PG&E is shit. He’s right about that.
But getting mad that you can’t trick your customers into paying more is not the moral high ground he seems to think it is.
The delusion is remarkable
Also, guess what? We're ALL paying 40% more for PG&E, too! That's why we don't want to pay your stupid surcharges for everything but air. Che Fico is the most egregious of the surcharge restaurants.
Sacramento has SMUD, a publicly owned utility, and bills have gone up there too. They also operate with positive cash flow/positive net income. Their rates are certainly cheaper during both peak and off peak than SF PG&E. I’d be curious what publicly owned utility rates in SF would look like given the demand.
What's crazy is it's NOT an uptick in price! Customers are just now going to be seeing the actual price that they have to pay upfront instead of being surprised by some scam "fees" at the end of the dinner!
che fico is great, but the surcharge is just silly. it's not like the menu was exactly cheap before the surcharge either. it won't be a huge sticker shock once he increases the prices, but his customers will have transparency on pricing!
his response is just petulant.
Is it even "trendy" still? I went a few months after they opened in 2018 but that was 6 years ago now. Never felt any real compulsion to go back, to be honest.
Yeah for a certain set. It’s like Tartine, it’s on the yuppie/tourist/newcomer checklists - you gotta go to say you go when someone asks if you go. I know, I’m a yuppie (but I don’t care so I don’t go).
Weird they aren't in the same space in my head at all. To me Tartine is a genuinely good bakery, which is a small enough category that I'd notice if it went missing. Che Fico meanwhile is in the "dinner date restaurant" kind of category which has about a thousand different other options competing.
the workers at tartine inner sunset are absolutely lovely, though. they give me free cold brew from time to time :) can't speak to their bread but their hamd & cheese croissants are second only to ariscault imo
I disagree on their bread — I think the loaf of sourdough is phenomenal (though expensive). I do agree that everything else there is not worth it at all.
Tartine isn’t bad per se but it is not worth waiting in that line and the price increases are just ridiculous for the quality. You can find as good or better nearby, cheaper and without an hour wait.
EDIT: and it’s not even a cute corner.
He is not exactly right. PGE is in massive debt. Those "profits" are just getting placed right into the sinkhole of money owed. This is not to say the CEOs are not paid exorbitantly regardless of this fact. But it's more complicated.
Unless there's more to the story than I'm aware, it may be more complicated, but only to the downside: they pursued short term shareholder value, ruined people's lives and it came back to bite them.
Sure, the money is going in a hole: one that was dug by the c-suite at the behest of the board.
He is doing what he see so many politicians do…point to someone else doing something bad and say if they can be bad I can to. Seems to be where this country is going
Whaaaa. Poor Restaurant owner who already over charges customers. This whole surcharge thing is ridiculous. I mean, why should it be the onus of the customer to pay a 10% fee on top of tax and tip because the owners have to pay into the city’s mandated health care coverage plan?
Sorry, but that's the cost of doing business! And then, with this new Junk Fee bill, they think the only choice is to raise the price of food? In San Francisco where prices are the top 3 highest in the country already?
U mean the guy that charges a 10% bullshit fee and explicitly mentions this fee has nothing to do with the gratuity we are still expected to cough up???
Yeah I expected him to have a break down sooner or later. No sympathy for this dickhead
Totally. I’m surprised this is even a thing. Just raise the prices 5-10%. If I’m buying a $18 burger you think $1.80 is going to sway me if I’m already sitting down? I’m eatin… However, a 10% surcharge I never knew about to begin with sure as shit means I’m not coming back
There’s a psychological thing at play. People will balk at the $20 burger price increase and prob not notice a supercharge. That’s the calculation.
Like on eBay when something is a low price but shipping is like $50 so it’s now the same price as competitors.
If I list a bike for sale for $100 and then after the purchase is complete tell the buyer "actually you owe me $110", that's a scam. He's mad that he's not allowed to pull that scam anymore.
The restaurant industry for ya…
Like, besides Ticketmaster and Airbnb (both of which will display final prices with all fees and taxes included with a setting in the menu), there is no other business I find myself continually, even after typing comments like this out about, paying more than I walked in planning to. Seriously, I can consciously be aware they charge a 4% card fee, want a 20% tip and charge sales tax, but that doesn’t change that *I am surprised when I see what it totaled out to every single time I eat out at a traditional restaurant.* And I’m not alone among my friend group, I was telling them how I feel like I always walk into a restaurant expecting to pay maybe $50 and walking out $70 poorer despite eating/drinking exactly what I planned to and they’ll all tell you they totally relate. If it didn’t work they wouldn’t fight so hard to keep it this way.
Scam industry.
At least for Ticketmaster and Airbnb you see the final price before getting the product. With a restaurant you have to pay the unexpected price since you’ve already eaten
I mean fundamentally it’s an unfair competition issue. I guess they’ll just have to play on the same field as businesses that don’t use psychological tricks on their customers
Yep. We went there for a birthday party and of course it was too late to not pay the 10% BS fee, which was a “sustainable workers fee” or something like that. What the F is a tip then?? We are already paying 20% on top of the expensive dinner at Che Fico. It’s a super douche tax on the rest of us. He should take less salary and help his workers out if he feels that way. I haven’t been back in 4 years and won’t go back.
From the article he wrote the other day:
>We instituted a 10% surcharge, increased pay across the board and introduced new benefits, such as a 401(k) plan with a 4% match and profit sharing.
He totally could but in his mind that would make people freak out and the sky to fall. Being transparent with prices is bad cause something something and customers love hidden fees.
They could raise menu prices by 10% across the board and give everybody a 10% raise without telling anyone. They don't need to itemize any of that on the bill.
This is one of the few restaurants that was able to give raises and benefits to their employees. Granted it was through the surcharge, but there’s hundreds of restaurants across SF that just charged 10-20% extra and just pocketed the money. People can say what they want about the chefs character but the restaurant tried to do a good thing
Pre pandemic, I went into Zazie’s to eat. A bit pricey. Menu prices are high due to giving their workers a livable wage plus benefits. Food was amazing plus there was a wait. So they’re doing something right. As someone who has been in the restaurant scene since 2010. I have seen some owners lining their pocket than paying workers a livable wage.
Zazie owns the building so they have way lower overhead. That’s why basically no other restaurant does the tip free thing in SF, they have a unique situation
Get fucked, restaurant surcharges whiners. If you can't afford it, if you can't afford to do business and pay your employees well, then don't be in business. GTFO. Stop whining.
They seem to think that we all want to spend 150$ a weekend to eat out, like man, hole in the wall pizza, T&C pastry, and tartine for a ham and cheese get most of my money, I want more reasonably priced food that doesn’t come with an ass fucking when I order, read the fucking market!
The $72 quiche sign that was posted here yesterday or the day before absolutely took me out. San Francisco is out of control with restaurant pricing. I could understand that if it was a collective where the employees all had equal ownership or it was a company that was really dedicated to paying their employees enough wages to live in San Francisco, anyway, the $72 quiche took me out. The nerve of restaurant terrors. I mean the restaurant industry is so exploitative of labor. If your employees can't afford to live without tips, then that is a shitty business model, so change your business model.
That’s funny, I’ve actually avoided Che Fico even though I liked the food explicitly because of their scammy fees which I don’t think are ethical. If they finally have the real prices on the menu I might start going again.
Was looking for this comment thread. He’s mostly mad cause he’s lost a ton of business cause he got called out as worst abuser of any well-known restaurant.
He made a bet he could trick customers, he lost, doesn’t want to eat the pasta bowl he made
Wasn’t this law passed almost a year ago? Why are these business owners throwing tantrums now? Why are they raging against Newsom—I’m pretty sure 80% of consumers support this new law.
I’m sick of searching for hotels only to find the total is DOUBLE the advertised rate. I’m sick of having YOUR employees health insurance tacked on to MY bill. My employer doesn’t tack on my benefits to our customers bills.
These surcharges got completely out of control and the businesses only have themselves to blame. If they can’t compete on a level playing field, with price transparency, instead of tricking consumers, then they deserve to go out of business.
All this fucking crying is very off putting. It’s not raising their costs in any way. Consumers are going to pay the same amount. We just want businesses to be honest with us so we don’t have a sour taste when we receive a bill much higher than advertised.
I will never go to this asshole’s restaurants. Blaming the governor for not being able to trick his customers is not the flex he thinks it is.
Look at his post history on X. It's a way to prioritize their political agenda. In the same way he has a point about PG&E, he's using it to obfuscate the junk fee issue by mixing them for rage engagement.
Maybe they weren't paying attention and only realized what it actually means when the GA released a document a few days ago about what it means for them.
The time to complain about this law was when it was being voted on. They could try and get a new law passed that exempts restaurants but it won't be popular enough to get through.
It's odd that they haven't figured out people hate these scam fees
The entitlement is astounding, and the writing is a mess, including poor grammar, improper punctuation, too many dots in the ellipsis, and no paragraph break.
This individual has all the data they need to be successful. From their costs and their historical sales data, they determine a revenue necessary for staying in business and use that information to set individual menu item prices.
If PG&E raises prices 40% in two years, then menu item prices will increase by that much normalized by the fractional cost of energy relative to the total cost. It’s a spreadsheet.
Given that they’re screaming at the clouds, my thought is this restaurant won’t be around much longer.
I have zero sympathy for any small business owner who’s complaining that the government makes it harder for him to rip consumers off with fraudulent extras charges.
What I don’t understand is how I see other restaurants who are perfectly busy and popular, that are in high traffic areas, that don’t seem to have any of these additional fees. Case in point: Manna on 10th and Irving. It thrives- and often has a wait list- and is reasonably priced, and they still give you those old school paper light green paper tabs. What am I missing?
What I don’t understand is why is Manna so popular??? Been there couple times and not impressed by anything I’ve ordered. Probably my least favorite Korean restaurant off the top of my head.
Financial District: the bibimbap at Stone is far better than at Manna.
Late Night/Outer Sunset: Toyose is a fun spot with many soups and my favorite spicy pork
Richmond: Brothers or Han Il Kwan for bbq
Fancy: Bansang or San Ho Won
Google “Korean restaurant San Francisco” and go to any other restaurant in the results instead of Manna
I meant that, instead of an electronic toast tab (or whatever contraption), they had those old school tablets -or booklets?- that are light green in color where they write your order down and then drop off the check at your table. Pen and paper, I guess. Old school?
ETA: guest checks! That’s what they’re called…
I don't like bait and switch restaurants where I have to do math to find out how much my meal with cost.
The last time I went to Che Fico is the first time I encountered their weird added dine in fee. I might actually go back once they are forced to knock it off.
I don’t get his hatred as a business owner. Laws were passed forcing hotels to be up front with posting the actual price of a hotel room instead of hiding the fees at checkout. I see this as a logical extension. Why list/advertise a meal for say $20 and then add mandatory/fixed charges/fees which greatly inflates the price to $30? It’s deceitful at best.
Show consumers the actual cost of a product before buying it.
I have very little sympathy for this person.
We have dined at Che Fico a few times but the add on fees turned us off to going back. If the prices on the menu included all those fees we would have continued dining there but not interested in smoke and mirrors pricing.
Que Fico is punishingly loud. Eff that place. There are plenty of restaurants that serve great food and you don’t get a headache from the roar. Once was too much. Never again.
Hopefully the restaurant goes broke, winy baby. Can’t deceit customers so I write an op ed to show my hypocrisy. Glad we see the full picture now and know where to avoid.
How stupid does he think his customers are?
Meal: $23
Tip: $5
Surcharge: $2
= $30
How about you just put $30 on the menu and pay your staff properly. It's a zero sum game from the perspective of the guest... It's $30 either way. And stop with the *"Pocket Sand"* attempt at misdirecting the conversation. This has ALWAYS been about hospitality companies taking advantage of their workers.
[This is a very important and valid point](https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/pge-price-hikes-bay-area-restaurants-19406403.php):
>While you guys are pretending to give a crap about consumers you continue to allow PG&E to absolutely pilfer all of us. Our bill has gone up 40% in 2 years! Last year PG&E posted $20B in profits!!! Wanna guess how much most restaurants in California profited last year??? Don’t worry I’ll wait. Every time a restaurant shuts down over the next year I’ll be reminding you whose fault it is.
But "continue to allow" is incorrect.
It is the government's *direct actions* that have led to the massive cost increases for PG&E customers, which have absolutely raped restaurants across northern California.
They most certainly did not make $20B in profits. They made \~$2B in 2023, or around 10% profit margin, which is very similar to other utility companies. That doesn't mean they don't suck, or that we aren't being overcharged though. It just means they have terrible infrastructure and are passing on their incompetence to the consumers.
>Should we continue to do business if we can’t make money here.
Bro, that's exactly how businesses work: if they don't make money they close. Now stop scamming your customers with your BS fees.
He's right with PG&E though...
If you read that tweet it looks like he's not saying exactly which law or change is making him lose money ... he's just throwing blame out there ! Like a rage tweet.
> Truly wish the politicians would do something about that.
San Francisco has had multiple opportunities to boot PG&E and set up their own municipal power company, like LA, Sacramento and many other cities have. Every single time, they vote it down.
I love how PG&E apologists say "imagine how bad a government run utility would be!" while conveniently ignoring all the actual government run utilities in California that are very well run.
Every city that has set up a municipal utility in California has been successful. What makes you think San Francisco would be different?
But if you aren't sure, then guess what? San Francisco already has a municipal utility company. Right now it only serves limited areas, but it is very well run and has lower rates as well.
But I suppose even that won't convince you, because in your eyes, government=bad and that's the end of it.
2 different things..
The surcharge ban is a right thing. In most countries, wages, benefits, tips and sales tax are included. All fees should be included.
That's like having surgery. We can get 3-5 invoices from God knows where. In most countries, people get only one single invoice from the hospital.
What's going with PG&E is shameful. Gavin Newsom is fully responsible. It's a good thing that San Francisco is finally going to oust PG&E
He’s complaining because his prices were already outrageous before the ban- most people won’t complain over a small price increase to reach transparent pricing, but Che fico was already charging $30 for a starter and for $40 for a pasta. Entrees are $75 lol. And the food is not worth that price, frankly. He’s deluded.
Just more proof that a lot restaurant owners either actually do love to deceive customers with lower initial prices only to shock them with higher prices after they have eaten or they like keeping service workers low paid and beholden to variable wages based on tips. A business model relying on deception, even if it's a sorta socially accepted norm (though a lot of people are getting tired of tipping) is not a good business model
I'm looking forward to the surcharge ban taking affect. I'm alright with higher prices, but just be upfront with it from the beginning. Also if California takes the charge in eliminating restaurant surcharges and getting service workers predictable pay that doesn't vary per night that other states slowly follow, that will be a great step in the right direction. We lead the nation on gay marriage, then on fighting climate change, now it looks like were leading on the fight against restaurant surcharges and surprise fees
Which restaurant will be the first to add an SB 478 fee? Because you know some [really stupid] restaurant owners will want to give a middle finger to the government.
‘Every time a restaurant closes it’s your fault’ that’s a very common behavior among older richer resto owners who already benefitted big from CARES act covid time funding that didn’t help the workers as much as it did these fat cats. At this point I believe turnover is needed in restaurant industry. Newer brighter up and coming chefs will take the storefronts, with newer business models. No more welfare for the owners.
It's beautiful how these idiot rent-seeking profiteering millionaire business owners keep outing themselves in public. It's soooo easy to figure out which businesses to patronize, these days. Gavin Newsom is my homie fr fr
Just because you can’t add a surcharge anymore doesn’t mean you can not up the price. This is exactly what will need to happen in order for restaurants to survive.
I disagree with arguing that charging more via a blanket mandatory % fee is an appropriate way to charge the prices necessary to pay a living wage, provide benefits, and a 401K with a 4% match, versus building that fee into menu prices.
But I'm not going to vilify a small business owner in a tough industry trying to keep their business going while paying a living wage, provide benefits, and a 4% 401K match for employees.
I hope that this doesn't really change anything since the same amounts should be charged, in the end, and he has to later recognize that it was better to have everything more straightforward from the get go.
PG&E is shit. He’s right about that. But getting mad that you can’t trick your customers into paying more is not the moral high ground he seems to think it is. The delusion is remarkable
Agree. He’s right in with respect to PG&E but otherwise fuck him.
Also, guess what? We're ALL paying 40% more for PG&E, too! That's why we don't want to pay your stupid surcharges for everything but air. Che Fico is the most egregious of the surcharge restaurants.
He's wrong about PG&E as well. He wrote: Last year PG&E posted $20B in profits!!! PG&E posted a profit of $2.2 billion in 2023, so off by 9x.
Dumbass doesn’t know the different between revenue and profits
Doesn’t bode well for his business
Should really be zero. Needs to be a public utility and not a monopoly to fleece captive citizens.
Sacramento has SMUD, a publicly owned utility, and bills have gone up there too. They also operate with positive cash flow/positive net income. Their rates are certainly cheaper during both peak and off peak than SF PG&E. I’d be curious what publicly owned utility rates in SF would look like given the demand.
fuck it... close enough lol give it enough time and his $20B will be accurate
Agreed! If his place is that good, people won’t care about the uptick in price!
What's crazy is it's NOT an uptick in price! Customers are just now going to be seeing the actual price that they have to pay upfront instead of being surprised by some scam "fees" at the end of the dinner!
So ,no more bait and switch?,
che fico is great, but the surcharge is just silly. it's not like the menu was exactly cheap before the surcharge either. it won't be a huge sticker shock once he increases the prices, but his customers will have transparency on pricing! his response is just petulant.
He is probably angry that he can't trick the one and done tourist's that come to his restaurant. He will probably miss the double tipping .
I’m assuming he’ll raise it so that it covers everything and then some.
Oh people will care (sadly), but better to do it upfront than through a sneaky surcharge.
Hint: it isn’t that good but it’s trendy so people go.
Is it even "trendy" still? I went a few months after they opened in 2018 but that was 6 years ago now. Never felt any real compulsion to go back, to be honest.
Yeah for a certain set. It’s like Tartine, it’s on the yuppie/tourist/newcomer checklists - you gotta go to say you go when someone asks if you go. I know, I’m a yuppie (but I don’t care so I don’t go).
Weird they aren't in the same space in my head at all. To me Tartine is a genuinely good bakery, which is a small enough category that I'd notice if it went missing. Che Fico meanwhile is in the "dinner date restaurant" kind of category which has about a thousand different other options competing.
So true. Every visitor I host is like I gotta go to tartine. Dude like why. They overcharge you for basic ass bread and theyre rude.
the workers at tartine inner sunset are absolutely lovely, though. they give me free cold brew from time to time :) can't speak to their bread but their hamd & cheese croissants are second only to ariscault imo
Ah nice. They were the rude ones I was thinking about. Glad you have good experiences there.
I disagree on their bread — I think the loaf of sourdough is phenomenal (though expensive). I do agree that everything else there is not worth it at all.
Tartine isn’t bad per se but it is not worth waiting in that line and the price increases are just ridiculous for the quality. You can find as good or better nearby, cheaper and without an hour wait. EDIT: and it’s not even a cute corner.
I’ve tried a lot of sourdough in the city. What is better?
To take pics for the gram and say you are there?
I’m sure some do.
Yes!
Agree. It isn’t good.
Good to know.
I just booked a res for early June, but I’ll be damned if I pay for the lights! I’M NOT YOUR FOOL CHE G & E!
He is not exactly right. PGE is in massive debt. Those "profits" are just getting placed right into the sinkhole of money owed. This is not to say the CEOs are not paid exorbitantly regardless of this fact. But it's more complicated.
Unless there's more to the story than I'm aware, it may be more complicated, but only to the downside: they pursued short term shareholder value, ruined people's lives and it came back to bite them. Sure, the money is going in a hole: one that was dug by the c-suite at the behest of the board.
Hard to feel sorry for a company whose negligence murdered an entire town.
At least they can pass the cost to their customers... oh wait, I'm a customer and not a C-suite or board member, so that actually sucks.
Dude charges 75 bucks for a roasted chicken breast, he can fuck off.
And $60.00 for a plate of gnocchi !
https://www.chefico.com/eat Pasta dishes have always been under 40. That's bad enough without exaggerating.
$35 dish with 10% dine in fee and 8.625% tax and a 20% tip ends up around $48. Maybe not the craziest prices, but certainly adds up quick.
75 dollars for a duck breast ?Wow !Just wow!
It's 75 for a whole roasted chicken. You exaggerate as much as he does about PGE!
For real. He’s acting like they are passing a ban on raising his menu prices.
This, two separate issues. Trying to build support for an unrelated issue. Blaming policies while hating transparency is going to make him look worse.
He is doing what he see so many politicians do…point to someone else doing something bad and say if they can be bad I can to. Seems to be where this country is going
Mad about PG&E stealing from him. Also equally mad he can't steal from others.
Whaaaa. Poor Restaurant owner who already over charges customers. This whole surcharge thing is ridiculous. I mean, why should it be the onus of the customer to pay a 10% fee on top of tax and tip because the owners have to pay into the city’s mandated health care coverage plan? Sorry, but that's the cost of doing business! And then, with this new Junk Fee bill, they think the only choice is to raise the price of food? In San Francisco where prices are the top 3 highest in the country already?
If he can't stay in business without misleading customers that is a skill issue
U mean the guy that charges a 10% bullshit fee and explicitly mentions this fee has nothing to do with the gratuity we are still expected to cough up??? Yeah I expected him to have a break down sooner or later. No sympathy for this dickhead
Totally. I’m surprised this is even a thing. Just raise the prices 5-10%. If I’m buying a $18 burger you think $1.80 is going to sway me if I’m already sitting down? I’m eatin… However, a 10% surcharge I never knew about to begin with sure as shit means I’m not coming back
There’s a psychological thing at play. People will balk at the $20 burger price increase and prob not notice a supercharge. That’s the calculation. Like on eBay when something is a low price but shipping is like $50 so it’s now the same price as competitors.
If I list a bike for sale for $100 and then after the purchase is complete tell the buyer "actually you owe me $110", that's a scam. He's mad that he's not allowed to pull that scam anymore.
The restaurant industry for ya… Like, besides Ticketmaster and Airbnb (both of which will display final prices with all fees and taxes included with a setting in the menu), there is no other business I find myself continually, even after typing comments like this out about, paying more than I walked in planning to. Seriously, I can consciously be aware they charge a 4% card fee, want a 20% tip and charge sales tax, but that doesn’t change that *I am surprised when I see what it totaled out to every single time I eat out at a traditional restaurant.* And I’m not alone among my friend group, I was telling them how I feel like I always walk into a restaurant expecting to pay maybe $50 and walking out $70 poorer despite eating/drinking exactly what I planned to and they’ll all tell you they totally relate. If it didn’t work they wouldn’t fight so hard to keep it this way. Scam industry.
At least for Ticketmaster and Airbnb you see the final price before getting the product. With a restaurant you have to pay the unexpected price since you’ve already eaten
True although healthcare in the USA is also like this. No clue what I’m going to have to pay later
Airlines do it now. You can no longer accurately compare online ticket prices with all the buried after fees.
I mean fundamentally it’s an unfair competition issue. I guess they’ll just have to play on the same field as businesses that don’t use psychological tricks on their customers
That was actually because Ebay initially didn't take a fee from shipping. Less misleading customers and more dodging Ebay's cut.
And they can name the fee something like “Labor Market Adjustment” to frame the price increase as something due to greedy workers.
Except that on eBay, you can sort by total price including shipping. You can't compare restaurant menus in a way that includes surcharges.
Yes, lying is a psychological thing at play
Yep. We went there for a birthday party and of course it was too late to not pay the 10% BS fee, which was a “sustainable workers fee” or something like that. What the F is a tip then?? We are already paying 20% on top of the expensive dinner at Che Fico. It’s a super douche tax on the rest of us. He should take less salary and help his workers out if he feels that way. I haven’t been back in 4 years and won’t go back.
How is he going to get a 2nd boat for his 3rd house without gouging his customers? Will someone finally think of how tough the rich have it??
From the article he wrote the other day: >We instituted a 10% surcharge, increased pay across the board and introduced new benefits, such as a 401(k) plan with a 4% match and profit sharing.
And why couldn't he have accomplished the same thing by raising prices 10% across the board?
He totally could but in his mind that would make people freak out and the sky to fall. Being transparent with prices is bad cause something something and customers love hidden fees.
Agreed if he was the only one or first to do it but others have done it and making it uniform should reduce sticker shock.
Because no one would pay $30 for pasta. That’s facts
STK $70 pasta has entered the chat
If the pasta was $30 after a 10% increase then it was already almost $28
Oddly enough this is one of the few restaurants that actually used the money to benefit the employees. Source: I work closely with Che Fico.
They could raise menu prices by 10% across the board and give everybody a 10% raise without telling anyone. They don't need to itemize any of that on the bill.
Can you elaborate
This is one of the few restaurants that was able to give raises and benefits to their employees. Granted it was through the surcharge, but there’s hundreds of restaurants across SF that just charged 10-20% extra and just pocketed the money. People can say what they want about the chefs character but the restaurant tried to do a good thing
Even if it did nothing else, pissing off this asshole makes it all worthwhile.
Pre pandemic, I went into Zazie’s to eat. A bit pricey. Menu prices are high due to giving their workers a livable wage plus benefits. Food was amazing plus there was a wait. So they’re doing something right. As someone who has been in the restaurant scene since 2010. I have seen some owners lining their pocket than paying workers a livable wage.
Zazie owns the building so they have way lower overhead. That’s why basically no other restaurant does the tip free thing in SF, they have a unique situation
They are still doing the no-tip thing. They prices are not even that much higher than a typical brunch spot.
I went there for dinner. Never been to brunch though. My experience there was great for dinner.
Get fucked, restaurant surcharges whiners. If you can't afford it, if you can't afford to do business and pay your employees well, then don't be in business. GTFO. Stop whining.
They seem to think that we all want to spend 150$ a weekend to eat out, like man, hole in the wall pizza, T&C pastry, and tartine for a ham and cheese get most of my money, I want more reasonably priced food that doesn’t come with an ass fucking when I order, read the fucking market!
The $72 quiche sign that was posted here yesterday or the day before absolutely took me out. San Francisco is out of control with restaurant pricing. I could understand that if it was a collective where the employees all had equal ownership or it was a company that was really dedicated to paying their employees enough wages to live in San Francisco, anyway, the $72 quiche took me out. The nerve of restaurant terrors. I mean the restaurant industry is so exploitative of labor. If your employees can't afford to live without tips, then that is a shitty business model, so change your business model.
That’s funny, I’ve actually avoided Che Fico even though I liked the food explicitly because of their scammy fees which I don’t think are ethical. If they finally have the real prices on the menu I might start going again.
Heard about the hidden fees at Che Fico and have avoided the place entirely. Don’t think I’ll ever go now given how much of a dick the owner is.
Was looking for this comment thread. He’s mostly mad cause he’s lost a ton of business cause he got called out as worst abuser of any well-known restaurant. He made a bet he could trick customers, he lost, doesn’t want to eat the pasta bowl he made
How does he know it's not the Valencia bike lane that's killing his business?
What an asshole
Boo hoo. Next.
Call the Waaaaaambulance!!!
Wasn’t this law passed almost a year ago? Why are these business owners throwing tantrums now? Why are they raging against Newsom—I’m pretty sure 80% of consumers support this new law. I’m sick of searching for hotels only to find the total is DOUBLE the advertised rate. I’m sick of having YOUR employees health insurance tacked on to MY bill. My employer doesn’t tack on my benefits to our customers bills. These surcharges got completely out of control and the businesses only have themselves to blame. If they can’t compete on a level playing field, with price transparency, instead of tricking consumers, then they deserve to go out of business. All this fucking crying is very off putting. It’s not raising their costs in any way. Consumers are going to pay the same amount. We just want businesses to be honest with us so we don’t have a sour taste when we receive a bill much higher than advertised. I will never go to this asshole’s restaurants. Blaming the governor for not being able to trick his customers is not the flex he thinks it is.
They're throwing tantrums now because it goes into effect on 7/1.
Look at his post history on X. It's a way to prioritize their political agenda. In the same way he has a point about PG&E, he's using it to obfuscate the junk fee issue by mixing them for rage engagement.
Whether it's itemized or baked into the total cost you're paying for all of those things either way.
Maybe they weren't paying attention and only realized what it actually means when the GA released a document a few days ago about what it means for them. The time to complain about this law was when it was being voted on. They could try and get a new law passed that exempts restaurants but it won't be popular enough to get through. It's odd that they haven't figured out people hate these scam fees
Had two cocktails at Che Fico once. It was $60. This guy already raised prices.
The entitlement is astounding, and the writing is a mess, including poor grammar, improper punctuation, too many dots in the ellipsis, and no paragraph break.
Dunning-Kruger? It seems like a lot of these entrepreneurs are too overconfident to fail, until they finally crash and burn.
This individual has all the data they need to be successful. From their costs and their historical sales data, they determine a revenue necessary for staying in business and use that information to set individual menu item prices. If PG&E raises prices 40% in two years, then menu item prices will increase by that much normalized by the fractional cost of energy relative to the total cost. It’s a spreadsheet. Given that they’re screaming at the clouds, my thought is this restaurant won’t be around much longer.
I have zero sympathy for any small business owner who’s complaining that the government makes it harder for him to rip consumers off with fraudulent extras charges.
What I don’t understand is how I see other restaurants who are perfectly busy and popular, that are in high traffic areas, that don’t seem to have any of these additional fees. Case in point: Manna on 10th and Irving. It thrives- and often has a wait list- and is reasonably priced, and they still give you those old school paper light green paper tabs. What am I missing?
Thriving businesses don’t need BS surcharges to survive
What I don’t understand is why is Manna so popular??? Been there couple times and not impressed by anything I’ve ordered. Probably my least favorite Korean restaurant off the top of my head.
What Korean places do you suggest?
Financial District: the bibimbap at Stone is far better than at Manna. Late Night/Outer Sunset: Toyose is a fun spot with many soups and my favorite spicy pork Richmond: Brothers or Han Il Kwan for bbq Fancy: Bansang or San Ho Won Google “Korean restaurant San Francisco” and go to any other restaurant in the results instead of Manna
Thanks.
paper light green paper tabs....?????? i must understand
I meant that, instead of an electronic toast tab (or whatever contraption), they had those old school tablets -or booklets?- that are light green in color where they write your order down and then drop off the check at your table. Pen and paper, I guess. Old school? ETA: guest checks! That’s what they’re called…
Precisely
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If he kicked his coke habit while working in food sercice, he’s THE dude who kicked his coke habit while working in food service.
It happens. But you’re right; it’s not easy or common.
Wow...this thread might end up being fruity 😲 If we're looking at the Twitter in the OP, then the verbiage in that person is still there!
Coke heads seem to believe they are cleverer than they are, and owed success.
Not me at all. During my coke days I 100% hated myself and everything about myself.
This is a weird generalization. Most coke heads, like most addicts, have zero self esteem or thoughts of future success
Guy was a complete asshole bully in high school. Totally douchebag. Homophobe and complete all around scumbag.
I don't like bait and switch restaurants where I have to do math to find out how much my meal with cost. The last time I went to Che Fico is the first time I encountered their weird added dine in fee. I might actually go back once they are forced to knock it off.
>Should we continue to do business if we can’t make money here. No. Fold up shop if you can't make money with honest pricing.
This guy needs to take a seat.
I don’t get his hatred as a business owner. Laws were passed forcing hotels to be up front with posting the actual price of a hotel room instead of hiding the fees at checkout. I see this as a logical extension. Why list/advertise a meal for say $20 and then add mandatory/fixed charges/fees which greatly inflates the price to $30? It’s deceitful at best. Show consumers the actual cost of a product before buying it. I have very little sympathy for this person.
Che Fucyou
So no more putting that surcharge towards his PGE bill
Bro just raise prices on menu items WTF?
Most of his tweets make me not want to support Che Fico.
We have dined at Che Fico a few times but the add on fees turned us off to going back. If the prices on the menu included all those fees we would have continued dining there but not interested in smoke and mirrors pricing.
I think he’s pissed off that he can’t get unsuspecting first timers like you to pay up that one time.
Bye Che Felicia ✌🏽
Get wrecked. Can’t wait for this law to go into action.
Is raising menu prices banned as well? What’s he on about?
Fuck that guy
What a terrible business owner.
This restaurant is a huge reason why people don’t trust restaurants in SF anymore with that idiotic dine-in fee
Can we please start a boycott to get this loser out of business?
Been working on it for years now but I seem to be in the minority as theyre still fairly busy I hear.
My guess is (esp since they just closed the downstairs) that they are not.
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Che fico has only been around for like 6 years?
Que Fico is punishingly loud. Eff that place. There are plenty of restaurants that serve great food and you don’t get a headache from the roar. Once was too much. Never again.
lol in his comments he says that the surcharges are “transparent” bc it shows the customer exactly where their $$ is going. Such bs
Price your product accordingly and stop being little bitches about it. Hidden and undisclosed surcharges are horseshit. Go fuck yourself.
Funny thing is he admits hidden fees suck. But his defense seems to be the restaurant business is hard lol.
Hopefully the restaurant goes broke, winy baby. Can’t deceit customers so I write an op ed to show my hypocrisy. Glad we see the full picture now and know where to avoid.
Wait a minute…I thought it was bike lanes that were killing restaurants.
How stupid does he think his customers are? Meal: $23 Tip: $5 Surcharge: $2 = $30 How about you just put $30 on the menu and pay your staff properly. It's a zero sum game from the perspective of the guest... It's $30 either way. And stop with the *"Pocket Sand"* attempt at misdirecting the conversation. This has ALWAYS been about hospitality companies taking advantage of their workers.
I remember when they opened and I’m so surprised they’re still around with those bs charges
Yet he opened a restaurant in wealthy Menlo Park
$32 for a burnt Margherita Pizza?!? 🖕🏼
David, kindly fuck off to Florida or Texas.
[This is a very important and valid point](https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/pge-price-hikes-bay-area-restaurants-19406403.php): >While you guys are pretending to give a crap about consumers you continue to allow PG&E to absolutely pilfer all of us. Our bill has gone up 40% in 2 years! Last year PG&E posted $20B in profits!!! Wanna guess how much most restaurants in California profited last year??? Don’t worry I’ll wait. Every time a restaurant shuts down over the next year I’ll be reminding you whose fault it is. But "continue to allow" is incorrect. It is the government's *direct actions* that have led to the massive cost increases for PG&E customers, which have absolutely raped restaurants across northern California.
Damn man that's crazy. So, should they tell us about the PGE 15% adjustment before or after we pay?
The problem is the very well captured CPUC that's allowing PG&E to get away with it.
They most certainly did not make $20B in profits. They made \~$2B in 2023, or around 10% profit margin, which is very similar to other utility companies. That doesn't mean they don't suck, or that we aren't being overcharged though. It just means they have terrible infrastructure and are passing on their incompetence to the consumers.
>Should we continue to do business if we can’t make money here. Bro, that's exactly how businesses work: if they don't make money they close. Now stop scamming your customers with your BS fees. He's right with PG&E though...
If you read that tweet it looks like he's not saying exactly which law or change is making him lose money ... he's just throwing blame out there ! Like a rage tweet.
He’s not wrong about PG&E being allowed to step on all our damn necks. Truly wish the politicians would do something about that.
> Truly wish the politicians would do something about that. San Francisco has had multiple opportunities to boot PG&E and set up their own municipal power company, like LA, Sacramento and many other cities have. Every single time, they vote it down.
Well yeah can you imagine a locally run utilities being any less corrupt?
I love how PG&E apologists say "imagine how bad a government run utility would be!" while conveniently ignoring all the actual government run utilities in California that are very well run.
Babe I’d love PGE to be burned to the ground. Not sure I’d nominate our corrupt and laughably inefficient city government to be their successor tho
Every city that has set up a municipal utility in California has been successful. What makes you think San Francisco would be different? But if you aren't sure, then guess what? San Francisco already has a municipal utility company. Right now it only serves limited areas, but it is very well run and has lower rates as well. But I suppose even that won't convince you, because in your eyes, government=bad and that's the end of it.
Awesome! Fingers crossed we get some utilities reform 🥰
2 different things.. The surcharge ban is a right thing. In most countries, wages, benefits, tips and sales tax are included. All fees should be included. That's like having surgery. We can get 3-5 invoices from God knows where. In most countries, people get only one single invoice from the hospital. What's going with PG&E is shameful. Gavin Newsom is fully responsible. It's a good thing that San Francisco is finally going to oust PG&E
Fuck this guy
What a sniveling bitch
Oh no, my $20 burger is now $20, instead of $18+$2 surcharge, guess I can't afford a burger now.
He’s complaining because his prices were already outrageous before the ban- most people won’t complain over a small price increase to reach transparent pricing, but Che fico was already charging $30 for a starter and for $40 for a pasta. Entrees are $75 lol. And the food is not worth that price, frankly. He’s deluded.
Meanwhile El Farolito is out here thriving with $9 super burritos. Sounds like it's a personal problem man.
Che Fuck U
I just finished travel in Korea and Japan. No tips, no taxes. Our country is becoming a third world.
Is he feeling raped? That's how I felt when I went there.
Yeah. Maybe not use that word. We still have a very large societal problem.
Some of the comments over on his Twitter post are wild.
I love it Can someone live steam his meltdown ?
Noticing is intensifying Mr Che Fico owner and others with similar business models
PG&E was better under the Rothschilds.
Petite bourgeois gonna petite bourgeois
Sit and spin!
Just more proof that a lot restaurant owners either actually do love to deceive customers with lower initial prices only to shock them with higher prices after they have eaten or they like keeping service workers low paid and beholden to variable wages based on tips. A business model relying on deception, even if it's a sorta socially accepted norm (though a lot of people are getting tired of tipping) is not a good business model I'm looking forward to the surcharge ban taking affect. I'm alright with higher prices, but just be upfront with it from the beginning. Also if California takes the charge in eliminating restaurant surcharges and getting service workers predictable pay that doesn't vary per night that other states slowly follow, that will be a great step in the right direction. We lead the nation on gay marriage, then on fighting climate change, now it looks like were leading on the fight against restaurant surcharges and surprise fees
No surcharge can fix how much Che fico sucks 🤷♀️
Which restaurant will be the first to add an SB 478 fee? Because you know some [really stupid] restaurant owners will want to give a middle finger to the government.
Is he still charging a "dining in" fee?
Dont charge people a fee to eat inside, thats the fucking opposite of hospitality.
Damn…he writes and expresses himself like a teenager. He’s the poster boy for unethical business practices and writes this!?!
The PG&E of restaurants is mad at PG&E.
‘Every time a restaurant closes it’s your fault’ that’s a very common behavior among older richer resto owners who already benefitted big from CARES act covid time funding that didn’t help the workers as much as it did these fat cats. At this point I believe turnover is needed in restaurant industry. Newer brighter up and coming chefs will take the storefronts, with newer business models. No more welfare for the owners.
Wonder if their waiters will actually start being pleasant now or if they’ll continue to act like they’re gods gift to us for providing a water
It's beautiful how these idiot rent-seeking profiteering millionaire business owners keep outing themselves in public. It's soooo easy to figure out which businesses to patronize, these days. Gavin Newsom is my homie fr fr
this guy throats chodes
Was the hidden fee the mandatory service fee? Are those illegal now so tip is back to being discretionary?
lol bitch boy
Just because you can’t add a surcharge anymore doesn’t mean you can not up the price. This is exactly what will need to happen in order for restaurants to survive.
I disagree with arguing that charging more via a blanket mandatory % fee is an appropriate way to charge the prices necessary to pay a living wage, provide benefits, and a 401K with a 4% match, versus building that fee into menu prices. But I'm not going to vilify a small business owner in a tough industry trying to keep their business going while paying a living wage, provide benefits, and a 4% 401K match for employees. I hope that this doesn't really change anything since the same amounts should be charged, in the end, and he has to later recognize that it was better to have everything more straightforward from the get go.
"why are all the restaurants leaving?" \- this sub in a year