Famed NYC restaurateur Keith McNally is slammed for saying English people are the worst tippers as some demand to know why he doesn’t pay his staff more money instead of attacking his customers
- Balthazar owner sparked furious row by saying he was ashamed to be English
- Critics suggested he should pay his staff more instead of blaming customers
- They said London-born McNally should know that tipping is alien to most Brits
New York City restaurateur Keith McNally has been blasted for saying English people are the worst tippers as critics said he should pay staff more instead of blaming customers.
The London-born owner of celebrity hotspot Balthazar ignited a social media storm Monday after slamming his countrymen on Instagram.
In a post featuring the Union Jack, he raged: ‘ASHAMED TO BE ENGLISH. I Wonder Why English People Are Generally The WORST TIPPERS in N.Y. Restaurants?’
‘Especially if they’re middle or upper class. This is not a complaint, just a fact. (Even the Scots generally tip better than the English in NY restaurants).’
But followers were quick to point out that McNally should know the tipping system in the US – where it is custom to add between 15 and 25 per cent – is alien to Brits.
Keith McNally says he’s ‘ashamed to be English’ after calling out Brits for being terrible tippers
Instagram users slammed McNally for blaming customers and said the ‘system in NYC is weird’
McNally regularly posts photos of himself with his famous guests, including Sienna Miller
Despite counting British-born Vogue editor Anna Wintour a Balthazar regular, McNally launched a blistering attack on English people labelling them the worst tippers
Others suggested McNally and other New York restaurateurs should be paying their staff more instead of leaving it to customers to top up their wages.
Daniel Milner said: ‘Why defend restaurant owners rights to not actually pay their staff and attack their customers instead, are you paid for your opinions?’
Another user added: ‘Change the system ! Going to a restaurant should be an all inclusive experience. Expecting an extra payment to get the food to the table is anathema to many. The concept of needing to factor in an extra fee for service will only create confusion and resentment when it does not happen. The price on the menu should be the price for EVERYTHING.’
Anna Wahlberg pointed out that it wasn’t just Brits who found the New York tipping customs strange, saying: ‘In Europe tipping is so different…The system in NYC is weird…’
But McNally doubled down: ‘I don’t believe this is the reason,’ he said.
‘Time and again my servers have given English customers perfect service only to often receive way less than the standard 15% tip,’ adding: ‘I think most middle and upper class English people tip abominably because subconsciously they want to keep working people in their place as they’ve done for hundreds of F****g years.’
The restaurateur then followed his original post by sharing a photo of a card left by a British customer at another of his New York restaurants, Minetta Tavern.
It read: ‘Keith. Your comment about Brits not tipping stressed me out. I always tip >20%. Dinner @Minetta tonight was sublime, as was service from Jeremy. Today I tipped 50%. Thankyou.’
McNally wrote alongside it: ‘I never wanted this to be a consequence of my last post about English people tipping.’
One follower quipped in response: ‘How much did James Corden leave?’ A reference to McNally’s infamous spat with James Corden, when the restaurateur barred the British talk show host from his restaurants over his ‘abusive’ behaviour towards servers.
Corden subsequently called McNally to apologize and the ban was revoked.
The average salary for a hostess at Balthazar is $31,559 a year, according to Glassdoor, a website where millions of workers anonymously review companies.
Glassdoor says the average waiter at The Wolseley, a comparably upmarket restaurant in London, earns £31,461 a year, equivalent to around $39,000.
However, it is estimated that the cost of living in New York is up to 30 per cent higher than in London, suggesting The Wolseley pays significantly more in real terms.
The Mail has contacted McNally for comment.
The restaurateur followed his original post by sharing a photo of a card left by a British customer at another of his New York restaurants, Minetta Tavern, which said he had tipped 50% after seeing McNally’s rant
McNally has strict rules for staff on how to serve celebrities and doesn’t want them given special treatment
McNally barred British talk show host James Corden (pictured above with wife Julia in 2018) from his restaurants last year over his ‘abusive’ behavior towards servers. Corden apologized and the ban was revoked
On Sunday, McNally revealed a mystery celebrity who dined at Morandi, another of his restaurants, had left a $1,000 tip.
‘Servers were thrilled to hear that X was coming in tonight. X is phenomenally generous and usually leaves over a grand for the tip. X decided to sit in a booth today. (He usually goes for a window table.) X left a $1000 tip to server Mercedes,’ he said.
The 71-year-old regularly posts photos of himself with his famous guests, including Anna Wintour and Sienna Miller.
Other famous guests have included Mick Jagger, Cher and Andy Warhol, but McNally has strict rules for staff on how to service celebrities and doesn’t want them given special treatment.
‘Never get them drinks on the house, always talk to the person they’re with more than them,’ he told the Sunday Times.
‘Famous people get really p***ed off by over-elaborate service. They just want to be left alone.’
McNally was born in Bethnal Green in east London in 1951, to Joyce, a cleaner and Jack, a dock worker and amateur boxer.
He moved to New York in 1975 to become a director, but soon turned his sights to restaurants after working a series of kitchen jobs from oyster shucker to busboy.
McNally believes ‘famous people get really p***ed off by over-elaborate service. They just want to be left alone.’
McNally moved to New York in 1975 before opening his first restaurant The Odeon, in 1980
Five years later he opened up his first restaurant, the Odeon in Tribeca, with his first wife Lynn Wagenknecht and his brother Brian.
The Odeon soon became the ‘center of the downtown art scene’, with Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Julian Schnabel, Anna Wintour, Lorne Michaels and the cast of Saturday Night Live among its regulars.
McNally has frequently courted controversy on Instagram, where he is an outspoken, unvarnished version of himself.
Like many restaurateurs, he has also had his fair share of failures over the years. The pandemic put paid two: his Soho bistro Lucky Strike, which he opened in 1989, and Augustine in the financial district.
McNally’s Lower East Side bistro Cherche Midi closed in 2017, just four years after opening, while Schiller’s Liquor Bar followed a year later.
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