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Over the past month, World Cup fans from all over the globe have descended upon Philadelphia to cheer on their teams and turn pockets of the city into international celebrations.
In response, restaurants and bars all over the city have added a 20% automatic service charge to their bills in anticipation of tourists who are used to tipping less, if they tip anything at all.
Back in April, the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association (PRLA), hosted a hospitality briefing advising restaurants to consider an auto-gratuity for the World Cup.
“In Philadelphia, as you know, our service teams rely on tips as a core part of their earnings,“ Ben Fileccia, the PRLA’s senior vice president of strategy and engagement said during the briefing. “Our employees should not be the ones forced to educate every table, every check, every night during the World Cup, while we’re all in the weeds.”
But, how have diners actually embraced that change?
Doug Hager, the owner of the Brauhaus Schmitz, said the response has been “overwhelmingly positive.” The bar has been a popular spot for World Cup watch parties and block parties.
“As an international restaurant, we definitely have experienced the confusion on tipping culture,” he said. “Locals have physically come up to me and said, ‘thank you so much for doing this for your staff.’ You know literally, out of the 1,000s of customers we’ve had in the past two weeks, I’ve had one person complain about it.”
Despite fears over confusion on the mandatory charge, Hager said that he hasn’t faced too many issues. In one other instance, a customer accidentally left an extra tip on top of the new charge. However, when the patron pointed out the error later via email, the restaurant swiftly reimbursed that guest.
“I guess it was nothing to really get too worried about,” Hager said. “A lot of people have actually said, ‘I hope you keep it.’”
Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant also decided to add a mandatory service charge for the World Cup.
“Generally around the area that we are located, we’ve noticed that pretty much all the bars around us had put an auto-grat,” Justin Mansfield, kitchen manager at Fadó, said. “So it was pretty much just standard on every one of our checks — just making sure that it’s all taken care of.”
Mansfield also noted that guests have not seemed too fazed by the policy change — especially once they understand the reasoning behind it.
“Everybody has been fairly receptive to it,” Mansfield said. “There’s been some people who are regulars, they’d come in and they’d ask, ‘Hey, what’s this for?’ We explain that it’s the World Cup, and then everybody’s just okay with it, because they understand the situation.”
What’s more, Mansfield said that Philadelphia hosting World Cup games has been great for business.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of great parties coming in,” he said. “When Brazil came to Philly, and everything, we had a massive import of all the fans. They’ve all been wonderful. I mean, everybody’s been coming in, having a great time, and then just really showing a positive spirit for the World Cup — enjoying the city. Can’t ask for a better experience.”
Hager has also felt that World Cup boost. He feels incredibly grateful for the FIFA tournament and what it has meant for his restaurant and bar — citing a 300% increase over last year’s numbers.
“It’s been absolutely insane,” he said. “We’ve been here for 17 years, and in the last two weeks, we’ve broken our sales record — like the busiest day we’ve ever had at Brauhaus three times in the past two weeks.”
