By James Banakis

April 29th, 2026

 

Tipping is a uniquely American phenomenon. If you have had the opportunity of travel outside the country, you know the rest of the world doesn’t do it and doesn’t really understand it. We do. For most Americans it’s an integral part of our entrepreneurial, capitalistic system. At its purest custom it is our way of saying thank you for exceptional service. At its most base tradition it can form the basis of a pay-off, a bribe. We Americans though know the difference.

We also know it’s certainly not necessary to tip the guy who hands over your drycleaned sportscoat even though there’s a jar on the counter. Most of us treasure the custom, because it rewards hard work and brings out the best in us all. You know who hate it? Communists!

As a business owner who has spent a lifetime operating restaurants, which employs people who rely on tips as a part of their income, I consider myself as a specialist on this subject. You can imagine my disbelief when our Marxist mayor referred to me and my fellow restaurant owners as slave owners, and our cherished employees, as slaves. He linked his position on his push for reparations, compensation for his twisted perceived generations of harm.  He includes the restaurant industry as the major perpetrator.

Here we have an elected official who instead of trying to improve the commerce of our city, and promote jobs, attacks one of Chicago’s most significant job creators. This is another example of what I referred to a few weeks ago, as bizarro behavior. Johnson is a buffos, a Greek word translated as clownish and silly. Every action he initiates is dripping in racist victimhood, and collectivism.

I learned about tipping from my generous father who modeled what I would refer to as proactive greasing. As a waiter approached the table, the old man would place a bill in his shirt pocket or secure the bill between his first two fingers, and transfer while shaking hands, winking, and smiling. His reward? Every waiter, car hop, hotel maid wanted to please him. He didn’t do it to be a bigshot. He merely reasoned it was an investment, and made more sense up front. He was a Chicago guy through and through.

In my lifetime, I’ve been a waiter, my grandmother was a waitress, my mother was a waitress, and I’ve hired and trained thousands of waitstaff. None of these people ever thought of themselves as slaves. For many, it was a fun and profitable way they financed their education. I always reminded new employees that they were in fact running their own businesses. We provided the workspace and product; they sold it and reaped profits based on their cunning perseverance.

Like any entrepreneur, sometimes they had great days and sometimes they had slow ones. They were just like us, the owners only we carried more risk. It was always a mutual relationship. I can’t think of a waiter or waitress who would have ever wanted to forgo tips for a higher base hourly rate. A great waitstaff is always a dynamic sales force. They guide the diner on what to order to attain the best dining experience possible. They are in fact our partners in the success of our enterprises. They are risk taking capitalists betting on themselves, and I’ve always been proud of them.

We all recognize great service, and the knowledgeable customer feels happy to reward that proficiency. Waitpersons are probably the highest compensated employees in the retail segment of our economy. The best among them makes a lot of money!

I’ve witnessed many examples of patrons overtipping beloved servers. There was a group of businessmen who a few weeks before Christmas, left a $1500.00 gratuity as a way of sharing the joy of the season, to a single mother. Single mother waitresses formed the backbone of our breakfast restaurants. They were among the most dedicated, hardworking, joy filled, and selfless employees of all. I always thought of them as daughters.

When I was with Lettuce Entertain You, we had many delightful tipping company tales. My favorite involved Frank Sinatra. Whenever Sinatra was in Chicago, he stayed at the Ambassador East and held court until the wee hours of the morning at the Pump Room bar.

On one memorable night a buzzed Sinatra, the last man standing, asked his bartender what his largest tip was he ever received. The bartender answered $400.00. Sinatra promptly peeled off 5 crisp $100.00 dollar bills and handed them to the bartender. As he was leaving Sinatra shouted back, “Who was the cheap bastard who left the $400.00?” The bartender answered, “That would be you sir.”

A spokesperson for the mayor’s office elaborated on his comments suggesting that tipping was started by white employers in the South after Emancipation to avoid paying a living wage to Black workers. Horse bleep! This is another example of Marxist revisionist history. Remember, Communists hate it when individuals overcome adversity and win. They hate it when business prospers and lifts all boats. Marxists flourish amid despair and hopelessness.  They win when they convince those who are at the bottom of the economic pyramid that they are hapless victims.

Mayor Johnson who is punishing Chicago daily, succeeds only at equating everything with race. He does this every day, loud and clear, without shame or apology.

Gratuities reside at the intersection of gratitude and generosity. It’s a street that I’ve lived on throughout my life. First as a paperboy, later as a cabdriver and waiter and bartender while in college. It is the essence of the hospitality industry of which I’ve been a part of as an entrepreneur. It’s as American as baseball, and it’s as Chicago as Italian Beef.  Like my dear old man would always say, “the guy works hard, you take care of him, and he’ll take care of you.”

Mayor Panic Attack, tipping is an American tradition. More specifically, it’s a Chicago way of life, we all know it and many of us do it with panache. Do us in the hospitality industry a favor and find another madeup grievance to cry about.

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Jimmy Banakis is a life-long restaurateur.  He was an honorary batboy for the White Sox in 1964. He attended Oak Park River Forest High School, Nebraska Wesleyan University, and Chicago-Kent Law School.  He claims the kitchen is the room he’s most comfortable in anywhere in the world. He published an extremely limited-edition family cookbook. He’s a father and grandfather, and lives in Downers Grove Il.