Hill East Burger shares an explainer on their service fees/tipping

Yesterday Hill East Burger shared this helpful thread:

“The service fee landscape has gotten pretty confusing in DC, so we wanted to provide some transparency on our approach to staff compensation & service fees.

We automatically apply a 20% service fee to all checks at Hill East Burger

Where does the service fee go?

Half of the service fee we collect goes to front-of-house and kitchen staff, and half goes to the business

Why does the business take a portion of the service fee?

Our staff comp structure provides higher-than-normal base compensation & benefits, and makes staff takehome less dependent on the whims of customer tipping and the fluctuations of busy vs slow nights

(see attached for the nitty gritty on staff comp!)

The portion of the service fee that goes to the business helps subsidize this increased base comp for our staff, and thus keeps the business sustainable (and menu prices reasonable)

Many guests ask: should we tip on top of the service fee?

Tips are always appreciated and are a guaranteed way of increasing your server or bartender’s takehome pay (100% of tips go to front-of-house staff)

Our goal here: ensure stable and fair pay, so our staff can afford DC cost of living (& are incentivized to stick around!). We’re also adapting to the ‘new world’ created by I-82, which DC voters passed in 2022, to help shift restaurants away from tip-based compensation

Like many restaurants in DC, we’re learning as we go in this new era, and we’d love to hear from you if you have questions or comments about our approach (at us, or email to [email protected])!”