Tips and Service Charge at Hawksmoor Dublin

We don’t put service charge on your bill; everyone who works in service shares the tips, and Hawksmoor doesn’t take a penny. We might change the first thing in future, probably won’t ever change the second thing, and will never change the third.

Tipping and service charge are weird.  Everywhere we’ve opened a restaurant is different, and everyone feels very strongly that their way of doing things is ‘right’. We want to make sure we don’t clash with what people feel is ‘right’, but also stay true to what we believe in.One of those things is that service is a team sport. 

We don’t think your waiter is the only person to influence whether you have a good time at Hawksmoor: the person that took your coat, that made your drink, that cooked your food, that washed your dishes, that oversaw the magical theatre of service … they all had an influence, and all deserve a share of tips.Hawksmoor on the other hand, doesn’t deserve any of your tips or service charge. 

It’s not for us, nor is it for the General Manager Alex (don’t worry, he’s fine). Service charge or any tips left on a credit card are subject to VAT and PRSI and we deduct those at source, and tips left in cash are still pooled between the team, but aren’t handled by us.  

We only automatically put service charge on tables of 5 or more, but the team would be very grateful for tips on smaller tables.  Cash goes a little further, but anything is gratefully received. Hopefully all of this works. If it doesn’t, we’re open to changing it. 

What we don’t want to compromise on, however, is that every penny goes to our teams, not to Hawksmoor, and that service charge/tips are never used to make up anyone’s basic wages.