When we opened Tender Greens in 2006, the idea started with the premise that we could serve the same fine dining quality food that we were accustomed to cooking but make it available at prices that everyone could afford. We did it by taking away the fancy tablecloths, valet car service, servers, and decided to keep it simple and just focus on the food and our relationships.
Fast-forward 11 years later, our idea worked and we tapped into something that people crave, but the restaurant industry is a different place than when we started a decade ago. To continue paying our team members a living wage, partnering with incredible farmers and ranchers who grow with integrity, and using high quality ingredients we need to once again look at how we can innovate and think differently towards the future.
Over the years, we’ve noticed the percentage of our cash transactions drop significantly — into the single digits. It seems that people are moving away from cash and technology is making it easier than ever to tap and go. We crunched the data, did some time motion studies, and tested our theories at a new restaurant. We learned that a significant amount of time (both guests and our team) was spent on handling cash and managing that cash. At the restaurant we tested cashless, we noticed that guests were getting through the line faster and our teams were getting back hours of time to do more interesting and meaningful things.
So we thought, this would be a good opportunity to change things up for the better.
By not having cash at our restaurants it’s faster for you, our guests, to place your order and get your food. You’ll spend less time waiting in line. It’s more efficient for our teams and restaurants because they’ll get back hours of their day to cook and spend time with you in the restaurant instead of the administrative work associated with cash. It’s cleaner and better for the environment because there will be no armored trucks picking up and dropping off cash, no more plastic deposit bags, and paper for cash deposit slips.
STARTING ON JANUARY 29, 2018, TENDER GREENS WILL TRANSITION TO A CASH-FREE RESTAURANT. CREDIT, DEBIT, AND MOBILE PAYMENT ARE ACCEPTED.
To make it even easier, we’re launching a new digital gift card feature on our mobile app next month. You’ll be able to pay in-store and online using gift cards on our app, buy gift cards, share the balance with your friends and family, and load those gift cards you’ve been holding onto in your wallet.
We recognize that our society hasn’t moved to completely cashless yet, and people still carry and use cash. We know that going cashless is not a perfect solution for everyone. For those who are affected by this change, we apologize for any inconvenience it may cause. We know there will be some hiccups along the way and we’re committed to finding solutions that will benefit everyone.
Every change starts with a small step. Thank you for taking this step with us towards transformative change.
– Erik, David, and the Chefs of Tender Greens
UPDATED JANUARY 30, 2018
Thank you, we hear your feedback, questions and comments about our decision to go cashless and wanted to take a moment to answer some common concerns.
Cash Alternative – If you’re someone who prefers cash, may we suggest Visa gift cards that are readily available and easy to purchase using cash at nearby retailers. These can be used instead of personal credit or debit cards, and protect anonymity.
Privacy and Data Security – We know that protecting your information and data is important to you, please read our privacy policy for more details on how we use, collect and disclose information. In addition, our credit card payments are in compliance with PCI Security Council standards.