Will tipping disappear as Colorado restaurant service fees rise?

Service charges stuck around after the pandemic and they may be here to stay

Bartender Heather Thompson takes care of customers at Bierstadt Lagerhaus in Denver on Friday, July 14, 2023. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Reading the fine print is always important, especially when dining at a restaurant these days.

Call them “service fees” or “living wage fees” or “creating happy people” fees, as restaurateur Frank Bonanno’s restaurants do, but they can range from 4 to 22% — and they are catching on as a way to offer stability in a volatile industry.

“It’s important for local diners to be aware that, now more than ever, restaurants are not money-makers,” Colorado Restaurant Association spokesperson Denise Mickelson said.

The fees, she said, have lasted as the COVID pandemic ebbed because they offset pay disparities between front-of-the-house workers (servers, bartenders) and back-of-the-house staff (cooks, dishwashers) and help retain people amidst the industry-wide labor shortage across the country.

While servers and customers have mixed thoughts about the use of fees (Casa Bonita is facing pushback from workers over its decision to cut tipping altogether), a recent study by the National Restaurant Association concluded that 15% of restaurants nationwide now charge one.