Tired of tipping? Smoking Kow BBQ on Duke Street recently stopped asking customers for tips.
That’s right—after ordering burnt ends, spare ribs, sweet potatoes, and cornbread, customers are no longer prompted to tip by the restaurant’s electronic payment system, and the tip jar has also been removed.
Last year, Smoking Kow’s owners, Diane Lee and her husband, Je Kang, raised the base pay for employees from a max of $14 an hour with tips to between $18 and $22 an hour without tips.
“That’s nice,” a customer said after buying lunch at the counter on Tuesday (March 18). I’m used to tipping everywhere.”
After several months without tips, Lee says her small team of employees consistently makes more money, works happier, and doesn’t call out sick as frequently. She also said that prices at the restaurant haven’t gone up.
She also said customers are still tipping.
“Previously, people would clock in and whatever tips they would receive in the POS (point of sale system) would get added to their paycheck,” Lee told ALXnow. “Everyone is just happier. They’re nicer to the customers, and customers feel that and they give us tips anyway.”
Lee hasn’t been able to get Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Grubhub to remove prompts to tip the restaurant, and those tips are distributed to kitchen staff.
Virginia restaurants must pay tipped employees at least $2.13 per hour by law, but only if their pay plus tips equates to more than the minimum wage of $12.41.
Cashier Marco Silva works between 30 and 40 hours a week, and said that customers are happier without having to tip.
“The service is about making people content, happy and giving them what they want,” he said. “I think it’s a good thing that brings stability for employees and makes people happy.”
Lee and Kang live in Centreville and bought the business (3250 Duke Street) from its original owner in 2023. Their small menu features Kansas City and Carolina-style barbecue, and the restaurant routinely sells out before closing time.
