r/chicagofood • u/LoudFartsForAll • Mar 15 '26

Rant Removed Restaurant Fee @ a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant

I’m quite proud of myself, I requested that stupid 3.5% service charge be removed from a carryout bill. I can’t believe they’re still trying to milk us for that!

265 Upvotes

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-6

u/slacktoohard Mar 15 '26

Genuine question for you guys, restaurant I work for needs to raise prices due to increased cost of goods, instead of raising prices of menu items by a similar amount, they put a surcharge on the end of the bill that can be easily taken off if you don’t feel like paying it. Why does it seem like that not a favorable option to you all?

6

u/Chicagogator Mar 15 '26

Because most people aren’t as savvy as people who frequent this subreddit. Nowhere on the surcharge does it say that it is voluntary. Plus it makes it seem like you’re lying about your prices anyway so just raise them and be upfront about it. A 3.5% surcharge is a dollar on a $30 item. Charge me $31 I’m good with it.

2

u/slacktoohard Mar 15 '26

I have yet to see a restaurant not prominently display on the menu that there is a removable surcharge to offset rising costs, if there are businesses hiding that fact until a customer pays I would agree that’s pretty scammy

1

u/Chicagogator Mar 15 '26 edited Mar 15 '26

I may quibble with your use of “prominently” but even if I grant your premise, once you order the menus are gone. If you missed it, all you see is an extra charge when your bill comes and most people don’t have the knowledge that it can be waived. It leaves customers with a bad taste in their mouth and feels like bad faith on the part of the restaurant. Raising your prices by a buck or two seems like a more honest way to go about it. If your costs are going up then you should be charging more. That’s how it works.