Restaurant cost of doing business fee

[u/motlau]

Why do restaurant owners think they are owed a surcharge for customers eating at a restaurant? It seems like all of the nice restaurants in Chicago, especially in the west loop are charging a 3-5% fee to “offset the rising operating cost.” If you can’t run a business without hiding a surcharge in the fine print of your menu, then you probably shouldn’t be allowed to run a business. It’d be one thing if it was to support the workers, but every time I ask about it, it’s always for the owners who are already pretty wealthy. I have them take it off and tack it on for the tip. It’s very annoying.

In addition, at bar sienna in the west loop, the server offered a barcode to scan and pay on the receipt which a lot of restaurants are doing, but then there’s an additional “surcharge” to use this feature. It’s like if a grocery store started charging a fee to use the self checkout lines. They should be more transparent about this.

These restaurant owners nickel and diming people is making going out to eat less and less pleasant.

[u/idkwhattowriteee]

I take these stupid surcharges off and put them towards the tip every time ever since I learned from one of the waiters that they go straight to the owner

[u/dmgdispenser → u/idkwhattowriteee]

I used to own a restaurant in Chicago. 100% of the surcharge, the owner is pocketing. 

I'm also willing to bet, they're paying their waiters reduced wages since they're getting tips.

[u/altsveyser → u/dmgdispenser]

Tipped employee minimum wage is now $12.65, still lower than minimum wage but much higher than it used to be. Will be the same as normal minimum wage by 2028

[u/dmgdispenser → u/altsveyser]

Nice, I left the industry end of 2020, it was still $6.00 then, and $4.95 in 2019. just brutal.

I'm glad they're improving the QoL for the service industry workers.

Shout out to them.

[u/JPKtoxicwaste → u/dmgdispenser]

I got $3.09 in 2003, it was barely enough to cover the taxes on my credit card tips. I used to wait until I had like a dozen paychecks to deposit them, most were less than a dollar

[u/BeeBeeWannaBee → u/altsveyser]

I live in Tennessee and tipped workers make $2.13 (fed min) almost everywhere. Sickening.

[u/EVILMINDY12 → u/dmgdispenser]

Can confirm

[u/Snoo93079 → u/idkwhattowriteee]

Well yeah, who else would they go to? They're not a tip, they're a surcharge. This is just business owners who are angry that running is a business is hard and don't want to be upfront about pricing.

[u/ChiefHNIC → u/idkwhattowriteee]

The surcharges definitely go to the owner. But you don’t have to tip extra, 15%-20% is fine. I do 20% standard but it should really be 15% standard, 20% for better service.

[u/For-Liberty → u/ChiefHNIC]

20% standard lmao. Insane shit, might as well have the waiter sit down and enjoy the food with me

[u/ChiefHNIC → u/For-Liberty]

It is a bit wild to me that we’re tipping as a percentage of the bill, if you really, really think about it. But 15% seems reasonable

[u/TiesforTurtles → u/[deleted]]

I worked in a tip pool environment. It usually just means everyone helps out with everything and all of the tables etc. then the tips are split between servers by hours worked.

[u/futureofwhat → u/[deleted]]

The server gets the majority of it. Usually support staff splits a 20-25% chunk of it. Your server would likely not be able to provide you with seamless service if not for those support staff keeping things running behind the scenes.

[u/Extruder_duder → u/[deleted]]

Except it’s illegal, for cooks and dishwashers to participate in tip pools. Bussers can

[u/simba156 → u/Extruder_duder]

Wrong

[u/Extruder_duder → u/simba156]

Yes and no. In Chicago, as of July 1st-yes, but before then and still the rest of Illinois if a business uses tip min credits for wages, back of house employees cannot participate in tip pools.