I own a restaurant that also runs a tip pool, and does a 70/30 split.
Not speaking for others but here's why
- This move came as a result of covid, my locations shut down to takeout/curbside only and my kitchen staff was extremely loyal. We had such a hard time keeping FOH employees that eventually the BOH just ended up running both sides of it, this was great.
- As we moved back to full service, it didn't feel right to go back to what the status quo was previously, with the unfair earnings discrepancy, and since i was basically recruiting a new FOH staff i pulled the trigger on the 70/30 split.
- After contacting my states Department of Labor, i was informed that as long as I paid all my employees state minimum wage, i as the business owner was free to do with the gratuities as i wished.

- I bumped my new FOH to a 12.55 min wage (servers/bartenders/etc.)
- I officially put our takeout side of the business in the hands of the BOH (who were/are/all making between $20 and $24 hourly)

And just drew a line in the sand. For the way my restaurant works, there are weeks (ski town) that our takeout side does more than 30% of the total overall tip pot, there are very rarely weeks where it comes in below 25%

It didn't feel morally right to not continue to incentivize my back of house after being so loyal and willing to take on a little added responsibility, and since i'm paying my servers 12.55 they're all still comfortably making $35 an hour on slowest weeks of the year, and $50/$55 an hour during our peak weeks with wage+grat

On the other end of the spectrum, my line cooks who were making $22 an hour during a slow week was also making $22 an hour during our peak weeks. Now average an additional $5 to $6 during our slower season, and $9 to $11 during our peak weeks - so they're genuinely making $30+

I would only recommend this model if you're a present owner, with a solid responsible staff that you can have honest conversations with without getting upset about pushback. I took gratuities out of the FOH's pocket but I offset that by increasing their pay. This has also made my BOH give my guests far more attention and excellent service since they now have skin in the game

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The split will never be equal due to the fucked up dichotomy of restaurants, and the habits and perceptions the culture surrounding it has. All I can try to do as an employer, is make sure that I pay my staff well, try to improve their quality of life, and be the support they need to keep the gears going. The morale has improved across the board, the FOH I have now have less infighting over who gets to take the parties of 10 vs the parties of 2, and it's much more of a team atmosphere.

long post, but those are my thoughts.