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The owner of Black Garlic, an Ethiopian and Caribbean restaurant at West 36th and Broadway in Kansas City, says the World Cup has not delivered the customer traffic he hoped for — and he's now rolling back changes he made in anticipation of the tournament.
Jims Desauguste said he was optimistic when Kansas City was announced as a host city and the positive hype surrounding it.
"First time Kansas City hosts World Cup, 'I said, 'Let's get ready,"' Desauguste said.
He added special lunch hours and an automatic 18% gratuity to checks during the World Cup, expecting an influx of visitors unfamiliar with American tipping customs.
Instead, business has been slow.
"We barely served like 10 or 20 people a day," Desauguste said about the lunch hours.
The automatic gratuity also upset his regular customers, who were already accustomed to tipping on their own.
Desauguste said the backlash showed up in his restaurant's online ratings.
"Our star used to be like 4.5, 4.6, now we dropped down to 4.1, and it was a lot of negativity from local customers," Desauguste said.
He said the policy backfired with the customers he relies on most.
"It turn around and bite me in the butt to our regular customers," Desauguste said.
The disappointing turnout has had consequences beyond slow sales and negative reviews.
Desauguste said he has had to let staff go because revenue has not been enough to cover payroll.
"That's put a burden on my business with all my staff I hire, and I have to let them go, because I do not have enough revenue to pay them," Desauguste said.
The Missouri Restaurant Association had recommended that restaurants add a 20% gratuity charge during the World Cup to help ensure servers were compensated, given the expected influx of international visitors who may be unfamiliar with American tipping customs.
Mike Burris, executive director of the Missouri Restaurant Association, explained the reasoning behind the recommendation.
"The reason you would do it is because you have a majority of people coming in who wouldn't know any different,” Burris said. “And so you're trying to make sure your servers are taken care of.”
Burris noted that the decision was left to individual restaurants, and responses have been mixed.
"Some of them are sticking with it, some of them decided it's just not necessary," Burris said.
He also acknowledged that international attendance has not met expectations.
"We've only had two matches, but with the two we've had so far, while the stadiums have been full, and things are going well, there aren't as many foreign visitors so far," Burris said. "Our expectation of foreign visitors might have been higher.”
He says overall, it’s still too early to tell, and thinks later matches in July could still benefit residents.
The lower-than-expected international turnout has complicated the case for automatic gratuity.
Burris said the challenge of prompting tipping from foreign visitors remains real, but there are limits to what restaurants can do.
"If folks come from another country and they don't know to tip, you either have to prompt it or suggest it, certainly can't force them," Burris said.
Results across Kansas City's restaurant industry have varied.
"We've heard both sides of it,” Burris said. “Some places are doing great, some people haven't seen much of a change.”
As someone who spent years in the restaurant industry, Burris says he understands the uncertainty.
"It's a tough business,” Burris said. “There's no guarantees.”
For Desauguste, the automatic gratuity ultimately did more harm than good with his core customer base.
He has since removed the 18% gratuity and decided to take down the World Cup lunch hours sign.
He’s not the only local restaurant to do so.
Manny’s Mexican Restaurant made a post Monday sharing a similar decision to discontinue their 18% World Cup gratuity.
Burris said he’s also heard other restaurants are changing their minds.
Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que announced a change in their hours and will now return to being closed on Sundays.
Looking ahead, Desaguste said he plans to refocus on dinner service and his local regulars.
"World Cup almost over. I can't wait to be honest with you," Desauguste said, laughing. "Cause I'm hurting. I want my regular customers to come back, my regular people to come back."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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