Prime 141 is a new steakhouse which just opened in Las Vegas, a little bit west of I-15 on the south end of the city. It's about 3 miles southwest of the South Point casino., but it's northwest of the M Casino. It is aimed at locals, not tourists.

Vital Vegas (Scott Roeben) has showcased an interesting new pricing feature from their menu. Note that Roeben is obsessed with tip culture (he's very much for it), and in fact we've had debates before regarding tipping on huge jackpots.


https://twitter.com/#!/x/status/1655618524067561472


Interesting concept, but it looks a bit shady to me. They are getting killed on social media over this.

I have long felt that tipping culture has gotten out of control in the US. Keep in mind that it's not like this in Europe. While I have lots of criticism for Europe, such as their high taxes, socialized medicine, gun control, and poor handling of crime-and-punishment issues, I am envious of their handling of consumer issues such as tipping, junk fees, and data privacy. They are much superior to the US in these last 3 areas.

In Europe, tips are not typically expected. Restaurants tend to be the only place you tip, and the tips there are much smaller. A tip like 5%, which is considered an insult in the US, is considered satisfactory in Europe. And if there's a "service charge" in a European restaurant, it is considered customary to leave zero tip!

However, unlike the US, restaurant servers are not dependent upon tips to make a living, and are paid a wage fitting for the position.

It has always bothered me how inequitable tipped positions are in the US, and how arbitrary tipping is. A waiter at an expensive restaurant, or a valet at a nice hotel, will make very good money, despite having an unskilled job. At the same time, other unskilled positions (such as janitors) don't see any tips at the same establishment, while semi-skilled positions (sous chefs) make surprisingly little money -- almost always less than the waiters! And of course, a waiter at Denny's is going to make a fraction of what a waiter at a prime steakhouse will make, despite the work being almost identical.

This results in wage inequities which don't make any sense, and appear very arbitrary. I would love to see the end of tipping culture in the US, and simply see these people paid a fair wage (not overpaid, not underpaid) by the company. If the company needs to raise prices to accommodate that, no problem. But the tipping stuff is just so stupid and has gotten insane.

But back to this situation...


On the surface, it would appear that Prime 141 is attempting to go toward that model. Instead of seeing these lucrative tips disproportionately go to the waitstaff, they are instead charging a 22% service fee in place of the tip, and claim to be using it to provide better wages, healthcare, and paid time off for all employees.

Isn't that a good thing?

Not necessarily. They are not clear enough about how much of this 22% is really going toward the employees. It appears that they're simply pocketing the 22%, while also giving better wages/vacation/healthcare to their employees, and claiming the 22% goes toward those better benefits/wages. However, if they're not spending the entire 22% on employee wages and benefits, then they are essentially pocketing some of this auto-tip, which is obnoxious. It's not clear if they are or aren't, but the ambiguous language is very suspect.

Why are they stating that tips aren't expected? Because otherwise people wouldn't return to this place, if they felt they were expected to both pay a 22% service charge AND an 18-20% tip. So they're telling you not to bother tipping, and to let them take care of their own employees. That would be nice to see if all 22% was definitely going to the employees, but I have my doubts.

Cruise lines pull a trick like this. The auto-gratuity you're forced to pay -- usually around $15 per passenger per day -- does NOT go to the hardworking crew! It is pocketed by the cruise line, and is actually used to allow themselves to pay crew LESS than the maritime minimum wage (which is already low), and let these "tips" pay the difference! This was done in order for cruise lines to pocket more of customers' money, rather than seeing generous cash tips handed out to various employees onboard, which of course wasn't doing the cruise lines themselves any good. Cruise employees begrudgingly accepted this change because these are highly coveted jobs by people in the third world.

Anyway, how would you feel if you saw this on a menu? Would you tip anyway on top of this? Would you go back to this place?