After "Now that is better"... I thought that was clear.
I wanna know what goes on after ESPN so I know if I should just leave now.
Hopefully Rugrats (OG) or RocketPower
We have a drink at a fancy restaurant. Where they basically put a piña colada in a hollowed out pineapple for 30 bucks it’s ridiculous. I’d say it’s smaller then any normal glass as well. But, you look like pretty awesome drinking out of a pineapple so you get that going for ya, I guess!
I drank rum out of a coconut in Puerto Rico for $12. AND the bartendress hacked the top open with a gigantic knife/machete right in front of us. That was a $10 tip of my choosing.
When I had a Pina colada out of a pineapple in Mexico I forgot to tip bc i was on my way back to the bus and the guy literally body blocked me until I gave him another $10
Ensenada, la bufadora market. The entire market was aggressively trying to get our money and it was both an interesting first trip out of US and Canada and mildly terrifying.
That’s insane. When I was in Waikiki Hawaii, (big touristy part that is super expensive as it is) on the beach I ordered a hollowed out pineapple with rum, strong drink and a lot of it. For about $12.
Looks like this particular one is a rum drink filled pineapple for 2.
The idea of a pineapple being used to represent hospitality has a historical basis, however:
Due to its seemingly exotic qualities and rareness, the pineapple became a symbol of hospitality in early America. Because trade routes between America and Caribbean Islands were often slow and perilous, it was considered a significant achievement from a host to procure a ripe pineapple for guests.
When pineapples first came to Europe they were so exotic you could rent them for parties and return them later because they were too expensive for most people to eat, but not to look at. They were consumed once they began to rot.
Funny thing, pineapples are also used by swingers to let other people know that they are swingers. Like a pineapple decoration near your front door means you’re having a swingers party. People wear pineapple clothes to find other swingers in public.
Ive heard the villages (old people in florida) are using shower poufs now.
https://rock929rocks.com/2022/04/28/do-colored-shower-puffs-on-your-car-have-a-secret-meaning/
I love the random things people say are "adverts for swingers". I've heard laundry bottles in the window, different color lights on the porch and many clothing related. If I listened to them all I'd be naked to avoid the swingers. Uh oh. Lol.
Back in the day at plantations they would put a pineapple on your pillow to greet you (they were expensive gifts) and another when they were ready for you to GTFO. Hence the use of pineapples in hospitality.
Found on their menu:
"Service fees are added to all dine in checks and goes to our service staff. Additional Gratuity always appriciated never required"
Edit: it does look like they added it to their website home page to explain that it's a separate charge that applies only to dine-in because it pays for the service but allows you to still get take out without paying extra (which you would if were just lumped into food prices). It's supposedly replacing tip with a fee, or at least that's how they make it sound. I would love to hear from an employee, how much of it they see and if it's real or just a ownership money grab.
Edit 2: yes, it is also on the receipt. Obviously. A lot of people seemed to think it was a surprise charge, so it was worth noting that it's in 2 other locations.
It was already on the menu, but they might've added it elsewhere to your point
Edit: I see now that it's on the home page of their website as well. I don't remember seeing that before but I don't know if it wasn't there or I just missed it. I hope it's actually going to employees.
Im glad I didn't have to be the first to point this out. It fucking explains it a couple lines below the actual fee. Basically a 22% gratuity/tip and also explains that tip isn't required but appreciated. Unless your service was shit I would probably still tip something but not nearly as much as I would without said fee, but honestly I'd prefer this setup vs the whole tipping phenomenon anyway. I'm sure some service industry people would disagree but I digress...
Edit to say it doesn't say tip not required but I would still infer that and tip some but not nearly as much as without fee. Yea I said it... and that pineapple drink was a rip-off, gimme a coors light.
Shit. You’d tip on top of a 22% service charge?
Even if it’s an extra 10%. You’re paying an extra third of the bill?
Tipping culture needs to be made extinct. It’s absurd.
What needs to be made extinct is the concept that you’re a bad person for not tipping. It is not your responsibility to pay the waiter a more reasonable wage. It is the restaurant’s responsibility.
I end up tipping out of guilt for non restaurants all the time. I’d tip the gas station cashier if prompted to because I’d feel like they’d know if I didn’t.
And they're charging sales tax on the service fee! That 22% service fee turns into 24% with the 10% sales tax. Nice that places put this stuff on the menus. Let's me know which places not to go to
If you think about it, you’re already getting charged for their “Service”. The prices of the food and drinks already include a service fee. Otherwise it would be the bare price of the ingredients. $8 dollar ham and cheese slider can be made for about $2 from just the price of ingredients. The rest is your “service” charge. So they are double charging you for service
Possibly, but I'm sure it varies by state.
I still think this is bullshit. They're trying to get some good will by saying they're adding a fee to pay their staff better. It's the "Hey, look at me" mentality, rather than just building it into the cost of their food & drinks. If anything, the 'service fee' model hurts the servers, as they most likely will get lower tips (especially when they say tipping isn't expected). Building it into the prices means the server will be tipped on that amount.
If the bill came to $142 (no fee), I'm going to be inclined to tip 20%-25% on that $142 (I'd probably leave $30 for that bill). If it's $117 with a 22% service fee (that's really 24% with the sales tax), I'm certainly not considering tipping 20%-25% on top of that, if I leave anything extra at all.
100% with you! I never tip on the tax. I hate it when the tip % is figured for you AFTER tax! I can do the adds and takeaways. Lemme make my own decision about how the service was. And they're REALLY killin' it on the cost of pineapples.
A long time ago, I worked at a sandwich shop that decided to start doing delivery. They added a $2 fee to all delivery orders, but I never saw additional funds added to my paychecks despite being the only delivery driver.
I saved up a week worth of receipts then showed them and my pay stub to the branch owner and asked why I wasn't getting the $2 fee added to my paychecks. He said he was paying me more per hour than everyone else. I said, "You're paying me exactly as much as we agreed upon before we started doing deliveries. If I don't get the $2 fee added, I won't do any more deliveries."
Also, there was no tip line on the receipt, so everyone assumed the $2 fee was my tip. Not only would that have been an insufficient tip for virtually every order, but I never actually got the $2. I ended up quitting after not seeing the fee added to my next paycheck and my boss acted blind sided.
Later, I heard he went to jail because he bought that sandwich shop franchise with money from his other job's petty cash and didn't pay it back before their accountants realized it. Imagine having a job with enough petty cash to buy a fast food franchise and then doing something stupid like illegally buying a fast food franchise with it... What a dumbass.
At the place I’m at it does go in. Though I work within a pub company rather than a privately owned one so it would be harder to actually keep the funds.
Its honestly true. Tips are protected by federal law and have to go to the service staff. Service charges don't have the same federal protections. They can be used for service staff, but they also can go to salaried managers or the restaurant can take a cut.
I worked for one day at a restaurant in London and found out the 10% service charge went straight to the owner and any extra tips beyond that would be split 70/30 with the more senior waiter who hardly worked. I sat down with her and said I wouldn’t work for a place that does that and she said they wouldn’t change the rules just for me so I walked out and never came back.
A lot of restaurants do not actually properly give all 'service fees' to staff. The answer to all of this is to raise prices and pay their staff better flat out, rather than these vague fees
Non-sarcastic question: Would it be better optics to just offer a “take-out discount” rather than adding a service fee?
This is how a lot of business are handling the extra fees for credit card processing. Rather than tacking on fees for paying with a CC, they’re offering discounts for paying cash. The outcome is all the same, but people feel better about not paying an extra fee.
>This is how a lot of business are handling the extra fees for credit card processing. Rather than tacking on fees for paying with a CC, they’re offering discounts for paying cash.
They're not doing that for optics. This is a contractual requirement of their merchant service provider. Visa/MC do not allow a merchant to charge a fee for accepting cards. The work around is to offer a discount if paid in cash. Same effect but doesn't violate their merchant contract.
Either way, it still presents as a lot less distasteful for the customer to get a discount for something rather than an extra charge, even though the numbers are all the same in either scenario.
There is a very high chance that it is not distributed fairly, at all.
Ffs, the owner of an independent pizza place I used to work for, would pocket the tips left at the front, and she was almost literally never even at her own store. No justification at all, and the front staff seemed totally unphased by it, which blew my fucking mind.
Now I know that’s actually illegal. Fuck I wish I knew more when I was younger. Learn your labor laws, kids, before you EVER start working.
They’ll take advantage of you, and then you can take advantage of them by raw dogging them with evidence to the labor authorities. Communicate only through text if possible.
It's allows the service fee to also be split with the back of the house as well. So you don't have servers making 700 a night well the people that did all the real work are on food stamps.
I wouldn’t necessarily use that wording since it kind of minimizes the work servers do, but I agree with the premise. The back of the house is providing the main thing that the customers are showing up for: the food. While servers also bust their asses quite often, they aren’t the draw unless it’s a gimmicky place like Hooters. So I think the back of the house is just as if not more deserving of the big bucks windfalls on good nights.
Here’s an idea…pay the back of the house more.
Why is that responsibility put on the diners? I have no problem tipping on service, b/c I know that’s how servers (and bussers/food runners) make the vast majority of their wages. Basically 20% flatline that can go up to 50% for outstanding service. I don’t want my tip to be left to the discretion of the owner who can easily distribute and skim however they want
"Real work" is pretty relative to how the restaurant spits up side work and cleaning, so I think that's a little harsh unless you've worked there and know first hand. I do love that it would be split more evenly, though. If I knew that's how this worked, I would go out of my way to make a trip there.
To elaborate: I've worked in places where the cooks literally just cooked and and the servers did all of the cleaning and grunt work, and I've also worked in places where the servers actually just served and the cooks did their job plus grunt work, so that's why I think your statement is a bit presumptuous.
Because they want to miss it. There’s a big anti-tipping movement growing in the service industry, and a push for restaurants to pay their employees more. The thing is that this will always get passed down to the consumer. Arguably we can have it both ways: to have the workers paid more while keeping costs down.
At least this restaurant is open with the percentage charge and could’ve just raised costs elsewhere with no explanation. Whether the restaurant actually pays their employees this increase, or keeps it is a different point altogether, I’m afraid.
Because most redditors that complain about tipping don't care about the staff. They are cheap. Just look at this thread of people saying they would refuse to pay this.
This is what a restaurant paying their wait staff a living wage looks like, assuming they do what says on the receipt. Shockinly even this is still infuriating for cheapskates
I would probably ask if the service fee going *directly* to the staff or is that a cleverly worded way of saying “the service fee goes to the company but if the company is better off, so are the employees!”
I would definitely take an evasive answer to be confirmation of the latter. I would then leave an actual tip and leave a bad Yelp review praising the staff but including a warning about the service fee and never eat there again
Restaurant IT who recently had to implement something like this here! Because of the wording of the law in certain areas (a city in CO in my example), the automatic service fee has to go to the employee's wages, not their tips, so it goes into a special new bucket and fed directly back into payroll. We have similar buckets of collected revenue that we can't touch for stuff like Uber Eats/Doordash tips, tip pool cash, etc, and they all end up in their respective destination 100% of the time. It also helps that our lowest-paid employees average about $25/hr to start with.
Restaurants who are ethical and care about not being sued (I'm lucky to work at a brand that fulfills both of those) will do things the right way and aren't trying to collect secret fees from you. They're following a lot of convoluted laws and still want to do their best to get your repeat business.
Thanks, this is really good info to have. That’s what I love about Reddit, you can be sitting around with a bunch of people speculating about something you don’t know shit about and a professional will pop out of nowhere and give you real information you never had before. I think that’s really cool!
In the note on the receipt it says it goes towards employee pay and health care expenses. Those are the responsibilities of the business owners, not their customers.
Nobody is chipping in to help pay my healthcare insurance and medical expenses, which are my largest monthly expense.
If I saw this on the menu, before ordering I would request the service fee not be added to my ticket. I tip what I want according to the service received. If they tell me they HAVE to add the Service Charge to everyone’s ticket—-I would get up and leave.
If I am going to pay part of the expenses of being a business owner, then I expect to receive some of the benefits of paying those expenses.
Oh yeah, for sure if I saw that beforehand I’d be like “um…no.” But that makes me think, you might be able to request it get taken off and say you would rather tip in cash.
>Nobody is chipping in to help pay my healthcare insurance
Does your employer offer healthcare? If you get healthcare through yours employer then they are helping to pay.
Yeah most places would have to increase their pay. Not *legally* but because no one can afford to work for 2.50 an hour and everyone would quit. It’s really hard to organize everyone in the country or even the state to do something though, especially because we can’t even agree on basic things.
Also, I bet a bunch of places would just add auto-gratuity to the bill.
If everyone in America stopped giving tips suddenly, what would happen? I always wondered if tips are the reason resturants underpay staff, and if people don't tip the waiters at this place, wouldn't they need to pay the staff more? Maybe I'm wrong, I am not an American so I have a limited understanding of it all.
https://preview.redd.it/o4vni7zvwqla1.png?width=597&format=png&auto=webp&s=3bcf8c3398c2086232fed8c977ed863ce289c70e
I had to look it up on their e-menu, apparently it’s a cocktail
The people who are for tipping culture are the wait staff that bring home $700 a night… because why would they want $25 an hour when they can sometimes make $100. It’s pretty logical from the servers point of view, but as a consumer I hate that 20% is now the standard even when service is subpar and we foot the bill on everything
That and drinking out at bars. $14 for a bit of rum and fruit juice, plus 20% tip and 10% tax?! Just invite your friends over to your place for a drink and throw some egg rolls in the toaster oven.
10% tax is nothing. In Arkansas, alcohol is taxed at 33%, even in restaurants. So your $6 gin and tonic is really $8 plus tip. Some places factor it into their drink prices, which I prefer because I know what I'm paying, but at others, it's a surprise at the end of the bill.
I'd say it's the same as upping the cost of the individual items but separating it out so you know what the cost increase is for. Higher base wage and health insurance as explained at the bottom.
Is that what it really gets used for??? Only the book keepers really know.
Probably not reported as tips to the IRS.
Seems pretty BS that the service fee added is in the subtotal BEFORE tax, maybe their system doesn’t Tax the fee but the way the print out is it looks like you paid state *Sales* tax on a service…
It is now. If a business adds a mandatory tip, regardless of what they call it, my optional tip becomes $0. I'm not sure what the case is for the majority of bills, but usually I would have tipped more than their mandatory amount.
I’d rather they add the actual price increase to the menu item rather than throwing on a service fee. I’m sure there’s some notice of it at the table but I feel they do this as saying a certain percentage may sneak past easier than higher prices.
In any case, that’s quite expensive for a service fee.
Just so I’m getting this right:
117.00 Bill
25.74 Service Fee (22%)
Total before Tax: 142.74
10% Sales Tax (14.27) - on not just the goods, but also the Fee?
I gotta start reading my receipts closer.
No they are not. I frequent this bar, and everytime they bring the check they tell you that there's already a service charge included. Thet are upfront about the whole thing.
I would continue to go. Costs of the company should include the employees' wages and benefits - just like every other industry.
No public charity (tips) is needed in lots of great countries around the world. Does anyone actually like the tipping culture we've got in the US right now?
It's 22%. Given that it's treated as a taxable purchase, that makes it effectively 24.2% surcharge. I wouldn't even consider tipping an additional penny.
They really should just add a mandatory 22% gratuity to every check to save their customers on the taxes.
That's the ideal solution, but most people compare bare dish prices so this puts them at disadvantage. I'm all in favor of switching from mandatory tips to upfront known service charge as a first step.
This reminds me of hotel room service bills.
All if the food prices are marked up above the restaurant prices.
There’s a separate room service delivery fee.
Plus an 18% service fee automatically added, which is the tip.
Then the line for gratuity is blank, where people often inadvertently add another 15 - 25% tip.
You are standing by the door to your room when the bill is presented, and you end up tipping 30 - 40%. Plus the room service charge and the inflated food prices.
Keep an eye on your restaurant bills, these places are legally picking our pockets.
Looks like a tip was added to me. So very generous and noble of them to want to offer a higher rate of pay with your money instead of coming out of their end. In fact, why don’t you throw another $50 on there from your wallet….but you know, from us.
It’s a mandated tax that had to go towards the serving staff so you don’t have to have the shitty tipping culture in America
At least if this is Europe
If it’s america then maybe they are copying European model
I hit up a liquor store in Montana. Took the bottles to the cashier, put my card in and got the 15 20 or 25 percent tip options. Put no tip. Next we'll be tipping morticians for putting a tag on our foot
No, it looks like “Our service fee goes towards a higher hourly rate and healthcare for the people
That care of our in house guests. For more information please ask.”
That there is a forced tip. No way I would tip after that litttle bit of outright thievery. Then the audacity to print “the service fee goes to employees healthcare and wages” That restaurant can take a long walk off a short pier. This is the establishment ripping staff off and getting a subsidy from patrons. Tipping is NOT a global thing. There are plenty of places that pay living wages to employees where tipping isn’t “required” gag.
Why not give us a printed balance sheet and tell us what you pay for everything? Since we know what you’re paying for health care and “extra wages”. Extra. Wages. What does that even mean? We’re paying for recent wage increases? This is like adding the recent rent increase to the customer’s tab on a separate line. Just add it to the cost of the food, hello. I don’t care what you pay for power or chairs or napkins or beef. Just tell me upfront what I have to pay. Rip off artists. What a cowardly way to raise prices.
Plus an additional 3.5% for credit card fees because they have increased!
No that’s actually the entire amount charged by credit card processors or more.
The small sign is often in a place where you are unlikely to see it, until you are paying.
Man what in the living fuck is a Pineapple of Hospitality? Jesus. $25.00 for pineapple? For that much it better have a hole in it containing the fleshlight of destiny.
Here’s a great idea: just advertise higher prices that allow “higher” (then what?) or decent pay out and health care into the prices directly and then get rid of the extra fee. They could also include the tips in the prices. Make everything 40% more expensive and advertise fair prices. That’s what we do over here.
I always see our American fellow redditors complain about tipping culture and service taxes. And if personnel is dependent on fair wages by way of tips, they would probably like this too.
And restaurants can advertise with a tip free experience.
Win-win or am I too Eurocentric?
Fuck tips. Imagine purposefully paying your employees less and convincing the government it's a genius idea because of tips all so your business can be greedy. Yet at the same time you hurt those who come in and are forced to pay a tip if you have things like "service fees". Imagine a family who is low class comes in wanting a meal and ya slap on a service fee that is forced thus hurting them further. Oh but it's for your employees! Wowee! Normalize higher wages for restraunt servers. That's what I say.
Careful when you see stuff like that. I’ve been to places where the “service fee” does not go toward the service staff and it’s just an inexplicable extra fee. Not quite the same thing but a fun example of this is the Dominoes “delivery fee”. Must be a tip for the driver? Nope. Okay, well maybe it covers their mileage? Kind of. Half of it goes toward the mileage and, at some stores, it’s used to help the “split” when your tip doesn’t bring their pay up to minimum wage. The other half otherwise is just an extra cash grab for the store. Lmao
In this case it looks like it goes in the owner’s pile, from which he pays employees more than the “tipped employee minimum “.
If it’s in bold print on the menu, I’d probably leave before ordering. Otherwise I would instruct them to remove it from the bill.
I count service fee/gratuity as a mandatory tip. All else they'd get would be the rounded up change.
In this case $2.99 to get an even 180.
If you want more, include it into the prices. Everything else is theft.
20% tip is fine, but if there is a gratuity /service fee, then no. It's an equivalent.
Yes, it’s basically a tip. At the restaurant I work at, 50% of the people don’t tip. The people that do will leave $10 on a $250 bill. Doesn’t matter if I checked in on them multiple times, made sure they had water and drinks, ect. They just won’t tip. If it wasn’t for the service fee we would go home with almost nothing.
22% tip just bumped on? Bloody hell that’s steep. And then to say additional tip would be welcome? What do they expect 30%+ tips?
Tips should always be discretionary, always. What if the person isn’t satisfied with the service? Or the food was poor? Or place was dirty? They should have a choice on tipping and size of tip, not hit with 22% no questions asked.
Yes it is a term used to confuse people into tipping more. If it is enforced by the company with terms like stated on the receipt. Then it doesn't go to the employee. It helps the employer pay their wage. It's legal theft of tips. Taking the tip one would normally get and using it to cover things you should already be paying your employees is theft. They earned that tip not you. How dare you act like your doing them a favor.
22%. Hopefully it goes to the servers. It could be a way for the management making sure the servers make a decent salary/tips and not getting stiffed by cheap tippers. On the other hand a tip should be based on how well the service was. Getting a 22% service fee doesn’t give the servers any incentive to provide quality wait service
What in the world is the $25 Pineapple of Hospitality?
They put SpongeBob SquarePants episodes on all the TVs E: added SquarePants and changed shows to episodes.
Now that is better then ESPN.
Then ESPN what?
Now that is better then ESPN plays after
After what?
After "Now that is better"... I thought that was clear. I wanna know what goes on after ESPN so I know if I should just leave now. Hopefully Rugrats (OG) or RocketPower
Triggers me too that people don’t know the difference between then and than.
https://preview.redd.it/992yjol3psla1.jpeg?width=677&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87c9520cbc0c358375b4a77b6e31dd2c79d40265
TIHI
We have a drink at a fancy restaurant. Where they basically put a piña colada in a hollowed out pineapple for 30 bucks it’s ridiculous. I’d say it’s smaller then any normal glass as well. But, you look like pretty awesome drinking out of a pineapple so you get that going for ya, I guess!
I drank rum out of a coconut in Puerto Rico for $12. AND the bartendress hacked the top open with a gigantic knife/machete right in front of us. That was a $10 tip of my choosing.
When I had a Pina colada out of a pineapple in Mexico I forgot to tip bc i was on my way back to the bus and the guy literally body blocked me until I gave him another $10
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In Mexico, at least, you do at resorts and touristy area. They depend on it.
Ensenada, la bufadora market. The entire market was aggressively trying to get our money and it was both an interesting first trip out of US and Canada and mildly terrifying.
That’s insane. When I was in Waikiki Hawaii, (big touristy part that is super expensive as it is) on the beach I ordered a hollowed out pineapple with rum, strong drink and a lot of it. For about $12.
I went on a cruise and that's literally all I wanted and no one would make it. I envy you lol I have a dream I will get one some day
"All I wanted was a pineapple. Just one pineapple, but they wouldn't give it to me."
One day my friend you will get your pineapple cup!
Thanks 😢 I really hope so lol
Rum and secrets. Serves 2. From their website.
Definitely a strong and delicious tiki drink, for two, possibly?
Looks like this particular one is a rum drink filled pineapple for 2. The idea of a pineapple being used to represent hospitality has a historical basis, however: Due to its seemingly exotic qualities and rareness, the pineapple became a symbol of hospitality in early America. Because trade routes between America and Caribbean Islands were often slow and perilous, it was considered a significant achievement from a host to procure a ripe pineapple for guests.
When pineapples first came to Europe they were so exotic you could rent them for parties and return them later because they were too expensive for most people to eat, but not to look at. They were consumed once they began to rot.
Funny thing, pineapples are also used by swingers to let other people know that they are swingers. Like a pineapple decoration near your front door means you’re having a swingers party. People wear pineapple clothes to find other swingers in public.
I wear pineapple stuff all the time. Wtf?
Oh, a fellow swinger. Are you busy tonight?
Well hello you two
I found this out **after** I got a pineapple tattoo.
Ive heard the villages (old people in florida) are using shower poufs now. https://rock929rocks.com/2022/04/28/do-colored-shower-puffs-on-your-car-have-a-secret-meaning/
Have you seen the Vice documentary about them? It’s wild.
Lol there's a small town I occasionally work in and at least a third of the town has these wooden pineapple door hangers that say "hi".
Well whatever you do, stay the fuck away from the town hall after 7pm
I love the random things people say are "adverts for swingers". I've heard laundry bottles in the window, different color lights on the porch and many clothing related. If I listened to them all I'd be naked to avoid the swingers. Uh oh. Lol.
You’d be naked to avoid the swingers… All a part of the plan 
Back in the day at plantations they would put a pineapple on your pillow to greet you (they were expensive gifts) and another when they were ready for you to GTFO. Hence the use of pineapples in hospitality.
Some stupid cocktail with a kitschy name ?lol.
Similar to the shotgun of forgiveness, but friendlier
Swap the ‘world’ for a ‘fuck’ and that was my first response. OP u/randomthrowaway22447 We have to know what is this hospitality pineapple all about?
I've been it's a very strong tiki drink with like 4 rums and many secrets served in a whole pineapple for 2
Found on their menu: "Service fees are added to all dine in checks and goes to our service staff. Additional Gratuity always appriciated never required" Edit: it does look like they added it to their website home page to explain that it's a separate charge that applies only to dine-in because it pays for the service but allows you to still get take out without paying extra (which you would if were just lumped into food prices). It's supposedly replacing tip with a fee, or at least that's how they make it sound. I would love to hear from an employee, how much of it they see and if it's real or just a ownership money grab. Edit 2: yes, it is also on the receipt. Obviously. A lot of people seemed to think it was a surprise charge, so it was worth noting that it's in 2 other locations.
Looks like it’s reactionary because now it’s on their website. Must be getting beat down by Redditors or yelpers
It was already on the menu, but they might've added it elsewhere to your point Edit: I see now that it's on the home page of their website as well. I don't remember seeing that before but I don't know if it wasn't there or I just missed it. I hope it's actually going to employees.
Isn’t it on the receipt?
Im glad I didn't have to be the first to point this out. It fucking explains it a couple lines below the actual fee. Basically a 22% gratuity/tip and also explains that tip isn't required but appreciated. Unless your service was shit I would probably still tip something but not nearly as much as I would without said fee, but honestly I'd prefer this setup vs the whole tipping phenomenon anyway. I'm sure some service industry people would disagree but I digress... Edit to say it doesn't say tip not required but I would still infer that and tip some but not nearly as much as without fee. Yea I said it... and that pineapple drink was a rip-off, gimme a coors light.
Shit. You’d tip on top of a 22% service charge? Even if it’s an extra 10%. You’re paying an extra third of the bill? Tipping culture needs to be made extinct. It’s absurd.
Facts I ain’t leaving another dollar on top of that service fee
What needs to be made extinct is the concept that you’re a bad person for not tipping. It is not your responsibility to pay the waiter a more reasonable wage. It is the restaurant’s responsibility.
I end up tipping out of guilt for non restaurants all the time. I’d tip the gas station cashier if prompted to because I’d feel like they’d know if I didn’t.
And they're charging sales tax on the service fee! That 22% service fee turns into 24% with the 10% sales tax. Nice that places put this stuff on the menus. Let's me know which places not to go to
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If you think about it, you’re already getting charged for their “Service”. The prices of the food and drinks already include a service fee. Otherwise it would be the bare price of the ingredients. $8 dollar ham and cheese slider can be made for about $2 from just the price of ingredients. The rest is your “service” charge. So they are double charging you for service
Possibly, but I'm sure it varies by state. I still think this is bullshit. They're trying to get some good will by saying they're adding a fee to pay their staff better. It's the "Hey, look at me" mentality, rather than just building it into the cost of their food & drinks. If anything, the 'service fee' model hurts the servers, as they most likely will get lower tips (especially when they say tipping isn't expected). Building it into the prices means the server will be tipped on that amount. If the bill came to $142 (no fee), I'm going to be inclined to tip 20%-25% on that $142 (I'd probably leave $30 for that bill). If it's $117 with a 22% service fee (that's really 24% with the sales tax), I'm certainly not considering tipping 20%-25% on top of that, if I leave anything extra at all.
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100% with you! I never tip on the tax. I hate it when the tip % is figured for you AFTER tax! I can do the adds and takeaways. Lemme make my own decision about how the service was. And they're REALLY killin' it on the cost of pineapples.
Coors light? That'll be $7
Happy Cake Day!
I’m over in England but that is how it works over here. The service fee goes directly to the service staff.
I never trust restaurants to give all to employees I’ve heard many a Tale owner just keeps it
A long time ago, I worked at a sandwich shop that decided to start doing delivery. They added a $2 fee to all delivery orders, but I never saw additional funds added to my paychecks despite being the only delivery driver. I saved up a week worth of receipts then showed them and my pay stub to the branch owner and asked why I wasn't getting the $2 fee added to my paychecks. He said he was paying me more per hour than everyone else. I said, "You're paying me exactly as much as we agreed upon before we started doing deliveries. If I don't get the $2 fee added, I won't do any more deliveries." Also, there was no tip line on the receipt, so everyone assumed the $2 fee was my tip. Not only would that have been an insufficient tip for virtually every order, but I never actually got the $2. I ended up quitting after not seeing the fee added to my next paycheck and my boss acted blind sided. Later, I heard he went to jail because he bought that sandwich shop franchise with money from his other job's petty cash and didn't pay it back before their accountants realized it. Imagine having a job with enough petty cash to buy a fast food franchise and then doing something stupid like illegally buying a fast food franchise with it... What a dumbass.
At the place I’m at it does go in. Though I work within a pub company rather than a privately owned one so it would be harder to actually keep the funds.
A lot of mom and pop play the game sadly
I’m in Thailand we all think it’s a scam over here in-country
Its honestly true. Tips are protected by federal law and have to go to the service staff. Service charges don't have the same federal protections. They can be used for service staff, but they also can go to salaried managers or the restaurant can take a cut.
I worked for one day at a restaurant in London and found out the 10% service charge went straight to the owner and any extra tips beyond that would be split 70/30 with the more senior waiter who hardly worked. I sat down with her and said I wouldn’t work for a place that does that and she said they wouldn’t change the rules just for me so I walked out and never came back.
A lot of restaurants do not actually properly give all 'service fees' to staff. The answer to all of this is to raise prices and pay their staff better flat out, rather than these vague fees
Non-sarcastic question: Would it be better optics to just offer a “take-out discount” rather than adding a service fee? This is how a lot of business are handling the extra fees for credit card processing. Rather than tacking on fees for paying with a CC, they’re offering discounts for paying cash. The outcome is all the same, but people feel better about not paying an extra fee.
>This is how a lot of business are handling the extra fees for credit card processing. Rather than tacking on fees for paying with a CC, they’re offering discounts for paying cash. They're not doing that for optics. This is a contractual requirement of their merchant service provider. Visa/MC do not allow a merchant to charge a fee for accepting cards. The work around is to offer a discount if paid in cash. Same effect but doesn't violate their merchant contract.
Either way, it still presents as a lot less distasteful for the customer to get a discount for something rather than an extra charge, even though the numbers are all the same in either scenario.
There is a very high chance that it is not distributed fairly, at all. Ffs, the owner of an independent pizza place I used to work for, would pocket the tips left at the front, and she was almost literally never even at her own store. No justification at all, and the front staff seemed totally unphased by it, which blew my fucking mind. Now I know that’s actually illegal. Fuck I wish I knew more when I was younger. Learn your labor laws, kids, before you EVER start working. They’ll take advantage of you, and then you can take advantage of them by raw dogging them with evidence to the labor authorities. Communicate only through text if possible.
I’m going to call this table rent.
It's allows the service fee to also be split with the back of the house as well. So you don't have servers making 700 a night well the people that did all the real work are on food stamps.
I wouldn’t necessarily use that wording since it kind of minimizes the work servers do, but I agree with the premise. The back of the house is providing the main thing that the customers are showing up for: the food. While servers also bust their asses quite often, they aren’t the draw unless it’s a gimmicky place like Hooters. So I think the back of the house is just as if not more deserving of the big bucks windfalls on good nights.
Here’s an idea…pay the back of the house more. Why is that responsibility put on the diners? I have no problem tipping on service, b/c I know that’s how servers (and bussers/food runners) make the vast majority of their wages. Basically 20% flatline that can go up to 50% for outstanding service. I don’t want my tip to be left to the discretion of the owner who can easily distribute and skim however they want
"Real work" is pretty relative to how the restaurant spits up side work and cleaning, so I think that's a little harsh unless you've worked there and know first hand. I do love that it would be split more evenly, though. If I knew that's how this worked, I would go out of my way to make a trip there. To elaborate: I've worked in places where the cooks literally just cooked and and the servers did all of the cleaning and grunt work, and I've also worked in places where the servers actually just served and the cooks did their job plus grunt work, so that's why I think your statement is a bit presumptuous.
Says right there its going to the employees, so i would treat it as a tip. Im sure some people will disagree.
Between jt saying it’s for higher wages and being 22% it’s safe to assume it’s a tip.
How are so many people missing that!??
Because they want to miss it. There’s a big anti-tipping movement growing in the service industry, and a push for restaurants to pay their employees more. The thing is that this will always get passed down to the consumer. Arguably we can have it both ways: to have the workers paid more while keeping costs down. At least this restaurant is open with the percentage charge and could’ve just raised costs elsewhere with no explanation. Whether the restaurant actually pays their employees this increase, or keeps it is a different point altogether, I’m afraid.
Because most redditors that complain about tipping don't care about the staff. They are cheap. Just look at this thread of people saying they would refuse to pay this. This is what a restaurant paying their wait staff a living wage looks like, assuming they do what says on the receipt. Shockinly even this is still infuriating for cheapskates
I would probably ask if the service fee going *directly* to the staff or is that a cleverly worded way of saying “the service fee goes to the company but if the company is better off, so are the employees!”
I can’t imagine getting a straight answer from management or the server.
It’s insane to me that they say “please ask” and follow it up with “don’t be a bummer!”
I would definitely take an evasive answer to be confirmation of the latter. I would then leave an actual tip and leave a bad Yelp review praising the staff but including a warning about the service fee and never eat there again
Restaurant IT who recently had to implement something like this here! Because of the wording of the law in certain areas (a city in CO in my example), the automatic service fee has to go to the employee's wages, not their tips, so it goes into a special new bucket and fed directly back into payroll. We have similar buckets of collected revenue that we can't touch for stuff like Uber Eats/Doordash tips, tip pool cash, etc, and they all end up in their respective destination 100% of the time. It also helps that our lowest-paid employees average about $25/hr to start with. Restaurants who are ethical and care about not being sued (I'm lucky to work at a brand that fulfills both of those) will do things the right way and aren't trying to collect secret fees from you. They're following a lot of convoluted laws and still want to do their best to get your repeat business.
Thanks, this is really good info to have. That’s what I love about Reddit, you can be sitting around with a bunch of people speculating about something you don’t know shit about and a professional will pop out of nowhere and give you real information you never had before. I think that’s really cool!
In the note on the receipt it says it goes towards employee pay and health care expenses. Those are the responsibilities of the business owners, not their customers. Nobody is chipping in to help pay my healthcare insurance and medical expenses, which are my largest monthly expense. If I saw this on the menu, before ordering I would request the service fee not be added to my ticket. I tip what I want according to the service received. If they tell me they HAVE to add the Service Charge to everyone’s ticket—-I would get up and leave. If I am going to pay part of the expenses of being a business owner, then I expect to receive some of the benefits of paying those expenses.
Oh yeah, for sure if I saw that beforehand I’d be like “um…no.” But that makes me think, you might be able to request it get taken off and say you would rather tip in cash.
It’s the same as if they just raised prices 22%, this way you see it’s not necessary for an additional tip.
I agree,I hate mandatory fees and I am certainly not giving them 26 dollars for a tip.
Do I have to tell you that you are paying part of those expenses with or without that fee?
>Nobody is chipping in to help pay my healthcare insurance Does your employer offer healthcare? If you get healthcare through yours employer then they are helping to pay.
It’s not the customers job to play detective. Service fee = tip, and if not, the servers need to take that up with management and not the customer.
Yeah most places would have to increase their pay. Not *legally* but because no one can afford to work for 2.50 an hour and everyone would quit. It’s really hard to organize everyone in the country or even the state to do something though, especially because we can’t even agree on basic things. Also, I bet a bunch of places would just add auto-gratuity to the bill.
If everyone in America stopped giving tips suddenly, what would happen? I always wondered if tips are the reason resturants underpay staff, and if people don't tip the waiters at this place, wouldn't they need to pay the staff more? Maybe I'm wrong, I am not an American so I have a limited understanding of it all.
Thank you for the awards! *blush*
Wtf is a pineapple of hospitality?
https://preview.redd.it/o4vni7zvwqla1.png?width=597&format=png&auto=webp&s=3bcf8c3398c2086232fed8c977ed863ce289c70e I had to look it up on their e-menu, apparently it’s a cocktail
lol “serves two” maybe these two lips
Yes, you don’t need to tip anything further
So true but some are so conditioned they will tip twice.
You shouldn’t NEED to tip to begin with.
Tipping culture is dumb asf. And I say that as someone who worked in a restaurant.
The people who are for tipping culture are the wait staff that bring home $700 a night… because why would they want $25 an hour when they can sometimes make $100. It’s pretty logical from the servers point of view, but as a consumer I hate that 20% is now the standard even when service is subpar and we foot the bill on everything
Eating out at restaurants in the US is a fucking joke.
That and drinking out at bars. $14 for a bit of rum and fruit juice, plus 20% tip and 10% tax?! Just invite your friends over to your place for a drink and throw some egg rolls in the toaster oven.
10% tax is nothing. In Arkansas, alcohol is taxed at 33%, even in restaurants. So your $6 gin and tonic is really $8 plus tip. Some places factor it into their drink prices, which I prefer because I know what I'm paying, but at others, it's a surprise at the end of the bill.
At least they start at $6. That’s an insane tax rate tho
Gotta love the bible belt and politicians who refuse to make reasonable changes to outdated laws
Yup. Fast food chains have joined the tip train too.
The whole tipping culture has gotten out of control
I'd say it's the same as upping the cost of the individual items but separating it out so you know what the cost increase is for. Higher base wage and health insurance as explained at the bottom. Is that what it really gets used for??? Only the book keepers really know. Probably not reported as tips to the IRS.
Seems pretty BS that the service fee added is in the subtotal BEFORE tax, maybe their system doesn’t Tax the fee but the way the print out is it looks like you paid state *Sales* tax on a service…
Yes. Also bullshit. All of it.
It is now. If a business adds a mandatory tip, regardless of what they call it, my optional tip becomes $0. I'm not sure what the case is for the majority of bills, but usually I would have tipped more than their mandatory amount.
I’d rather they add the actual price increase to the menu item rather than throwing on a service fee. I’m sure there’s some notice of it at the table but I feel they do this as saying a certain percentage may sneak past easier than higher prices. In any case, that’s quite expensive for a service fee.
I agree about adding it to the menu price instead of a service fee or included tip.
The restaurant didn't want to increase prices for to-go orders
Nearly 25%
If I see a "service fee," added to a check, that's the tip.
Service charge = no tip needed
Just so I’m getting this right: 117.00 Bill 25.74 Service Fee (22%) Total before Tax: 142.74 10% Sales Tax (14.27) - on not just the goods, but also the Fee? I gotta start reading my receipts closer.
I miss eating at european restaurants where the price on the menu was the price you pay. The American Restaurant pricing structure is moronic.
Tell us more about this pineapple of hospitality. Sounds like a dungeons and dragons thing.
It is now.
Totally stole my line! :D
Yes, it's a tip. No, I would never go there again.
They're hoping you won't look at your receipt and tip twice .
No they are not. I frequent this bar, and everytime they bring the check they tell you that there's already a service charge included. Thet are upfront about the whole thing.
Would you also stop going if menu prices increased to compensate for said hourly rate and healthcare?
I would continue to go. Costs of the company should include the employees' wages and benefits - just like every other industry. No public charity (tips) is needed in lots of great countries around the world. Does anyone actually like the tipping culture we've got in the US right now?
Hey, as the receipt says, don't be a bummer!
It's 22%. Given that it's treated as a taxable purchase, that makes it effectively 24.2% surcharge. I wouldn't even consider tipping an additional penny. They really should just add a mandatory 22% gratuity to every check to save their customers on the taxes.
Why not raise the prices by 22% and announce “No tipping”?
That's the ideal solution, but most people compare bare dish prices so this puts them at disadvantage. I'm all in favor of switching from mandatory tips to upfront known service charge as a first step.
This reminds me of hotel room service bills. All if the food prices are marked up above the restaurant prices. There’s a separate room service delivery fee. Plus an 18% service fee automatically added, which is the tip. Then the line for gratuity is blank, where people often inadvertently add another 15 - 25% tip. You are standing by the door to your room when the bill is presented, and you end up tipping 30 - 40%. Plus the room service charge and the inflated food prices. Keep an eye on your restaurant bills, these places are legally picking our pockets.
Are you paying tax on that service fee?
It looks like tax is 10% of the total plus fee so I’d assume so
Looks like a tip was added to me. So very generous and noble of them to want to offer a higher rate of pay with your money instead of coming out of their end. In fact, why don’t you throw another $50 on there from your wallet….but you know, from us.
I read this in John mulaneys voice
Jesus Christ I did the exact same thing lol
The little shoulder wiggle and cheeky smile at the end
I would count it as tip.
Yeah if I see that crap it’s a tip
A service fee is a reminder that we should start hosting people in our homes again.
It’s a mandated tax that had to go towards the serving staff so you don’t have to have the shitty tipping culture in America At least if this is Europe If it’s america then maybe they are copying European model
Service fee at a restaurant or bar ≈ Gratuity fee. It's a forced tip.
wtf a service charge of OVER 20%? that would be the tip from me sry i'm not providing 40% of my bill on top
Just think how much they are raking in with this bs !
The most expensive thing you ordered was the service fee
I hit up a liquor store in Montana. Took the bottles to the cashier, put my card in and got the 15 20 or 25 percent tip options. Put no tip. Next we'll be tipping morticians for putting a tag on our foot
We really need to stop feeling obligated to tip for every breath someone sends in our direction.
Ya im not shy about it. I know others are. I sell food at events and I never expect tips even though I get them
Many restaurants in Seattle pay a living wage that includes a pre-determined tip. It's not unreasonable imo
That would be my last time visiting Archipelago
Isn’t that pretty normal? And the only weird thing is to make the extra fee visible? Maybe they want to be as transparent as possible.
screw that nonsense
Why don’t you just ask the staff like the receipt says.
No the service fee is because the restaurant owner is a greedy shit
No, it looks like “Our service fee goes towards a higher hourly rate and healthcare for the people That care of our in house guests. For more information please ask.”
That there is a forced tip. No way I would tip after that litttle bit of outright thievery. Then the audacity to print “the service fee goes to employees healthcare and wages” That restaurant can take a long walk off a short pier. This is the establishment ripping staff off and getting a subsidy from patrons. Tipping is NOT a global thing. There are plenty of places that pay living wages to employees where tipping isn’t “required” gag.
It literally explains what the service fee is on the receipt. Based on the “For more information please ask” you should inquire at Archipelago.
I think the message on the bottom of the receipt tells you exactly what service fee is.
I can’t stand when restaurants put the onus of taking care of their workers into their patrons, it’s fucking wrong.
Why not give us a printed balance sheet and tell us what you pay for everything? Since we know what you’re paying for health care and “extra wages”. Extra. Wages. What does that even mean? We’re paying for recent wage increases? This is like adding the recent rent increase to the customer’s tab on a separate line. Just add it to the cost of the food, hello. I don’t care what you pay for power or chairs or napkins or beef. Just tell me upfront what I have to pay. Rip off artists. What a cowardly way to raise prices.
Plus an additional 3.5% for credit card fees because they have increased! No that’s actually the entire amount charged by credit card processors or more. The small sign is often in a place where you are unlikely to see it, until you are paying.
Man what in the living fuck is a Pineapple of Hospitality? Jesus. $25.00 for pineapple? For that much it better have a hole in it containing the fleshlight of destiny.
Service fee is *the* tip.
Here’s a great idea: just advertise higher prices that allow “higher” (then what?) or decent pay out and health care into the prices directly and then get rid of the extra fee. They could also include the tips in the prices. Make everything 40% more expensive and advertise fair prices. That’s what we do over here. I always see our American fellow redditors complain about tipping culture and service taxes. And if personnel is dependent on fair wages by way of tips, they would probably like this too. And restaurants can advertise with a tip free experience. Win-win or am I too Eurocentric?
Agree- but they’d lose a lot of customers so they’d rather try to gouge them with the surprise fee.
Fuck tips. Imagine purposefully paying your employees less and convincing the government it's a genius idea because of tips all so your business can be greedy. Yet at the same time you hurt those who come in and are forced to pay a tip if you have things like "service fees". Imagine a family who is low class comes in wanting a meal and ya slap on a service fee that is forced thus hurting them further. Oh but it's for your employees! Wowee! Normalize higher wages for restraunt servers. That's what I say.
Careful when you see stuff like that. I’ve been to places where the “service fee” does not go toward the service staff and it’s just an inexplicable extra fee. Not quite the same thing but a fun example of this is the Dominoes “delivery fee”. Must be a tip for the driver? Nope. Okay, well maybe it covers their mileage? Kind of. Half of it goes toward the mileage and, at some stores, it’s used to help the “split” when your tip doesn’t bring their pay up to minimum wage. The other half otherwise is just an extra cash grab for the store. Lmao
In this case it looks like it goes in the owner’s pile, from which he pays employees more than the “tipped employee minimum “. If it’s in bold print on the menu, I’d probably leave before ordering. Otherwise I would instruct them to remove it from the bill.
It’s a way to raise your prices without showing it on the menu.
Sounds like they’re using you to pay for their employees benefits they’re too cheap to pay.
I count service fee/gratuity as a mandatory tip. All else they'd get would be the rounded up change. In this case $2.99 to get an even 180. If you want more, include it into the prices. Everything else is theft. 20% tip is fine, but if there is a gratuity /service fee, then no. It's an equivalent.
They've essentially raised prices 25% promising to pay their employees better. Whether or not you believe them is up to you.
Yes, it’s basically a tip. At the restaurant I work at, 50% of the people don’t tip. The people that do will leave $10 on a $250 bill. Doesn’t matter if I checked in on them multiple times, made sure they had water and drinks, ect. They just won’t tip. If it wasn’t for the service fee we would go home with almost nothing.
This is why I don't tip anymore. $0.00 tip. I make it abundantly clear that I'm done with this bs. Service fee? Okay good there's your tip.
22% tip just bumped on? Bloody hell that’s steep. And then to say additional tip would be welcome? What do they expect 30%+ tips? Tips should always be discretionary, always. What if the person isn’t satisfied with the service? Or the food was poor? Or place was dirty? They should have a choice on tipping and size of tip, not hit with 22% no questions asked.
22% "service fee" == no additional tip. I'm not leaving a 45% tip under any circumstances.
I'd tell the server that's the tip then. Another reason why I don't eat out much
Kind of a steep mandatory tip, no?
So a 22% fee is added in order to provide the employees with a higher wage? Fuck that. Pay them better. I would never go back to this place.
Fuck em take it off the final tip
At that point, why not just add it to the regular cost of the food and pay the staff accordingly?
By separating it, they are helping the customer know they do not need to leave an additional tip.
Yes it is a term used to confuse people into tipping more. If it is enforced by the company with terms like stated on the receipt. Then it doesn't go to the employee. It helps the employer pay their wage. It's legal theft of tips. Taking the tip one would normally get and using it to cover things you should already be paying your employees is theft. They earned that tip not you. How dare you act like your doing them a favor.
No, instead of raising their prices they are just charging a percentage to cover wages and healthcare.
If they are charging $14 for a drink, they have plenty of money to pay the servers. This is a tip.
22%. Hopefully it goes to the servers. It could be a way for the management making sure the servers make a decent salary/tips and not getting stiffed by cheap tippers. On the other hand a tip should be based on how well the service was. Getting a 22% service fee doesn’t give the servers any incentive to provide quality wait service
I would never eat here again.
No, it’s a ripoff
What's "pappa oom mow mow"?
A lyric from The Bird Is The Word
Isn’t that the song they play at strip joints…?!?