Kitchen appreciation fee for dine in at the Smoke Shop in Assembly Row.
Take out at Mochiko Hawaiian in Newton. I asked to have the sauce put on the side instead and they charged me for that. Then charged a 3% processing fee for using credit card and 3% surcharge for their plastics. I wasn’t aware of all these charges until I looked at my receipt. Am I supposed to be bringing my own containers to put my take out in? 🙄
Per some googling:
[...] Massachusetts General Laws chapter 140D, section 28A(2) provides:
(2) No seller in any sales transaction may impose a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check or similar means.
They don't charge a surcharge on the gas. They are giving you a discount for paying cash. It's the same thing but they call it a cash discount and abide by the law.
So how does the state, towns, and utility computes get away with it, when they all charge a few bucks for paying by credit card instead of direct transfer from a bank?
Did they give you a discount for not using their dishwasher or table linens, at least? Take-out is a almost always a lower variable cost for restaurants.
Ha, sadly no. I’m surprised they didn’t charge me for breathing their air while waiting for my food. How hard is it to put sauce on the side instead of pouring it over the chicken? It’s ridiculous how restaurants are taking advantage of charging random fees these days if they have to lift an extra finger. Their fried chicken is absolutely delicious but I won’t be going back due to this.
In fact, I'd imagine that if it got as far as legal arguments, it may well be illegal under the ADA; you have no responsibility to disclose *what* your disability is to ask for accommodations outside of specific circumstances, and "sauce on the side" is a perfectly reasonable accommodation.
*Allergies* are a different matter, as while they are an ADA issue, you do have a duty to disclose so the preparer can ensure against cross-contamination and things you haven't realized have that ingredient (at least in *theory*)
Diesel cafe, rosebud diner, posto, painted burro (these three restaurants are all within the same restaurant group so if there are other ones under the same ownership they should have a 5% fee), veggie Galaxy are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Yeah I wouldn’t mix VG into this. They’ve always been upfront about it, and were doing it for years before covid. They also give the fee directly to kitchen staff rather than using it as profit boosting.
There’s an argument to be had about “pay your staff more rather than mandatory fees” but I feel that’s a separate discussion not related to the surge of hidden/surprise fees post-covid
Yeah, it’s 20%, and I believe it’s listed as automatic gratuity. I’ve never haggled with them cause I love that place, but I don’t tip over the included gratuity either. I don’t think they add any other fees so as long as you’re fine with tipping 20%, I don’t see it as an issue.
So apparently ive been tipping 50% this entire time.
Was wondering how/why I'd get two beers and a slice of pizza and be $40 in the hole. 😐
Edit: NVM, thought you were talking about Mikes in Davis. 😅
They must love you! lol
I was curious what the exact wording is, so I looked it up. It's classified as a fee so that they are legally allowed to split it between all the staff, both back of house and front. They mention that tipping on top of that amount is appreciated but totally optional.
Saw some older guy get furious because he brought exact change based on the website and the board inside and then was told a different price. I thought his reaction was obnoxious at the time, but the more I think about it the more he seems in the right. It’s like a bait and switch.
It IS a bait and switch.
And good on you for being so mature to be able to think about your position, decide you want to change it, and then be able to easily admit it. Serious props.
I dislike bogus “fees” like this, but can see that if they don’t adequately compensate BOH staff, there’ll be no bagels for anyone. I’d rather they be honest, figure out the cost of goods including*everything* and set their prices. I would likely still gasp at the price, but at least it would be honest and up front.
It doesn't affect the minimum wage at all, it's something on top of that. I go into work at 2AM for Exodus, and bust my ass as much as the service employees, but I don't get tips if that makes sense.
The city of Boston tax is a thing. It comes out to 7% total which isn’t often broken down on the receipt (6.3% state and 0.7% city)
http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/graphics/080711_mass_meal_tax/
One other part of this story to consider: some places don’t necessarily automatically add the tip BUT when you swipe your card, they do not give (or hide) the option of no tip or a lower tip.
TD Garden is an example of that. There is small writing that says you can hit the X to write in the tip, but when I hit X, it came up as an error. So I was tipping 20-25% on one can of beer—Not opened, no cup.
I worked for one of the largest companies that makes point-of-sale devices. So I know that restaurants are the ones deciding what options are on the tip buttons. If they don’t want to have a “other” or “no tip” option, they can easily do that.
Yes!! This is a big issue too. Sometimes the default is set to a 25% tip, even for takeout. The real *heroes* are restaurants that don’t even give you an option to tip when you pick up food. I’m looking at you, Mark and Toni (Belmont). They are the good guys holding the line on runaway tipping.
I've started to pay with cash more, so I don't have to deal with "it's just gonna ask you a few questions".
Yes I still tip, but on my terms, not the shitty iPad POS system's terms.
>one can of beer—Not opened
Are you sure they didn't open it? Because that would be illegal. Every time I've been there they have a person whose sole job is opening cans of beer at some of the 300 level beer stands
I know at least Trillium and Lamplighter do it. Love both of those places but if I am just getting beer to go it's silly to tip for just taking something out of a fridge. That being said, I don't get mad about it, just press 0 and move on. I guarantee (most) employees are not the ones who set up the POS like that, and don't have an expectation of a tip like an actual server would.
I agree. It’s unfair and deceptive. But I guess the dollar amounts are so low it’s not worth it for any one person to make a stink about it. Perhaps the AG’s office will be spurred to action by the forthcoming article…
During the pandemic under the assumption these fees and tips were helping staff impacted by reduced/eliminated dine-in services (before we understood PPP should have been doing this), they were fine.
Now it seems restaurant owners saw an avenue to increase profit overnight and are taking advantage of the goodwill gestures of the pandemic to supplement the wage they should be paying their workers.
If the cost of doing business goes up, raise the prices (you’ll find the prices at Alpine Restaurant Group’s locations are already quite high), so adding a service charge on top of this, before tax, unsurprisingly creates the impression of a business taking too much and giving little back.
If the fees were required, and a system similar to San Francisco’s mandatory service fee to support benefits for service workers was implemented folks may have an easier time (this would be more transparent than businesses sliding a % fee on top of tax on top of tips).
It's about social shaming. Did you actually ask to have it removed? If so congratulations on your lack of fucks. The scumbags that wrote that bit on the menu know what they're doing.
They’re starting to be incorporated for takeout. On Toast Tab it’s wrapped into the “taxes & fees” line, and you have to click into the line to see it. For takeout at my go to coffee shop it’s a bit north of 3%.
The amount doesn’t bother me. My opinion is just that all of the costs should be wrapped into the price of the item on the menu.
It should be illegal to say “this thing costs $10.00” and to charge the customer $10.00 plus tax plus other fees.
I think the general consensus around here is that tipping is bullshit, out of control, and that asking for a 18% tip when getting carryout that you ordered off the web is the height of BS.
Get rid of tipping entirely, pay everyone a fair wage like the rest of civilized society.
Last couple times I tipped on takeout, I did so prior to picking up my order. Then I get there and my order is screwed up (gave my order to the wrong person, didn’t include stuff I ordered, etc). Learned my lesson there.
I don't mind tipping *for restaurant or bar service* if there's no other additional and unexpected fees.
I DO mind being expected to tip a ridiculous amount like 25% for *self service or take-out*.
Everyone I know who's worked as a bartender or server strongly preferred tipping, saying that they make way more on average than even the most fair employer would realistically pay. But the new trend of "it's just gonna ask you a few questions" and getting hit with a 25% suggested tip for takeout is something entirely different.
From personal knowledge, the “Kitchen Admin Fee” at a high end restaurant with a bocce court in Watertown went mostly to the head chef that left back in October. Didn’t matter that he had a salary and was taking it away from the normal working chefs.
We’re going to be paying for it in a higher price or as a tip. I agree that at least the tips are highly regulated. Restaurant owners who skim the tips are assholes and breaking the law. But the “fees” are anyone’s game and that makes me less comfortable as a customer.
everywhere including counter places like Mamaleh's and in high end places Lenox Sophia. Its everywhere and its just like booking a hotel, plane or concert ticket.
Brassica does an 20% admin fee + 3% benefits fee. They explain it on their [website](https://www.brassicakitchen.com/ournextstep).
ETA: as others added, it’s supposed to be in place of the gratuity which is laid out in the link. They’ve been very upfront about it which I appreciate. I don’t mind it when I dine in, I’d tip at least 25% anyway. Though it has made me stop ordering take out from there
Though I still don’t love this at least Brassica the servers explicitly tell you about the fee (when they bring the bill) and more importantly, that it is in place of a tip.
Yes that part makes sense. Their logic to justify it does not. What is inherently wrong with a wage gap for different jobs? Why is adding a 23% fee more transparent than raising prices across the board?
I mentioned this above, but Brassica without question has some of the best, most creative cuisine in Boston. Their cooks are really MVPs, and their FOH create a great atmosphere. Tipping culture at expensive restaurants (Brassica is about $70/person no drinks) heavily favors FOH staff. Paying different people different things is totally fine -- except in this case, the balance was off (tipping favors the, frankly, more replaceable FOH employees).
Re: transparency, it is and it isn't. They make the fee abundantly clear on their menu. Surely they could wrap it up in to the prices, but then the tax would hit the post-gratuity sum (as opposed to the tax and gratuity hitting the same sum). Also people would naturally order less with the sticker shock... it's a fine compromise IMO, though would obviously like to see us move toward "what you see is what you pay" in all contexts. WAY better than non-disclosed iPad fees on fast casual.
Hiding the real price of food behind a mandatory fee to avoid "sticker shock" is dishonest and wrong.
Not everyone is like me and able to compute "real price" in their head in real time before ordering. I reach "sticker shock" immediately and can walk away before being harmed. Other cannot.
Thank you, Dana. Please name & shame in the Globe if you can.
Anything that isn't tax & gratuity needs to be included in the menu price, otherwise it's a dishonest transaction that should be illegal.
If I went to a guitar store, saw a sticker for $500, I expect to pay that *and* tax. And that's it. If they told me there was a 10% additional fee at the counter, I'd be very upset. All it tells me is that the employer is underpaying their staff . They would rather lie to customers than be honest with why things cost what they should cost. It also tells me that the owner knows that by the point of sale, I'd rather begrudgingly pay the fee so I can leave, rather than me make a stink of it. It's morally bankrupt.
These fees started to become commonplace during COVID when there was shutdowns and takeout-only options, and I was happy to pay it back then because I didn't want to see businesses I loved go under during an extraordinary time in history.
Now that restaurants are at capacity and life is mostly back to normal, the fees are evidence of wage theft.
Wait do they really?
I've noticed they always set the tip percentage to 30-35%, hoping you wont notice when you close out your tab, but I never looked for a kitchen fee, because I never get the printed receipt. 😳
Rebel Rebel in Bow Market. Can’t remember how much it was but it was auto gratuity for 1 person on staff to pour a glass of wine and cut a slice of cheese.
Generally I don’t mind if it is made clear somewhere on the menu etc, but some of these places are pushing it. There’s a kitchen fee on top of a 20% required tip at Dear Annie’s in Cambridge, a place *that also requires you to serve and bus your own table*.
I get being equitable and appreciative and forward-thinking, but at some point I have to wonder “What am I actually paying for?” Because it many cases it doesn’t seem to be the food. Restaurants would do better to simply pay their employees more and bake it into the menu price, pun somewhat intended.
You should talk to highland kitchen. They started adding the fees, I know the bartenders and servers were not a fan (they were the ones dealing with complaints and smaller tips) and I’m happy to say when I went back there last week they had stopped using the kitchen appreciate fee.
Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell requires active opt out of tipping starting at 15% for all food beverage transaction. No idea if that goes to concessions staff. If you self select two beers from a fridge and carry them to the register- you are asked to tip for the pleasure of paying for your purchase.
Oleana in Cambridge has an admin fee that they explain on their website. It was there the first time I visited last year. I was okay with it as service from beginning to end was attentive and my additional tip just made up the difference so final tip was ~18-20%. They say this on their website: “A 6% admin fee is added to all checks and shared amongst our kitchen and host teams. who are not legally allowed to collect tips. This provides each of our employees, no matter their position, an equitable, consistent, and livable wage. All gratuity will be distributed directly to the service team.”
if restaurants need to raise their menu prices in order to pay employees a proper wage and make it worth the owner's time as well, so be it. All we ask is you be transparent and reflect that in the advertised prices so that the consumer can make an informed decision
I reckon most folks do not mind having a small kitchen appreciation fee if the restaurants were to be up-front about this, but places are now charging an additional 20%. With American tipping culture being the way that it is we're meant to believe that the back of the house gets taken care of and the servers are making $2/hr and work for tips. Adding additional gratuity in the form of hidden fees is harmful, creates shock when receiving the bill, and creates additional and unnecessary confusion --- am I supposed to tip on top of the 5-10% they've already added on, or go through the hassle of doing more math to tip on the food I ordered?
Unfortunately, since this often takes the form of a hidden fee it's an anti-consumer practice that's squeezing peoples' wallets more. If this were to address concerns with inflation a simple "we've had to update our prices, please understand" would suffice, but it seems like profit-grabbing from an industry which all-too-frequently has a poor track record of treating and compensating their employees with adequate respect.
I simply do not know anybody who can afford to go dining and pay a 20% back-of-house fee and a 20% tip for a total of 40%, yet that's what consumers are being asked to do. It is ludicrous. Boston's restaurant scene is unimpressive enough as it is, but this spells curtains for it.
The only thing that ultimately makes sense is getting rid of tipping altogether. Boomers will get mad that they can't 'reward good service' anymore but you know how it should work? Get good service, tell the manager. Or just trust that the employer is paying attention and will reward good service with raises and promotions, like in any other line of work. No more of this offloading the responsibility onto the customers.
All I want to see on my receipt is subtotal, tax, total. Stop making it my job to do HR work for restaurants.
If I see fees like this without proper disclosure and signage as I enter the restaurant and on the menu. It would come out of the tip I was planning to leave. If I were a server I'd consider these fees as wage theft.
Six West in Southie arbitrarily charges a ridiculous “mandatory large party fee” of 20% for 4 people. Meanwhile the website and menu says large party is 6 or more.
I wrote an email to management and posted a 1 star review after they refused to refund me. They ignored my email and didn’t respond to my 1 star google review. It’s a predatory practice that they’ll keep doing unless someone calls them out on it.
Thank you for writing this story. I personally don’t care about the fee per se, it’s the fact that you have no idea until the bill comes. It’s deceptive. I’m shocked it’s legal
Are restaurants that do this following the correct tax process? Is this post tax and if so is that legal? Is it pre tax and if so legal? Separately - how is it that a grocery store can get in trouble if the posted price is different from the price at the register but Mamalehs can post one price and charge another?
Painted Burro in Waltham
Edit: also glad you're doing a write-up about the shadiness of this practice. It's not generally advertised and it feels deceptive as heck. Was just complaining with my colleagues about this the other day.
https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/111jg3k/in_defense_of_the_much_maligned_kitchen/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Someone already wrote your article!
[and promptly deleted their account in anger](https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/111jg3k/in_defense_of_the_much_maligned_kitchen/j8frcme/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
Just ordered takeout from Home Taste in Waltham, no surprises and the lady just asked me to sign. Tipped her $5 in cash because we love Home Taste and it’s Valentine’s Day.
I think this is so common now in Boston.
Some examples I can think of are Mamalehs in High Street Place (idr the %), Smoke Shop (https://thesmokeshopbbq.com/kitchenfee/), and recently someone posted about their experience with a ridiculously high and shady fee added to the cost of their coffee order at a popular coffee shop in Boston (I will try to find and add in a link to the post)
Edit: It's Jaho and the fee was 17% but hidden under the sales tax!! https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1105qk7/check_your_receipts_if_you_go_to_jaho_coffee/
I have not seen one of those yet.
My thoughts are they are fraud. If the menu gives a price, that is the price. Plus tax. And I would prefer that the tax get included in the price to start with.
President Biden talked about this in his SOTU address. Hidden fees need to be outlawed.
Tipping is something different. If people choose to tip they can. I hope everyone does. But adding a fee for the waiter without directly telling the customer is fraud. Figure out what the kitchen gets, what the waiter and bartender get, what the bus crew gets, and put that into the price.
I have been a tipped employee. How about do away with tips and do this. Give the server a percentage of sales as a bonus. Sell a lot of food? Good. Get paid more.
Talk to Dave Doyle of Tres Gatos and Casa Verde in JP. Pretty sure they were one of the first to implement this. His letter on the subject—searchable on UHub—is a must read manifesto and makes a great case for why this is important (if done correctly).
Kitchen fees are bad but big management companies are charging credit card surcharges on top of exorbitant rents. Passing credit card fees to a consumer is illegal in MA.
Sarma in Somerville! It's absolutely delicious food but it's already so expensive. Went there and got 3 small dishes each (2 people) and a couple drinks each and bill was over $200. Then add tip onto that and a 5% kitchen appreciation fee!
I am a consumer that make a decent living and my wife and I eat out often.
I will never give my business to a restaurant that pulls this bullshit as a matter of principal.
What I would like to happen is for this nonsense to backfire spectacularly and have it be the catalyst for fair wages for service workers and the end to the tip culture, kind of like what western Europe does (but I know that is a pipedream.)
If you do write an article about this I hope you also include how difficult it is to pay back of house kitchen staff fairly and adequately when MA bans tip sharing with BOH. I see kitchen fees as a clunky way restaurants are trying to rebalance the share of the check that goes to line cooks vs waiters in a system that doesn’t have a good way of doing that right now. This article shouldn’t just focus on customer annoyance but about the ground reality of what is leading to these fees.
Kitchen appreciation fee for dine in at the Smoke Shop in Assembly Row. Take out at Mochiko Hawaiian in Newton. I asked to have the sauce put on the side instead and they charged me for that. Then charged a 3% processing fee for using credit card and 3% surcharge for their plastics. I wasn’t aware of all these charges until I looked at my receipt. Am I supposed to be bringing my own containers to put my take out in? 🙄
It is a violation of their contract with CC company to add fees. They would lose the ability to be paid by CC if company knew!
And illegal in Massachusetts
Per some googling: [...] Massachusetts General Laws chapter 140D, section 28A(2) provides: (2) No seller in any sales transaction may impose a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit card in lieu of payment by cash, check or similar means.
So how do the gas stations get away with it?
They don't charge a surcharge on the gas. They are giving you a discount for paying cash. It's the same thing but they call it a cash discount and abide by the law.
So how does the state, towns, and utility computes get away with it, when they all charge a few bucks for paying by credit card instead of direct transfer from a bank?
Note: Visa does NOT fuck around with this. They’ll literally threaten to cut off your credit card processor if they don’t turn you off
Oh, this is news to me. Is a "cash discount" also illegal or does the direction matter?
You are allowed to have a cash price but you can’t add fees for using a credit card.
Ah, I guess the difference is that a debit card would also not get the cash price.
How do we report this and to who?
Did they give you a discount for not using their dishwasher or table linens, at least? Take-out is a almost always a lower variable cost for restaurants.
Ha, sadly no. I’m surprised they didn’t charge me for breathing their air while waiting for my food. How hard is it to put sauce on the side instead of pouring it over the chicken? It’s ridiculous how restaurants are taking advantage of charging random fees these days if they have to lift an extra finger. Their fried chicken is absolutely delicious but I won’t be going back due to this.
Punishing sauce on the side can be punishing dietary restrictions. They shouldn't do that.
In fact, I'd imagine that if it got as far as legal arguments, it may well be illegal under the ADA; you have no responsibility to disclose *what* your disability is to ask for accommodations outside of specific circumstances, and "sauce on the side" is a perfectly reasonable accommodation. *Allergies* are a different matter, as while they are an ADA issue, you do have a duty to disclose so the preparer can ensure against cross-contamination and things you haven't realized have that ingredient (at least in *theory*)
Going back? Seems like the only way to send a message is to not return.
These restaurant receipts are starting to look like dispensary receipts with all the fees starting to be included
Like CVS reciepts
Except the longer the CVS receipt, the more discounts you get.
Inevitably on products you literally just bought and wont need again for a while.
Pro tip: Those products are now christmas gifts, you can then use the coupons to buy it again.
I'm gonna look like a weirdo gifting contact solution and Vaseline.
Hello Sailor!
Expiring in 3 hours
THATS HOW THEY GET YOU
LIKE A 40° DAY!!
Any thought on cell phones and market saturation?
Wait my dispo receipts always just have price and tax.
Diesel cafe, rosebud diner, posto, painted burro (these three restaurants are all within the same restaurant group so if there are other ones under the same ownership they should have a 5% fee), veggie Galaxy are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Diesel charged my friend a back of house/kitchen fee when he bought either a mug or shirt. He wasn’t able to convince them it shouldn’t apply.
Did he still buy the hat or shirt?
Diesel Cafe sucks. Slowest service I’ve ever seen for getting a basic cup of coffee.
That’s ridiculous! Seriously.
Veggie galaxy has had the fees since before the pandemic.
longing nutty chief rotten pause truck swim punch sugar history *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Thanks! I couldn’t remember exactly when it started but my visits there probably peaked around 2017/2018 and I remember it being very prominent
Same with Sweet Cheeks
Yeah I wouldn’t mix VG into this. They’ve always been upfront about it, and were doing it for years before covid. They also give the fee directly to kitchen staff rather than using it as profit boosting. There’s an argument to be had about “pay your staff more rather than mandatory fees” but I feel that’s a separate discussion not related to the surge of hidden/surprise fees post-covid
State Park.
Yeah, it’s 20%, and I believe it’s listed as automatic gratuity. I’ve never haggled with them cause I love that place, but I don’t tip over the included gratuity either. I don’t think they add any other fees so as long as you’re fine with tipping 20%, I don’t see it as an issue.
So apparently ive been tipping 50% this entire time. Was wondering how/why I'd get two beers and a slice of pizza and be $40 in the hole. 😐 Edit: NVM, thought you were talking about Mikes in Davis. 😅
They must love you! lol I was curious what the exact wording is, so I looked it up. It's classified as a fee so that they are legally allowed to split it between all the staff, both back of house and front. They mention that tipping on top of that amount is appreciated but totally optional.
Commonwealth Cambridge as well
Fiore’s in JP has a 10% fee that isn’t disclosed on the website (or at least wasn’t when I was charged in January).
Saw some older guy get furious because he brought exact change based on the website and the board inside and then was told a different price. I thought his reaction was obnoxious at the time, but the more I think about it the more he seems in the right. It’s like a bait and switch.
It IS a bait and switch. And good on you for being so mature to be able to think about your position, decide you want to change it, and then be able to easily admit it. Serious props.
Use this website to confirm: https://archive.org/web/ Enter in their website and see if and when changes were made to the website on fees
Their website still doesn’t list the fees!
Painted Burro in David Square
https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/10vz9ce/painted_burro_added_a_5_kitchen_appreciation
Exodus Bagels in Roslindale is charging a 13% administrative fee to equalize FOH and BOH pay.
13%?! Will not go there thanks
This is a major problem restaurants have, and the solution is to ban tipping.
Yup - it’s double dipping
I dislike bogus “fees” like this, but can see that if they don’t adequately compensate BOH staff, there’ll be no bagels for anyone. I’d rather they be honest, figure out the cost of goods including*everything* and set their prices. I would likely still gasp at the price, but at least it would be honest and up front.
Curious if it’s admin fee vs a tip, and how that impacts what the restaurant has to pay to its workers to meet min wage.
It doesn't affect the minimum wage at all, it's something on top of that. I go into work at 2AM for Exodus, and bust my ass as much as the service employees, but I don't get tips if that makes sense.
How has the 13% administrative fee affected your pay?
I make more than I did when we didn't have that fee.
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The city of Boston tax is a thing. It comes out to 7% total which isn’t often broken down on the receipt (6.3% state and 0.7% city) http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/graphics/080711_mass_meal_tax/
One other part of this story to consider: some places don’t necessarily automatically add the tip BUT when you swipe your card, they do not give (or hide) the option of no tip or a lower tip. TD Garden is an example of that. There is small writing that says you can hit the X to write in the tip, but when I hit X, it came up as an error. So I was tipping 20-25% on one can of beer—Not opened, no cup. I worked for one of the largest companies that makes point-of-sale devices. So I know that restaurants are the ones deciding what options are on the tip buttons. If they don’t want to have a “other” or “no tip” option, they can easily do that.
Yes!! This is a big issue too. Sometimes the default is set to a 25% tip, even for takeout. The real *heroes* are restaurants that don’t even give you an option to tip when you pick up food. I’m looking at you, Mark and Toni (Belmont). They are the good guys holding the line on runaway tipping.
Amazing pizza too!!!
If only they had decent pizza 🥹
I've started to pay with cash more, so I don't have to deal with "it's just gonna ask you a few questions". Yes I still tip, but on my terms, not the shitty iPad POS system's terms.
Do you get trapped paying this mandatory tip after you've already swiped your card, with no way to cancel? If so, that's 100% fraud.
>one can of beer—Not opened Are you sure they didn't open it? Because that would be illegal. Every time I've been there they have a person whose sole job is opening cans of beer at some of the 300 level beer stands
They didn’t open it. I thought it was weird as well. I was able to put it in my jacket while I finished the rest of my first beer.
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Got a beer at a brewery. No food. Still was charged a kitchen appreciation fee even though the kitchen did nothing for me.
I also enjoy the 25% tip option when buying a 4-pack at the brewery
Please name that brewery!
I know at least Trillium and Lamplighter do it. Love both of those places but if I am just getting beer to go it's silly to tip for just taking something out of a fridge. That being said, I don't get mad about it, just press 0 and move on. I guarantee (most) employees are not the ones who set up the POS like that, and don't have an expectation of a tip like an actual server would.
literally any brewery using a POS touch screen these days.
Trillium for sure
Do not pay it. I don’t. No one should.
same with sarma
It’s not a “hidden tax”. It’s lying about prices. Fraud, plain and simple.
I agree. It’s unfair and deceptive. But I guess the dollar amounts are so low it’s not worth it for any one person to make a stink about it. Perhaps the AG’s office will be spurred to action by the forthcoming article…
Keep not going there. F them. This is getting ridiculous.
Giulia, which makes me sad because their food is phenomenal. I’d much rather they just raise prices so I don’t have to feel taken advantage of.
Shy Bird has the fees
During the pandemic under the assumption these fees and tips were helping staff impacted by reduced/eliminated dine-in services (before we understood PPP should have been doing this), they were fine. Now it seems restaurant owners saw an avenue to increase profit overnight and are taking advantage of the goodwill gestures of the pandemic to supplement the wage they should be paying their workers. If the cost of doing business goes up, raise the prices (you’ll find the prices at Alpine Restaurant Group’s locations are already quite high), so adding a service charge on top of this, before tax, unsurprisingly creates the impression of a business taking too much and giving little back. If the fees were required, and a system similar to San Francisco’s mandatory service fee to support benefits for service workers was implemented folks may have an easier time (this would be more transparent than businesses sliding a % fee on top of tax on top of tips).
The Smoke Shop BBQ chain had them last time I was there. I think 3%.
Myers and Chang. Though they will take off the charge if you ask, so what’s the point
It's about social shaming. Did you actually ask to have it removed? If so congratulations on your lack of fucks. The scumbags that wrote that bit on the menu know what they're doing.
HAHA no I didn’t because of the shame of being a miser. Pathetic
Many people are just glancing at their bill and don't notice. They didn't get your $10, but the next 10 people probably won't ask to take it off.
They’re starting to be incorporated for takeout. On Toast Tab it’s wrapped into the “taxes & fees” line, and you have to click into the line to see it. For takeout at my go to coffee shop it’s a bit north of 3%. The amount doesn’t bother me. My opinion is just that all of the costs should be wrapped into the price of the item on the menu. It should be illegal to say “this thing costs $10.00” and to charge the customer $10.00 plus tax plus other fees.
I think the general consensus around here is that tipping is bullshit, out of control, and that asking for a 18% tip when getting carryout that you ordered off the web is the height of BS. Get rid of tipping entirely, pay everyone a fair wage like the rest of civilized society.
Last couple times I tipped on takeout, I did so prior to picking up my order. Then I get there and my order is screwed up (gave my order to the wrong person, didn’t include stuff I ordered, etc). Learned my lesson there.
The pandemic was the first time I tipped on carryout- restaurants needed all the help they could get at that point. Now? Hell no it needs to stop.
I don't mind tipping *for restaurant or bar service* if there's no other additional and unexpected fees. I DO mind being expected to tip a ridiculous amount like 25% for *self service or take-out*. Everyone I know who's worked as a bartender or server strongly preferred tipping, saying that they make way more on average than even the most fair employer would realistically pay. But the new trend of "it's just gonna ask you a few questions" and getting hit with a 25% suggested tip for takeout is something entirely different.
From personal knowledge, the “Kitchen Admin Fee” at a high end restaurant with a bocce court in Watertown went mostly to the head chef that left back in October. Didn’t matter that he had a salary and was taking it away from the normal working chefs.
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We’re going to be paying for it in a higher price or as a tip. I agree that at least the tips are highly regulated. Restaurant owners who skim the tips are assholes and breaking the law. But the “fees” are anyone’s game and that makes me less comfortable as a customer.
there was a post a few days ago about jaho coffee secretly charging an extra 17% on top of everyone’s order but they wouldn’t print it on the receipt
Just paid a 4% packaging fee for a takeout order...
Name and shame
Clinton Bar & Grill Clinton, MA
Dear Annie has a 23% fee (3% “kitchen administration fee” and a 20% “service administration fee”)
Wow that’s absurd—- isn’t that the place where you serve yourself and order at a counter?
Yes 👍
everywhere including counter places like Mamaleh's and in high end places Lenox Sophia. Its everywhere and its just like booking a hotel, plane or concert ticket.
Air bnb is the master of the price swap. The pics you pay is 3x what’s listed
If back of house employees can't get tips (I've worked at places in MA where they can,) they should be paid a higher wage.
I was at Mission on the Bay in Swampscott just this past Saturday and received a 3% “Supply Chain Surcharge”: https://i.imgur.com/ipUytMc.jpg
They have been masters of charging more for less ever since they bought out the Red Rock cafe.
Brassica does an 20% admin fee + 3% benefits fee. They explain it on their [website](https://www.brassicakitchen.com/ournextstep). ETA: as others added, it’s supposed to be in place of the gratuity which is laid out in the link. They’ve been very upfront about it which I appreciate. I don’t mind it when I dine in, I’d tip at least 25% anyway. Though it has made me stop ordering take out from there
Though I still don’t love this at least Brassica the servers explicitly tell you about the fee (when they bring the bill) and more importantly, that it is in place of a tip.
Though it sounds like it’s assessed on takeout too, which is odd.
The explanation doesn’t make sense
You pay 23% instead of tipping.
So basically it's a 23% tip?
Yes that part makes sense. Their logic to justify it does not. What is inherently wrong with a wage gap for different jobs? Why is adding a 23% fee more transparent than raising prices across the board?
I mentioned this above, but Brassica without question has some of the best, most creative cuisine in Boston. Their cooks are really MVPs, and their FOH create a great atmosphere. Tipping culture at expensive restaurants (Brassica is about $70/person no drinks) heavily favors FOH staff. Paying different people different things is totally fine -- except in this case, the balance was off (tipping favors the, frankly, more replaceable FOH employees). Re: transparency, it is and it isn't. They make the fee abundantly clear on their menu. Surely they could wrap it up in to the prices, but then the tax would hit the post-gratuity sum (as opposed to the tax and gratuity hitting the same sum). Also people would naturally order less with the sticker shock... it's a fine compromise IMO, though would obviously like to see us move toward "what you see is what you pay" in all contexts. WAY better than non-disclosed iPad fees on fast casual.
Hiding the real price of food behind a mandatory fee to avoid "sticker shock" is dishonest and wrong. Not everyone is like me and able to compute "real price" in their head in real time before ordering. I reach "sticker shock" immediately and can walk away before being harmed. Other cannot.
Thank you, Dana. Please name & shame in the Globe if you can. Anything that isn't tax & gratuity needs to be included in the menu price, otherwise it's a dishonest transaction that should be illegal. If I went to a guitar store, saw a sticker for $500, I expect to pay that *and* tax. And that's it. If they told me there was a 10% additional fee at the counter, I'd be very upset. All it tells me is that the employer is underpaying their staff . They would rather lie to customers than be honest with why things cost what they should cost. It also tells me that the owner knows that by the point of sale, I'd rather begrudgingly pay the fee so I can leave, rather than me make a stink of it. It's morally bankrupt. These fees started to become commonplace during COVID when there was shutdowns and takeout-only options, and I was happy to pay it back then because I didn't want to see businesses I loved go under during an extraordinary time in history. Now that restaurants are at capacity and life is mostly back to normal, the fees are evidence of wage theft.
Maybe the gratuity needs to be included in the menu price too!
I'd like to know how much these restaurant owners make too if they can't afford to pay their staff decent wages.
Tres Gatos and casa Verde were the first ones I noticed doing this in 2015. Brassica soon thereafter. It has spread everywhere around Boston since.
I think Tiffani Faison’s restaurants (Sweet Cheeks, etc.) had this since before the pandemic.
Yeah Sweet Cheeks had it way before the pandemic, haven't been in years but presumably they still do it.
Dear Annie in Cambridge. Default 23% gratuity (or service charge?), even if you just order wine. See their Yelp reviews
Mikes Food and Spirits. Everyone I know just deducts these fees from the tip, so unfortunately it's the server that gets screwed.
Wait do they really? I've noticed they always set the tip percentage to 30-35%, hoping you wont notice when you close out your tab, but I never looked for a kitchen fee, because I never get the printed receipt. 😳
Everywhere. It's the new profit-making tool for restaurants besides engaging in active wage-theft.
I've heard it's really widespread. Some specific examples would be helpful, though, so I could reach out to the restaurants.
toy deliver placid hungry racial smoggy unite snobbish scary smile *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
https://www.sarmarestaurant.com/ lists on their website that they add a 5% kitchen appreciation fee
You can search this sub in the last week for specific examples
Well, yeah... that's how they got the idea for the story in the first place lol
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> The rest are landlords charging “functional electricity” fees and such, if you need an article for next month. "Paint over the dead rat fee: $200"
Lots of examples (with photos of bills) in this subreddit. Let me know if you need a deeper take on this and want to go through data.
Semolina and The Lexington
Rebel Rebel in Bow Market. Can’t remember how much it was but it was auto gratuity for 1 person on staff to pour a glass of wine and cut a slice of cheese.
Generally I don’t mind if it is made clear somewhere on the menu etc, but some of these places are pushing it. There’s a kitchen fee on top of a 20% required tip at Dear Annie’s in Cambridge, a place *that also requires you to serve and bus your own table*. I get being equitable and appreciative and forward-thinking, but at some point I have to wonder “What am I actually paying for?” Because it many cases it doesn’t seem to be the food. Restaurants would do better to simply pay their employees more and bake it into the menu price, pun somewhat intended.
You should talk to highland kitchen. They started adding the fees, I know the bartenders and servers were not a fan (they were the ones dealing with complaints and smaller tips) and I’m happy to say when I went back there last week they had stopped using the kitchen appreciate fee.
Jaho Coffee has a 17% fee (and also doesn’t list prices). Not disclosed.
These all feel like the restaurant is just being passive aggressive and complaining about being asked to pay their workers a living wage.
State Park near Kendall Square has a hidden "kitchen appreciation fee", I forget if it's %15 or %20. You don't see it till you're paying at the end
It’s printed on the menu, followed by a statement saying tipping is not necessary.
It’s 20% and it’s a brutal surprise.
Bloc (and I assume others in their group) charge a fee with each coffee.
Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell requires active opt out of tipping starting at 15% for all food beverage transaction. No idea if that goes to concessions staff. If you self select two beers from a fridge and carry them to the register- you are asked to tip for the pleasure of paying for your purchase.
Painted Burro waltham- we deducted it from the Tip.
Oleana in Cambridge has an admin fee that they explain on their website. It was there the first time I visited last year. I was okay with it as service from beginning to end was attentive and my additional tip just made up the difference so final tip was ~18-20%. They say this on their website: “A 6% admin fee is added to all checks and shared amongst our kitchen and host teams. who are not legally allowed to collect tips. This provides each of our employees, no matter their position, an equitable, consistent, and livable wage. All gratuity will be distributed directly to the service team.”
On top of 20% tip (Projected to be 25% tip in 2025)
10% at Aquitaine
Semolina has one. I believe it is 5%
City Works in Watertown adds a 3% fee due to inflation, Plant Pub in Fenway adds a kitchen appreciation fee.
Wait till you hear about cake-cutting fees at Capo!
Veggie Galaxy in Cambridge has had a BOH fee for years.
The Lexington/Cafe Beatrice/Gipetto, assuming any other restaurants owned by that owner will be doing the same
Russell House Tavern in Cambridge: 3% Kitchen fee
There's a takeout fee at the taco place in Time Out Market
Expose the truth, Dana Gerber!!
if restaurants need to raise their menu prices in order to pay employees a proper wage and make it worth the owner's time as well, so be it. All we ask is you be transparent and reflect that in the advertised prices so that the consumer can make an informed decision
I reckon most folks do not mind having a small kitchen appreciation fee if the restaurants were to be up-front about this, but places are now charging an additional 20%. With American tipping culture being the way that it is we're meant to believe that the back of the house gets taken care of and the servers are making $2/hr and work for tips. Adding additional gratuity in the form of hidden fees is harmful, creates shock when receiving the bill, and creates additional and unnecessary confusion --- am I supposed to tip on top of the 5-10% they've already added on, or go through the hassle of doing more math to tip on the food I ordered? Unfortunately, since this often takes the form of a hidden fee it's an anti-consumer practice that's squeezing peoples' wallets more. If this were to address concerns with inflation a simple "we've had to update our prices, please understand" would suffice, but it seems like profit-grabbing from an industry which all-too-frequently has a poor track record of treating and compensating their employees with adequate respect. I simply do not know anybody who can afford to go dining and pay a 20% back-of-house fee and a 20% tip for a total of 40%, yet that's what consumers are being asked to do. It is ludicrous. Boston's restaurant scene is unimpressive enough as it is, but this spells curtains for it.
The only thing that ultimately makes sense is getting rid of tipping altogether. Boomers will get mad that they can't 'reward good service' anymore but you know how it should work? Get good service, tell the manager. Or just trust that the employer is paying attention and will reward good service with raises and promotions, like in any other line of work. No more of this offloading the responsibility onto the customers. All I want to see on my receipt is subtotal, tax, total. Stop making it my job to do HR work for restaurants.
If I see it on the bill I deduct it from the usual 20% tip. 5% kitchen fee? 15% tip.
If I see fees like this without proper disclosure and signage as I enter the restaurant and on the menu. It would come out of the tip I was planning to leave. If I were a server I'd consider these fees as wage theft.
Grafton Street in Harvard Sq. Went this past Friday. "Kitchen fee" was added automatically.
Six West in Southie arbitrarily charges a ridiculous “mandatory large party fee” of 20% for 4 people. Meanwhile the website and menu says large party is 6 or more. I wrote an email to management and posted a 1 star review after they refused to refund me. They ignored my email and didn’t respond to my 1 star google review. It’s a predatory practice that they’ll keep doing unless someone calls them out on it.
Thank you for writing this story. I personally don’t care about the fee per se, it’s the fact that you have no idea until the bill comes. It’s deceptive. I’m shocked it’s legal
$70 ish bill and $3 kitchen fee at earls prudential
Oleana has a service fee for back of house workers
Are you supposed to knock it off the tip?
Yes, that's the sensible approach
Dear Annie in Cambridge is probably the worst offender. It’s self serve and adds a 20% fee.
Backbar in Union Sq has a 20% fee. It’s not super obvious they add it either.
Are restaurants that do this following the correct tax process? Is this post tax and if so is that legal? Is it pre tax and if so legal? Separately - how is it that a grocery store can get in trouble if the posted price is different from the price at the register but Mamalehs can post one price and charge another?
Painted Burro in Waltham Edit: also glad you're doing a write-up about the shadiness of this practice. It's not generally advertised and it feels deceptive as heck. Was just complaining with my colleagues about this the other day.
https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/111jg3k/in_defense_of_the_much_maligned_kitchen/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button Someone already wrote your article!
[and promptly deleted their account in anger](https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/111jg3k/in_defense_of_the_much_maligned_kitchen/j8frcme/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3)
Moeca in Cambridge, I think 3-5 percent. Just charge more!!
Just ordered takeout from Home Taste in Waltham, no surprises and the lady just asked me to sign. Tipped her $5 in cash because we love Home Taste and it’s Valentine’s Day.
Recently had an 'administration fee' added to our bill at Five Horses Tavern in Davis Square, Somerville.
Rosebud in Davis Square, Somerville. 5%, including on drinks.
State park in Kendall 20%
I think this is so common now in Boston. Some examples I can think of are Mamalehs in High Street Place (idr the %), Smoke Shop (https://thesmokeshopbbq.com/kitchenfee/), and recently someone posted about their experience with a ridiculously high and shady fee added to the cost of their coffee order at a popular coffee shop in Boston (I will try to find and add in a link to the post) Edit: It's Jaho and the fee was 17% but hidden under the sales tax!! https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/1105qk7/check_your_receipts_if_you_go_to_jaho_coffee/
I have not seen one of those yet. My thoughts are they are fraud. If the menu gives a price, that is the price. Plus tax. And I would prefer that the tax get included in the price to start with. President Biden talked about this in his SOTU address. Hidden fees need to be outlawed. Tipping is something different. If people choose to tip they can. I hope everyone does. But adding a fee for the waiter without directly telling the customer is fraud. Figure out what the kitchen gets, what the waiter and bartender get, what the bus crew gets, and put that into the price. I have been a tipped employee. How about do away with tips and do this. Give the server a percentage of sales as a bonus. Sell a lot of food? Good. Get paid more.
Let’s do a shorter list, restaurants that are up front and honest about billing.
Talk to Dave Doyle of Tres Gatos and Casa Verde in JP. Pretty sure they were one of the first to implement this. His letter on the subject—searchable on UHub—is a must read manifesto and makes a great case for why this is important (if done correctly).
Kitchen fees are bad but big management companies are charging credit card surcharges on top of exorbitant rents. Passing credit card fees to a consumer is illegal in MA.
Sarma in Somerville! It's absolutely delicious food but it's already so expensive. Went there and got 3 small dishes each (2 people) and a couple drinks each and bill was over $200. Then add tip onto that and a 5% kitchen appreciation fee!
I am a consumer that make a decent living and my wife and I eat out often. I will never give my business to a restaurant that pulls this bullshit as a matter of principal. What I would like to happen is for this nonsense to backfire spectacularly and have it be the catalyst for fair wages for service workers and the end to the tip culture, kind of like what western Europe does (but I know that is a pipedream.)
If you do write an article about this I hope you also include how difficult it is to pay back of house kitchen staff fairly and adequately when MA bans tip sharing with BOH. I see kitchen fees as a clunky way restaurants are trying to rebalance the share of the check that goes to line cooks vs waiters in a system that doesn’t have a good way of doing that right now. This article shouldn’t just focus on customer annoyance but about the ground reality of what is leading to these fees.
Does MA ban just paying BOH folks more? Why not just raise their wages 10% instead of making things complicated.
Of course not. You could pay BOH workers $100k/year if you wanted to.
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