The Service Fee That Sparked a National Firestorm

About this episode

Chef Geoff Davis discusses the controversy surrounding a 20% service fee at his restaurant Burdell and its implications on labor and tipping culture.

Chef Geoff Davis opened Burdell in Oakland to cook the soul food his grandmothers made — a distinct American cuisine rooted in migration and adaptation rather than Southern tradition. In 2024, Food & Wine named Burdell the “Restaurant of the Year.” On our recent California Sun podcast, he expalins how it was a 20% service fee at the bottom of Burdell’s receipts that recently started a national conversation about labor, class, and whether we’ve ever really reckoned with the racial history of tipping. Get full access to Talk Cocktail Podcast at jeffschechtman.substack.com/subscribe

People in this episode

Guest: Geoff Davis

Topics covered

• service fee
• soul food
• labor
• class
• racial history of tipping

Keywords

• Burdell
• Food & Wine
• Restaurant of the Year
• national conversation

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Burdell

Books & works: Talk Cocktail Podcast

Places: Oakland

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