In 2021, the creators of South Park purchased the restaurant, Casa Bonita for a cool $3.1 million dollars in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown. Now the pair, Trey Parker, and Matt Stone are re-launching operations and changing tips after $40 million worth of renovations.
They’ve changed their pay model for workers after finding that customers just weren’t tipping.
“During our soft open nights, we found that guests simply weren’t tipping. We believe it’s due to our unconventional, pre-pay ticketing system.”
The duo determined that switching things around would provide a fairer working environment, and wage model by completely banning the option of tipping, and instead giving their employees an average hourly wage of $30/hr.
“This shift also benefits our guests, who can enjoy Casa Bonita without incurring unexpected costs Of our 256 employees, 93 were a part of the shift, and 2 were unhappy about it.”
The sprawling restaurant has been a staple in Lakewood, Colorado for fifty years, and has over 50,000 square feet. A newspaper local to the area called it “the DisneyLand of Mexican restaurants”.
Tipping has become a touchy subject over the past few years, especially due to the gig economy muddying the waters on what amount is appropriate, and when to tip.
Many think that tipping has gotten out of control once hourly workers have tip cups on the counter and argue that it shouldn’t be up to customer’s to provide a living wage to employee’s, that it should land squarely on the employer. Unfortunately, many delivery apps use customers tips to subsidize their workers pay.
Trey Parker, and Matt Stone are part of the few who have recognized the problem, and found a solution that works for them. Maybe others should follow suit.
