Dumbest idea ever: Tip-free restaurant is 'a bit of socialism'

I think this is my fault. I lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for more than 20 years before returning to the Detroit area about a month ago. Apparently the idiocy has taken hold quickly in my absence, and it's begun in the restaurant industry, where a new restaurant has got the local yokel media pretty excited with its idea to eliminate tipping on the theory that "parity in wages" is a more worthy goal.

This is beyond stupid, and it's especially bad news for truly excellent servers who understand how to take care of their customers. They typically do very well in a night of turning tables over and making sure that everyone is receiving great service. They do far better than the merely average servers who just go through the motion, and they should. But if they work for Paul Lee, they should scarcely bother, because he's going to take away their opportunity to make bank on the tips of grateful customers. He thinks "a bit of socialism" is better. Good night:

The proposal creates more parity in wages across the restaurant. It's a bit of socialism in a structure that usually requires jockeying for premium shifts, trading on seniority and displaying exemplary performance for customers. Lee's restaurants have a reputation for high-quality ingredients, some grown in a neighborhood garden. And he has no plans to lower that quality to keep prices down. The menu will reflect a higher cost for patrons, something he admits may feel odd at first. Servers might feel even odder. Does eliminating tips remove the incentive for good service?

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"Even those who get poor service at a restaurant still usually leave a 15 to 20 percent gratuity. The difference is they don't return or they may put a nasty review up on Yelp. Any restaurant that continually delivers that type of service won't be in business very long. "It's our responsibility to hire and train the types of employees that can see the big picture."

Lee's argument doesn't even make any sense. If poor servers still get 15 to 20 percent, then what's the problem? Of course it's the restaurant's responsibility to train servers, but there will always be disparity in the quality of service delivered because good training doesn't change the fact that some people just do a better job than others. So how does the elimination of tipping solve the problem of nasty Yelp reviews? It doesn't. It just takes away the reward you're providing for your very top-of-the-line servers, and in many cases incentivizes them to go elsewhere so they can continue to receive those rewards. As a result, your left with only those employees who weren't making bank on tips anyway because they aren't that good. That makes your service better? Of course it doesn't. As a business model this idea makes no sense whatsoever. What it does do is feed into a currently trendy left-wing notion that tips are bad because they breed "inequality" or whatever. Truth is, stupid ideas like this will breed even more inequality. The best servers will go to work at restaurants that maintain traditional tipping policies, and they'll continue to go home at night with plenty of cash in their pockets from a job well done. And those restaurants will do better than the no-tip restaurants, and get better reviews on Yelp. But I'm sure Paul Lee will receive lots of praise in the trendy trade magazines, and from people who know how to jump on ideological bandwagons but don't understand the first thing about business or competition. Or service. It's a shame because I love fried chicken, but when I visit Grand Rapids I don't want to go get it in a place where the best servers can't be rewarded for the excellent work they do. I'll just make my own. I bet mine is better than his anyway.