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Bonehead , (edited )

The service charge is not a tip or gratuity, and is an added fee controlled by the restaurant that helps subsidize the staff wages so that management doesn't have to while still seeming to have reasonable prices on the menu. Also, management takes a cut as it subsidizes their wages too.

Edit: I get why this upsets some people, but the downvote button is not a disagree button. I merely restated the restaurant's explanation in plain language. I'm not agreeing with it...

cerevant ,

If you charge me for service, I’m not paying extra for service.

Call it what it is - a junk fee so they can make their prices look lower than they are. I wouldn’t go to this restaurant a second time.

MxM111 ,

The cost of food in American restaurants includes service charger. It just not itemized. Waiters do have salaries, so it comes from somewhere.

cerevant ,

That’s my point. This restaurant is try to bait and switch their customers by giving a misleading food price and adding a service charge. It is like a cell phone company adding garbage fees.

As for my initial comment - if you add a percentage for service, that ends my obligation to tip.

MxM111 ,

Ah! I see. You were talking exclusively about not coming back into US restaurant, not restaurant in general anywhere in the world. It was not clear for me.

squaresinger ,

Hey, look at our cheap food!

Oh, btw, we didn’t tell you, but it’s actually 18% more expensive than the prices on the menu.

Also, it’s $10 extra for the plates and silverware.

And we also charge you for eating in as well, that’s another $10.

And if you don’t tip on top of that, we get really angry.

Please leave a 5 star review!

MxM111 ,

I was talking about service charge, not tips.

SatansMaggotyCumFart ,

American waiters get paid, Parisian ones do it for the pleasure of serving their fellow man.

dan ,
@dan@upvote.au avatar

And we also charge you for eating in as well, that’s another $10.

Some areas actually have different pricing for eating in vs taking out, as it’s treated differently by the tax laws. Some areas also tax differently based on if it’s cold or hot/cooked food, so a toasted sandwich costs a bit more than an untoasted one. Very small differences, though.

squaresinger ,

Yeah, my post was a bit of hyperbole, but I’ve been to a fancy restaurant a while ago, where they did make you pay for cutlery and also for the table separately.

But they didn’t have a take-away option.

NateNate60 ,

By tradition, the service charge is supposed to be paid to the staff. Therefore, it’s not customary to tip when you’re assessed a service charge, although many restaurants choose to ask for a tip anyway.

If you work in a restaurant that charges a service charge but pockets it… you’re being robbed.

BrandoGil ,

Unfortunately, this isn’t true anymore. At least in PA.

34 Pa. Code 231.114. Service charges.

§ 231.114 b

The notice required by subsection (a) must state that the administrative charge is for administration of the banquet, special function or package deal and does not include a tip to be distributed to the employees who provided service to the guests.

www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/Display/pacode?file=/se…

Rivalarrival ,

If this restaurant was passing the entire service charge to its waitstaff, it would be advantageous to call it a gratuity and exempt it from sales and income tax. The IRS does not tax tips/gratuities as income.

By charging (state) sales tax on the service fee, they also have to declare it as revenue, which increases their income and thus their income tax. They have to pay a portion of that service fee in income tax, so they aren’t going to be passing the full amount to their waitstaff. The restaurant will be keeping the bulk of that service fee.

Mango ,

Heck, I wouldn’t even pay this restaurant the first time. I’m out. You ain’t making me pay extra after the fact.

Gork ,

subsidize the staff wages so that management doesn’t have to

Yeah that’s a pretty shit reason to levy this fee unsuspectingly.

ilikecoffee ,

Sounds like it does much the same thing as tipping then, right? But then the receipt says you should pay the service charge and a tip on top 🤔

I’m not American so maybe someone can explain this to me, haha…

wolfpack86 ,

It doesn’t make sense to any sane person. But basically:

The restaurant feels that costs have increased and in order to remain profitable they must raise prices. Instead of raising prices on the menu, take the canoli as an example, from $11 to $13, they decided to add it after the calculation.

This means the customer may go out with an idea of what they would like to spend (maybe it’s a special treat for them) orders based on the menu, figures tip and tax… Expects to be out for $100… But surprise! You owe a fucking service charge.

Now-- I’m not into this particular restaurant’s finances. Let’s be generous and assume they need to charge more to break even. This is the shady (and should be illegal) way to do this. They should instead raise prices and be honest with the customer what they feel they need to charge.

Wermhatswormhat ,

The problem is, this is still decietful. If this is an issue then the correct move would be to make every item on the menu 18% more expensive as a base. Because now, they still get to say “oh well our prices are still low come eat here and get “X item” for “Y price” but that’s not true anymore because of the service charge. It’s just a way to keep menu items lower in price but increase the price at the end.

kent_eh ,

that helps subsidize the staff wages

Allegedly

But If that’s the reality, I feel no need to add a tip.

Rivalarrival ,

They probably pay $1/hr over minimum tipped wages. About $0.75 of that $17.22 fee goes to paying that increased wage, and the rest is pocketed.

If they wanted to subsidize worker wages, they would include a mandatory gratuity rather than a service fee. Gratuities are passed directly to workers.

This is truly scummy behavior.

fishos ,
@fishos@lemmy.world avatar

Except you’re wrong. It is a tip because the tip is the service charge. The tip specifically is “we pay them less than minimum wage and your tip covered the rest of their service cost”. A tip AND a service charge, especially a service charge not levied because there were X+ people at the table, is double dipping on the tip. Both fees are for the same thing. Either increase prices or increase the tip(or pay your workers fairly and don’t expect me to subsidized the rest with these secret fees). Make them upfront and honest. This isn’t. This is a perfect invitation to say “you already charged me for the service, so no tip is needed, because that’s what it is for”.

dan ,
@dan@upvote.au avatar

The tip specifically is "we pay them less than minimum wage

Not everywhere. Some areas don’t allow wages that are lower than minimum wage for tipped jobs. The area I live in in California is around $17-18/hr minimum wage regardless of if the job is tipped or not.

ReluctantMuskrat ,

Except you’re wrong. Service charges are not considered tips under FLSA rules within the US. Many states and local jurisdictions have special rules for tipped wages, how they’re taxed and those taxes are collected, and service charges are not included in that definition.

www.dov.gov/agencies/…/15-tipped-employees-flsa

fishos ,
@fishos@lemmy.world avatar

Nice reading comprehension. The TIP is a service charge. You got that backwards buddy. So a service charge and a tip is service charge x2. Or you’re admitting that a tip is only for “above and beyond thanks”, in which case it’s not mandatory and this is again a scam.

Rivalarrival ,

A tip is money paid directly to the worker providing the service. The restaurant can’t keep any part of it. They are not taxed on it, either as sales tax or income tax. That money is only counted as income to the worker.

This service fee was subject to sales tax. It will also be subject to income tax by the restaurant. The restaurant gets to keep as much of it as they want.

“Mandatory gratuities” are tips that the restaurant obligates the customer pay to the waitstaff. Where these are charged, you are not allowed to stiff the waitstaff. The restaurant cannot keep any part of that gratuity.

Tips/gratuities and service fees are not the same thing at all.

fishos ,
@fishos@lemmy.world avatar

I’m not talking the law, I’m talking what the tip actually is in practice. It’s the service charge. You’re paying for the server to serve you. The tip isn’t for the food. It for the server serving. Just because you’ve been conned and guilted into accepting this as normal doesn’t make it right. And just because it’s taxed doesn’t mean it’s still not extra income to the resturaunt. Would it be ok if I mugged you but paid taxes on the money and gave it a cutesy name?

Rivalarrival ,

A “tip” is for the server serving.

A “mandatory gratuity” is for the server serving.

A “service fee” is for the restaurant existing. Service fees do not go directly to the staff. The restaurant keeps most of that service fee.

I mentioned taxes not to suggest that the practice is legitimate, but to demonstrate that the money is income to the restaurant. Tips are not income to the restaurant. Tips are income only to the staff.

I acknowledge that there is no significant distinction to the customer between a tip and a service fee, but there is a highly relevant distinction between the two for the restaurant and the server. The service fee this restaurant is charging is money stolen from its staff.

This restaurant could support its workers by adding a mandatory gratuity to the bill, in which case I would agree that no tips should be paid. But a service charge is not a tip. A service charge is not a gratuity. A service charge is not paid to the servers. A service charge is kept by the restaurant.

ReluctantMuskrat ,

You might want to read it again

Service Charges: A compulsory charge for service, for example, 15 percent of the bill, is not considered a tip under the FLSA. Sums distributed to employees from service charges are not tips, but may be used to satisfy the employer’s minimum wage and overtime pay obligations under the FLSA.

A place implementing a service charge cannot classify it as a tip, even if it’s 100% passed onto the employee… a mandatory charge is not a tip, even if the restaurant encourages you to treat it that way. Certain states and jurisdictions tax tips differently than regular wages, and service charges are wages, not tips.

Rivalarrival ,

If they charged a mandatory gratuity, I would agree with you. An 18% mandatory gratuity is an 18% tip to the waitstaff; you are not expected to pay an additional tip on top of that.

A tip is money directly to the waitstaff. The restaurant can’t touch it. The restaurant is not charged sales tax nor income tax on money collected as tips. When they collect a gratuity, it goes directly to the staff.

This “service fee” was taxed. It did not go directly to the waitstaff; it was recorded as sales revenue, and thus income to the restaurant. The restaurant is being taxed on it before any of it gets to the staff. They would only do that if they are keeping a part of it, which they could not do if it was considered a “tip” or “gratuity”.

Charging a “service fee” is a legal way for the restaurant to steal tips from employees, while making you think they are paying it to their staff.

Most likely, they pay minimum tipped wage plus $1/hr. They are making $3.13/hr plus tips instead of $2.13/hr plus tips. That extra $1 is the higher “base wage” they are talking about.

About $0.75 of that $17.22 service fee goes toward increasing the “base wage”, with the rest counted as income to the restaurant.

This is not the perfect opportunity to say “you already charged me for the service”. This is the perfect opportunity to name and shame this scumbag restaurant for its shitty business practices, and never eat their again.

XEAL ,

The downvote button is a lazy disagree button, but people is also dumb.

MisterFrog ,
@MisterFrog@lemmy.world avatar

In Australia this would be illegal drip pricing. JUST INCLUDE EVERYTHING IN THE PRICE OF THE FOOD! Is it so hard?

Absolutely wild you also don’t add tax in the price in the US.

Is it too much to ask to just be told the price upfront on the menu?

corship ,

It’s simple, if a restaurant adds something to the bill I did not agree to beforehand I’ll never eat there again.

BassaForte ,
@BassaForte@lemmy.world avatar

If a restaurant adds something to the bill I didn’t agree to beforehand, I’m not paying.

corship ,

That would be consequent, but usually it’s not worth the trouble.

I’d rather leave with 20 quid less than wasting 30 min of my time.

LemmyFeed ,

So your time must be worth 40/hour or more to make it not worth the trouble?

Lupus108 ,

Not OP but my nerves are definitely worth more than 20 bucks.

Mango ,

Mine too. I have the nerve to tell them to fuck off with their bullshit.

corship ,

It’s a risk reward analysis and not strictly a 1:1 hour pay relation. No one guarantees you any positive outcome here.

Best case I get the fee removed after a short conversation.

Worst case, I have to engage in a long drawn argument still having to pay full afterwards.

Or anything in between, such as still having to pay full, but they’ll make this clearer in their menu.

best case was a simple mistake and I just have to ask politely. This can be considered very unlikely in this case because the recipient has a dedicated section for the fee, indicating that they’re not going to make any change to the bill. So the risk reward is highly leaning towards the worst case as the expected outcome.

AeroLemming ,

I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for them to try to make you pay the service charge you didn’t agree to.

corship ,

Surprise surprise, People attempt illegal things all the time

Neato ,
@Neato@kbin.social avatar

That's like $80k a year. Not that much.

NightAuthor ,

Literal poverty washes in SF

fushuan ,

My time is worth way more than 40/h when I’m out with friends trying to have a good time. I’m never going to the restaurant again and that’s it.

ColeSloth ,

Oh. It wouldn’t take me nearly 30 minutes. It would be less than 5 total minutes.

Hamartiogonic ,
@Hamartiogonic@sopuli.xyz avatar

How about just leaving the correct amount of cash on the table and walking away without saying a word.

snooggums ,
@snooggums@kbin.social avatar

I have never eaten at a restaurant that did not disclose a mandatory gratuity ahead of time, but I suppose it could happen.

alignedchaos ,

That’s wonderful for you, but it does happen.

Frozengyro ,

They should have it listed somewhere in large print and/or verbally inform people so patrons are aware ahead of time

jasondj ,

Went out to a pizza place the other night. Thought it was a brewery (one of my favorite local brews, actually), and had been there before and enjoyed flights from them…only to find out the place was a joint between the brewmaster and the restaurateur. Brewmaster took his share, his recipes, and dipped a couple days prior.

Anyways while the food was pretty good, I mostly went for the beer and that’s a big part of why I won’t go back (they only had a couple cans from the brewery left and nothing on tap, only some other regional breweries).

But the other part is that my wife put a tip down on the slip for our party of four (us and two kids) and asked me to doublecheck her math. I thought it seemed high and it turned out they already put a tip on the bill. For a party of four. Never saw that before.

phillaholic ,

Yea they better have this charge displayed very well on the menu

twisted28 ,

This has been happening in Florida for a few years now. Restaurant owners went to court so they could keep the service charge. In the beginning I thought it was just a mandatory tip to stop people from stiffing the waiter. Nope they actually expect you to pay 18% plus another 20% for the waiter. Ridiculous. We don’t go out to eat much anymore on principle.

DiatomeceousGirth ,

It’s cuz they’re too chicken shit to actually raise the menu price. So they can blame the government or the workers instead of taking responsibility for paying their staff shit wages forever

twisted28 ,

Yes, Greed., as always. I suspect many industries will completely or partially close in the coming years as the population is just too broke.

vivadanang ,

“no one wants to work anymore” says restaurant owner who won’t pay a living wage even after jacking up service fees.

AtariDump ,

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/b0e03070-9808-4259-ae86-85b50e735750.jpeg

Rentlar ,

Yeah if I hear a word about my decision to include the service fees in the tip, that’s the last time the restaurant will see my business.

latca ,

Paying for servers based off of the price of the food just doesn’t make sense to me. If I order a super expensive caviar and super expensive bottle of wine the staff would be paid more than another server with large party that only orders inexpensive drinks. The second server would be paid less for doing more work.

I think they should just be paid a decent wage for doing their job well despite what the customer decided to order.

On a side note if the server has to do something like prepare a salad table side or flambé a dessert they should get a bonus for doing that.

Vox ,

at a lot of places tips are split between front and back of house and those tips are based on the price of the meal, not the “tip” that was given. This results in many servers losing money and having to pay coworkers out of their own pocket on big groups or expensive bills that either don’t tip at all or only tip something like 10%.

I’m not advocating for this system at all, I just wanted to share some more info on how/why tipping works the way it does (in the US at least).

KairuByte ,
@KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

What percentage tip results in negative money?

atrielienz , (edited )

It’s a tip pool. So for instance I serve a meal to a couple. The meal is $50. They tip 10%. That split means I pay (for instance) the bartender out of the $5 tip $2.50. If I get another table that orders drinks and tips nothing I end up splitting nothing. But if I work with 4 other back of house people and they each get an equal percentage of that $5 then I get a dollar. But then that dollar is taxed because tips are taxed. If the company has a policy for shares tips pooling I could legitimately make $100 in tips and not receive $100 in tips. Technically that would be receiving negative tips because what is earned vs what is paid out is so drastically different.

In addition I’ve experienced back of house workers (cooks) getting paid out of the tip pool but the brunt of tax on the tips is not paid by them. This is absolutely tax fraud. But I’d also argue that tip pools are a form of wage theft and companies that engage in one are way more likely to engage in the other.

KairuByte ,
@KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

That isn’t negative tips. The lowest you can make in tips is $0. Even when tip pooling, the lowest you can make is $0, which requires no tips what so ever to have been given. There is no 100% tax rate, and you are at no point ever paying into the tip pool out of your own pocket.

atrielienz , (edited )

I understand what you’re saying. But for a person who is now down from $5 to $2.50 to a $100 that is then taxed you’re effectively making less money than you earned. That’s why you can have negative net even while making take home pay.

But think about what might happen if the bill is paid incorrectly in cash. The company will absolutely take cash tips to compensate in the event that you or someone else messed up when counting the cash or giving change or whatever. With tip pools it’s unlikely. But it has happened.

EinfachUnersetzlich ,

Wait, you’re taxed on money you didn’t earn?

atrielienz , (edited )

It’s technically tax fraud, but yes. You could be. Back of house staff can include managers, cooks and dish washers, and even the hostess. Those people aren’t paid the $2.75 to $3.75 that the wait staff are paid. They’re considered hourly employees and they fall under different pay requirements under the law. A business that doesn’t augment the amount of pay for wait staff not making the federal minimum wage ($7.25) an hour in tips, that business is committing wage theft. To then be paying non-wait staff out of the wait staff tips is illegal as part of the wage theft. But since the company is already committing wage theft there’s no reason not to commit tax fraud to cover up the wage theft.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

Managment can not legally be part of tip pools in the US,

atrielienz ,

Please read the above thread because I recognize that it is illegal, but so are tax fraud and wage theft.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

I did. The thing is tip pools themselves aren’t inherently illegal. They’re doing illegal things with the tip pool. There is a distinction there.

atrielienz ,

Apparently Federal Law sort invalidates the legality of a tip pool altogether because the tip only counts as a tip if the person who tips determines who the tip is given to and how much and it’s non compulsory. But a lot of places ignore that as well.

www.nolo.com/…/state-laws-tipped-employees.html

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

Management was stealing wages from you, comitting tax fraud

Thst is not how taxes work, and if they’re reporting it that way they’re breaking the law.

Diasl ,

I don’t think you know how numbers work. Why would they be paying coworkers out of a tip that never existed?

Okokimup ,
@Okokimup@lemmy.world avatar

I worked as a server at olive garden many years ago. They famously had their soup, salad, and breadsticks deal for like $6 something. People would run us ragged getting more of each thing. And we’d be lucky to get a $1 or 2 because the price was so low, but it was vastly more work than regular food.

dan ,
@dan@upvote.au avatar

I think they should just be paid a decent wage for doing their job well despite what the customer decided to order

Where I live, there’s no separate minimum wage for tipped positions. It’s the same as the regular minimum wage. Even so, it’s still customary to tip, but just for some jobs. It’s never made sense to me that it’s customary to tip a Doordash driver but not a casual FedEx or UPS employee when the latter likely has more work to do and stricter deadlines to do it.

III ,

not a casual FedEx or UPS employee

Do you want corporate efforts to reduce delivery driver wages and processes to demand you pay their wages through delivery tips? Because I am sure are ready to go on this endeavor as soon as you want.

dan ,
@dan@upvote.au avatar

As far as I know, some of the casual/seasonal drivers (extra delivery drivers for holiday deliveries) don’t get paid much more than minimum wage. I’m not talking about the unionized employees.

My overall point was that there’s many jobs that get paid minimum wage, so why are only some of them tipped? It would be more consistent to either be all tipped, or not tipped.

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

It’s not going to the server, not unless the city has a minimum wage, or something. But any thing over that is 100% going to managment’s coffers.

vrighter ,

ALL cities in all states have a minimum wage for all workers. By federal law

FuglyDuck ,
@FuglyDuck@lemmy.world avatar

Yes. But some cities (or states, even,) specify another-higher minimum.

Since you want to be pedantic… most cities don’t have a minimum wage established; deferring instead to federal or state law.

phoenixz ,

18% service charge and then still ask for tips? Fuck all of this, this is a scam and refuse to pay this shit.

Dkarma ,

This is probably a hotel or resort. $4 cookie and $6 oj are the giveaways .

$11 cannoli etc.

freeman ,

Based on the bottom of the receipt i would have said to the server something like “great, it says right here no need to tip”

https://lemmy.pub/pictrs/image/e7db2010-54f2-4bec-bf17-90005dd1a8ad.png

badbytes ,

LOL

III ,

What a lovely way to ensure that your customers will never return.

SocialMediaRefugee ,

How about just raising prices since it is a cost of running the business.

Natanael ,

Exactly, it’s a linear extra cost so just bump all the prices that much.

Not_Alec_Baldwin ,

But if you tell the customer how much things cost they won’t buy as much.

It’s just layer upon layer of dishonesty. The only time businesses get honest is when the government forces them to.

freeman ,

In a vacuum that would be fine. But in the current culture that likely wouldn’t overcome the tipping standard/culture and may just drive customers away thinking the prices are too high. Unless you have a huge blatant no tipping sign all over the place.

This isn’t too indigestible as it stands provided the wait staff understand they are likely to only get a tip for excellent service.

But to do this on top of an 11 dollar cannoli. That’s a bit different too. I hope it was like a dozen cannolis.

awesome357 ,

That sounds just like tipping, but with more steps. And also the resteraunt skimming a chunk of it too I’m sure. 18% service fee so we can pay 8% higher wages.

WhipTheLlama ,

That sounds just like tipping, but with more steps

That sounds like the exact same amount of steps as tipping.

freeman ,

If anything it’s less steps. You aren’t doing any math or making any judgement calls with a service charge.

Rootiest ,
@Rootiest@lemmy.world avatar

Why have a service fee at all then?

Just raise the prices and use the extra income to pay the employees better if that’s really your intention.

People won’t get upset about the tip on top of it if you don’t already have a “service charge” sectioned off in the receipt.

Aceticon ,

It’s so that they can deceitfully advertise prices which are lower than the real price.

I believe this is totally illegal in the EU (because they’re obligated to list prices and all charges, fully, upfront and that even includes taxes) but I guess that in the US there are States were it’s either not illegal or has never been challenge in court.

SpaceCadet ,
@SpaceCadet@feddit.nl avatar

I had a service charge like that added in Rome once. It is most likely illegal, but Rome is a pretty lawless place as it is where everybody tries to scam you all the time, so I didn’t bother spending time arguing it and getting all worked up about a couple of euros during my holiday, just avoided the place thereafter. I know that’s probably what they’re counting on …

Karyoplasma ,

Oh yes, the “coperto” or cover charge. Restaurants that are worth going to will tell you upfront about whether they charge you that and how much. Tourist traps will just put a small sign somewhere on the premises that informs you of their ass-pull fee.

I went to a small café in Venice and had a cup of coffee for 4€. They charged me a fixed 14€ coperto.

Aceticon ,

So that shit is actually legal in Italy?

In that case I was totaly wrong on my belief on it not being legal in the EU.

SkippingRelax ,

Coperto is perfectly legal and the norm everywhere. It would be clearly mentioned on the menu, typically at the bottom of every page and it is around a couple bucks per person. It’s for the bread and bread sticks you get on the table, water and electricity to wash cutlery and plates you use, and to pay for serving stuff and rent. Why not included in the price of that pizza you might ask? Because I might order that pizza to take away and not use all of the above.

Some touristy places take advantage of it, doesn’t make sense for a coffee in Venice (though I’m not surprised). A couple of bucks that op was charged at a restaurant in Rome on the other hand, 100% expected everywhere in Italy.

Source, am from there.

SpaceCadet ,
@SpaceCadet@feddit.nl avatar

I just read about coperto here, and I don’t think that was it. I’m pretty sure it said “Servizio” on the bill, and it was a percentage on top of the price of what we ordered.

Aceticon ,

Oh yeah, I live in Portugal and here too foreign tourists are natural targets for scammy shit. It’s not too much but there are certainly bad actors who will take advantage of people who don’t speak the local language and don’t know their rights.

However I suspect it’s a lot worse when some kinds of scams are actually legal.

Nahdahar ,

In my country (in the EU) usually if a service charge is added on top of the order, it’s because that particular place doesn’t accept tips.

SpaceCadet ,
@SpaceCadet@feddit.nl avatar

That would be illegal in the EU country where I live (Belgium). Here the rule is that the advertised price must always include any mandatory charges, like VAT and service charges, so that advertised price = price the consumer would have to pay.

Source: economie.fgov.be/nl/themas/…/prijsaanduiding

Translation:

Price indication

Companies offering goods or services must indicate the price in writing in a legible, visible and unambiguous manner.

The price is the total price to be paid by the consumer, including VAT and all other taxes or services that the consumer is obliged to pay extra. These prices are stated at least in euros.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

That would be illegal in the EU country where I live (Belgium).

Further evidence that America isn’t a legal country.

roofuskit ,

I the s legal most places in the US, some big cities like New York City have outlawed it.

Rivalarrival , (edited )

Look at how the tips were calculated. They were based on a bill of $95.65, the price of the meal before the service fee.

This service fee allowed them to increase the price of the meal by 18% without increasing the calculated tip by 18%.

They are stiffing their employees.

Edit: A $100 check would have an expected, 15% tip of $15. A $118 check would have an expected 15% tip of $17.70. What they are doing lets them calculate a 15%, $15 tip on a $118 bill. They are “stealing” $2.70 worth of tips on every $100 worth of sales.

WhipTheLlama ,

Alternative option: the service fee is the tip because there’s no way I’m paying more than what’s on that bill.

Rivalarrival ,

That just fucks over the waitstaff without harming the business at all.

Best option is to walk out as soon as you see notice of a service fee. It should be printed on the menu or a sign posted on entry.

UnderpantsWeevil ,
@UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world avatar

Just raise the prices

They’re already selling lemonade for $6. The sky is clearly the limit.

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

If the service charge is so they can pay the employees better, I guess they don’t need a tip on top of that unless they went above and beyond their basic duties. Like what a tip should be for

bmsok ,

The entire service fee thing is fraud at this point. Undercutting wages and skimming profits for owners off the backs of their employees.

I know it’s been happening forever but this shit has been escalating exponentially.

HawlSera ,

It’s to make you mad at their employees

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

It’s failing. I’m just mad at the employer.

HawlSera ,

Because you’re not a moron.

This is for Fox News watching Grannies to look at and go “Them libruls are making my food expensice because dey don’t wanna git no jerbs”

Nollij ,

Possibly illegal, depending on your local laws.

If it is legal, contact your congressman (local, state, national) because it sure as hell needs to be illegal.

CanadaPlus ,

So you carefully included every possible level of US government, but still forgot about the entire rest of the world.

Sabin10 ,

The rest of the world doesn’t exist, it’s just a scam made up by the passport cartel to fleece you of your money every few years.

CanadaPlus ,

Can confirm, I’m just standing in a blank white space. It’s weird I get wifi.

gdog05 ,

Do a search for the Tianamen Square massacre. You’ll at least know if you’re Chinese white space or non Chinese white space

CanadaPlus ,

Oh no, it’s turning black. Chairman forgive me!

Nollij ,

First, many places have a local, state, and national government. Particularly the ones that use dollars and expect an additional tip, as shown on the receipt.

Stop trying to be offended at everything.

CanadaPlus ,

My country, which has dollars and expects tips, doesn’t. And this read like it was addressing unexpected fees at restaurants in general.

Stop pretending Americans don’t do this constantly. Everyone who’s not American is very familiar with it, and honestly it’s understandable with how big and self-contained that country is. I might not even have commented if it wasn’t for the remarkable thoroughness short of that detail.

Nollij ,

I presume you’re in Canada. Aside from calling them provinces, and possibly having a different name for your legislative representatives, are you saying you DON’T have a local, state, and national government where my advice would be relevant?

CanadaPlus ,

No, you’re advice was great. I just found the phrasing weird enough to point out. Sorry if it came across as angry.

DeepFriedDresden ,

Let's see... dollar sign? Well that cuts out a lot of the world. Written in English, so that leaves about 3 countries. Australia doesn't have a tipping culture the same way we do in North America so that leaves either Canada or the US, in which case you can replace state with province and cover your bases.

CanadaPlus ,

Don’t forget New Zealand. They do tip down under, but it sounds like they don’t recommend tips the same way.

Yeah, sure, the jist applies everywhere. OP could have saved words just saying “representitives”. That’s the part that was interesting, and now people are big butthurt I pointed it out.

Nollij ,

I mentioned all 3 because people (at least around me) tend to forget the first 2, despite those being much easier to make these types of changes.

wolfpack86 ,

Percentages on the tip are lower than US tip amounts. So I would guess not US, though this would obviously happen in the states.

DeepFriedDresden ,

Good catch, I didn't even notice the percentages. I did look at the date but of course the meal was purchased on the one day this month where that's not helpful

Nollij ,

Do other countries itemize tax separately? I thought the US was alone on that.

Also, 9.5% is in line with sales tax in a few US states, as is calling it tax instead of VAT (or similar)

wolfpack86 ,

Idunno. don’t remember what they do in Canada.

Spaghetti_Hitchens , (edited )

Looks at a picture of a receipt that is almost certainly from the US:

What about the rest of the world?!

CanadaPlus ,

It looks exactly like a receipt that could be here, too. As has been repeatedly pointed out to me, there’s only 2 to 4 countries this could apply to, but you’ll excuse me for expecting the same thing as always was happening.

flipht ,

Very unlikely. There's a statement at the bottom that explains what the fee is. There's a QR code at the top for more information, which OP cut off.

I doubt they went through the effort of updating their POS system, providing links to info on the receipt, and chose not to post a sign or put a note on the menu. Everywhere I have been with a service fee like this posts it, which would negate any legal issue.

Caveat emptor.

LufyCZ ,

It’s illegal if the fact that a service fee would be added wasn’t shared before ordering (on the menu / by the waiter /…)

Nollij ,

Possibly. Local laws vary heavily, and could limit hidden fees like these. If the franchise is in one of these places, but the parent chain is not, it could easily be implemented despite being illegal. It’s a similar case if the local operator didn’t have the required notices in the required way, since it would be done separately. Not necessarily out of malice, but a ton of places simply do not run a tight ship. The receipt is absolutely not the place these notices are required; that’s just a convenience.

It’s also possible that the POS has a bunch of options that can easily be set by management without involving lawyers. A required tip (often for large groups, but not always) is an easy use case for this. So are the various messages, including the tipping scale, or adding a promotional QR code (e.g. scan the code to fill out a survey and get $5 off your next visit)

In any event, I stand behind my advice- check if it’s illegal, and push to make it illegal.

irotsoma ,
@irotsoma@lemmy.world avatar

Basically, they just raised their prices by 18% and blamed it on the greedy, useless employees. I don’t know why businesses bother selflessly “creating jobs” if they are so much trouble. Shouldn’t those be the first things to cut to make their business more efficient under capitalism? Stop doing charity work and run the business yourself.

ChaoticNeutralCzech ,

Probably better than expecting customers to tip voluntarily

Oh wait, they do that too

III ,

I hope their customers are exclusively people who support the the below minimum wage for servers law.

Rivalarrival ,

Basically, they just raised their prices by 18% and blamed it on the greedy, useless employees.

No, it’s worse than that.

Look at how the tips are calculated. They use the base bill of 95.60, not the bill after the service charge has been applied.

If they rolled an 18% increase into their prices, the calculated tip would also rise 18%. But it didn’t.

So in addition to effectively raising their prices and blaming their employees for it, they are also stiffing their employees by low-balling their tip calculations.

irotsoma ,
@irotsoma@lemmy.world avatar

Actually, what I’m saying was that there shouldn’t be a need for a tip at all. That 18% service charge is for services rendered outside of the production of the product, meaning the server, cashier, etc. In most countries that’s rolled into the cost of the product, not a separate charge. In the US, that’s paid for through tips instead. What they’re doing is trying to double dip. They want to keep the money that normally would go to paying the service staff a wage without raising advertised prices and also have a separate tip to actually pay them.

This is a classic bait and switch where advertised price is not what you actually pay. Doesn’t matter if they put a little sign to cover their legal obligations, it’s still disingenuous to advertise one price and charge another. Tipping and taxes are common knowledge in the US as being added on after, but a service charge in addition to tipping is not and most people will assume that the service charge is a tip and won’t also tip whereas it doesn’t go directly to the service staff like a tip does. So likely in this place, the service staff just gets their $2.13/hr or whatever the tipped minimum is there, and a few dollars here and there in actual tips but doesn’t get any of that 18% unless tips don’t cover the required hourly $5.12 tip credit.

So they need to choose. Raise your prices for more profit and keep tipping, raise your prices to pay your service staff and do away with tipping, or keep your prices lower and risk tipping not covering the minimum wage tip credit.

billwashere ,

I would simply not go to that restaurant anymore and very plainly let them know why. This is greed and I will not reward it.

Much like when I place a to go order and go pick up the order and the POS (point of sale not piece of shit if you’re wondering) system pops up that tip screen. You didn’t do anything worthy of a tip so I will not be tipping you. Now if for example when I get there they apply some discount I wasn’t aware of that makes my bill cheaper, I’ll tip for that. Throw in some extra cheese sauce, tip. Anything above and beyond, tip. Just ring me up and hand me my food, yeah no tip.

Imgonnatrythis ,

You realize that giving you 5% off so you will tip 15% is still greed though right? The greed is always there, it’s just your perception of how it’s delivered. We expect a little foreplay with our greed.

billwashere ,

I didn’t say I was giving them 15%. I give 18% for full service. But a buck or two for something like this.

DrMango ,

It’s this (the service charge) or they raise prices across the menu. Some people prefer this, some people prefer the added cost baked in.

Personally I think the service charge is a little deceptive because you are hit with an unexpected expense at the end of your meal. Even if they’re very up front about the charge most people won’t be automatically calculating the 18% extra on whatever they’re spending, they’re just going to look at the price on the menu.

Rootiest ,
@Rootiest@lemmy.world avatar

Some people prefer this

Citation needed.

HeyThisIsntTheYMCA ,
@HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

I think those people own restaurants

Aceticon ,

They have raise prices across the menu, by 18% to be more specific.

Segregating the price increase as “service fee” is only so that they can deceitfully advertise their prices a lower than they really are, a form of Consumer Fraud (I believe this one is a form of Bait & Switch)

Rivalarrival ,

Not quite. A $100 meal would have a routine 15%, $15 tip. Increase the price 18%, and a $118 meal would have an expected 15%, $17.70 tip.

Look at the tip calculations on this receipt: they are based on the price of the meal before the service fee. If this restaurant sold a $118 meal, it’s expected 15% tip would be $15, not $17.70.

They are stealing $2.70 from staff on every $100 check.

Rivalarrival ,

Look at the calculated tips. They are based on $95.60, the price of the meal before the 18% service charge.

If they raise their prices by 18%, they would have to raise their tip calculation by 18%.

They are stiffing their employees.

Buffalox ,

Oh boy, the unlawfulness of USA. This would be clearly illegal in EU, as misleading pricing.
Even if stated there’s an 18% extra fee, I’m pretty sure it would be illegal to state prices exclusively without it.
I would simply refuse to pay that fee if it was here, and report them to authorities.

skullgiver , (edited )
@skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    Hawk ,

    Where is this common? I know you often see it in scummy tourist traps, but besides that I’ve not seen something like it.

    ook_the_librarian ,
    @ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world avatar

    Where is this common?

    I believe you most often see this in scummy tourist traps.

    ook_the_librarian ,
    @ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world avatar

    In America, the restaurant would have to post this on the menu. Thus we have fine-print on our menus. God bless the USA.

    It’s nice to hear the EU doesn’t let that crap slide.

    skullgiver , (edited )
    @skullgiver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl avatar

    deleted_by_author

    •
    ook_the_librarian ,
    @ook_the_librarian@lemmy.world avatar

    You’re probably right. But judging from other comments in sounded like a small note on the front cover of a menu saying ‘there will be a flat rate surcharge’ would not be adequate.

    Obviously, this is a horrible way for me to collect legal advice, but would a fine-print note on a menu fly? (interpret ‘fly’ however, I’m clearly naïve here.)

    Obi ,
    @Obi@sopuli.xyz avatar

    Scummy businesses sure exist but you would never see this in Amsterdam or Paris. I’m pretty sure there are laws that whatever price is shown is the final price.

    ropegirth ,

    Increase the price of everything and pay a life supporting amount of money per hour of work. No tipping, no more service charge.

    This service charge is literally the same but blaming the employees.

    billwashere ,

    This is at least more honest.

    loopedcandle ,

    Not if you made decisions based on the price on the menu. It’s designed so menu prices look low.

    billwashere ,

    If I can’t afford without the service charge, I can’t afford it with the service charge. Either way I’m lying to myself to justify it. Either the meal is worth it or it isn’t.

    Illegal_Prime ,

    I actually support phasing tips out for service fees, less dodgy and less influenced by cognitive biases from customers toward certain genders or ethnicities of staff.

    Conradfart ,

    Yeah, but phasing out should probably be some form of cross tapering, not a decently sized service charge and the same size “suggested tip” on top.

    orclev ,

    There’s no need for a service fee, just increase the prices of everything by 18% or whatever. It’s more honest that way instead of listing one price and then springing a hidden fee on people at checkout. Part of why this particular example is so dodgy is they seem to be fishing for a service fee and a tip, which just seems like double dipping on hidden fees.

    Illegal_Prime ,

    It’s important to require disclosure of the service fee. In my experience usually listed at the bottom of the menu. I know at least in some instances there are crowdsourced master lists of restaurants with hidden fees, and enforcement of disclosure requirements seems to have stepped up.

    quinkin ,

    You could go hog wild and include tax in the prices too. Then the price of an item could be the price of an item instead of the start of a maths quiz.

    Kirca ,

    Wild to me that theres a whole country out there that has so much influence over my life (an entire ocean away) and they don’t know how much their meal will be before the cheque comes. Incredible.

    xX_fnord_Xx ,

    But we need every price to end in .99! /S

    SocialMediaRefugee ,

    Roll it into the prices then. Any mandatory fee is a cost of doing business, don’t make it look like your food costs less than it really does. Only taxes should be separate.

    SlopppyEngineer ,

    It’s a USA thing. Other places often have rules that say the price advertised (on menu, website, in store) is the price the customer pays, all fees and taxes included.

    Zagorath ,
    @Zagorath@aussie.zone avatar

    Yeah in Australia restaurants are allowed to have a service fee only if it’s applied on select days (e.g. weekends and public holidays, but not every single day of the week) and they clearly display the conditions of the service fee “at least as prominently as the most prominent price on the menu”. Otherwise, they have to roll in any fees into the main advertised price.

    SeaJ , (edited )

    I don’t return to restaurants that pull this bullshit. Raise your menu prices to provide a living wage or take a hit to your profits.

    Snipe_AT ,
    @Snipe_AT@lemmy.atay.dev avatar

    deleted_by_author

    •
    AnxiousOtter ,

    Ya this. The extra 18% should be baked into the menu pricing so that at least the cost is known up front. This is kind of like sneaking it in.

    DacoTaco ,
    @DacoTaco@lemmy.world avatar

    As a european, not knowing and legit asking: isnt that the thing all over the usa? I mean, you pick up something at the store, go to the counter and then SUPRISE, tax is added on top of the price. Like, that also feels like sneaking in extra costs?

    Drivebyhaiku ,

    Basically. People just get used to the nebulous mental calculations of how much tax one can expect. It encourages a culture of routine overspending and should be illegal.

    People expect to budget roughly tax and tip, they are basically mad because this is not a cultural norm and they got stung by surprise.

    SeaJ ,

    A sales tax is expected in most states and is generally fairly similar within each state and almost never come to more than 10%. That also pays for services that most people use.

    This extra charge at this restaurant is not common nor is it expected. They also set it at 18% which is a standard tip rate but specifically say it is not a tip. They claim it is to provide decent wages but considering they still allow tips (some places do this but do not allow tipping on top) , that pretty obviously is not true. This is just a bullshit tactic to have prices seem lower than the menu price.

    albert180 ,

    Yes, we have sales tax too. It’s just stupid that it isn’t included in the sticker price

    SeaJ ,

    Sales tax is fairly rare outside of the US. Most countries have a value added tax instead. The end result is largely the same but a VAT has fewer incentives to skirt it.

    DacoTaco ,
    @DacoTaco@lemmy.world avatar

    Sale tax is everywhere. And still, if its a static amount per state, why not include it on the sticker price so you know exactly how much you will be paying?

    Inventory and sticker work is done by computers, they know the price …

    SeaJ ,

    Believe it or not, some states do not allow that to be included on the sticker price since the sticker is there to note the price of the item. The sales tax is a tax on the transaction. You could probably note both but that might confuse dumb people.

    DacoTaco ,
    @DacoTaco@lemmy.world avatar

    Thanks for the info! Ye, i think vat would be better too

    SeaJ ,

    Yes, prices on each item should increase. This is just a sneaky way of avoiding doing that. A bunch of dick head restaurant owners tried doing shit like this when my city passed a law making $15/hr the minimum wage with no exemptions for tipped workers. Restaurant owners like Tom Douglas had to raise prices but didn’t want to so they tacked on an extra fee and claimed it was a living wage fee but you were still expected to tip just as much. If I was certain that money was actually going to workers, I might be okay with it but there is nothing forcing them to give it to workers. Also, it is straight up admitting that you were paying starvation wages before.

    People expected tons of restaurants to close after the minimum wage went up. None really closed and prices are fairly similar to most large cities. Some place did love to a no tip model with higher prices but generally it has been the same where you to 18-20% on the cost of the bill.

    s_s , (edited )

    So, restaurants might do this to avoid the cost of printing new menus with new prices.

    Much easier and cheapers to just print signs at the table, especially if you think prices will go up again soon.

    But this looks like they’re trying to screw you.

    PhlubbaDubba ,

    That’s literally what they did and you just posted this comment flipping shit because they had the audacity to tell you it was going to the workers.

    Marin_Rider ,

    even in countries that actually pay their staff right, there’s no way those base prices don’t cover the cost of food, staff and overheads.

    then they have the gall to charge a “service charge” to pay the staff.

    THEN they have the gall to imply you still need to tip

    fuck that to hell

    PhlubbaDubba ,

    That’s not implying anything that’s just listing the amount that any given percentage would be if you want to tip the waiter specifically, you might notice that all the percentages are below what’s seen as the base for a good tip, save the 15% which is just at it depending on where you’re eating at.

    The service charge is for the pool for all the staff while the tip on this one is actually a good service reward since they adjusted price to facilitate a better wage, like they literally said at the bottom of the stub.

    Marin_Rider ,

    absolute crazy bullshit. don’t stand for that. restaurant price here what you see is what you pay. no stupid surcharges and no stupid tipping. fuck all that

    PhlubbaDubba ,

    Literally you’re being amgy that they told you money was going to the workers

    Marin_Rider ,

    spoiler: it’s not

    join the first world and just pay them properly without all your fancy extra charges

    KneeTitts ,
    @KneeTitts@lemmy.world avatar

    Or, you know maybe the owner could live without a 5th cottage possibly?? naaaaaaa

    SeaJ ,

    That would be the ‘take a hit to profits.’ Yeah, I don’t expect that either. What’s annoying is that it is always the very profitable douche bag restaurants that do this. Most restaurants struggle to make ends meat.

    Showroom7561 ,

    Are restaurants just poorly managed, or is there another reason why they can’t pay their employees a living wage when their markup is like 400-1000%?

    batmaniam ,

    Restaurants have notoriously thin margins. I’m not defending this bill, and there are definitely awful practices out there, but it ain’t easy. Even a $34 dollar steak only kind of covers all the ancillary costs that make it happen.

    The biggest issue with the crunch we have going on is that food (prepared or otherwise) should be way more expensive, and that shouldn’t be an issue because most people should be making way more money. All of those should/shouldn’ts got way out of whack over the course of decades, and the circus only continued because people found crappy ways to keep it going.

    It’s a lot of industries. Construction is a great example. The developers make money. The material vendors make money. The builders make money. The sub contractors who actually put the parts together get haggled on invoices and take the lower amount because they have payroll to make and equipment loans to pay. Loans that are happily given out because the equipment can be easily repossessed.

    It’s a very good thing everything is correcting, but it’s going to be an ugly process as workers get their due and pass the burden on to the small business owners.

    Kage520 ,

    I worked at a pizza shop way back ages ago (early 2000’s), but I think the formula is generally the same. Food costs they would shoot for 33%, labor ended up being around 33%, the rest was overhead for the facility (rent, AC, etc) and profit.

    I think that’s actually a pretty fair amount of profit in that. But that was almost 20 years ago. I feel like the formula is likely similar though.

    batmaniam ,

    So way late, but no that’s shifted a lot. This is anecdotal but does speak to a lot of industries: my understanding is that pizza shops now live or die by cheese prices.

    Labor, while fluctuating, doesn’t move a ton month to month. Dairy can.

    That’s like I said anecdotal, but broadly, real-estate, equipment purchase/finacince has all been so hyper optimized it squeezes the business owners out.

    It doesn’t matter the market. PIZZAOVEN-XL will sell it to you, let you leverage payments against your home equity, grab it back and resell it. They can deal with the cash flow issue. They are “assembled in America”. They don’t care if you go out of business. They’ll do it again for the same person that moves into the same space trying to do the. Exact. Same. Thing.

    And I’m not trying to draw a blanket statement across all industries. I’m just saying the wheels that make every industry move are smarter and literally longer lived than anyone starting out, and there’s a reason “John deer” and “John deer finance” are seperate companies.

    snooggums ,
    @snooggums@kbin.social avatar

    Sounds like sit down restaurant menus should reflect the actual costs including waitstaff then like any fast food place is able to do.

    DAMunzy ,

    Wait staff with tips get more than fast food restaurant employees though

    HeyThisIsntTheYMCA ,
    @HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world avatar

    That’s a great argument for the manager/owner to do a shit job

    Frostbeard ,

    Cheap sub contractors need so much constant control to make sure things are delivered on spec that it is almost like it costs more than to hire the more expensive company with a reputation for solid work

    RubberElectrons ,
    @RubberElectrons@lemmy.world avatar

    Saw exactly this when I was doing commissioning for a large municipality. No matter how tight the specs were, some of these knuckleheads would do it their own way and get mad when we forced them to do it right.

    Some of them would just claim bankruptcy if the mistake was big enough.

    Pro-tip, friends: don’t pick the lowest cost of construction bids, I guaran-fucking-tee it’ll cost you more than you saved. And, anyone who says they “meet code” is really saying they do the bare minimum required.

    Showroom7561 ,

    Restaurants have notoriously thin margins.

    Help me understand.

    Assuming restaurants have the same overhead as any other business: rent, staff, insurance, maybe equipment (manufacturing, etc.), what else?

    They don’t have expenses like vehicles, tariffs on imported goods, the cost to fly staff out for conferences, tech costs, and so on.

    The only difference is the product they bring in, and the product they put out.

    As a consumer, who doesn’t get the benefit of industry discounts or high-volume prices, making food is really inexpensive.

    When I see a restaurant, for example, selling pasta with marinara sauce for $15-20 a plate, I’m curious to know why they have to beg to cover costs. You can make the same dish for a family of four for under $3, and save $100 you’d spend getting the same dish at a restaurant.

    So, again, if the cost of ingredients allows for such a significant markup, well beyond what most other businesses are able to get away with, why are restaurants having to charge “service fees” on top of tips?

    ShaggySnacks ,

    It’s the behind the scenes that cause a lot of the markup. There might be only two or three food service providers in your area. Food Service Company A has the same prices as Food Service Company B and C. There is no real competition to force prices down for restaurants.

    If you are a franchise restaurant, you have to pay franchise fees, buy your all products from the franchise, work within the certain parameters, etc. There is no real way to find ways to drive down prices since your prices are set by the franchise through the prices of the product, corporate oversight, etc.

    Showroom7561 ,

    Great points!

    batmaniam ,

    So I’m stretching it a bit because at the end of the day this really does apply to more than restaurants, but the other commenter had it right.

    Things like rent, insurance, etc go into the cost for well above the plate. So the ingredients are one thing, but you have to make up the cost of rent, paying the staff when there’s low customer volume, all the insane amount of costs that go into running a business. That server has to make up for the cost of printing menus and delivering them by mail.

    None of this is the servers fault, who should get a fair wage, but it all adds up in a way that makes it hard for the owner. In fact, the person who sold them the grills, refrigerators, and all the other equipment, knows exactly and empirically how hard it is and sets their prices accordingly.

    And it’s not like that company’s delivery drivers, techs, and fabrication workers also don’t deserve a wage. Or the Tyson folks that are plucking the chicken delivered.

    The issue is, at the end of the day, those companies probably should be less profitable. But instead of accepting that, we put all of the companies that make all the stuff that run that restaurant into bigger companies that are now part of mutual funds, and they sell it out knowing they can grab it back if it goes under.

    So you might be able to get away with making a few plates and some money, but trying turning it into something that will let you pay your rent and put your kids into a school. “Bob’s Burgers” is pretty true to life.

    ApexHunter ,

    This is how to tell someone you haven’t checked grocery prices lately without actually telling them you haven’t checked grocery prices lately. A box of mediocre pasta alone is going to cost you $1.75. A jar of Preggo will run you another 2.50. So 4.25 for an I hate life spaghetti and marinara meal.

    The sauce they make probably doesn’t come out of a jar of reconstituted tomato paste and dried seasonings either.

    If you buy decent ingredients you are looking at $3 for the pasta and $9 for the sauce. Or $12 for an “ok for a home cook” spaghetti meal with no protein.

    Restaurant serving sizes (for better or worse) are usually 2x+ larger than you would serve at home. Rent isn’t free for the restaurant either. Or labor. Or utilities. Or equipment. Etc. General rule of thumb is that a restaurant needs to charge 3x raw food costs to cover expenses.

    So your I hate life pasta would need to be priced at $6.50 and your ok for home but not something I would be happy with getting at a restaurant pasta would need to be priced at $18.

    Showroom7561 ,

    This is how to tell someone you haven’t checked grocery prices lately without actually telling them you haven’t checked grocery prices lately.

    I’m going to assume you don’t cook at home.

    No restaurant worth eating at buys packaged pasta, or packaged bread/buns, or canned sauce.

    Flour is cheap, like really cheap. If a restaurant is buying real ingredients, then they are spending pennies and charging tens of dollars.

    Restaurant serving sizes (for better or worse) are usually 2x+ larger than you would serve at home.

    I highly disagree. I’ve never left a restaurant “full”, even after spending enough to buy a months worth of real food ingredients.

    Rent isn’t free for the restaurant either. Or labor. Or utilities. Or equipment. Etc. General rule of thumb is that a restaurant needs to charge 3x raw food costs to cover expenses.

    This I agree with. Is rent, labor, equipment at a restaurant significantly more than other places of work? Paying min wage doesn’t exactly eat through your margins.

    ApexHunter ,

    That whooshing sound, in case you were curious, was the point sailing right over your head.

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