29-06-2025
Latest addition to restaurant bills has diners vowing 'never to eat at restaurant again'
It started with extra charges for takeout. Then pandemic service fees. Then a 3 percent 'kitchen appreciation' tax.
They were on top of tips, which used to be 15 percent tip but have quietly ballooned to as much as 25 percent and more.
Now some diners say they've had enough — after spotting yet another unexpected add-on at the bottom of their bill.
A restaurant customer was left stunned after discovering an unexpected 18 percent 'Living Wage Fee' added to the bottom of their bill.
The diner, who ordered a burger meal earlier this month, posted a photo of the receipt on Instagram with the caption: 'WTF is a living wage fee?'
The charge — an extra $5.94 — was listed at the bottom of the receipt, with the restaurant noting: 'This fee goes directly to staff payroll and provides a living wage to our team.'
But the 18 percent surcharge wasn't a replacement for tips, which are also viewed as a supplemental wage for many hospitality workers in the US.
But tipping wasn't replaced. 'If you choose to tip, tips are pooled amongst the entire team,' the receipt clarified.
The fee sparked outrage online, with many calling it deceptive.
'I'd never ever eat there again and would challenge that charge if not shown beforehand,' one person wrote.
Others said the business must be poorly run if the staff could not be paid a living wage without the added fees.
Some were more positive about the fee, suggesting it could be a way for restaurant's to deal with tipping and inflation weariness.
'Y'all been asking for no tipping - this is what it looks like,' one user wrote.
'It could reflect in drink/food prices but then y'all would say the place was too expensive.
'No one is trying to trick you - if they were transparent about the service fee.'
Americans are increasingly pushing back against tipping. Last year, we reported how a Michigan man says his new rule is to stop tipping at restaurants where he has to order while standing up.
iPad screens have become synonymous with the country's 'tipflation' problem which has seen tipping culture spill out from bars and restaurants and into shops, takeaway chains and even self-service machines
Backhaus in San Mateo and Burlingame banned tipping last year
Americans have grown weary of 'tipflation' in the years following the pandemic.
The issue is particularly clear in the ire directed at the digital pads presented to shoppers requesting tips after seemingly every retail transaction.
Under new 'junk fee' legislation living wage surcharges were banned in California last July.
Businesses such as Bay Area bakery Backhaus have responded by banning tipping, opting instead to raise prices to cover the costs of higher wages for staff.
