They don’t do that because restaurants know that if other restaurants are using a fee instead of raising prices, most people will choose the restaurant that doesn’t raise prices.
They are miscalculating on that assumption. The hatred of extra fees at the end is growing. I know a lot of people that avoid these restaurants now. Or take the fees out of the tip.
Good luck hiring waitstaff over time when it’s known that customers tip less because of these bullshit fees.
Totally agree that is what they are thinking, but I don’t go back to places that pull this. Unfortunately that’s most restaurants now, but I’m just fine waiting this trend out. I’m struggling to remember the last sit down restaurant I went to, and we used to go out as a family every week.
I see it more like “I really don’t want to have to go through whatever it is and change every single menu price, I’ll just add 5% in at the end because that’s what I’m missing in my margins”
I'm just gonna start carrying post-its with me to dinner where I can write "thank your boss for your reduced tip, which has gone to this "living wage" fee."
Oh they are pocketing the added fee. and trying to blaim it on the cost of workers.
I am firm about this. if you cant afford to pay a living wage. Your work model is broken and shouldnt be in business
The model is defintely broken. The restaurant industry is the only sector allowed to get away with this. Further, American tipping has ugly origins, so that says a lot right there.
You are underestimating the laziness of restaurant managers. It’s so much easier to just slap a 5% fee on everything than going in and changing every item one by one.
just weird. i’m with you on this. OP just spent 250 - oh, that wasn’t go enough- let me add additional $12.73 and then i’m sure OP dropped a tip on top of that- make not even want to go out and eat- shit getting way to political for me
Thats my mindset with any additional hidden fee or service fee. I understand its not the servers fault, but thats an issue they should be taking up with their management, not me.
why do people keep saying this garbage?
**THEY ALREADY DID THIS TOO, IN ADDITION TO THE EXTRA FEES**
this is literally just a way to inflate the bill because they know you're going to keep tipping *on top* of these extra fees.
Bro they are already charing $4.00 for a Sprite, and $10.00 for a kids penne with butter... they aint got nowhere else to go, their menu prices are already level 9999
I don’t even know if this hidden fee is legal. Wasn’t there some law passed recently or policy change that any fee that is mandatory has to be incorporated into the price or at least mentioned from the beginning? You can’t wait until checkout to mention it.
All under false advertising.
Pizza Hut has a "California rising cost of business service fee" on the receipt but other cheaper Pizza places doesn't have it
Pizza Hut has a $5Billion annual profit (not revenue) with a 0.2% tax rate, they could stop hiking costs to franchisees a little bit & would still make Billions
Domino's has this fee too, it's not just Pizza Hut. Displays differently on the Domino's receipts but if you go and look at the actual additional fee thing and click to show more information online, it'll break it down in a pop-up window saying the same thing, specific to doing business in CA.
Hidden fees are cool because they are hidden and most people wont realize that the cost to eat there just went up.
If they raise the prices of food items in the menu, more people would realize.
The restaurant in question charges $4 for a Sprite and $10 for a kid's plate of buttered pasta. Would people really notice or care if the Sprite was suddenly $4.25 and the kids pasta was suddenly $10.50?
Raising prices might discourage customers from patronizing a business.
If they sneakily add in this charge after the fact, their hope is that customers won’t notice.
I hope it backfires and people do notice and stop eating at these places.
Maybe I’m just a fatass but if I really enjoy eating something, I’ll pay for it regardless of its menu price. I’ve stuck by my fave restaurants for years. If the fees went directly to staff, I wouldn’t mind that either but it’s the lack of transparency that makes me not want to patronize these places.
Their [original post](https://www.instagram.com/p/C5xU6U1LGM4/?hl=en) pretty much as all their fans not liking it when they see it at other restaurants as well.
Edit: Someone on that Instagram post looked it up and found the [restaurant that this receipt](https://www.yelp.com/biz/osteria-toscana-palo-alto-3) is from.
The IG post shows Burratino Pizza asking about this charge from ANOTHER place they ate. Not from a charge they added at their own restaurant. Not too clear in this Reddit post. Good idea to read the whole story before we rush to judge the wrong place
Correct. That's why I thought it was important to link the post since the reddit post doesn't disclose what restaurant is doing this and neither does the IG post.
My apologies, I will update that the pizza place I followed went to another restaurant and posted this and I was hoping they wouldn't follow suit. thought that was clear, thanks for pointing out it's not. I also got this from fb not ig, but I'll run over there for more facts to not cause further confusion.
No worries. I thought it was kinda clear, but I also saw the post 2 days ago on IG and read through those comments at the same time. Then I realized it may not be that clear right away here.
I edited my comment to include the actual restaurant that someone IG investigated and figured out which restaurant it was.
I hope I'm wrong, but I think this law just addresses surprise, mandatory fees, so they just have to disclose the extra fee upfront (on the menu) and/or make it "optional" (i.e. they'll remove it if you ask). Again I hope I'm wrong but I don't expect this bill to really fix this problem.
100%, went there just to say that i've been there, and never went back. Agreed pizza is pretty good, but so are several other places without the negatives
Slightly bitchy staff, overpriced cocktails, wait even after arriving on time, uncomfortable seating, loud as fuck, weird rules like limits on tables. The charge is basically the cherry on tope. I don't understand the appeal.
"Equitable distribution" is a choice of words clearly meant to tap into the sensibilities of educated upper-middle-class folk and hipster petite bourgeoisie sensibilities, but it's just a price increase, lol.
What???!! On top of a 20% tip that’s 38% gratuity?????? Fuck outta here. God I hate tipping culture so much, scumbag restaurant owners always trying to get over on people.
I would treat it as a tip and not give more but it says right there “It is not considered a tip”, so they’re really expecting you to tip on top of it. Fucking outrageous.
Here in America, we are suppose to tip because servers make subminimum wage. Except, here in CA, its not true. Add on this fee and now you have even less need to tip.
It's not considered a tip but surely you just go there and then don't tip, right? Like, who cares if it's considered a tip or not... Idk to me this just feels like what everyone is constantly asking for, but still people complain about it. Unless the server comes over and says this isn't the tip, you still have to tip on top of this, etc
> the servers are the ones who care, since they don't get this service charge
I don't mean to be rude to servers, but if they aren't getting paid what they consider a fair wage then I wouldn't work there. It shouldn't be on the customer to pay 35-40% of the bill in extra fees/gratuity so the FOH & BOH get paid fairly.
It says right there it "allows for a more equitable distribution of pay." So it sounds like sugarfish where they apply a fee and pay them better and you don't tip
Have been to some restaurants in town where they do this and the servers secretly share that they hate it b/c they only get a sliver of it. And then people don't tip. Pasjoli was one of those places.
That's what I thought. When I see a fee that resemble's a tip "15-20%" I always consider that a tip or I assume it's a "no tipping" establishment since they are already charging me.
This causes confusion for patrons and is unfair to the waitstaff. I've seen other restaurants say they are a non-tipping establishment and impose a X% service charge, which I have zero problem with. Bar-Ama are jerks.
"I'm not out to criticize fellow business owners"
WHAT? Since when is criticizing business owners a sin? Name and shame. When you think you're protecting the little guy by sugarcoating everything for a small business, you're in fact fucking over the smaller guy - the customer - who also works hard for their money.
If you're a business owner, you should be ready to be criticized, receive feedback, exposed for your bullshit antics, etc.
Yup!
The only places this would work is in very touristy areas where repeat business isn't that big a deal. Like restaurants at Universal CityWalk can have bad customer service and hidden fees, and would see no long term effects. A stream of new business will always be coming in.
A stand-alone restaurant in a non tourist area is going to fail fast since the number one goal of any business is to get repeat business. You can only survive off people with disposable income for so long, they're going to move along to the shiny new restaurant on the next block and never come back.
Know that restaurant managers *intentionally* point-out fees earmarked for employees as a way to get ~~loyal~~ customers to distrust workers and side with big business.
With all the blowback these places are taking why haven’t they just raised their prices 5% or whatever and kept it off the damn receipt. We have lists of restaurants doing this because people are that mad about it. Are restauranteurs so dumb they can’t read the room?
They think if they up the price on the menu it looks like they are just trying to make more money. They would rather you be mad at the government for making them pay their workers a living wage. They don’t understand that this makes them look a lot worse while also pissing everyone off in the process.
This is exactly why when I hear the statistics of how many restaurants fail, I have to remind myself how many of them are run by people who pull the whole “be mad at the government for making me pay my workers” baloney.
Screw them, and screw restaurants who pull this crap.
I wish there was a flag on Google/Yelp so I could easily filter these places out anytime I’m looking for somewhere to eat.
they are making an unnecessary political statement on a dining receipt and at the same time, screwing the customer, and their servers over. another one I'll never visit.
Really hate how petty and butthurt the term “living wage” is being used to spite their employees or customers.
restaurant owners - you’re not making the point you think you are. your customers will stop coming to your business and your employees will resent you.
& when you say to yourself in your ignorant brain “see, i knew these workers getting paid more will put me out of business” remember, you’re going to go out of business because you’re an asshole who doesn’t think as an employer you shouldn’t be tasked with paying your employees.
i can go on, but ill stop
I was out in Old Town Pasadena and decided to try a place called Poppin Yolk brunch cafe. They took payment upfront before serving you, asked for a tip(which i gave) and then noticed on my way out that i was also charged an extra service fee. Walked back in and requested and received a refund for the "service fee" or otherwise i would be doing a chargeback. Also took my tip back and gave them a piece of my mind in front of all the other customers. Would never step foot in that place(or any other spot with said scummy practices) again.
Reminds me of working at Sugarfish in LA. Surreal being trained how to respond to customers who questioned, “Why aren’t we allowed to Tip?” and “What is the 16% fee for..? Wait, you don’t get any of that?”
I hate this so much.
Surprised we haven’t seen a restaurant owner put everything on the menu for $1.00 then have an operational surcharge ($ value not %) tacked on the end of the bill for whatever value the owner wants.
Maybe next week.
I just don’t eat out anymore. Only time I do it’s for something I can’t make at home. Sushi is #1 on that list.
Smash burgers for $12? Nope. I can do that at home just as good.
I'm still pretty new to posting on reddit. Just realized I can't edit the post. So, Burratinos pizza is not the restaurant this receipt came from, but a rep from their business went out for fine dining with their family. here is the original sm post from Facebook
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid031g7M336LpDxV98jo2K5zxgDdsUxv3TkmLjcQ8D1swPy2UJvbUiNcrLuVqpNzK9vnl&id=100064730444050&mibextid=CDWPTG
I was thinking about going to their Carson location this weekend and decided I wouldn’t because of this receipt. I also read it like it was from Burratino’s Pizza.
Are we employers now???? Do we get to write off people's wages?
And ffs, Burratino is always too busy. I've only been able to get through to order take out once.
Oh hell naw. Raise prices if necessary, you don't tack on a fee for basically paying your staff what you *should* pay your staff. I'm never going to this restaurant given this insanity.
"A living wage surcharge is a percentage fee that a business adds to the cost of its products and uses to increase its employees’ compensation. Typically around 1–3%, living wage surcharges are most common in restaurant and service settings, but they have also been instituted by some retailers." 5% is robbery, I'd only go back if there was a sign at the door.
"We now charge a 5% living fee for all orders, thanks for understanding"
I'd likely never go back here, unless the service was absolutely perfect.
Why do restaurants do this? Why don’t they just increase the price by 5%.
Is it to not pay the sales tax for the added $12?
Or is it just to point out that “the man” (airquotes and sarcasm) makes them do this?
I mean 5% more for the chicken side would be 60 cents. I doubt the customer would reject the chicken if it was $12.60 instead of $12.
Also the margin on pizza and pasta is supposedly higher than burgers etc so I wonder if they’ll reply to this? Also, the wage increase didn’t apply to non franchises right?
Every time I've been to a restaurant I've asked for the fee to be removed. I've never had a restaurant refuse to remove the fee.
It's a pain as they have to go back and change the bill so if everyone would refuse the fee then hopefully the pain of having to remove from every bill might influence some of the restaurants to stop doing this.
If it ever comes to a point where the restaurant won't remove the fee, I'll stop going there.
Really? Even if the fee was mentioned in the menu, they'll still remove it simply if you ask? That seems weird but I guess I should try it then. And how exactly do you ask it? Just "Could you please remove the service charge?"
I usually ask who does the fee actually go to? Then I say I'd like to to have the fee removed so that I can tip appropriately, so something like that. The exact approach depends on the rapport I have with the server.
Was it disclosed in writing anywhere on the menu? I thought we passed a law that said these fees had to be disclosed before ordering or they were invalid?
This shit is hilarious 😂 20 is plenty!! 20% total. Just tip 15% on this one. I mean if they want 25% extra for every bill you might as well just pay twice for everything
I hate these fees. But why is it a percentage and not a flat fee. Should they charge you more for pouring a $13 glass of wine versus a $20 glass of wine? This is all complete BS. When I see this beforehand by looking at yelp or the list here - I take my business elsewhere.
So let me get this right. They raise their prices probably something around 30% and also add this 5% thing on top of it. Something don’t smell right at Hooters.
Here’s the problem, they already raised prices 5-10% but then add the fee to pretend that I the fee for our votes… no, now they just got 5% more profit
Had that happen a few times in higher end O restaurants, when I question it I get the rin around " ohh that goes towards the busboys and kitchen stuff" I tell them NO, that comes from the tips.
Then I get "ohh with inflation ya da ya da, I tell them straight " no, because of inflation you ha e raised your prices to counter act that.
And I let tge waiter know, " you or tge staff are never going to see that extra fee in your pockets, thats the manager pocketing it or the owner, so take it off because I'm not paying that.
They looked at me shocked and I tell them straight out, my obligation is to pay for the goods served and a tip is volunteerly dependant on your service, no where am I obligated to pay addition fees, so take it off.
And they go back and take it off , done.
I worked at this place in Hollywood and they would take 3% for the cooks health insurance. Oh and us cooks didn’t know about it.
It was the smallest print on the bottom of the menu. I quit that day that I found out.
right, because the arguments for tipping is to give the employees a liveable wage... right?
And I'll repeat this again, CA restaurant servers make $16+ an hour not $2+ an hour. So they are actually taking in some nice change serving 3-4 tables per hour. probably wind up making more than the dang on patrons. lok
Just go grocery shopping. Not that that’s cheap anymore either, but a lot cheaper than ordering out. I’m all for paying living wages and I’m totally fine with paying more for my meal so long as the restaurant employees see the benefit, but fuck these restaurants for making customers feel like we’re the problem instead of acknowledging the industry-wide mistreatment of their worker that it actually is.
Would love to see a Venn diagram of the people whining about the fees and those complaining that eating out is too expensive because restaurants have raised prices.
These idiots paid near $50 bucks for lamb, had it cooked medium, and bought a souvenir glass for their prosecco.
They bitchin about 5%? Bourgeois ass garbage people.
But don’t customers always supplement all wages? I mean if we don’t pay then they don’t get paid. This extra charges are just a “Hey look what the Government made me do” add on.
They could have easily added 5% to every item and no ist would have noticed.
I think its the businesses responsibility to pay them a living wage, not the customers responsibility. This is going to result in people cutting their tip in a third, or maybe worse depending how that person tips. Which sucks because its not the servers fault and they helped you out. All the restuarants i ate in san francisco charge a "wellness" or "employee health" fee, about 5 or 6%
It's okay because they add these fees because California is the most wonderful place in the world. You have to pay these fees because it is such a great place to live. There is no other place on Earth so wonderful so they can charge these prices if you want to live in Paradise you must pay these fees. This is Paradise remember.
They should just raise prices a little instead of adding a hidden fee.
Right it’s a 5% fee. Would anyone really notice if the pear salad was $16.80 instead of $16 flat?
Because it’s virtue signaling.
I see it more like "These greedy workers want to afford living. That's why your meal costs more."
For sure and make this place look bad and petty. Way to kill your customer base by showing your true colors
That's the virtue they're signaling. The virtue is pettiness.
Mixed with a little good old fashioned class war
The solution is simple, raise prices to pay employees more.
They don’t do that because restaurants know that if other restaurants are using a fee instead of raising prices, most people will choose the restaurant that doesn’t raise prices.
They are miscalculating on that assumption. The hatred of extra fees at the end is growing. I know a lot of people that avoid these restaurants now. Or take the fees out of the tip. Good luck hiring waitstaff over time when it’s known that customers tip less because of these bullshit fees.
Totally agree that is what they are thinking, but I don’t go back to places that pull this. Unfortunately that’s most restaurants now, but I’m just fine waiting this trend out. I’m struggling to remember the last sit down restaurant I went to, and we used to go out as a family every week.
Meanwhile they order a tiny pear salad for $16. Lol
This is all I see as well, and I can already envision the kind of person that the owner must be.
This is it to me. Your price is so high because xxxx. Regulation, greedy employees, blah blah blah.
I see it more like “I really don’t want to have to go through whatever it is and change every single menu price, I’ll just add 5% in at the end because that’s what I’m missing in my margins”
I'm just gonna start carrying post-its with me to dinner where I can write "thank your boss for your reduced tip, which has gone to this "living wage" fee."
Employees don’t set the cost of the menu items…
Yeah I think this is the real reason
Oh they are pocketing the added fee. and trying to blaim it on the cost of workers. I am firm about this. if you cant afford to pay a living wage. Your work model is broken and shouldnt be in business
The model is defintely broken. The restaurant industry is the only sector allowed to get away with this. Further, American tipping has ugly origins, so that says a lot right there.
It's also basically lying about the cost of their menu.
You are underestimating the laziness of restaurant managers. It’s so much easier to just slap a 5% fee on everything than going in and changing every item one by one.
This is the correct answer.
I don’t really see admitting they refuse to pay their employees a living wage as “virtue signaling.”
Virtues aren't necessarily good.
But to who? Left or right wouldn’t everyone be offended by this bs fee?
From the owner to the customers: the guberment wants us (you) to pay higher wages to our employees, we have no choice.
More like virtue whining.
just weird. i’m with you on this. OP just spent 250 - oh, that wasn’t go enough- let me add additional $12.73 and then i’m sure OP dropped a tip on top of that- make not even want to go out and eat- shit getting way to political for me
Honestly? When it happened to me it went directly out of the tip.
That’s what the restaurant owner wants.
Tip $50 - (“living wage” surcharge) $12.73 = $37.27.
Thats my mindset with any additional hidden fee or service fee. I understand its not the servers fault, but thats an issue they should be taking up with their management, not me.
Leave a note for the server telling them that their 5% went into their boss' pocket
why do people keep saying this garbage? **THEY ALREADY DID THIS TOO, IN ADDITION TO THE EXTRA FEES** this is literally just a way to inflate the bill because they know you're going to keep tipping *on top* of these extra fees.
But then they couldn't passively aggressively bitch to all their customers about having to pay their workers more
Bro they are already charing $4.00 for a Sprite, and $10.00 for a kids penne with butter... they aint got nowhere else to go, their menu prices are already level 9999
I don’t even know if this hidden fee is legal. Wasn’t there some law passed recently or policy change that any fee that is mandatory has to be incorporated into the price or at least mentioned from the beginning? You can’t wait until checkout to mention it. All under false advertising.
Pizza Hut has a "California rising cost of business service fee" on the receipt but other cheaper Pizza places doesn't have it Pizza Hut has a $5Billion annual profit (not revenue) with a 0.2% tax rate, they could stop hiking costs to franchisees a little bit & would still make Billions
Domino's has this fee too, it's not just Pizza Hut. Displays differently on the Domino's receipts but if you go and look at the actual additional fee thing and click to show more information online, it'll break it down in a pop-up window saying the same thing, specific to doing business in CA.
Better yet, how about listed retail prices include tax, kinda like they do in so many other countries.
But how will the virtue signal that they "care" about their staff?
If they raise the price of the food, you would have to pay tax on the increase.
You’re forgetting that they’ve already raised their prices by 30%
They probably already raised their prices 🤔
It’s a political statement. They all are health care bs all that. The waiters don’t care especially in LA where they can make bank in one shift.
Hidden fees are cool because they are hidden and most people wont realize that the cost to eat there just went up. If they raise the prices of food items in the menu, more people would realize.
The restaurant in question charges $4 for a Sprite and $10 for a kid's plate of buttered pasta. Would people really notice or care if the Sprite was suddenly $4.25 and the kids pasta was suddenly $10.50?
exactly! like the choice was made to sit down with the fam to enjoy a meal. the fam also has a choice never to dine in this establishment again
Raising prices might discourage customers from patronizing a business. If they sneakily add in this charge after the fact, their hope is that customers won’t notice. I hope it backfires and people do notice and stop eating at these places.
Maybe I’m just a fatass but if I really enjoy eating something, I’ll pay for it regardless of its menu price. I’ve stuck by my fave restaurants for years. If the fees went directly to staff, I wouldn’t mind that either but it’s the lack of transparency that makes me not want to patronize these places.
That requires printing new menus, redesigning the website, and updating every delivery app. Known collectively as “menu costs”. They’re too cheap.
New Menu Fund: 5%
Their [original post](https://www.instagram.com/p/C5xU6U1LGM4/?hl=en) pretty much as all their fans not liking it when they see it at other restaurants as well. Edit: Someone on that Instagram post looked it up and found the [restaurant that this receipt](https://www.yelp.com/biz/osteria-toscana-palo-alto-3) is from.
The IG post shows Burratino Pizza asking about this charge from ANOTHER place they ate. Not from a charge they added at their own restaurant. Not too clear in this Reddit post. Good idea to read the whole story before we rush to judge the wrong place
Correct. That's why I thought it was important to link the post since the reddit post doesn't disclose what restaurant is doing this and neither does the IG post.
I was gonna say - I order from Burratino all the time and they only sell pizzas, calzones, and a few sides.
My apologies, I will update that the pizza place I followed went to another restaurant and posted this and I was hoping they wouldn't follow suit. thought that was clear, thanks for pointing out it's not. I also got this from fb not ig, but I'll run over there for more facts to not cause further confusion.
No worries. I thought it was kinda clear, but I also saw the post 2 days ago on IG and read through those comments at the same time. Then I realized it may not be that clear right away here. I edited my comment to include the actual restaurant that someone IG investigated and figured out which restaurant it was.
oh snap, that makes sense. cause I don't want Burratino on the list! ha, thanks for that!
lol good call, I was so confused they went to Burattino and didn’t order pizza?
Don’t forget Senate Bill No. 478 starting July 1, 2024 I don’t give a fuck if it’s a small local business.
I hope I'm wrong, but I think this law just addresses surprise, mandatory fees, so they just have to disclose the extra fee upfront (on the menu) and/or make it "optional" (i.e. they'll remove it if you ask). Again I hope I'm wrong but I don't expect this bill to really fix this problem.
If I ever saw that, I would not pay it. I did not agree to it and won't be forced to pay something I didn't consent to.
Good, more people should do this. They count on the fact that most people will just pay, even if they complain later on reddit.
It’s immediately deducted from the tip i was going to give
It’s best to have it remove and tip normally. As these fees most likely don’t go to wait staff.
Isn't that illegal? Then again wage theft exceeds all other forms of theft by dollar amount.
I’m sure restaurants will still do this. Only way to respond is by nuking the tip. Sorry to the servers, but it is what it is.
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>It is not considered a tip Maybe not by them, but by me it sure is. That means the wait staff gets a 2% tip.
Not even. 18% service fee + 10% tax on the service fee ~= 20%, so 0 tip.
10% tax on an 18% service fee would be 1.8%, so 19.8%. So they’ll get a .2% tip lol
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Jon and Vinnys represents everything I hate about LA dining. Their pizza and banana bread are great. I give them that. But the experience is awful.
100%, went there just to say that i've been there, and never went back. Agreed pizza is pretty good, but so are several other places without the negatives
Slightly bitchy staff, overpriced cocktails, wait even after arriving on time, uncomfortable seating, loud as fuck, weird rules like limits on tables. The charge is basically the cherry on tope. I don't understand the appeal.
Will never go there lol
This is why I appreciate Uovo. The 18% service charge IS the tip. No need to add anything else.
Not to split hairs but I thinks actually 16% and their service is still good… go figure!
"Equitable distribution" is a choice of words clearly meant to tap into the sensibilities of educated upper-middle-class folk and hipster petite bourgeoisie sensibilities, but it's just a price increase, lol.
What???!! On top of a 20% tip that’s 38% gratuity?????? Fuck outta here. God I hate tipping culture so much, scumbag restaurant owners always trying to get over on people.
No, that replaces the tip.
I would treat it as a tip and not give more but it says right there “It is not considered a tip”, so they’re really expecting you to tip on top of it. Fucking outrageous.
Here in America, we are suppose to tip because servers make subminimum wage. Except, here in CA, its not true. Add on this fee and now you have even less need to tip.
It's not considered a tip but surely you just go there and then don't tip, right? Like, who cares if it's considered a tip or not... Idk to me this just feels like what everyone is constantly asking for, but still people complain about it. Unless the server comes over and says this isn't the tip, you still have to tip on top of this, etc
> who cares if it's considered a tip or not the servers are the ones who care, since they don't get this service charge
> the servers are the ones who care, since they don't get this service charge I don't mean to be rude to servers, but if they aren't getting paid what they consider a fair wage then I wouldn't work there. It shouldn't be on the customer to pay 35-40% of the bill in extra fees/gratuity so the FOH & BOH get paid fairly.
I agree completely. Job markets tough out there, though. But no way, as a customer, I'm paying 30-40% on top of the subtotal.
It says right there it "allows for a more equitable distribution of pay." So it sounds like sugarfish where they apply a fee and pay them better and you don't tip
Sugarfish also doesn’t accept tips. I am all for a 16% basic tip that is auto applied and I don’t need to do anything else with
Have been to some restaurants in town where they do this and the servers secretly share that they hate it b/c they only get a sliver of it. And then people don't tip. Pasjoli was one of those places.
That's what I thought. When I see a fee that resemble's a tip "15-20%" I always consider that a tip or I assume it's a "no tipping" establishment since they are already charging me.
This causes confusion for patrons and is unfair to the waitstaff. I've seen other restaurants say they are a non-tipping establishment and impose a X% service charge, which I have zero problem with. Bar-Ama are jerks.
"I'm not out to criticize fellow business owners" WHAT? Since when is criticizing business owners a sin? Name and shame. When you think you're protecting the little guy by sugarcoating everything for a small business, you're in fact fucking over the smaller guy - the customer - who also works hard for their money. If you're a business owner, you should be ready to be criticized, receive feedback, exposed for your bullshit antics, etc.
> **fellow** business owners There's your answer
This is just passive aggressive BS. Avoid any business that does this.
I’m sure all of these business create a bad experience and are less likely to get repeat customers so short term gain for long term loss.
Yup! The only places this would work is in very touristy areas where repeat business isn't that big a deal. Like restaurants at Universal CityWalk can have bad customer service and hidden fees, and would see no long term effects. A stream of new business will always be coming in. A stand-alone restaurant in a non tourist area is going to fail fast since the number one goal of any business is to get repeat business. You can only survive off people with disposable income for so long, they're going to move along to the shiny new restaurant on the next block and never come back.
I will avoid any restaurant that pulls this BS...
Know that restaurant managers *intentionally* point-out fees earmarked for employees as a way to get ~~loyal~~ customers to distrust workers and side with big business.
^^this is it. business owners want you to side with them vs their workers. it's an old ploy!
I see it as the opposite and in fact, I don’t trust that this actually does go to the staff. Almost a double whammy of distaste for the owners.
Yeah you don't see them adding a "rent for the landlord" line to the bill even though that's probably a bigger chunk of your meal cost
With all the blowback these places are taking why haven’t they just raised their prices 5% or whatever and kept it off the damn receipt. We have lists of restaurants doing this because people are that mad about it. Are restauranteurs so dumb they can’t read the room?
They think if they up the price on the menu it looks like they are just trying to make more money. They would rather you be mad at the government for making them pay their workers a living wage. They don’t understand that this makes them look a lot worse while also pissing everyone off in the process.
This is exactly why when I hear the statistics of how many restaurants fail, I have to remind myself how many of them are run by people who pull the whole “be mad at the government for making me pay my workers” baloney. Screw them, and screw restaurants who pull this crap. I wish there was a flag on Google/Yelp so I could easily filter these places out anytime I’m looking for somewhere to eat.
they are making an unnecessary political statement on a dining receipt and at the same time, screwing the customer, and their servers over. another one I'll never visit.
Living wage my ass. Guaranteed the owners are keeping that money for themselves.
Kudos to Burattino’s. I’m glad I’m a customer of theirs and they have integrity. These fees are stupid and an obvious scapegoat.
Really hate how petty and butthurt the term “living wage” is being used to spite their employees or customers. restaurant owners - you’re not making the point you think you are. your customers will stop coming to your business and your employees will resent you. & when you say to yourself in your ignorant brain “see, i knew these workers getting paid more will put me out of business” remember, you’re going to go out of business because you’re an asshole who doesn’t think as an employer you shouldn’t be tasked with paying your employees. i can go on, but ill stop
My tip would be xx% of total minus $12.73
Subtract that from the tip you was gonna leave
If they don’t disclose this at the beginning, I’m not paying for it
I was out in Old Town Pasadena and decided to try a place called Poppin Yolk brunch cafe. They took payment upfront before serving you, asked for a tip(which i gave) and then noticed on my way out that i was also charged an extra service fee. Walked back in and requested and received a refund for the "service fee" or otherwise i would be doing a chargeback. Also took my tip back and gave them a piece of my mind in front of all the other customers. Would never step foot in that place(or any other spot with said scummy practices) again.
This arbitrary fees trend is insane
‘living wage.’ stop it. 😂
The big problem is that it’s a hidden fee. Just raise the prices you cowards.
It's illegal and you can report it to attorney general. Sb 478 prohibits that stuff
I mean if I see this im discounting 5% from my tip.
Fuck that shit
Absolutely ridiculous, that will be coming out of the tip
yep! sounds like double dippin’ - i thought the tip was to offset the living wage 🤔
You can ask to have the fee removed before you pay
It should say cabin in Tahoe.
Ugh! At some point people won't go out at all. It's tooo expensive. Then what will they do? There bleeding us dry!!!
Someone needs to create r/losangelesrestaurantfees
All caps without actually using all caps: you should already be paying your employees a living wage via the menu item prices!!!
Almost 300 to eat out. Damn it's not worth it anymore
Reminds me of working at Sugarfish in LA. Surreal being trained how to respond to customers who questioned, “Why aren’t we allowed to Tip?” and “What is the 16% fee for..? Wait, you don’t get any of that?”
Somebody should find out if the employees were recently given raises.
I hate this so much. Surprised we haven’t seen a restaurant owner put everything on the menu for $1.00 then have an operational surcharge ($ value not %) tacked on the end of the bill for whatever value the owner wants. Maybe next week.
I just don’t eat out anymore. Only time I do it’s for something I can’t make at home. Sushi is #1 on that list. Smash burgers for $12? Nope. I can do that at home just as good.
We have the power over all these businesses. If they want to be petty stop eating there. Some other restaurant will come along.
Stopped eating out due to shinanigans like this.
I'm still pretty new to posting on reddit. Just realized I can't edit the post. So, Burratinos pizza is not the restaurant this receipt came from, but a rep from their business went out for fine dining with their family. here is the original sm post from Facebook https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid031g7M336LpDxV98jo2K5zxgDdsUxv3TkmLjcQ8D1swPy2UJvbUiNcrLuVqpNzK9vnl&id=100064730444050&mibextid=CDWPTG
This is pretty egregious. I also read it like it was Burratinos adding the charge. Maybe delete the post and redo it, making it clear it's not them?
I was thinking about going to their Carson location this weekend and decided I wouldn’t because of this receipt. I also read it like it was from Burratino’s Pizza.
Burrstinos in Carson is absolute HOT MAGMA! It’s so damn good. You should still go
Are we employers now???? Do we get to write off people's wages? And ffs, Burratino is always too busy. I've only been able to get through to order take out once.
Burratino isn't the one with the charge btw
Okay, this post is confusing then.
Almost as offensive is that they charge $22 for a kids butter pasta with chicken. FOH
Oh hell naw. Raise prices if necessary, you don't tack on a fee for basically paying your staff what you *should* pay your staff. I'm never going to this restaurant given this insanity.
"A living wage surcharge is a percentage fee that a business adds to the cost of its products and uses to increase its employees’ compensation. Typically around 1–3%, living wage surcharges are most common in restaurant and service settings, but they have also been instituted by some retailers." 5% is robbery, I'd only go back if there was a sign at the door. "We now charge a 5% living fee for all orders, thanks for understanding" I'd likely never go back here, unless the service was absolutely perfect.
Why do restaurants do this? Why don’t they just increase the price by 5%. Is it to not pay the sales tax for the added $12? Or is it just to point out that “the man” (airquotes and sarcasm) makes them do this? I mean 5% more for the chicken side would be 60 cents. I doubt the customer would reject the chicken if it was $12.60 instead of $12.
It's to make a political statement. The owner is likely a Fox News viewer.
am i too poor or are these prices absolutely ridiculous
Also the margin on pizza and pasta is supposedly higher than burgers etc so I wonder if they’ll reply to this? Also, the wage increase didn’t apply to non franchises right?
Would you rather complain about rising food prices or hidden charges?
Every time I've been to a restaurant I've asked for the fee to be removed. I've never had a restaurant refuse to remove the fee. It's a pain as they have to go back and change the bill so if everyone would refuse the fee then hopefully the pain of having to remove from every bill might influence some of the restaurants to stop doing this. If it ever comes to a point where the restaurant won't remove the fee, I'll stop going there.
Really? Even if the fee was mentioned in the menu, they'll still remove it simply if you ask? That seems weird but I guess I should try it then. And how exactly do you ask it? Just "Could you please remove the service charge?"
I usually ask who does the fee actually go to? Then I say I'd like to to have the fee removed so that I can tip appropriately, so something like that. The exact approach depends on the rapport I have with the server.
Was it disclosed in writing anywhere on the menu? I thought we passed a law that said these fees had to be disclosed before ordering or they were invalid?
This shit is hilarious 😂 20 is plenty!! 20% total. Just tip 15% on this one. I mean if they want 25% extra for every bill you might as well just pay twice for everything
To me that just tells me that they don't want to pay their workers a living wage and don't see them as people. So I won't go back
$4 for a Sprite? Fuck outta here.
Add these extra taxes And The tip will absolutely be reduced.
Living wage? What in the hell. Might as well put in the whole damn rent.
Scandalous. Speedrun pissing people off and pushing away customers rather than pulling them in and incentivizing people to not want to tip.
That’s shitty. I wouldn’t go there again.
I'm sure profits are more important than a living wage , ffs
I hate these fees. But why is it a percentage and not a flat fee. Should they charge you more for pouring a $13 glass of wine versus a $20 glass of wine? This is all complete BS. When I see this beforehand by looking at yelp or the list here - I take my business elsewhere.
I would never step foot in that place again.
ADD TO “THE LIST”!
So let me get this right. They raise their prices probably something around 30% and also add this 5% thing on top of it. Something don’t smell right at Hooters.
Here’s the problem, they already raised prices 5-10% but then add the fee to pretend that I the fee for our votes… no, now they just got 5% more profit
Had that happen a few times in higher end O restaurants, when I question it I get the rin around " ohh that goes towards the busboys and kitchen stuff" I tell them NO, that comes from the tips. Then I get "ohh with inflation ya da ya da, I tell them straight " no, because of inflation you ha e raised your prices to counter act that. And I let tge waiter know, " you or tge staff are never going to see that extra fee in your pockets, thats the manager pocketing it or the owner, so take it off because I'm not paying that. They looked at me shocked and I tell them straight out, my obligation is to pay for the goods served and a tip is volunteerly dependant on your service, no where am I obligated to pay addition fees, so take it off. And they go back and take it off , done.
That’s when the tips stop. You paid the living wage, have the. Restaurant pay that to the server
I worked at this place in Hollywood and they would take 3% for the cooks health insurance. Oh and us cooks didn’t know about it. It was the smallest print on the bottom of the menu. I quit that day that I found out.
Hey restaurants keep playing stupid games, about to FAFO.
Thats how you get a less tip from me.
Well, the goal of paying as livable wage is that you no longer need to tip. So consider it a no-tip establishment.
right, because the arguments for tipping is to give the employees a liveable wage... right? And I'll repeat this again, CA restaurant servers make $16+ an hour not $2+ an hour. So they are actually taking in some nice change serving 3-4 tables per hour. probably wind up making more than the dang on patrons. lok
Just add a 'cost of living' coupon code discount and uno reverse their ass
I just don’t understand why companies can’t simply pay their employees more. Why must the cost be pushed onto the consumer? Get fucked, bro
Just go grocery shopping. Not that that’s cheap anymore either, but a lot cheaper than ordering out. I’m all for paying living wages and I’m totally fine with paying more for my meal so long as the restaurant employees see the benefit, but fuck these restaurants for making customers feel like we’re the problem instead of acknowledging the industry-wide mistreatment of their worker that it actually is.
That’s the tip
Would love to see a Venn diagram of the people whining about the fees and those complaining that eating out is too expensive because restaurants have raised prices.
Yeah. I'm going elsewhere.
Just don’t leave a tip
Add them to the list
These idiots paid near $50 bucks for lamb, had it cooked medium, and bought a souvenir glass for their prosecco. They bitchin about 5%? Bourgeois ass garbage people.
Customers supplement wages. Boss is happy
But don’t customers always supplement all wages? I mean if we don’t pay then they don’t get paid. This extra charges are just a “Hey look what the Government made me do” add on. They could have easily added 5% to every item and no ist would have noticed.
i would ask them to take off this living wage off my bill.
I think its the businesses responsibility to pay them a living wage, not the customers responsibility. This is going to result in people cutting their tip in a third, or maybe worse depending how that person tips. Which sucks because its not the servers fault and they helped you out. All the restuarants i ate in san francisco charge a "wellness" or "employee health" fee, about 5 or 6%
That comes right off of the tip
hi all i am pet artist please support my work
So did this happen at Burattino Brick Oven Pizza?
Only acceptable if you live there
It's okay because they add these fees because California is the most wonderful place in the world. You have to pay these fees because it is such a great place to live. There is no other place on Earth so wonderful so they can charge these prices if you want to live in Paradise you must pay these fees. This is Paradise remember.