not to inconvenience them. Problem was all the smoke went the way to me and my family. I asked him to put his cigaret out, and he replied that smoking was permitted there. I told him that was fine as long as he could ensure that his smoke would not come over to us. He put his cigaret out...

[matsuki]

The bright side is more an more places are going non-smoking and e-cigs (vaporizers) are becoming more and more popular...still give you plumes of the smokers germs but doesn't smell like shit or leave shit smelling tar/oil residue all over you, your clothes, etc. (unfortunately, while my friend loves the one I got for her, her sis and mom still prefer getting their menthol nicotine fix with old fashioned burning cigarettes)

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

...my customer grabs the cigarette from the guy, puts it out, and (in English) says "so is being considerate of others...I thought Japan was all about keeping the Wa?"

If someone had done that to me as a smoker, I would have swung a punch (and probably ended up getting the shit beaten out of me because I'm as weak as piss, but...)