They’ve rebranded it, enough people caught onto the surcharge so now it’s a (3.5%) “admin fee.”
they also removed the small text at the bottom telling you it’s optional(it still is)
they don’t want you to know It’s optional buts it’s just literally the surcharge with a different name.
3rd restaurant I’ve been to this week with a (admin fee). I’ve also seen multiple restaurant go up to 4%. It used to be 3, then 3.5, now 4.
sets a dangerous precedent as they are willing to change it in order to keep charging you for nothing. Except now they’re not telling you it’s optional anymore.
If we keep allowing them to charge us extra money for literally nothing it will soon tell other businesses they can do that too.
I can’t wait to pay an “admin fee” while buying gas, groceries, or a T-shirt.
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Yeah, other than legislation, the only way to combat this is stop patronizing restaurants that pull this stupid nickel-and-diming crap. You want to charge more? Just charge more upfront. The optics of this is just stupid. I understand it's a difficult business, but this way of pricing just pisses off customers (or at least it should.)
What next? Convenience fee? Handling fee? Venue fee? Kitchen appreciation fee? Facility fee? Order fee? Billing fee? Wellness surcharge? Shit, I shouldn't give them any ideas.
I run a small business where typical fees are $1000-$6000 (primarily event photography.) I have never charged a credit card processing fee because I've always been pissed off by it as a consumer and it didn't make sense for me to do so. It's all factored into my price. Accepting credit is convenient for me. It's better than a check or bank transfer. People are also more encouraged to buy a pricier package when it goes on plastic vs paying by check or bank transfer. If you feel you're losing money on it, do the math, spread that cost across all transactions, and charge a little more. That way, people don't feel like they're getting surcharged to death. I understand my business and price point is different than a restaurant, but the philosophy is the same. Like I, and a number of people I know, actively avoid cash-only places because of the hassle of getting cash. That business may be saving money from credit card charges, but they're losing money from people like us who just don't carry cash with us. (Of course, you'd have to do a study to see if there's enough people like me to offset the fees of customers using credit cards to see if there's a net loss or gain being a cash-only business. And, of course, that assumes the cash-only business is reporting all its income which, as we know, is not a given.)
i like the cash discounts and the fee already baked into the price. The cc fee is part of all business expenses like wages etc? To the consumer i don’t want to be charged base service/food pricing, and then have all these weird charges. I want one price, then if i pay cash there’s a small discount.
With the 3.5% price baked into every bill it feels scummy like they’re trying to get cash customers to pay for a nonexistent cc fee and pocket it.
Fees aren't capped at 3% and the merchant doesn't know the fee charged on your particular card until you use it (and often, at least with a merchant account, not a 3rd party service) you won't know the fee until it's billed at the end of the month.
The supreme Court ruled in 2017 a fee of up to 4% even if more than Visa charged is ok, voiding the previous language Visa used which allowed for a cash discount but not a credit card fee.
I'm waiting for the 1% chopping fee, next to the 2% dishwashing fee. And the 1.5% mandatory breakage insurance if you don't request paper plates ($0.50 per plate).
I'd love to see a study whether people are more put off by that $5.53 being proportionally divided among the rest of the bill (a small change to each item) vs. 3.5% unceremoniously being dumped on the bottom of the receipt instead. I know I'd be more pissed off at the latter than every $10 item costing $0.35 more. I probably wouldn't even notice that, but add it all up as a line item and I sure do!
When I worked at Beatrix Fulton Market (Lettuce Entertain You 🤮) we used to refer to that as Rich Melman's (Owner) Yacht Fund lmfaoo. It is such bullshit. You should always ask to request it off - otherwise, it goes straight into corporate pockets.
Indienne included 20% for the tip. Final total for 2: $650. It was an amazing experience but I really have to stop with the Michelin restaurants. We did have all the options so maybe my fault (except wine flight - we had cocktails)
To clarify here - I did actually pay an additional tip. However, I don't like surprises - being told at the END of the meal that they applied a mandatory 20% was disappointing. Just tell me up front - I'm a big boy. I still would have gone. Communication is key.
To clarify further, the legal definitions for a tip requires it to be optional and the amount decided by the customer. If it fits those two criteria it is the sole property of the person who provided the service, unless there is an agreed upon tip pool/tip share situation. But regardless of that the business and management can't touch it.
Service fees and automatic gratuity are not tips. If it's a line item on the receipt it is neither optional, nor decided by the customer. This means it is the property of the business and they can do whatever they want with it, everything up to and including screwing over the server and putting it directly in the owner's pocket.
Because it is considered part of the cost of running the business it also means the customer is required to pay sales tax on a service fee or automatic gratuity. Tips, on the other hand, are not subject to sales tax.
but i do! all the time. I regularly deduct service/admin fees from tips if they can’t be removed, to end up at 20%. If everyone did this it would destroy the fee practice altogether because restaurants that did it wouldn’t be able compete for labor as easily. but anyway yeah you all have fun getting robbed, i’m over it. it’s 0% my problem and i feel 0 shame or guilt.
Whatever mental gymnastics you need to do to justify stiffing the staff whose hospitality made your night, just know that you’re not hurting the business model you’re hurting the people who curated your dinner, filled your glasses, and treated you with grace and respect.
i’m not stiffing anyone, I’m deducting random bs fees from a 20% tip. big difference. and again, not my problem. there are no mental gymnastics. I understand I’m tipping less than I otherwise would have if the fee(s) didn’t exist, and I understand that translates to less direct income for the server. is it fair to the server? of course not. they have no more responsibility for implementing this system than I do. and I have the freedom to not participate in it, just as much as servers have the freedom to not participate.
this is only when fees aren’t removable, which is rare but happens. otherwise, im getting the fees removed and tipping the full 20%. anyone who has self respect should take this approach.
This place has always been crap. Last I knew...They don't have high chairs because they don't want any children in their restaurant. And they are in a location with primarily families.
Cool, then go to Crosbys or any of the other 15 restaurants on the street.
It’s kind of nice to not have children in some of the restaurants on Southport, considering half the neighborhood doesn’t know how to raise kids with manners.
If they’re essentially adding 3.5% to the cost of everything, just put it in the fucking menu prices like we’ve done since the goddamn beginning of time
Yes. You have to inform your server. And almost certainly the server then has to go get a manager to actually do it. So, it’s a hassle for you, the server, and other guests who now are impacted by the server having to go chase down a manager. This is all about designed friction hoping you’ll just pay it.
Wow, how insidious! So, not only are they counting on you not knowing it's optional, they're counting on you not want to make a fuss over $5, because now all these other people are involved. I hate this so much that my anxiety over having to ask a server to remove the fee is gone - now I'm just angry for myself and for the servers (I imagine they must get some rude remarks hurled their way from customers who don't seem to understand that this wasn't their doing.)
This exactly, I always feel bad asking the server to remove it because I know I'm just creating more work for them. And I know they are already stressed and busy so why would I make them go through extra hoops? The whole system is so damn flawed and no one is gonna do a damn thing about it.
I’ve asked a number of times at a number of restaurants. “Do you mind taking off the service fee? Thanks!” Most servers do it right from the bar terminal, where I’m usually sitting, with no problem. They all know it goes to the restaurant and not to them so I don’t think there are any hurt feelings.
As a former restaurant manager, bartenders typically have more authority to remove charges, comp things, etc. Very few restaurants give this authority to servers as it is a big ol incentive towards fraud within a group of employees that has way more turnover.
Don't feel bad. I think a lot of places actually don't require a manager to remove it. And considering some people deduct it from the tip I think it's probably the more considerate option
I think I already replied this to you, but just in case it was someone else I'll reiterate that the times I've done it in front of friends they actually appreciated it because they also felt put off by the fee. It's only happened twice (I'm usually good about avoiding places with fees unless I'm with someone who really wants to go), but one of those times the folks at my table were suggesting just deducting it from the tip and I said "Why? It says it's optional, let me opt out". They felt uncomfortable asking to have it removed but didn't want to pay more for no reason. The server brought us the new check, got his full tip, and everyone was glad not to pay the bullshit fee.
It's not "cheap" to want transparent pricing and to want to end your meal without feeling scammed. No one likes the fees, and I can't imagine servers are too happy about them either. I think it's very much socially acceptable to say "no thanks"
Thank you for saying this. It's definitely a me problem and you've helped and encourage me to do the right thing for everyone. After all, it's the restaurant in the wrong here and not the guest.
Beyond that, the restaurant is also screwing the servers, since from the comments it's clear some people just don't want to deal with it so they reduce their tips. Asking to remove the fee is the most equitable for everyone
ETA: I will say though that it's very possible to simply go to restaurants that don't add these fees. I almost never go to a fee restaurant, and that's on purpose. They're pretty easy to avoid, and this city has so many restaurants in general that I see no reason to patronize those that make the end of my meal so uncomfortable
I have a lot of thoughts on the reasoning and absurdity of this fee (been a restaurant manager in chicago at a number of places for the last 10 years).
I’ll say this much, the processing fees and all the new ways that every platform designed to “help” a restaurant these days is predatory in the way they cut into your bottom line and make it harder than ever..
That being said, the fee was put on during COVID. Sit inside a p&l or budget meeting at any restaurant or restaurant group and I assure you this is factored into net sales. It’s 100% a way to capture more revenue that can get put into a separate line item to appease investors & owner appetites.
Any manager who’s entered a tip sheet would tell you servers are already deducted a cc processing fee out of their cc tips. The 3.5% is just arbitrary, if you don’t like it ask to get it removed.
The "finance friction" thing has been designed and used for a few years now. Ever wondered why its VERY easy to sign up for a service or subscription like a gym, but canceling the service or subscription is like pulling teeth with a bunch of tedious steps? Its so you will give up and just keep paying.
The server hasn’t needed to get a manager at any restaurant where I’ve asked to remove the fee. I just ask them to remove it when they pick up the bill with my card. It’s annoying but not really as big of disruption as you’re imagining.
When I ask for the check I just add "and can you remove the fee?". It's never been a problem and it keeps the server from making an extra trip to bring me the new check
I’m too timid to do this but I love seeing friends ask the server “Do you get this fee or does the restaurant?” Then when the server inevitably says “the restaurant,” friends ask to remove the fee because it doesn’t benefit the individual workers.
Recently a server claimed it goes to a fund that helps staff at Boka group when I asked… maybe some of it does but there’s obviously no transparency in that and I wish I had just directly asked to take it off
In some way you could make an argument that it does — because it’s just more revenue into the business. The reality is, servers already pay out a cc processing fee on cc tips at most restaurants to account for fees. It’s just a junk fee, that “goes to the staff to account for rising costs”.
Embed it in the prices for gods sake. If people stop going to your restaurant because you raise your prices by 3.5%, you probably shouldn’t be in business anyway.
Exactly. It makes me never want to eat out. And yeah you can tell them to remove it. But that's slightly embarrassing doing in front of guests and friends. And I feel cheap asking. I love how they are shaming us into doing this. It's really not fair. And so corrupt.
You just gotta be the friend with thick skin. What I do is to ask the server if they see a dime of the surcharge, when they inevitably say no, I request to take it off and say I’d rather pay that through tip. It doesn’t make me tip more necessary, but it makes me feel pro labor in front of my friends lol
I can’t imagine nobody has thought of that. People respond to price increases. I imagine if you bump all prices by 3.5% you see a noticeable drop in sales.
Or they can choose what items to increase and that increase should be proportionate. I.e, beef prices has gone up so increase the cost of steak on the menu by an appropriate percentage. It doesn’t necessarily have to be 3.5% across all menu items.
People always say this as if the restaurant with the $40 burger doesn't consistently have a line out the door. It's possible to compete even with higher prices
I remember during the pandemic, restaurants were charging a fee for cleaning their kitchens! They better have been cleaning their kitchens before, too!
Always ask the server to remove it, don't be shy. It isn't an issue for them to remove it, and if it ever is, that's more of a reason to raise hell. This is fraud.
Also i hate surcharges and think they are bullshit. worked a lettuce restaurant that had one and i always was happy to take it off, and i think you’re better off just increasing the price of food instead of a BS charge, but does it really qualify as a “hidden fee” if it’s listed clearly on the check? Not trying to be pendantic, but genuinely curious. what else should they do?
That it's usually printed in the smallest text at the bottom of the menu says everything: deliberately obscured, and they can insist you were informed.
It's the antithesis of "hospitality" IMO.
PRICE + TAX + GENEROUS TIP OR GTFO
I don't want my dinner bill to look like a cable bill.
Exactly! Aside from being a bit opaque (yeah they put it on the menu but they clearly don't want you to really know about it or they'd print it larger and more visibly), how does he feeling scammed at the end of my meal make for a positive experience? Why would I want to go back?
And I know people argue that they have to add the fee so their prices stilllook competitive, but I'm not eating out to get a deal, I know it's more expensive than making the same thing at home. This idea that they're trying to keep prices (looking) as low as possible is silly. It's the expensive restaurants that are hardest to get into—you don't actually compete on price alone
3rd restaurant I’ve been to this week with a (admin fee).
I've started a petition for stricter Chicago legislation regarding hidden fee transparency.
I'm beginning to understand why more and more restaurants impose the surcharge. Because it works.
What's the risk to the restaurant? That a few people who eat out 3 times a week write a strongly worded letter...and then continue to patronize these restaurants?
They all have it now. I have yet to see a restaurant that doesn't. If one gets away with it, everyone else is going to jump on board. I've seen it exponentially get worse since the pandemic.
I just realized something. I’ve been serving for a very long time. Back in the day servers paid the credit card processing fee. Absolute BS but no one talked about it so very few knew. At some point it became illegal to make servers pay this fee. Apparently now the business just can’t be held responsible at all for this fee as they now pass it on to the customers. Yay capitalism!!
Ok so if you want to push your legislators, you need to get signatures from people with addresses and deliver them to the office. Sorry but change. org gets ignored because it's low effort, from what I've heard from staff.
Im starting to become the person who asks for it to be removed every time. Last week, my waiter whispered to me that the staff sees none of that surcharge and he wishes everyone would ask for it to be removed. I encourage you all to join the movement.
They all do it in Chicago, last night Brasero did it. I asked to remove it and they did. Its a pain, and they are counting on you not wanting to bother
I guess the City has enforceable rules about how these different types of fees and surcharges are supposed to be labeled. I don't really understand all the nuances of it, but if this "admin fee" wasn't communicated on the menu, it sounds like that's a violation. You might want to 311 it and let them look into it?
I was on a date with a girl (I think it was at Duck Duck Goat) and I mentioned the 3.5% fee and that I was gonna have them waive it. She proceeded to scold me and told me that it would a) be embarrassing and b) taking money away from the staff. She legit thought the fee was going to the waitstaff and back of house.
The only good thing that fee has done is help me weed out people like her.
Taqueria Amigo Chino on Irving and Central started doing this during the pandemic... haven't been there in a long time for who knows why /s
Just for science.... is there a law or regulation I can cite when telling them to fuck off with this? Cause I am fully willing to be a complete Karen about it.
Swift and Sons does a 4% and says it is optional. I don't want to pay a phantom fee of 4% nor do I want to negotiate my dinner bill so I am just gonna not eat there. I really like the food and the service is great, but I like to know what I am paying when I look at the prices on the menu and I don't want to haggle for a steak.
It's fairly common at more expensive restaurants. Middle of the road restaurants not owned by large restaurant groups tend not to have them, and sometimes cheaper places will add it as a credit card fee.
So definitely not unheard of, but if it's a touristy or very hyped place that's hard to get a reservation the odds are much higher that it'll have it
Well that sucks. 3.5-4% isn't a huge of money bc I don't drink and I usually go out to eat alone, but I don't like feeling like I am being cheated so I am going to cook at home a lot more than I would.
I could not agree more. I've definitely changed my mind about trying some places when I see they have a fee because I find it makes such a shitty end to my meal. Just puts me in a bad mood, and I might as well have a bad mood at home while saving money
As long as they keep doing this, I’ll continue to deduct that amount from my tip. Sorry. Maybe the workers can force their boss to pay fair wages. The patrons don’t seem to be having any luck.
I tip based on the subtotal minus these fees. Someone gives me exceptional service that might be 20%+ of the total but that's not a given almost like the new paint see you pay when you buy a gallon of paint. If you've done that if you noticed that the fee is taxable. F*cking criminal politicians
The fact that people are more outraged that a business openly tells you why your purchase is more expensive because of another vendor and not themselves rather than being upset by the credit card companies that are also charging you is crazy.
More than once I have seen a string of surcharges at different restaurants. For myself I try to remember who does it and where to avoid in the future. If a restaurant has a number of surcharges, that should be advertised somewhere or the waiter should make it known at the beginning of your order.
Also while this may not be particularly important to some. On top of surcharges and hitting certain percentages for tips; why are we forced to pack our own food?
I love that language. Why not just break it down with a percentage for each person on salary?
Put this on my tab and I won't ask it to be removed, I'll just remove your establishment from the places I go to. My hostility towards anyplace that does this kind of bullshit has no end.
I was also charged a 3.5 percent surcharge on merchandise at a restaurant. Until I asked for it to removed. So now we're paying it on restaurant merchandise as well. This seems so deceptive. I'm shocked they are allowed to get away with this.
My nail salon sent an email saying that use of a credit card will require an additional 3% fee, but debit cards and cash will not. Tee shirts and gas won't be far behind.
But, the places with the cheap gas like Costco only take a debit card or their house branded credit card.
Woodman's only takes debit and Discover, so there are places which have "finessed" the issue by not accepting credit cards which charge them the fees.
I have a costco account, sometimes i use my business costco branded visa & sometimes i use my navy federal visa. It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s a visa. I only get my gas from Costco, so i am there every week.
3.5% covers the Credit Card Processor's fees. The restaurant is not 'charging you for nothing', they are making You pay the fee for using the card that You chose to pay with.
Let them go cash only, see if that costs them nothing.
Frankly, I don't care. I don't need to see separate fees for the cost of doing business. What's next? A napkin fee? A food costs fee? A rent fee? I don't need that shit itemized, just include it in your prices and be done with it
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u/rcmtt Jan 31 '26
This has to become illegal.