Girard's no-tipping policy gets all the attention, but check out the food
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Weighing in on Philadelphia's first no-tipping restaurant
Girard, the named-for-the-avenue brasserie from Starr refugees Cristian Mora and Brian Oliveira, has gotten most of its pre-launch attention from tipping. Or a lack thereof.
Sporting a marble breakfast counter and café windows and black zigzags evoking Delia Deetz on the ceilings, Girard is one of the city's first no-tipping restaurants, a trend that has sparked an important conversation on hospitality workers' rights. Girard's staff is paid a living wage and is entitled to health insurance, vacation and sick days. You pay slightly higher-than-average prices for Oliveira's interesting yet approachable menu. Everybody wins.
Of course, when the credit card slip comes, there's still a line to add a tip. And on the table card explaining the no-grat-necessary policy, a caveat explains, "In case you choose to leave a gratuity for exceptional service, all monies will go directly to server." But the perfunctory, blasé service at brunch didn't exactly overwhelm me with generosity. My server was barely warm, and my guest Mora thought "looked like a funeral director" in his buttoned-up black suit.
It's a shame the tipping situation has gotten the most publicity because Oliveira's cooking is what should really be in the limelight. He can be heavy-handed with salt, but I really enjoyed what he cooked for me, beginning with a smart little avocado toast topped with grapefruit segments, wheels of watermelon radish, tarragon oil and Sichuan pepper.
Oliveira's country breakfast comes with eggs your way, a respectably buttery biscuit, shaved potatoes and a choice of ham, merguez or charred grapefruit. The spuds and the sausage were where the chef's salt predilection asserted itself, but not in a ruinous way. The burger, meanwhile, was a perfectly seasoned patty beneath a blanket of melted raclette. Oliveira should lose the fence of seared enoki mushrooms, but he's made me a believer in the English-muffin-as-a-bun trend by sourcing from Philly Muffins.
Piri-piri chicken, vadouvan lamb shank, foie tartine and beet tartare are all on my radar for dinner. I'm confident the cooking will be worth a revisit — and I'm hoping the service will find some charm.
GIRARD | 300 E. Girard Ave., 267-457-2486, girardongirard.com. Lunch: Mon.-Fri., noon-3 p.m. Brunch: Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Dinner: Tue.-Thu., 5- 9 p.m.; Fri.-Sat., 5-10 p.m. Brunch, $7-$22; lunch, $5-$10; dinner, $7-$34.
