by: Katie Writer – KTNA
Two pay periods have passed since the Talkeetna Roadhouse has turned into a tip free establishment. KTNA covered a story earlier this month about why owner Trisha Costello made the decision for making the Roadhouse a tip free/fare wage environment. While many employees are happy about their hourly pay raises, the servers who have depended on tips are having to make the biggest adjustments to this change. KTNA’s Katie Writer spoke with employees, locals and visitors about the pros and cons of going tip free.
Springtime has finally arrived in Talkeetna. With all of the melting snow and rivers opening up, there also have been some changes at the Talkeetna Roadhouse.
The main reason for going tip free for Trisha Costello was to create fair pay to all of her employees. In the past, the Roadhouse pooled their tips, which then were split up at the end of the day. During busy times, the tips add up and the server always walked away with the most pay.
Todd Fillingame, who works in the back of the house, feels positive about the changes.
“I was very happy with my last paycheck. Really, with the pay raise too, when they quite doing the tips, I got three and half dollars extra per hour.”
The prices on the menu have gone up and according to some of the servers who didn’t want to be named say that some people have chosen to take their business elsewhere.
Servers have noticed this past month that people like to tip for the service that they received.
Now that the tip is included in the bill, they no longer have that choice to show their gratitude for good service.
Local resident and business owner, Joe McAneney finds that the inability to tip creates an awkwardness between the server and the customer.
“Most people that are used to tipping, they are going to come in…they’re going to have a great experience and they are going to want to tip that person. And when they try to slip them a twenty dollar bill on the table, now all of a sudden you are putting the employee in a position where, ‘Well geez, if I take this twenty dollar bill, am I going to get fired? And then ‘am I being rude if I say, no, I can’t take your money.”
While many European customers at the Roadhouse are used not paying a tip, a majority of the customers like to have the choice to leave a tip.
“When those staff are presented tips, because no matter what your sign says, no matter what your table says, they are going to try to tip those staff.”
Long time Roadhouse worker and general manager, Adriana Bevins says that customers seem quite happy about the change. For her, she also spends less time tallying up and distributing the tips.
“Most of the customers think it’s a wonderful idea. Some insist on tipping anyway, and so we have decided as a company to donate those to charity.”
In conversations with locals, some say that they do not want pay the higher price on menu items, but that they will still go in for their favorite baked goods. Jok Bondurant, a pilot who has lived in Talkeetna for almost twenty years says, “I’m not against going there all the time for what they offer what I want. You know, I like the cookies and I love the raspberry rolls.”
The baked goods such as cookies, cinnamon rolls, scones and the ‘Rudy in a Parka’ have also had a price increase. Yet one server says that those prices are comparable of what they’d pay in Anchorage.
The real test of the new tip-free system for the Talkeetna Roadhouse comes when visitors arrive in masses.
