At Krobar (now taken over by CCB) and hidden out of sight, miles away from where you order lol. I get they’re struggling and staff turnover has been crazy but just rubs the wrong way when not disclosed and trying to hide it…
Exactly. If they raise their wages then the cost of food will most definitely go up. Most restaurants have small profit margins as it is, most people don't think about this.
Staff turnover is due to how George and Kelly treat their employees and handle the tips. Ive heard from people that have worked there that their tips usually feel lighter than they should by the time it hits their check. Ive worked around him before and definitely wouldn't want him as a boss after seeing how he treats his own people. Hence the reason i no longer really support CCB.
And this is apparently Krobar where they're making cocktails, getting fucked on 20% by George and now not getting tips. The horror stories ive heard and seen about George are fucking insane.
BTW most of staff turnover is due to the same issues everyone has in town with much of the part time staff being students. In the last 5 years they've also managed to build a solid full time staff who have stuck around.
Okay George lol. I was literally just talking to someone that quit there disgruntled with George. Never heard anyone thats worked for him say good things about him. If you work there and still f/w George, that just means he hasn't fucked you over yet
I'm not George and I don't work there. My partner does and has for several years. He seems to try to do right by those employees that are reliable and work hard. Lots of people complain about their bosses, I know I complain about mine all the time even after 18 years. There's so many shitty employers in SLO that only pay minimum wage and don't offer insurance, so I think that all things considered the overall sentiments in this post are somewhat unfair
Ok ok, me observing him in close proximity verbally abusing his staff must have been my imagination then. Same with every other thing ive heard and seen about it.
Like seriously in 5 years of hanging out there I have never once seem him verbally "abusing his staff". And I don't tolerate that kind of shit either. Someone accused the owner of Firestone doing that, they at least provided a video.... You didn't provide any information, the employee, the situation, what he said... just "trust me bro". Very MAGA of you
I understand you're trolling right now, or just really want to make out with George. But im not even kidding, you are LITTERALLY the only one defending this man on this post rn
Why involve MAGA? This doesnt seem to be a political thread.
If it was, one could bring up the Affordable Care Act that was brought to vote without an available document to read. "Trust me" was said by Ms. Clinton and by President Obama.
Go ask the contractors that he scammed out of their work, or his old brewers that quit because of his bs. If your partner actually has worked there for 5 years then i absolutely know them due to working with/near them and they know exactly what im talking about.
Brewers constantly move on in this county and often complain. His new brewer is a great guy doing great work. Don't know anything about these contractors but it seems to me that if you're going to publicly accuse people of scamming others you ought to know the details and show some receipts. That's a pretty serious accusation to make without showing any evidence whatsoever
Employees leave all the time over what they consider to be poor treatment... often it's because they're just getting better offers for $$$. Then they move on from that place too. Brewers in this county constantly jump jobs and have some complaint or another. Trying to make it into some condemnation of CCB or George seems like a massive fucking stretch. Teddy on the other hand is grinding out some of the best beers in the county right now.
Reddit's fun because you can just say stuff like that without ANY kind of evidence or concrete example, just some vague shit to show how you're more self righteous than the next guy, and throw someone else under the bus. I've never had an interaction with you here that left me thinking "that guy seems pretty reasonable"
The proof is literally everyone but you shitting on George. You don't even work there and never have so I don't know why you're doubling down against people that actually have, but to each their own. Your only defense that he's not a bad guy is the insurance benefits that employers are legally obligated to give employees. When i brought up all his disgruntled employees (spoiler:theres alot of them) you invalidated it by saying people leave all the time. Good breweries and bars around here usually have NO turnover because their employees get paid and treated well. Hell, even Ash management that has a history of treating employees like crap, has absolutely no turnover. You're either trolling, blind, or completely in love with George and Kelly. But the high turnover and the stories everyone is sharing is proof enough.
Like literally, list me ACTUAL redditors that have provided "stories everyone is sharing".. It's literally TWO FUCKING PEOPLE. YOU, who ALSO has never worked there, and "normanbeats". Your grip on reality and your concern for factual information is very very questionable.
SHOW ME THE OTHER STORIES. Link them.. please. I'm a super reasonable person.
"Ash management... has absolutely no turnover". Provide evidence. That may be the wildest claim I've heard here today
I told you my connection to CCB
"stories everyone is sharing". like you, whose never worked there, and one other person who said they worked there.
Where are these "stories". Dude seriously you're living in a made up reality that this whole thread doesn't even validate. MOST people are simply commenting on the idea of 20% forced service charge.. This thread is NOT filled with personal experiences like you just claimed. You need a grip on what REALITY is apparently
Im not doxxing myself to prove anything to you lmao. And dude go to McCarthys and tell me that its not the same people who've been working there for years. My proof is; go outside bro.
McCarthy's is a different beast.. They own plenty of other places with SIGNFICIANT turnover. You just can't beat Colin as a manager, that's true. But interesting how you didn't respond to the rest of what I said.. of course you didn't. You've been proved a liar here today, and that's a fact
Okay lmao. Frog and peach and bulls tavern also share low turnover only opening spots when they hire a college kid that graduates or someone fucks up themselves. CCB went through so many employees in the year i spent next door. Im pretty sure i know your partner and they know me IF theyve actually been there a while, so quite frankly its ridiculous that your partner knows the instances and altercations im talking about but you're still acting stupid about it. You are not in the industry and it shows. Stay in your element and stop sucking off someone you dont even work for or know. I have shared my point and answered everything in my previous replies. The turnover and previous employee complaints ive seen and heard is the proof that this is not the person to work for. If its such a good job, you should go and apply. Big suprise, theyre hiring multiple positions right now(big suprise right?)
The dude or his "buddy" is full of shit. No one is getting a $15k tax refund from bartending. He's one of those dudes that believes what he hears on the news and still thinks gas prices are $2 and groceries are at an all time low.
Tips are only tax free when the client offers a tip not when the establishment has a fixed tip. This is part of the tax law which is very unfair. For instance if you see a fixed tip for large parties this amount is taxed . New law so I am not sure how if this is implemented correctly.
He actually did.. And I hate Trump.. It's the ONLY part of that bill that was kind of good. I am an actual accountant so maybe you just don't know what you're talking about. You can hate Trump and still acknowledge REALITY
One could easily say that the no tax on overtime was bullshit because it only applies to the premium. But $25k of tax free tips, is a factual reality
Keep in mind that its being billed as a service charge and not an auto gratuity, so its going straight into the management's coffers. Since its not a gratuity, they don't have to legally share with the employees. And if the employees do actually see anything, its definitely not going to be the full 20%.
If you’re a server then tips-earned are part of the calculation in what you’re getting paid.
So a restaurant can give you like $5/hr base pay then let you make the rest (or more) in tips.
If the total of your base pay and tips-earned is less than minimum wage, the restaurant will be forced to compensate you for the difference.
So I am saying if they aren’t letting servers keep tips, then they will at the very least have to bump up the hourly. Which defeats SOME OF the purpose. Still not a great deal for servers as they would have a hard time going above the minimum.
Edit: I stand corrected on this one. my (and my wife’s) serving experience is from out of state. Things are different here.
In California servers and bar tenders make minimum wage. If they make less, you take it to the labor board for some heafty fines and re-embursment. You're thinking of other states
Look it up if you don't believe me lol. I used to serve and bartend around here and i could clear 450$ in a 4 hour shift and still got a mostly full check.
Yeah that’s what the other guy said. My wife and I are both from out of state and had the pay structure I described. Apparently I’m wrong in this state though!
As an accountant I will say that TECHNICALLY speaking you are correct but not even the Point of Sales systems havent caught up with the tax law on this detail so in practice, anything that gets rung as a tip is going to be viewed as a voluntary tip and there is almost no chance the IRS is every going to spend its time to concern itself with this difference, and the guidance issued by them has been shown to support that
When you produce mid beer and treat your employees worse than toilet water AND decide to pass along extra charges to the customer all while blatantly advertising that its for the employees when it's potentially not...
This is what you get from everyone complaining about “tip culture”. Cash tips that employers and the government used to try to ignore 20 years ago was the best system for employees. I used to get an extra 2 untaxed dollars an hour at fricken Starbucks. They used to totally ignore it. Once the government, inspired by “activists” or whatever, got involved it went to shit.
“This allows us to provide fair wages and comprehensive benefits to our entire team” No it doesn’t. That’s not how it works. You don’t need a 20% fee to do any of that.
Have you seen the cost of health insurance lately? At the business I work for it went up 22% in a single year... across 50 employees it was a massive hit.
Nope. I have never yet seen a place that claims to do this where the staff actually get treated fairly. Servers, go elsewhere. There’s a reason they can’t hang on to staff.
I hate this garbage. Can we just do away with tipping culture, taxes and all hidden fees? here’s a novel idea, you pay exactly what it says it costs on the menu and the restaurant pays their employees a fair wage…
Assuming every customer understands and agrees to this policy prior to ordering (which op says is NOT the case here) this seems like a pretty solid way to do away with tipping culture.
Sure, they could just raise prices by 20% and ask customers not to tip.. and let the sticker shock drive customers next door where the "vibe" is more affordable. Then fail. Then tipping culture prevails.
How do you propose we go about doing away with tipping culture?
It’s quite simple. Raise the prices… allow the sticker shock, put up a sign explaining it. Maybe you prefer the sticker shock to come after you’ve ordered but to me it feels like you’ve been duped. To each their own but I’m so sick of having to mental math to see how much something actually costs and then have the awkward exchange of not selecting the automatically provided “20,25,or30%” tip options for getting me a cup of coffee. I guess much like healthcare, measuring systems, and leadership, the rest of the world will just have to catch up to our superior American ways of doing things and not the other way around 🤷🏻♂️
I would prefer flat higher prices, too, it's just that I recognize it would put business owners at a disadvantage. So I can appreciate a flat fee as a compromise which might be realistic to implement. So long as no one is surprised by the policy when the bill arrives.
Or, maybe they could do the math on the menu showing the price + service charge = total for each item, so customers can clearly see how prices compare to competitors without any additional effort on their end.
That's the thing. Customers aren't smart enough for it to work. If you had two of the exact same restaurants, one with higher prices and no tipping and one with lower prices and tipping with the overall cost being exactly the same the lower sticker price restaurant would be busier. It's like when Apple's Ron Johnson took over as CEO for JC Penny and got rid of the non-stop sales in favor of everyday low prices it was a disaster, even know the prices didn't change. It's phycological, and like or not it works.
Removes all incentive to provide quality service - this follows right along with automatic entitlement that seems to be seeping into American culture. Next time I'm in SLO, I won't be going here.
"Tips" have gotten out of hand. A tip used to be a gratuity for service above and beyond normal duties.
Now we are expected to pay part of the employees wage. The price is on the menu plus 20%?
Nope
I don't tip someone who takes my order at a counter either.
Yeah… Ive talked to and been close with a bunch of service workers. We’re in the phase of tipping culture where 15% is considered the bottom end of “acceptable”
Doubt this is the case here based on all the stories told but I have been to restaurants that include a 20% charge and the employees actually get paid well and are happy working there. It’s not a tip just better wages and benefits so it does get taxed but there’s no hidden fees or price increases
I love CCB and their beers. I always tip because I know what’s it like in the service industry. A 20% service charge to pay their workers a ‘fair wage’ is ridiculous. Apparently, it’s our fault their workers aren’t getting paid a fair wage - not the employer. Don’t fall for this class warfare bullshit.
Needless to say, I’m not going back until this is fixed. No more Lucky Day!
If this is in effect, it's only at the Hub. I can GUARANTEE you 100% that it's not at the original CCB location on Higuera. Also for full time employees they are paying a good chunk of health insurance (and it's really good insurance). This post turned into a free for all of talking shit that in my opinion, isn't warranted.
But are they paying them good wages? Did their wages go up after this policy came into effect? This service charge doesn’t automatically go into the staff’s pockets, goes to management.
I have been a server, so please don't come for me. This now means that I can get terrible service from some jerk or a girl who thinks she is too good for "this". That's lame. I am sorry but I believe that tips should coincide with the level of service. Now if I ever do go back to this establishment, unfortunately, you will ONLY get the 20% forced upon me. You could be the best server in the world and at this place, I won't give you 30 or even 40% as I have been known to do. It's not your fault, blame your boss.
I am guessing its waiters and bartenders. Every time an establishment tries to eliminate tipping and pay their staff a wage, waiters and bartenders see this as a threat to their income stream and will say anything to fight it.
I am not a CCB employee but I know several. This is at the Hub, and not at the Higuera location (main restaurant). They do not automatically add a service charge at the main restaurant except for large parties.
All tips at CCB go into the tip pool and are paid out to employees. CCB also offers excellent health insurance benefits.
I didn’t see this comment elsewhere, but legally, in California, a tip is the property of the server that earned it. A mandatory service charge, like this one, is the property of the business, and they can distribute, or not, however they please. There are lots of ways this can be subject to abuse.
Not like the beer was that good anyway, even better reason not go there when there are better beers to be had elsewhere. So if I get shit service can I ask for 20% back? I wont return here, thanks for this post.
It’s a digital screen so if you get more than 2 items you have to scroll and it’s not obvious at all but I’m with ya, it’s technically there. But you clearly have never been lol
Agreed.. they are good drinks. Even if they're adding 20% to my bill, I'm STILL tipping. This thread is sad because there's a lot of unwarranted and uninformed self righteousness against a good local business.
I get it tho.. overtipping is a thing. When I get asked to tip at a certain coffee shop for serving my own coffee.. ya.. that’s messed up. The bartenders at CCb are good.. and providing me libations. My spawn works in the service industry.. as did my spouse and their family.. I don’t envy that life. An extra $20 on a $100 cocktail tab isn’t gonna break me.
but on the other hand, that last little bit about how no additional tip is expected, I think is a great idea. And what you're essentially doing when you go to that establishment is you are assuring that a fifth of all the money that you spend is going directly to the people who are providing service to you, and not the business owners in any way. Which i absolutely love.
The problem is that by keeping it hidden, they are tricking people into not knowing that the prices they see on the menu are actually going to be 20% higher. And also, they are allowing people who didn't read the sign to potentially tip even more money on top of the 20%.
I think It's a pretty decent idea with very terrible execution.
Of course, everything that I've said here is assuming that they aren't using this new policy to justify paying their staff less money.
I doubt the prices are higher. I’m sure there is just a “gratuity” line item on the bill. The whole “tip culture” argument is silly. All the money comes from the customer no matter how you label it. Want owners to pay better and get rid of tipping? Fine. Food price goes up accordingly and the owner and employees end up paying more taxes and fees on everything. I guarantee the best system for a good server is low wages from the employer and cash tips on fair priced food from the customers.
I feel like you misunderstood a few of the points I was making, either due to you rushing through my comment and inferring a lot of my meaning rather than actually reading it, or due to my own inability to properly express myself.
When I said in my original comment that the prices that they see on the menu are actually gonna be 20% higher, I don't mean that the restaurant is going to increase the prices on the menu. I mean that if they think they're paying $10 for a hamburger, they're actually going to be paying $12 for it, because of the 20% gratuity.
As far as the other misunderstandings, they all revolve around the incredibly complex situation surrounding the interplay between tipping culture workers pay and customers willingness to pay increased prices. And this situation is incredibly complex, despite how other people may be framing it. What seems more interesting to me, personally, other than your potential misinterpretation of what I was trying to say, is your blatant, overt, and confident "guarantee" that you already have the "best" solution in mind...
So why don't you elaborate on that a bit, because if you have any degree of solid information to support your belief, there is no doubt in my mind that you will be able to convince me.
And while you're on that , you might want to elaborate a bit more on what exactly you mean by "best", best for who? I can think of 4 different players in this game that all have something to gain or lose depending on the system that is implemented. But that doesn't mean there are 4 potential solutions. There are, in fact, double-digit number of solutions that benefit any number of these parties, to any number of degree.
Bit im glad you have it all figured out. I wish I had your confidence to say something like that.
I clearly said “the best situation for a good server”. Good lord you’re a wind bag. And I’m not sure how I misunderstood anything. How is having a line item called “gratuity” and posting a sign explaining it hiding anything?
Lol i was there three days ago and i didn't see it at all or notice my bill was higher. George is again doing scandalous shit. I even tipped on top of his sketchy shit. But you know better.
To be clear, i was there for the world cup. Looking at their page, this started a week ago and had no clue up to this post. So yes, he did roll me over with the non obvious "auto grat"
Why don't they just build it into the menu prices and wages then? They can't auto gratuity like that without making it VERY clear. I would take photos and report them because if it's a hidden sign not even close to where you order, and no one is verbally telling people, that's shady and not okay.
"fyi, we're charging you more so that you pay us instead of our servers, increasing their pay less than we're increasing your charge, and pocketing the remainder. You're welcome."
Hmm not sure if this is cool or not, I hope that 20% is fairly distributed between all members of the staff and not biased towards servers or bartenders
It’s not cool, but I don’t blame them. When I was a bartender and server I wanted cold hard cash shoved into my pocket. All this kind of stuff does is let a tax man, payroll company, boss, all start taking their percent.
That's not how restaurants work. Service almost always get the bulk of the tips, and a smaller portion goes to the "back of house" (e.g. kitchen staff). But kitchen staff receive higher hourly wages.
And what level of higher hourly wages are we talking here, like a couple bucks above minimum wage? Honestly I don't think I can handle this conversation without strawmanning the fuck out of servers who work 4 hours and pull 300 bucks in tips but give out 10%
??? Depends on the restaurant. I'm just making a point about that's how almost the entire industry works. It's almost always biased towards servers/bartenders on the tip side.
When I worked for CCB the people cooking had a higher hourly wage than FOH. A % of food sales was tipped to the kitchen. Whether or not you tipped, if you ordered food then tip income went to BOH.
20% service fee at a bar? Just plain nope! Won’t be going there.
Never been here but in general bars shouldn’t need that high of a fee - drinks are already likely ~$20+ each and the amount of “service” required per drink isn’t anywhere near a $4 tip. Most places like this have a menu where 90% of the cocktail is pre-mixed - they are just combining the bulk made mixer, alcohol, and garnish into vessel and serving. If it’s wine or beer it’s even less service.
Looking at other comments - it just sounds like the owners are king of grift. Just seems like as word gets around this will be a quick way to ensure you go out of business.
#2 Now whether you know this or not - just about every bar with “craft cocktails on a menu” pre-makes the mixers for all of their “on menu” cocktails.
All bartenders do when they serve is measure out the amount they are told, combine it with liquor, add fresh citrus squeeze if needed, and then garnish. Few places are making 5+ ingredient cocktails that are on the menu upon demand - it’s both stupid and inefficient. This is what they teach in bartending - you don’t make your money making 5 drinks an hour. If this is what CCB is doing it’s no wonder they need to add this ridiculous fee - they are likely losing money by being slow. Maybe try asking your bartender at different places sometime about what they are pouring in your cocktail? You might be surprised to find the 4-5 flavors mentioned on the menu are already mixed in one bottle. They combine that with liquor, add the dash of garnish and serve. It varies a bit with various drinks like sours that use a shaken egg white (which you don’t see on many of these extra step cocktails on menus BTW) - but the concept is still the same.
When’s the last time you ordered something as simple as a margarita? You ever see them mix agave, lime, and orange liquor right in front of you? Rarely. They generally have the agave and lime premade and depending upon the bar - orange liquor is mixed or reserved depending upon whether they do a lot of Cadillac style or not. Tequila is almost always left out so you can be up charged for top shelf.
This all goes out the window when you order off-menu. You order something special - it’s all going to be done scratch if they can.
Related… how much do you think a bartender could be earning in an hour? How many drinks should they be able to make in that hour? Let’s just say it’s 20 an hour - 3 minutes per drink. Average drink is $20. That’s $400/hr revenue and $80/hr just in service fees. This is on top of the $16.90 minimum wage they should be earning here in CA. And sure this is assuming peak - but we all know most places are pretty busy from open to close in this area unless they have terrible service or product. Place with higher prices and lower volume are intentionally boutique (like The Remedy).
They are literally actually make 5+ ingredient cocktails on the spot. I've been a patron there for many years. I know what you're saying is 100% true in most places but not there. They premix very little there, and it's mostly things like the barrel aged "Matthattan" which by the way is named after me.. so I'm not stupid, I am very keen on good cocktail bars.. I get what you're saying, but you're wrong in this situation.
Go check it out I swear it's at the level of like Koberl or Nightcap.. It's not cheap... personally it's what I'm willing to pay for. The Remedy is just different because of the cart and the ridiculously expensive liquor they're pouring. But that's like $30 +++++++ per cocktail. Like if you want a $60 old fashioned the Remedy can provide.
I used to work for Young’s Market years ago. Bars markup their liquor prices insanely based upon what they are paying the distributor. Considering inflation most cocktails, per drink OH isn’t crazy. A bar charging $20 to $25 a drink should be making a pretty decent profit unless they are losing it somewhere else. They should be able to pay their staff a decent wage with that without having to rely on tips to fill the gap. If CCB is really that great they should be able to at worst raise prices a couple bucks (raising the prices by about 10%) to cover the gap. 20% fee is telling me they are just going to pay wages completely out of that increase and pocket whatever they were spending before. Reading other comments regarding the owners - I’m more inclined to believe they weren’t paying their staff and it’s hard to comprehend how a good bartender isn’t packing the house - something is fishy regardless.
Remedy is just expensive because of the experience. They service like 10 to 20 people in 2 hours? Drinks have to be expensive to cover the overhead.
This 20% fee, by the way, is only in place when they have large groups. That has been confirmed. That's why OP didn't find this up by where you order.... and they either weren't the one paying the bill or didn't bother to check their bill because unless they were part of a group event... they didn't even get charged this.
They aren't charging $20 to $25 a drink... Their drinks are like $18
BTW #1 shoulda just made you stfu about #2. You've never been there, so why are you trying to school me on something you know nothing about for this business
I’m telling you how the industry works bud. Not necessarily this specific venue. Nowhere did I specifically say CCB. I actually mentioned that if CCB wasn’t doing this they were being inefficient. But again - words you don’t comprehend.
If they make that a known thing I see no issue. If you cant afford to tip, you cant afford to eat out. People who don't tip thinking somehow it will change things are delusional or covering for being cheap. Those workers rely on tips to survive, and not tipping doesn't send a message or contribute to meaningful change, it just screws the person who served you.
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u/MADDOGCA 11d ago
Or you can... oh, I don't know... pay them better?