Shake Shack's founder is banning tips at all his restaurants
The ban will affect some of New York's most well-known restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern, Blue Smoke, and Union Square Cafe.
The restaurants will raise menu prices to offset the change in tipping policy, according to Eater.
All 13 restaurants owned by Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group will be impacted.
The move comes 10 months after a Pittsburgh restaurant called Bar Marco won widespread praise for banishing tips and offering employees a base salary of $35,000 in exchange.
Bar Marco also offered its employees health benefits, paid vacation, and shares in the company - all with a minimal increase to menu prices that was largely offset by the no-tipping policy.
The restaurant industry pays notoriously low wages.
Full-time salaries are rare in the industry, and the minimum wage for tipped workers is meager. In Pennsylvania, the tipped minimum wage is $2.83, while in New York, it's much higher, at $7.50 per hour.
When Meyers' restaurants implement the no-tipping policy, cooks will start earning at least $14 an hour, and servers will earn $9 an hour, according to Eater. Servers will also have the opportunity to participate in a revenue sharing program.
Eater points out that Danny Meyer has long supported banishing tips.
In 1994, Meyer wrote in Union Square Cafe's newsletter that the US should switch to a European-style system that doesn't involve tipping. "Because our country has a longstanding tradition where a server's income is determined by guests' tips rather than a weekly salary set by the restaurant," he wrote, "we are at a disadvantage when it comes to recognizing and promoting outstanding service."
He continued: