Our Service Charge

At The Alinea Group, we challenge conventions to deliver excellence. Something we do differently is adding a 20% service charge to all experiences at all of our restaurants to ensure that all employees are paid a fair wage and receive benefits all year long.

Our 20% service charge guarantees…

A Fair Wage & Benefits

Our employees earn fair wages and receive benefits, including health insurance, a 401k + 4% match, transit benefits, daily meals, paid time off, monthly discretionary bonuses, and more.

For all Employees

Our team members' earnings are independent of race, gender, and department. This reduces the impact of guest bias and encourages great hospitality.

All Year Long

Wages are independent of seasonality and stable throughout the year. Consistent compensation assists in long-term financial planning.

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FAQs

  • We offer health, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k + 4% match, CTA and transit benefits, daily staff meals, paid time off, and discretionary bonuses based on restaurant financial performance.

  • A service charge enables comprehensive benefits to our employees while providing prices that are in line with perceived notions of value in a competitive market. 

  • The State of Illinois requires that all mandatory service charges are taxed just like other services. The Alinea Group pays FICA taxes on all wages vs. gratuity which is exempt from FICA.

  • The service charge will be applied on Tock for all experiences fully paid for on Tock, this includes all prix fixe menus and food or beverage add ons. The service charge for any on-site a la carte items, add ons, or upgrades will be applied to the bill at the end of your experience. 

  • We know that our employees provide an outstanding service experience and we keep a gratuity line on all checks so that diners who would like to add something extra for their servers are able to. All gratuity goes directly to the service team through a tip pooling system.

  • The service charge model allows us to ensure a fair wage does not depend on the biases of individual guests or the department in which an employee works. Conversely, the tipping model, which comes from post-Civil War Southern policies aimed at paying people of color less than the minimum wage, perpetuates the persistent pay gap for women and people of color in the US, and results in pay discrepancies between front-of-house and back-of-house roles that do not reflect the contributions that each of our team members make to our mission.

    The service charge also allows us to ensure that all employees in all departments are paid a fair wage. The tipping model creates a pay gap between front-of-house and back-of-house that is neither equitable nor in line with the contributions made by all of our employees.