MADISON, Wis – A new restaurant in Madison has a no-tipping policy.

What You Need To Know

  • Sultan Ahmed opened Sultan on Tuesday
  • The restaurant has a no-tipping policy 

  • Staff are paid $20 per hour and receive profit sharing

  • Sultan serves mainly Pakistani dishes 

Sultan Ahmed has dreamed of opening a Pakistani restaurant his whole life. He finally has: Sultan on Willy Street. Its grand opening was Tuesday.

According to payment processing company Square, tipping rose 25% during the pandemic. Often, customers are prompted to tip for services they never were before.

Ahmed and his line cooks spent all Tuesday prepping for their grand opening at 4 p.m. They worked on bread pudding, chicken and, Ahmed’s favorite, braised beef shank.

“My happiest memories in my life are around food,” Ahmed said. “Food brings people together.”

Sultan is a no-tipping restaurant. Employees are paid higher wages than traditional servers and bartenders, and they don’t need tips to sustain their income.

“I don’t think the customer should have to subsidize my workforce,” Ahmed said. “I believe people should be paid what they’re worth.”

Staff are paid $20 per hour plus profit sharing. Each customer receipt says tipping is not necessary, and credit card slips don’t have a spot for gratuity.

“It’s weird to me that restaurants can pay people $3.25 an hour,” Ahmed said.

He said the kitchen staff doesn’t mind, but it’s a tougher sell for front-of-house employees. Servers and bartenders are used to relying on those tips. However, there’s some appeal for employees there knowing that even on a really slow day, they’ll make the same money they're used to.