A 20 percent mandatory tip on all checks at the Little Italy tourist spot Grotta Azzurra.
Owner Frank Castellana said the addition was to ensure decent pay for his staff.
Aside from the deeper issues, here, truth in menu and truth in advertising, this is one of the most appalling displays of restaurant laissez faire I keep happening across. No, Castellana isn’t the only one to mark up their bill afterwards, after dragging eaters in with, in essence, 1/5th reduced prices posted on the menu outside, but he’s the first one I see going on record with a newspaper about the whole thing.
Yes, fair pay for staff is important. Front- and back (and in all the outrage about bad front pay, I am more than peeved that no one seems to care about even worse pay for back of the house, even Sous Chefs make generally less than waiters) deserve good pay. But if Castellana is so concerned about good pay, the solution is to raise staff baseline income and to reflect this on his posted menu prices, not by alienating and essentially cheating his diners with a hidden 20 per cent charge.
And don’t give me the “in these trying times” bullcrap, either. Especially in these times, dining out is a luxury. And it’s a way for people to forget their own problems for a little bit, while being treated nice (and fairly) in a restaurant. That 2007 attitude won’t fly for very long, and if nothing else, Castellana might be guilty of putting himself and his work force completely out of a job with such antics.
Let me ask you this: what do you dislike about restaurant shortcuts and dishonesty? Extra charges for ice? $3 for bread and butter? Obviously reheated or canned/ready made food? Would something like this stop you from going to whomever did it in the future?
Comment here or twitter me @wildhunt.
