Equitable Pay/ Gratuity Included

We do not accept tips at Colossus. Here’s Why.

You may or may not know, that since our inception we have been a fully-pooled + equal tipping house at the bakery + farmers market. (As owners who have worked in this industry for over 10 years, that is NOT normal practice--- but it should be + I'll go into that below) That means that a tip in the jar or on the POS goes to every set of hands who touched your coffee, omelette or croissant, evenly and fairly. No point system based on position or department, no bs.

This system seemed natural to us as hospitality workers + owners who have accepted tips ourselves up front and been denied them in the back. Our kitchen is an open-concept, and we believe that no matter your station at the restaurant, each member of our team contributes equally to the quality of our products, guest experience, as well as the community vibe of our kitchen + shop.

This system of equal tipping/pooled tipping worked pretty well for a long time, but it lacked a level of transparency we desired, so we have decided to raise our prices to allow us to increase our wages across all departments and locations.

Our Wage Structure
We are raising our starting wage at Colossus to $21 hourly for all entry level positions and $25 starting for lead positions. We have implemented a 15% increase in prices of house made goods will help us to make this change, in addition to continuing to offer health insurance for our full-time crew.

This higher wage pay structure we are implementing will be the same across all departments, meaning there are no financial disadvantages to wanting to learn how to cook or bake as there would be in a traditional restaurant.

To you tippers out there, we see you + we appreciate you, but you will no longer need to "tip" at Colossus. Your smiling face + support of our team through your purchases will be thanks enough.

To those of you who don't currently tip, we hope that the transparency of this new price increase + our new wage structure sparks a conversation. We hope it inspires you to keep coming in and contributing to the quality of life + workplace we desire for and are attempting to build for our team. 💖

We hope that this charge, while different + in some ways revolutionary, will reduce stress at the counter + increase community + conversation through clarity, intention + transparency.

We of course plan to maintain the same level of service + community-minded hospitality that we have always strived for + are more excited than ever to bring our customers even further into the fold of what we hope will continue to be a successful community-centered bakery business.

Show your thanks/ help us improve

Did you have an extraordinary experience with one of our crew members, or was there something we could have done better? Please let us know by shooting us an email or leaving us a review! (leave a review at Long Beach, leave a review at San Pedro).

Positive reviews help new folks discover our small business. We appreciate you taking the time to leave one!

Disappointed by something? Please email us! We started this business to serve our community, and are always striving to be better. Your feedback helps us do that, thank you for taking the time to provide us with your insights. :)

Sincerely,

Kristin + Nick Rodriguez

Owners + Operators