Hyattsville’s Pizzeria Paradiso No Longer Relies on Tipping

Hyattsville’s Pizzeria Paradiso is no longer relying on tipping, part of a wave of restaurants changing their approach to paying staff during the pandemic.

Under state and federal laws, restaurants are allowed to pay servers and bartenders below minimum wage as long as they make up the difference with tips.

But with the coronavirus pandemic hurting business, many restaurants have moved away from the traditional model.

Since early January at Pizzeria Paradiso’s locations in Hyattsville and D.C., customers eating in automatically have a 20 percent service charge and take-out orders come with a 12 percent service charge.

Customers can still tip if they want, but they don’t have to, and all tips will be divvied up with everyone working that day.

Owner Ruth Gresser said the change will allow the restaurant to have a “team approach,” and more experienced workers are now being paid more than the minimum wage, which is currently $12.50 in Maryland.

In a post on Pizzeria Paradiso’s website, Gresser says that the decision fits with the restaurant’s other policies, such as providing a 401k, sick leave, vacation leave and death and disability insurance.

“We believe that this move will begin the process of establishing a more equitable and stable compensation system for all of our staff members,” she writes.

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4 responses to “Hyattsville’s Pizzeria Paradiso No Longer Relies on Tipping”

  1. Bea says:

    So instead of just paying people a fair wage, this restaurant is still passing the responsibility of paying its workers onto customers via a mandatory tipping policy. I don’t mind paying higher prices for my food if it means restaurants will at least start paying all of its workers minimum wage.

  2. Barbara Piper says:

    My understanding is that Ruth will be paying all of her workers at least minimum wage, plus various benefits. I’m not sure what your complaint is. Every business passes the responsibility of paying its workers onto customers. How else would any business pay its workers?

  3. Bea says:

    @Barbara I guess you didn’t read the article. It stated that “more experienced” employees will be getting minimum wage. That means some won’t. As I stated in my original comment, I’d rather pay higher prices for food to ensure ALL employees get minimum wage instead of some of that responsibility being passed on to customers via mandatory tips.

    How is it fair for customers to be contributing to an employee’s wages when the business should pay them a living wage in the first place? Did I hire the employee? Am I a partner in the business? America and its businesses have normalized the responsibility of paying its workers onto customers. It’s unfortunate you don’t seem to see anything wrong with that.

  4. Aubrey Batten says:

    Just raise your prices if you don’t charge enough to pay staff fairly.

    This is being marketed as a goodwill effort by the business, but let’s look at the math:
    Wages went from $5.35 to $12.50 for everyone who doesn’t fall under the undefined “more experienced” umbrella called out in that press release. That’s an increase in costs to the restaurant of $7.15 per hour in server wages; no increase was mentioned for back of house staff, who are the bulk of payroll expense for a restaurant.

    A 20% service charge payable directly to ownership means that if a server manages more than $35.75 in pre-surcharge sales per working hour, the company keeps more money than they did at the tipped wage. Paradiso charges $16 for a 9″ pie and $23 for a 12″ pie. That’s 2 customers/hour. A single 2-top table.

    This change only serves to line the pockets of the owner. They should be paying more than minimum wage if they are framing this as a boon to workers.

    Let’s not forget that the living wage in the DC metro this year is $20.49/hour for a single adult. $12.50 is inadequate and should not be gleefully celebrated with free advertising.

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