A woman has turned to internet viewers to frustration after dining out and receiving an unexpected fee on the check.
The September 3 post, which features a photo of a 30-year-old woman's bill, has racked up 11,000 upvotes. The bill shows three breakfast items from Paperboy restaurant in Austin, Texas, along with some drinks, totaling $64.75. However, a 'kitchen appreciation' tip of 3 percent was added without her consent, bringing the bill to $66.69 before tax.
Unlike a service fee, this extra charge is typically allocated to the back-of-house kitchen staff. The 30-year-old told Newsweek: "I feel the fee is just a way to hide the true price of each item. Kitchen labor at a fair wage should be included in the price of $20 chicken and biscuit."
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The woman, who goes by u/Existing_Art8081 online, said that she rarely dines out due to inflation, and she isn't alone. Earlier this year in February, SWNS Media Group shared a survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of The Habit Burger, that revealed 67 percent of 2,000 participants were stressed about money and 39 percent have decreased their dining-out budget over the past year in response. This is because restaurant prices have increased which affects 78 percent of respondents, including the Reddit user.
She told Newsweek: "We were saving up for a nice breakfast because we have not gone out in a long time because everything is so expensive now.
"When we got the check; we didn't want to pay the fee but were too embarrassed to question it to the staff's face.
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She said that $20 is her breakfast spending limit, adding: "It's deceptive—the item should have been listed as $20.60 on the menu. If we had seen that, we would have chosen a different place, but I guess they got us with that trick."
Paperboy's Kitchen Fee Directly Supports Back-of-House Staff
A spokesperson for Paperboy responded to Newsweek's inquiry, saying: "Paperboy instituted the policy two years ago. Our goal was to raise the floor for the kitchen team, allowing us to bridge the gap between the front and back of house without raising menu prices.
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"We are proud to pay our kitchen staff above competitive rates. However, there remains an industrywide disparity between the front and back of house, and due to labor laws, back-of-house positions cannot be included in the tip pool; 100 percent of the kitchen appreciation fee goes to the hourly kitchen staff working that day.
"We want the team to feel part of the process and compensated above and beyond as well. We see this as a way to stabilize our operations and avoid continuous menu price increases necessary to support the team.
"The 3 percent kitchen appreciation fee is clearly stated on the printed menu, encouraging guests to ask their server if they have any questions about it. Guests may request to have it removed at any time, and we will do so without question or hesitation."
Reddit Reacts
So far, the post has over 1,400 comments, and the top one alone has 13,000 upvotes.
It read: "You would think a place that charges $5 for a cup of tea would be able to afford paying their employees without having to do this."
Another user posted: "It's crazy because the fee was less than 2 bucks. This would only increase each item by like 10 cents if you split it up and no one would bat an eye. This just draws attention to it."
"I know it's in Austin, TX. But 6 dollars for juice? Nearly $4 for 12 oz of coffee? I'm a server and think that OUR prices are ridiculous. But these? Terrifying," wrote a third commenter.
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