BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — It's an all too familiar issue of restaurants and food service places struggling to hire workers - especially those workers who work in the kitchen, or "back of the house," who mostly don't get tips.
Juniper Brewing Company is one of the newest food spots in downtown Bowling Green. It opened in February to a tough hiring landscape. Originally slated to open in 2020, the pandemic hit and forced the business to shift.
"Our business model was worked and reworked and reworked again as a result of it," said owner Zach Tracy.
Tracy first opened the coffee counter section in February to get customers in the door. By the end of March, they had the dining room open and craft beers on tap.
But workers were hard to come by, especially for the "back of the house"; workers like line cooks, dishwashers, and chefs.
"Taking care of our employees has always been something that Chris and I, my wife and I, believe in and, something we strive to do," said Tracy.
So the couple decided to try something different - adding a three percent kitchen fee to customers' bills that shows up as a separate charge at the bottom of the bill. It is also separate from a server's tip or gratuity.
"We don't see a cent of that, it doesn't go to Juniper, it goes directly to our kitchen staff," said Tracy.
He says the wage gap between those in the 'front of the house', like servers and hosts, and those in the kitchen is not a new one. But he's happy the community is on board to try and help fix it.
"What we found is that people actually applauded that we were doing that," said Tracy, "and they appreciated the fact that we were looking out for our employees."
Now the brewery has found its identity as a place for everyone in Bowling Green.
"Bowling Green was kind of split in half," said Tracy. "There were either college bars, or there were community or towny places. And we didn't really want that, we wanted to kind of merge those two worlds."
And with students returning for the new year, Tracey believes Juniper is taking root.
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