Running a full‑service restaurant has changed a lot in recent years, especially with Washington’s rising minimum‑wage requirements. Today, servers earn the minimum wage of $18+ per hour plus tips, which means their total compensation is often about twice what our kitchen team members make.

That gap is tough on restaurants like ours. The people cooking your food are skilled professionals who play a huge role in your dining experience, and we want to pay them fairly. But with average profit margins for full‑service restaurants in Washington at just 1.5% (National Restaurant Association, 2024), raising kitchen wages without additional revenue simply isn’t possible.

To help close this wage gap, Lombardi’s adds a service charge to all guest checks. Servers and bartenders do not keep any portion of this charge. Lombardi’s retains 100% of it to support higher wages for our non‑tipped staff members.

With servers earning a much higher minimum wage than they used to, feel free to reduce your voluntary tip by the service charge amount.
Whatever you choose is appreciated.

FAQS

Why not raise menu prices to reduce the wage gap?

To meaningfully reduce the wage gap, we’d need to raise prices by around 20%. That would make us look substantially overpriced compared to similar restaurants and would likely reduce guest traffic. In fact, the James Beard Foundation’s 2025 Independent Restaurant Industry Report found that restaurants raising prices by 15% or more in 2024 saw fewer customers, lower profits, and a drop in overall
business perception.

There’s another challenge: when prices go up, tips usually go up too—so the wage gap between tipped and non‑tipped staff actually gets wider.

 What’s the future of tipping?

In the U.S., tipping has long been part of the full‑service dining experience. But as more guests learn about the wage imbalance between tipped and non‑tipped employees, the industry is slowly shifting toward a model where restaurants pay all staff through revenue—just like other businesses—rather than relying on variable tips.

Over time, a mix of service charges, modest price adjustments, and changing guest expectations may help restaurants move away from traditional tipping altogether.

  We appreciate your patronage and support of local restaurants!

Kerri Lonergan - Dreke Diane Symms,
CEO Founder
Andy HIlliard Kris Korshaven,
Corporate Chef Director of Operations