Why I Haven’t Given Up on the “Hospitality Included” No-Tipping Model
A Los Angeles restaurateur pleads her case and refuses to abandon her ideals
Hey, it’s me, Andrea. That 26-year-old, first-time, downtown Los Angeles-based restaurateur who decided to eliminate tipping. Not trying to toot my own horn here, it’s just that I’m 29 now, and the audacity of my decision is starting to weigh increasingly heavy on me. I’m considering how many before me tried the same and failed, and how hastily I had ascribed those missteps to generalizations like “company culture” or “staff morale.” I made broad assumptions about complex problems and swept anything that didn’t fit my idealistic worldview under the rug. We can be really naïve when our pride is at stake.
I opened barcito in September 2015, in an up-and-coming downtown LA neighborhood. The concept aimed to provide an approachable, affordable Latin American bar to local residents. My mother is from Argentina, and I spent most childhood summers exploring the streets of Buenos Aires with my grandparents. I was always enchanted by the classic corner cafés, the kind that you pop into for a quick coffee, or stay all afternoon, lingering over food and drink, catching up with friends. Although not an authentic reproduction of the cuisine — for the millionth time, no we don’t carry…
