New Nashville Restaurant's 'Tip The Kitchen' Aims To Keep Menu Prices Low
By Sarah Tate
October 28, 2021
A new addition to the Nashville restaurant scene has implemented a new system that aims to keep menu prices low and employee retention high.
Church and Union, located downtown at 201 4th Avenue North, started its "Tip the Kitchen" system that allows customers to show appreciation for the people who made their meals, News Channel 5 reports. According to Executive Chef Adam Hodgson, the workers in the back of the restaurant typically earn hourly wages while those in the front, such as servers, can get extra through tips. In order to address the "animosity," they came up with a new system.
"If I pay everyone $25 an hour, now I have to raise the menu prices to reflect you know, covering the cost," said Hodgson. "And if we keep our menu prices the same and then, you know, ask you if you feel like the experience was worthy of a kitchen tip. Like... that's a whole lot more approachable [than the] first option."
Whenever guests place an order, they'll have the option on their bills to add a tip to the kitchen, which will collectively be shared between the kitchen employees. Chef de Cuisine Eric Litaker said it helps put a "pep in [their] step" and a smile on their face knowing that extra cash comes from customers appreciating their food.
"The average is anywhere between $50 to $75, I would say, a night per person," said Litaker. "So, it's actually ... a big help. It could be a phone payment or car payments in the week for extra someone, you know, a little bit extra cash."
The new system seems to be helping keep employees around longer.
"Staff retention is at an all time high," said Hodgson. "Quarter one before we implemented the system we had a 1.2% training rate of gross revenue. And after we implemented in quarter two, between quarter two and quarter three that drops 2.2% which was $112,000 savings... for the company-wide just in training alone."
According to Hodgson, the new system is on track to bring in an extra $15,000 to $17,000 per year for the kitchen staff.