What Are Restaurant Service Charges For? - The New York Times

These added-on fees confuse diners and even employees, but more owners are relying on them to help make a tough business work. Credit... Ellice Weaver Supported by By Priya Krishna Priya Krishna spends several weeks traveling the country for The Times’s annual list of favorite restaurants. She has encountered a high number of service charges this year. Here’s a familiar restaurant scene: Dinner is over, the plates have been cleared and the server discreetly drops the bill on the table. But there’s something less familiar at the bottom of the check — a service charge, tacked on with little explanation. Questions immediately swirl. Is this a tip? Does it go to the wait staff? If not, should I leave more money? Is it rude if I ask my server any of this? “You shouldn’t have to ask,” said Chloe Lynn Oxley, a project manager in Washington, D.C., who dines out frequently and — like many diners — is often bewildered by the fees. “It should be very clear what the service charge is, and what it

These added-on fees confuse diners and even employees, but more owners are relying on them to help make a tough business work. Credit... Ellice Weaver Supported by By Priya Krishna Priya Krishna spends several weeks traveling the country for The Times’s annual list of favorite restaurants. She has encountered a high number of service charges this year. Here’s a familiar restaurant scene: Dinner is over, the plates have been cleared and the server discreetly drops the bill on the table. But there’s something less familiar at the bottom of the check — a service charge, tacked on with little expl