Restaurants are passing on rising costs to consumers when dining out as a result of the coronaviruses outbreak.
Pre-tax and tip meal totals cover the costs of operating a business, which is why restaurants get their income from them. Some restaurants are trying to make ends meet by adding fees to offset the costs of increasing wages, COVID protocols, and rising costs caused by the Pandemic.
Choice Restaurant Concepts blames inflation for having to add a surcharge at its five restaurants.
Choice Restaurant Concepts decided to charge a 5% fee to off set the current cost differences rather than raise prices throughout the company. The reason we chose this route was that it allows you to hold us accountable when we remove it.
The restaurant group promised their customers that the surcharge caused by the "temporary inflated economy" will not be a long-term solution and hope to have it removed sometime in 2022, according to the statement.
The general manager of the group said the company is prepared to adjust the inflation surcharge as they go.
It is legal for businesses to add on surcharges in a majority of US states.
According to an October article from OpenTable, restaurant customers feel as though they are being cheated by the extra fees after their meal.
The cost of food has gone up so much that some restaurants in the US are now charging fees or removing menu items that are too expensive to prepare.
When the cost of chicken wings went up to $5 per pound in August, Douglas Kim, the owner of the New York City restaurant, had to take a popular chicken wing off the menu.
Kim said it was a lose-lose situation. People will think I'm crazy if I sell chicken wings for $24.
Kim added a 5 percent surcharge to his menu to help pay for it.
The owner of a restaurant in Washington DC said that he doesn't add a surcharge because it can be confusing to the customer.
He said that Tracy will raise menu prices in 2022.
Tracy told WTOP that the consumer has to accept the fact that prices are going up because the cost of the products they are selling is going up.
The general consensus among experts is that restaurants need to be transparent and communicate additional costs to their customers.
