Diners in uproar over ‘crazy’ and ‘deceptive’ fee being added to restaurant checks

A Texas restaurant owner who had been saving money to treat herself and others to breakfast was angry when the restaurant added a “deceptive” surcharge to her bill without her knowledge.

The 30-year-old woman took it up Reddit on Tuesday to share a photo of her receipt from Paperboy in Austin, Texas, which showed a bill for three meals of $72.03.

When she looked at the August receipt, she was surprised to see that an additional three percent had been added to the bill, bringing the total to $1.94. This surcharge was intended as a “kitchen appreciation.”

“I feel like the cost is just a way to hide the true price of each item,” the woman said. Newsweek“Fair wage kitchen work should be included in the price of a $20 chicken and biscuit.”

She told the outlet that if she had known about the three percent, she would have ordered something else, since $20 was her limit.

“It’s misleading — the dish should have been listed as $20.60 on the menu,” she said. “If we had seen that, we would have chosen another place, but I think they tricked us.”

“I feel like the fee is just a way to hide the true price of each item,” the woman said. “It’s misleading — the item should have been listed as $20.60 on the menu. If we had seen that, we would have gone somewhere else, but I think they tricked us into doing that.”

The woman and her group also purchased a Texas Hash for $17, Paperboy Pancakes for $12 and her Chicken and Biscuit meal for $20. In addition, they purchased drinks ranging from $3.75 for filter coffee to $6 for orange juice.

The restaurant defended its decision by saying that the kitchen appreciation fee has been part of their business for two years. The fee is being added because kitchen staff can’t receive tips from servers like waiters, and they wanted to “bridge the gap” between the two.

“We pride ourselves on paying our kitchen staff above the competitive rate. However, there is still an industry-wide disparity between front- and back-of-house,” a Paperboy spokesperson told Newsweek.

‘Due to labor laws, kitchen positions cannot be counted toward the tip pool; 100 percent of the kitchen appreciation compensation goes to the kitchen staff working hourly that day.’

The full three percent compensation that day goes to the kitchen staff, and Paperboy sees it as “a way to stabilize our operations and avoid continued menu price increases, which are necessary to support our team.”

The restaurant’s menu warns customers that a three percent surcharge will be added and a spokesperson said the surcharge can be deducted from the bill

The spokesperson also said the charge is “clearly stated on the printed menu” and that “guests can request to have the charge removed at any time.”

“We will do so without question or hesitation,” the spokesperson said.

Despite the kind nature of the compensation, Redditors were not happy.

“You would think that a place that charges $5 for a cup of tea would be able to pay their employees without having to do this,” one user wrote.

Another wrote: ‘Everything on the menu is super expensive AND they also leave unsolicited tips?’

Another user agreed, writing, “Those prices seem insane to me.”

Many people agreed with her, saying that the prices were extremely high for the southern state and that it is not their job to pay the kitchen staff.

“Sorry…but if I pay $6 for a glass of ORANGE JUICE…then you, ‘Kitchen Appreciation’, may appreciate my middle finger,” wrote another.

“Brah…you paid $26 for a chicken biscuit and orange juice,” one person wrote.

One user said he wouldn’t pay $6 for a McDonald’s McMuffin, let alone $72 at Paperboy.

Another said they would pay the fee “once, but never come back.”

One user said: ‘You can hate me all you want, but if the restaurant charges me a fee, that’s my tip. I make sure to leave a note for the waiter so they know exactly who to talk to.’