Some Chicago Restaurants Charging More To Cover Health Insurance

By Meha Ahmad, Susie An
Keep Your Change: This Restaurateur Says Customers Aren’t Ready To Ditch Tipping
A waiter reaches for plates at a restaurant in San Francisco. Nearly all restaurants in the U.S. operate under the tip system: Servers and those in the back of the house — chefs, line cooks, dishwashers, etc. — are paid a lower-than-average standard minimum wage, and then they earn tips to make up for the pay disparity. (Eric Risberg/AP)
Keep Your Change: This Restaurateur Says Customers Aren’t Ready To Ditch Tipping
A waiter reaches for plates at a restaurant in San Francisco. Nearly all restaurants in the U.S. operate under the tip system: Servers and those in the back of the house — chefs, line cooks, dishwashers, etc. — are paid a lower-than-average standard minimum wage, and then they earn tips to make up for the pay disparity. (Eric Risberg/AP)

Some Chicago Restaurants Charging More To Cover Health Insurance

By Meha Ahmad, Susie An
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If you’ve ever worked as a server in a restaurant, you probably relied on tips to really round out your paycheck. And those wages probably didn’t come with health insurance or benefits, either. Well, some restaurants are changing that. Popular Logan Square restaurant Fat Rice is among the latest to take a step in this direction. Starting this week, they’ll be charging customers more in order to cover the cost of health insurance for their staff. 

GUEST: Chicago Tribune reporter Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz