SEATTLE — A popular restaurant in Lower Queen Anne is under fire on social media for charging a 5% "living-wage" surcharge. It's a surcharge that "is not in lieu of server gratuity," according to the restaurant.
Toulouse Petit Kitchen and Lounge has been a mainstay of the Uptown neighborhood for about 15 years. In the comments sections of the now-viral photo of someone's dinner receipt, people said they feel the charge is unfair and unjustified. But in an exclusive interview with KING 5, the restaurant's owner, Brian Hutmacher, is speaking out: he said the surcharge "pencils out," and is what is fairest to everybody who works there.
"We're very upfront about it. It’s going to pay our staff, period, end of story," said Hutmacher.
He said the surcharge is a direct reflection of the times we're in, with the many pressures Seattle's full-service restaurants are facing.
Hutmacher said, "To do full-service dining, you need people, and it needs to be ordered, and in this environment, and today, they need to get paid.”
Getting paid in today’s hospitality economy is not what it used to be, said Hutmacher. He said the additional charge allows him to stay in business but also protects the many levels and positions in a full-service restaurant's staff. He said it allows him to employ managers, hostesses, and line cooks, and more so that the quality of food and service is not impacted.
"Restaurants right now in Seattle are in a recession," said Hutmacher.
He said critics of his "living-wage" charge do not know the full story. Conversely, he sees it as an act of transparency with customers. According to Hutmacher, more cash-strapped restaurant owners are charging customers an automatic, required 20% tip-- something he refuses to do.
"That is the least transparent and least honest way," he said, pointing out how there is often no way for a customer to verify whether their server is getting all of that, or if the restaurant's owner is getting a large cut.
Doing it his way, he said the servers' gratuities are protected. This is necessary, according to Hutmacher, because the cost of living has risen drastically, especially in Seattle. While skilled workers in other industries are getting their wages adjusted for inflation, servers are not.
"Servers got shafted," he said. "There's less people going out.”
You may be wondering, why doesn’t Hutmacher just raise prices on food? He said customers get turned off by overinflated menu prices.
"The dining public, by and large, believes that things should cost this much," said Hutmacher. "You've got a populace that understands and has fixed notions about what restaurant prices should be."
Seattle's restaurant recession is exacerbated by two significant issues, according to Hutmacher.
"Right now, because of inflation, and because of what they did to take-out food," he said.
Even though it’s not the largest part of their revenue, he said Toulouse Petit's delivery and takeout sales are down by about 30% since the Seattle City Council’s PayUp ordinance went into effect in January for food delivery app drivers. That is when the top delivery apps started charging customers more in the city of Seattle.
"There might be some who are mad about it. And that's fine," said Hutmacher.
He added, "We offer the greatest value. The value proposition of a restaurant is the overall experience, the quality of the staff and knowledge of the staff."