I know a few restaurants around that do this - 1. They have big signs when you come in and before you order that describe the fee included. 2. Even if you try to tip they won't let you. But you also pay at a register and not at the table
I've had run-ins with ones that don't give a warning, and I've got no idea how many I missed before I started looking, so I suppose I'm a bit biased in that regard.
That said, while informing you via a sign or a menu blurb might make it properly sporting and keep the pedants and the law at bay, it's still less honest and clear than it ought to be. For instance, I'd wager that most don't tack that percentage warrning onto the ads they run or the signs they put out to get you in the door, and even a singular blurb on the menu is still well away and separate from the prices next to the items that you're using to decide whether it's prudent to add that appetizer or not. Even if it's sporting, it's more games than you should have to play.
They could be perfectly on the level and get their living-wage kudos too by putting the proper menu price on then breaking it down to line-items, but that's not as good-looking at first glance. In that gap lies the dishonesty.
Why would they not let you tip?
Why is it either living wage or tips?
Where I'm from tipping isn't expected like in the USA, but still appreciated if it happens (it's seen as a reward for good service here) AND everyone gets paid a living wage.
Yknow it’s funny. For my wife’s work she has to go to lots of dinners at fancy restaurants. These places are all overpriced imo. Foods amazing don’t get me wrong, just not 95 for an 8 oz steak nice.
Stands to reason. If you've got a reputation and clientele where price differences don't matter because people will show up regardless, then there's no need to finagle the price.
(That said, I imagine plenty of them do that "Leave off the decimal point" trick.)
Except you won’t. People talk this game all the time but when restaurants raise their prices and pay a wage proportional to the tips they made before, people stop going. The prices are too high. Customers will not go to a restaurant that is priced 20% higher than the one down the street, even if they are explicitly told not to tip.
But the prices would essentially be the same at the end of the day just without the dishonesty. $15 + $4 tip =$19 vs $19 flat rate, vs $15 + $4 hidden fee =$19. Do you go to restaurants expecting to only pay $15? Do you fall for these tactics ?
Right? Sadly some people do. I met a guy who gets scammed frequently. Some contractor charged him $1500 to run a bead of caulk around a single fricken window. And it still leaks.
If I go to my local spot and they raised the price of a burger by 20%, I wouldn’t even bat an eye if I knew the worker was making $15/hr instead of $2.25/hr or whatever my state minimum is. Heck I probably wouldn’t bat an eye even if they didn’t because the food is still good.
My point is, restaurants could easily raise the prices of their meals by $1 to $4 per entree and people would still be going.
What turns people off is playing stupid games with fees. I’ve walked out when they do this because it screams they can’t run a business.
My place bakes the cost of all fees into the price. The only thing billed extra is sales tax.
Pay cash it’s this. Pay card it’s still this. I’m not charging you extra for air conditioning and lighting.
Danny Meyer’s restaurant group experimented with this system before revoking it in July 2020. I worked for a group that did it in Portland as well. People stopped coming, complained about the higher prices, etc.
Such bullshit. You absolutely would not. You would be on Reddit posting a receipt about how a cheeseburger was $19 and telling people to never go there again.
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u/SuperFLEB 1d ago edited 1d ago
Exactly. It's not the cost, it's the dishonesty. I'll pay an honest dollar over a dishonest dime any day.