There’s a trek in store for anyone wanting to visit the Joy of Ireland Tearoom: down tourist-choked Michigan Avenue to the Chicago Place mall, up two Tinkertoy stories, and through the gift shop that fronts the restaurant–3,000 square feet of green golf gifts, Irish jams and crisps, Guinness T-shirts, Celtic crosses, Beleek china, and wall plaques lacquered with platitudes and shilelaghs. But once at her destination, the prospective tea taker is soothed by a peaceful view of rooftops and the sunshine that pours through the wall of windows overlooking Michigan Avenue. She’s stimulated by the graceful decor, spare except for a giant crystal chandelier. Finally, as one of the relaxed, smartly dressed tearoom employees pulls tableside with a
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The Joy of Ireland gift shop opened in 1991; the tearoom, added in ’99, had a no-tipping policy for its first two and a half years. Instead co-owners Michael Joy and Richard Kosmacher asked customers to give to a charity fund, making up the difference in their servers’ income by paying an unusually high 9 to 12 dollars an hour. They wound up collecting more than $12,000 for causes that included Misericordia, Catholic Charities, and Old Saint Patrick’s Church.
So they’ve dropped their pay rate (though it remains pointedly over minimum) and phased in ordinary tipping, which is the mainstay of waitstaff income at most places. Kosmacher says they were careful to warn clientele of the change so diners wouldn’t inadvertently stiff the servers (“That was a big concern of Mike’s and mine”), but they didn’t want to seem pushy about it. “We didn’t just end it overnight–we literally took three months to wind the program down. We can’t make people tip, but we had signs up.”
