Friendliness or a general level of service is in a lot of industries considered a competitive factor that contributes to increased customer lifetime value through repeat sales, loyalty etc.
Why should the restaurants be any different? If I like the food and the service, I'll want to come again - the restaurant increases their earnings that way and both I and the business are happy.
The question then again comes down to how is that an incentive for the workers. The obvious answer is that their pay should be linked to the earnings of the business. The fact that it is not shows the fundamental problem with current state of capitalism, where the primary goal is to exploit the work of the workers below your financial level (as a business owner) and increase your wealth based on the ever-increasing difference between costs / wages and revenue.
The incentive of business is in conflict with incentive of workers, and the interest of customers - business will be motivated to use the workers willing to work for less, count tips towards salaries, but also use lower quality/cost ingredients etc.
A system where the worker salaries would be linked to revenue, with some nuance of course, would ensure top quality / service / products for the customers, fair reward and aligned incentives for the workers, and access to top tier employees (since they would want to work for businesses with higher revenue), happy customers and increased revenue to the business.
People keep asking "why should American restaurants be different?"
The answer is simple: because they choose to set these terms.
Restaurants are far from the most idiosyncratic businesses customers interact with. Buy a plane ticket sometime! Different businesses have different pricing structures.
There is no clear disclosure that you will need to pay more than the listed prices to get your food as you should.
Also, if you go to a counter service business, and the point of sale system asks you to tip, again, the terms were not set prior to engaging in the transaction.
In another comment, you write:
> You're going to have bad relationships (and experiences) with American restaurants if you make a habit of undertipping.
I classify this as the restaurant (and waiter) violating the terms. You do not get to claim your prices are low and then spring and increase on people, even if it is a “cultural” norm.
Did you see that sign "Welcome to the United States" when arriving at the airport? That was the clear disclosure that from this point on, every restaurant price is [menu price] * 1.3. Just keep that in mind when ordering.
No, that sign is clear disclosure that you are being welcomed to the United States.
Even if we assume the person is familiar with American culture, it is only restaurants with wait service having prices times 1.3 (including sales tax).
That's nonsense. If that were true, not tipping in an American restaurant would give the owner the right to take me to small claims court to recover the missing tip. Do you really think simply stating that "everyone knows" would convince a judge to rule in the restaurant's favor?
No, but you are very likely to be publicly humiliated, bodily fluids been added to your dishes should you dare to visit that restaurant another time, and yes, there were cases when police was called on account of insufficient tips.
Why should the restaurants be any different? If I like the food and the service, I'll want to come again - the restaurant increases their earnings that way and both I and the business are happy.
The question then again comes down to how is that an incentive for the workers. The obvious answer is that their pay should be linked to the earnings of the business. The fact that it is not shows the fundamental problem with current state of capitalism, where the primary goal is to exploit the work of the workers below your financial level (as a business owner) and increase your wealth based on the ever-increasing difference between costs / wages and revenue.
The incentive of business is in conflict with incentive of workers, and the interest of customers - business will be motivated to use the workers willing to work for less, count tips towards salaries, but also use lower quality/cost ingredients etc.
A system where the worker salaries would be linked to revenue, with some nuance of course, would ensure top quality / service / products for the customers, fair reward and aligned incentives for the workers, and access to top tier employees (since they would want to work for businesses with higher revenue), happy customers and increased revenue to the business.