Q: Do you think it’s OK for restaurants to use Instagrammers’ photos without permission?
Kristen: No! Unless you took the photo or paid for and have rights to publish a photo, you should not put it anywhere without permission. Not only is it not okay, it’s not legal. The person who took the photo might not be looking for exposure, so even if you tag them, it’s still illegal. Sharing where you copied the photo from doesn’t mean you’re not stealing it. This drives me nuts. Thanks for asking.

Q: What’s the update on The Goodyear House tipping situation?
Kristen: All has been relatively quiet there. I haven’t seen a lawsuit yet, and the fallout seems to be pretty contained to the former employee who made the allegations. The past few times I’ve been there, I’ve seen the same servers, so there doesn’t seem to be much turnover taking place. One thing I’ve noticed in social media conversations about this is the situation has been framed as the restaurant taking money from servers, when the issue was surrounding tip pooling, or the practice of a percentage of servers’ tips going to the rest of the front-of-house team, like bartenders and bussers. The law is complicated — credit card fees can be taken out of servers tips when they’re put on cards, for example — so it’s really hard to say definitively what happened. My gut is that in an attempt to get bartenders more money — and at a large restaurant with a small bar, when bartenders are making drinks that up the total on every server’s check, they deserve it — things went sideways. The money in question did not go to The Goodyear House, instead to other lesser-paid staff members.

Q: Where is a good place to take friends with a toddler visiting Charlotte?
Kristen: Well, you definitely came to the right place for this one. My friends and I joke we need to make a list of restaurants with rocks on their patios, because you can just bring a shovel and let your toddler go to town under your table. Inizio is a good option, and I love the back patio at The Artisan’s Palate. They’re extremely kid-friendly there, and have a beautiful bathroom setup for parents with babies/young kids. Dish has a patio that helps keep a kiddo well-contained. If they can bring their own high chair, Grinning Mule has a wooded patio space and kids love the papas bravas. And, not to make this a Goodyear House Q&A, but their back patio is a favorite for us to enjoy brunch with J.J., who recently turned 2. We just make sure to show up before the live music starts.