This restaurant is "crushing" it!

Few industries in America have been affected quite like the restaurant industry throughout 2020. Overnight, restaurants found themselves having to fundamentally reassess how they served customers, and that translated into plenty of anxiety over staff wages. Thankfully, recent months have seen no shortage of stories about restaurants that put their employees first. All over the country, restaurants found creative ways to both pivot their dining operations and keep their staff paid. One restaurant in Denver has made a huge statement with its "Living Wage Addition".

Crush Pizza + Tap is a pizzeria in Denver. We've written about them before, and it's no secret that we're a fan of their deep-dish pies. In October, they decided to implement a policy that would ensure that all of their workers were paid enough to live in the increasingly expensive City of Denver. 

While a lot of the discussion about workers in the restaurant industry centers on the waitstaff, kitchen staff are an important part of the equation that can often get left out of tipping pools and wage increases. The majority of restaurant tipping policy in the U.S. focuses on tipping servers and bartenders, meaning that very little of a tip gets to the person who cooked your food. Given how much pride that a restaurant like Crush Pizza + Tap clearly takes in their food quality, it's fitting that they'd look out for their cooks!

To this end, Crush Pizza + Tap implemented a "Living Wage Addition" on dining at their restaurant. This translates to a 3% surcharge that goes into a per-hour raise that helps to equalize employee wages and address the high cost of living in Denver. It's worth noting that 3% on a $50 check translates to just a $1.50 increase. While that might not seem like a lot, it's already allowed Crush Pizza + Tap to better compensate their staff for their hard work. 

Hopefully, more restaurants adopt a similar policy in the future!

While this year has been an exhausting one, there's something refreshing in hearing about restaurants like Crush Pizza + Tap. Their "in this together" mindset is a great reminder of the empathy that we owe to the people providing services during this pandemic. It's also a reminder that their Lemon Ricotta pizza is absolutely incredible. 

Do you know of other restaurants that are working hard to uplift their employees? Sound off in the comments!