16 OctOber 23– 29, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents you know it’s there is with the yellow-tinted “Fireplace Lounge” sign out front that’s half rusted. You know exactly who you’ll find here, too. Recent divorcees, those celebrat- ing a birthday, or anyone who was the lucky patron of pay-it-forward at the drive-thru. Sometimes they host random bonfires in the “backyard” and a potluck you can spot atop the pool table. If you want to hear your fa- vorite songs in-tune, heed the jukebox; oth- erwise, out-of-tune classics are courtesy of the karaoke machine. 3122 Samuell Blvd., East Dallas ▼ TIPPING THE TIRED TIP FLIP WHILE SOME SPOTS BAN IT, SOME CAN’T HIRE WITHOUT IT. BY SIMON PRUITT D o you feel like you’re tipping too much? If so, you’re not unlike most Americans. In November 2023, the Pew Research Center surveyed 12,000 adults, finding that 72% felt that they were being asked to tip in more places than they were five years ago. Stephen Barth, a hospitality law profes- sor at the University of Houston, com- mented on the impact of post-COVID in the university’s online magazine. “People became very generous during COVID,” Barth told the school magazine. “During COVID, more places expanded the tipping model, and that trend has continued post-COVID.” There’s an obvious, hyper-American irony to be found here: As a result of the most devastating economic and social event in recent history, we came out on the other side being asked to pay even more. It’s a trend that local business owners are privy to as well. Adam Lowes, along with his brother Mark, is the founder and owner of LDU Coffee. The Australian-born en- trepreneurs have quickly grown LDU into one of the city’s most popular coffee destinations, with six locations across Dallas since opening in 2017. “I think it was something that so many quick service businesses, coffee and others, turned on in COVID,” Adam Lowes says. “I don’t think if you go back to 2018 that it was kind of a normal thing.” LDU Coffee locations do not prompt for tips at the register. There’s an official store Venmo account if you so insist, but nothing is ever prompted or beckoned by the barista, besides a casual conversation. That sort of laid-back flow of service is almost as much part of LDU’s brand as its fantastic coffee, both of which are especially noticeable in comparison to some of their local coffee shop peers. “We were always under the impression that quick service is not something that is of a tip expectation from an American con- sumer,” Lowes says. “In the last five years, people are trying to make everything the tip expectation. But as far as we understand and as far as we do it, it should be the employer’s responsibility in a counter service establish- ment to maintain the wages of the em- ployee.” Anecdotally, Lowes says that his shops’ not asking for tips has been mentioned to him more often lately, as it seems American consumers are growing tired of the constant tipping culture. “I want us to know all our customers by name,” Lowes says. “We see most people ev- ery day, and that is not necessarily a repeti- tive transaction that someone wants to have every day, especially when some customers feel a lot of guilt attached to that kind of screen flipping.” Over Tipped An August study by Talker Research found that “guilt tipping” has gone down signifi- cantly in 2025 compared to 2024. In a study of 2,000 people, research found that the amount of money people tip “under pres- sure” has gone down from $37.80 per month in 2024 to $23.60 per month in 2025. By year, it’s gone down from $453.60 to $283.20. Plus, research found that custom- ers felt they had guilt-tipped about 4.2 times per month this year, down from 6.3 times last year. As customers seem to be growing tired of the dreaded tablet flipping, employees of these establishments are also getting frus- trated. “The staff don’t like it,” Lowes says. “They find ways to ask the question, but they don’t really ask it. It’s got this really awkward energy about it.” Whether as employees or customers, we’ve probably all done the dance around tipping at least once. You’ll hear things like “it’s going to ask you a quick question” or “it just needs a signature,” but we all know what it really means. “I think I’ve got great staff and I think our products are awesome,” Lowes says. “But I also think that kind of ease of that daily in- teraction with us does contribute to our suc- cess.” Community Focus Sergio Zamora is a barista at LDU’s White Rock location, but has previously worked as a barista at shops that accept tips. To him, the contrast is glaring. “It’s hard not to notice the difference in terms of service and workflow,” he says. “There’s definitely a bigger focus here about being forward-facing. It’s more than just handing off a drink. It’s building a commu- nity with people that come in, coffee is just the bridge for that.” Zamora says that he prefers LDU’s style to the more transactional nature of shops that request a tip with each service. “That focus on hospitality is something that I grew up with,” Zamora says. “It just feels kind of natural. You can be yourself and get to know the customers.” The same goes for his experience on the other side of the counter. “It’s a little bit of a letdown when I go somewhere and I can sense someone is a lit- tle frantic,” he says. But ultimately, tip or not, a job is a job and Zamora, like his coworkers, is there to get paid. He acknowledges that at times, he made more money at shops that do accept tips, but that the stability of LDU’s base pay, which starts at $15 for day one employees, makes life a bit easier. “You know what you’re gonna get each pay cycle,” Zamora notes. Natalie Villegas knows all about the hus- tle and bustle of the service industry. They currently work two serving jobs, at Jinya ra- men bar and at Thai Square, where the base pay remains low and tipping is the name of the game. Full-Service Still the Exception “I’ve never felt awkward about it,” Villegas says. “I feel like everyone understands the position as the server.” Villegas says that the base pay at their jobs is $2.13 an hour plus tips, forcing serv- ers to be highly dependent on tips from cus- tomers. Villegas calls it “a necessity to pay for my life.” They previously worked at Flying Squir- rel, a Denton-based coffee shop that perma- nently closed in 2022 after the death of its founder, Adam Hasley. At the shop, a 20% gratuity was included for each drink, and Villegas says that it was never a big issue among customers. But in 2025, what could an employer do to keep employees like Ville- gas around without offering the possibility of tips? “For a restaurant, it would have to be $20 an hour to make the equivalent,” Villegas says. “There’s good days and there’s bad days, if you want to keep somebody, $20 an hour would be enough.” Amy Broad of JD’s Chippery finds herself in this exact dilemma. The Broad family has operated the Snider Plaza bakery since 1983. For 41 years, tips were not accepted at the shop until Broad couldn’t find employees who would stay at a place that didn’t. Labor-Market Expectations “We had to shift our policy,” Broad says. “Not because we wanted to, but because the labor market changed. We found that in or- der to attract and retain quality staff in food and beverage, we had to stay competitive with other businesses offering similar wages plus tips.” The policy change came with two strict rules: 1. Employees are not to prompt or lin- ger at the register in front of customers, and City of Ate from p15 Beth Rankin At LDU Coffee, you won’t face the awkward tip-screen flip. “DURING COVID, MORE PLACES EXPANDED THE TIPPING MODEL, AND THAT TREND HAS CONTINUED POST-COVID.” –STEPHEN BARTH
