#Restaurateur Danny Meyer nixes famous no-tipping policy

Enlarge Image

Danny Meyer, chief founder of the Union Square Hospitality Group
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images

One of the city’s top restaurateurs — who famously instituted a no-tipping policy at his eateries five years ago — is rescinding the move amid the coronavirus.

“We don’t know how often people will be eating out, we don’t know what they are going to be willing to pay. [But] we do know that guests want to tip generously right now,” said Danny Meyer — whose Union Square Hospitality Group owns such hot spots as the Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern — to the New York Times this week.

Meyer said the Union Square Cafe in Manhattan will end its no-tipping policy when it finally reopens for outdoor dining Thursday, as will the nearby Gramercy Tavern when it starts back up again in a few weeks.

Other USGH eateries that have already reopened to the allowed limited service of takeout and outdoor dining amid the pandemic will immediately begin permitting tipping again, Meyer said.

His group instituted its “Hospitality Included” policy in 2015, with the dining guru saying at the time that if he raised menu prices in exchange for not burdening customers with tipping, he could increase and make uniform workers’ wages — a win-win for everyone.

But he acknowledged to the Times this week the uncertainty that COVID-19 has brought the industry — with indoor dining still prohibited after months of other debilitating restrictions — has thrown all ideals out the window, at least for now.

He said he is continuing to work with fair-wage groups to eliminate tipping in the future.