Bar Agricole and Trou Normand Bring Back Tipping

It’s been a crazy day for tipping news in the wake of big-leagues restaurateur Danny Meyer’s bombshell announcement that all 12 of his New York City restaurants are ridding the custom. Many have applauded (and some not) the declaration, which is certainly a hot national topic, and only about to become more so. In the wake of the announcement, though, two San Francisco restaurants announced they are heading in the opposite direction. Bar Agricole and Trou Normand, which went tipless 10 months ago, are bringing gratuity back, Inside Scoop reported. "We haven’t been able to keep servers," owner Thad Vogler said. "We were hoping more restaurants would switch but, for now, it’s been impossible to compete with more traditional places in keeping front of the house staff who prefer the control and upside of the tip system."

Staff retention is already a problem facing the future of dining in San Francisco, and not having tipping made it that much harder for Vogler’s restaurants. Servers will go back to a base wage of $12.25 an hour, with tips making up the rest of their salary. Vogler told his employees that, "it felt like we were forcing an ideological decision and that all of our staff wasn’t happy. I’m proud we tried and maybe in the future more restaurants will try this model." With Danny Meyer leading the way, it certainly seems like they will.