Restaurants weigh auto-gratuity ahead of World Cup tourist wave
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The Missouri Restaurant Association (MRA) is advising Kansas City restaurants to add automatic 20% gratuity to checks this summer as the city hosts the World Cup.
Why it matters: 650,000 international visitors are expected in KC for the World Cup, many from countries where tipping isn't the norm.
What they're saying: It's a recommendation, not a mandate.
- "[International visitors] automatically figure that gratuity is looped into the bill," Trey Meyers, director of marketing and communications for the MRA, tells Axios.
- "We don't want servers to be slighted by any means just because different cultures are coming into our city," he says.
- He says most of the 450 KC businesses they represent are interested in adopting auto-gratuity this summer, though none have yet confirmed it. Their goal, he says, is to be as inclusive as possible.
By the numbers: In Missouri, restaurants can legally pay tipped employees a minimum of $7.50 an hour. The state allows tips to count toward the rest.
- Missouri restaurants using the Toast platform averaged 19.7% in restaurant tips in the second half of 2025, above the national full-service average of 19.2%, per Toast data.
- According to Meyers, the 20% recommendation reflects the industry's typical range of 18% to 22% and protects servers from being shorted by guests who simply don't know the custom.
- He credits the Midwest's lower cost of living, community culture and what he calls "Kansas City nice" for keeping local tips consistently strong.
Zoom in: If a restaurant goes the auto-gratuity route, Meyers says transparency is non-negotiable.
- Restaurants should post signage at the door and host stand, add a note to the menu or have servers tell guests up front.
- Whether a server keeps a tip left on top of an auto-gratuity depends on the restaurant's policy, Meyers says.
- At most KC restaurants, where servers are classified as tipped wage employees, any extra tip goes directly to them. But at some establishments, it could be pooled among all staff.
What's next: Once the World Cup wraps up mid-July, Meyers says, participating restaurants plan to revert to standard tipping.
- In the meantime, the Visit KC Foundation is holding training sessions to help hospitality workers understand international cultural norms.