"We are seriously exploring collecting a service charge from our customers and paying our employees a weekly, merit-based salary," said Jimmy Haber, managing partner of ESquared Hospitality, which owns the BLT restaurant empire. He estimates ESquared's labor costs would increase by $1 million to $1.4 million a year if the current tip credit goes up to $7.50 or $8.50. Employers now can pay tipped workers $5 an hour as long as their tips make up the difference to equal the state's minimum wage of $8.75.

The Wage Board is recommending that the legislature enact a separate city tip credit of $8.50, $1 higher than the proposed state minimum.

Mr. Colicchio said a hike in his menu prices would enable him to cover the full cost of his labor—instead of relying on diners' generosity to supplement their pay. Mr. Haber's plan would be to add a separate charge and raise menu prices minimally.

But neither restaurateur wants to act alone.

"If a Jimmy Haber, Danny Meyer or Daniel Boulud did it," it would be easier to take the plunge, said Mr. Colicchio, founder of Crafted Hospitality, which operates four upscale restaurants in the city and a chain of sandwich shops called 'wichcraft.

He added that "changing peoples' habits" would be the biggest obstacle but not an insurmountable one. "I suspect that 10 years from now, no one will know what a tip is," Mr. Colicchio predicted, pointing to such popular businesses as Uber, which automatically includes a 20% gratuity in its pricing.

Even so, right now, tipping is ingrained in the American culture. New Yorkers are among the most generous tippers worldwide, paying an average of 18% of their restaurant bill (Californians pay an average of 17%), according to Michael Lynn, a professor of consumer behavior and marketing at the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.

Many diners like to reward good service with a generous tip but also want the option to penalize a server who gives them poor service. Waiters also like the current system and the challenge of earning a payout with a generous tipper.

Servers at upscale eateries can earn between $50,000 and $100,000 annually, industry experts say.

"Being a waiter is like being a gambling addict waiting for the big score," said Steve Dublanica, a former server and the author of Waiter Rant.

There is also evidence that automatic gratuities can negatively affect service at restaurants, according to Mr. Lynn, who studied the Miami Beach market, where 40% of the restaurants add a service fee to the bill because a large number of their clientele are international visitors who tend to be poor tippers.

Mr. Lynn found that the service ratings in the Zagat restaurant guide for those eateries were slightly lower than comparable restaurants in the area that did not charge for gratuities.

In 2005, when Mr. Keller added a service charge to the menu at Per Se, he said that he would use some of the money to increase the pay of his cooks and kitchen staff while also providing a steady wage for servers regardless of whether Per Se was busy. The restaurant's spokeswoman declined to comment on how the system is working out.

Michael McCarty, who owns Michael's restaurant on West 55th Street, said he had a service charge at the eatery, as well as five others he owned outside New York, for 16 years.

"It allowed me to pay my kitchen staff between $5 and $10 more an hour," he said, explaining that his servers made up the difference in their lower wages because diners typically left an extra 3% to 5% on top of the service charge.

He was forced to return to voluntary tipping when a recession hit in 1995 as business slowed and the extra tips dried up.

Others point to the growing number of wage-and-hour lawsuits involving tipping that would likely go away with a move to service charges.