Biang!, Sit-Down Restaurant of Xi'an Famous Foods, Eliminates Tipping

East Village Chinese noodle restaurant Biang! is now a no-tipping establishment, CEO Jason Wang announced on Tuesday. The critically beloved sister restaurant of Xi'an Famous Foods is "following the traditions and customs of Chinese restaurants" by including service in the restaurant, according to a statement.

As part of the change, the restaurant has been working on a system where all employees — including kitchen staff — have a 15 percent share of revenue. Employees will be making $12-per-hour plus the revenue share. Menu prices went up about 20 percent as well, but Wang says the restaurant had been planning to increase prices for some time due to rising costs in rent and food. "We decided to roll everything into a one-time price increase," he says.

Biang's one of the most casual restaurants to join the trend. A slew of businesses have announced that they will include service in meal prices since Danny Meyer's announcement for Union Square Hospitality Group, including Andrew Tarlow's Brooklyn restaurants, Cafe China, Ootoya, and Annisa, But many of them are priced higher than Biang, which is considered one of the city's great cheap eats. Still, Wang is not deterred. "While some may think that it only works for fancy restaurants, I think it can be applied to low priced restaurants like Biang," he says in a statement.