Food's Great. But Does the Chef Get Vacation?

If you want to be served by a waiter likely to make at least $5 an hour before tips, head to the sushi chain Todai, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, or Craft Restaurants, owned by Tom Colicchio of Top Chef fame. Or maybe you don’t want a line cook going to work with a cold (and sneezing on your lunch). In that case your best bets are In-N-Out Burger, Chipotle Mexican Grill, or Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

Those are some of the recommendations in a new dining guide that’s more Mother Jones than Michelin, putting mouthwatering descriptions of foie gras and roasted poussin on the back burner in favor of criteria such as how much the line cooks and servers are paid and whether their employers offer them chances to rise up the ranks. “Consumers will now routinely ask if they are eating free-range chicken,” says Saru Jayaraman, co-director of Restaurant Opportunities Center United, the New York-based workers’ rights group that wrote ROC National Diners’ Guide 2012: A Consumer Guide on the Working Conditions of American Restaurants. “Well, we want them to ask if their servers are getting paid sick days, too.”