Lodge Living wage Service Charge

Servers and bartenders in many restaurants are paid less than half the minimum wage, or $2.13 an hour, and they either draw directly all gratuities added to a check or gratuities go into a pool for split distribution with other team members.

At RT Lodge, an automatic 20% service charge is added to all food and beverage checks in order for the Lodge to provide hourly compensation above the Tennessee average living wage with benefits instead of the $2.13 hourly plus gratuity model. This allows us to provide a consistent hourly wage and income for all team members covering the large fluctuations in time worked and types of restaurant and other event activities that our team supports.

Optional Gratuity

Your check total automatically includes the 20% service charge, and no other tips are expected. We have been occasionally asked by guests if they can leave an additional tip for their server, so we have left an optional gratuity line for these occasions for leaving additional tips which will be disbursed directly to the server. This is not a suggestive gesture, and the option is only provided for the benefit of our guests.

Thank you for your patronage and support.