AUBURN, Maine — With tipping culture being a staple in the restaurant industry within the U.S., one brewery out of Auburn is flipping the script—it doesn't accept tips.
"It's really hard for people to change a system that's always been there," Ben Low said, who opened Side By Each Brewing Company a few years ago.
After taking inspiration from European tipping styles, Low decided to pay his employees a minimum wage of around $19 dollars an hour—almost $5 dollars more than the expected state minimum wage for 2024.
"Part of it was not wanting employees to be reliant on tips for an income. When they see the schedule, they know basically what they're going to get," Low added.
With the location both serving coffee and breakfast by day, with bar food and drinks by night, Low says the competitive pay evens out the playing field no matter what shift.
"Normally when you look at a restaurant menu you're going to be adding a significant amount to that when you actually pay the bill with the tip," Low added, who instead increases his menu prices by 10 percent. So far, he says customer's have been content with the trade off.
"People are always happy to discuss it, and when they hear, you know, that we're happy with it, they're usually pretty happy with it on the other side as well," employee Travis Spear said.
If customers do insist to leave a tip, change goes straight to a "Karma Jar" where a lump donation to a charity of choice is made at the end of the month with the funds.
After working in the restaurant business for most of her life, General Manager Casey Peacock says she appreciates the stability in comparison to her previous jobs.
"You're never guaranteed to make a certain amount of money, which I think is the difference here, you make an hourly wage you know what to expect," Peacock said.
Peacock and others add that while the system is working for them, being a counter service forward spot, it may not be possible if table service was the main operation.