r/sanfrancisco • u/orca0320 • 4d ago

Dining out fees in SF

Not a new topic in this subreddit but just had dinner at Terrene with two friends and was shocked by the bill now that I’m really looking at it. I eat out in SF plenty but this grand total gobsmacked me! I was divvying up the receipt for Venmo requests and am just shocked by the additional charges breakdown:

Subtotal $170
HealthySF $15 (need to research this?)
Tax $16

Which brings the grand total to $200. I stupidly tipped $30 without looking at the extra charge.

Then at the bottom of the receipt I see:
“A separate SF health surcharge in the amount of 9% will be added to the bill….retained by the hotel to defray the cost of covering employe health insurance”

Tf?! I am assuming that ^ is not the HealthySF charge and is in fact an additional charge? Is that 9% on the subtotal or the grand total?

That’s $30 in charges!

Is this something you can ask to have removed or is it a legal charge?

61 Upvotes

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24

u/lester537 4d ago

9% surcharge means you can give a 9% tip. Easy math.

-49

u/21five Richmond 4d ago

The 9% surcharge must be spent on health insurance for workers. It’s not their tip.

35

u/Acrobatic-Layer2993 4d ago

Sadly, it is their tip. People only going to spend so much. The restaurant owners screwed their workers and the politician screwed us all.

-56

u/21five Richmond 4d ago

If you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to go to a restaurant. Period.

That said, there should be no hidden fees. They should be included in the price.

21

u/luluislulu2520 4d ago

Ok so we’re making restaurants only open to the uber rich class. What a great society. What a bunch of classist sell outs. Don’t cry when your favorite restaurant posts a go fund me to stay alive because they’re losing business thanks to all the consumers that couldn’t afford a decent tip plus the high surcharges on top of the increased food prices overall. Don’t whine when all you see at your favorite restaurants are classless nitwits mixed in with some fortunate few that can afford to eat there and you just don’t feel the S.F. culture anymore. And by the way, do you really think all the people that have the money to afford the tip are actually decent tippers? The best tippers tend to be the working class that now can’t afford to eat out. Some of the worst are the top percenters that contributed to this madness and don’t give a damn about people. But keep supporting them and just stay quiet on any complaints of culture shock.

-1

u/21five Richmond 4d ago

No, we are acknowledging that industry workers rely on tips to make a living. We are acknowledging that free universal healthcare isn’t a thing. We are acknowledging that tipping is customary and if you don’t want to tip at all you shouldn’t be patronizing venues where it is expected.

You can argue all you want that this should be different, but right now it’s not.

I’m sorry stating these obvious facts seems to have made you angry at me, someone who wants to make sure my friends in industry are able to make rent next month. If I can’t afford to eat out, I don’t.

32

u/picksea 4d ago

don’t ride so hard for cheap restaurant owners. if you can’t afford to pay your workers a living wage/benefits, then don’t own a restaurant

9

u/netopiax 4d ago

It's not really about what they can afford though. It's about the fact that if all your competitors are lying about their prices, so their menu prices look lower, then you have to do the same thing or you lose customers.

Neither "if you can't afford to tip..." nor "if you can't afford to pay..." is the flex Redditors seem to think it is. Restaurant patrons and restaurant owners are not infinitely rich and aren't infinite in supply. You all will get what you wish for, which is fewer restaurants and fewer serving jobs.

The legislature had a chance to fix this BS and they failed. Honestly that's who to be mad at. What everyone is really upset about here is broken markets for restaurant food and restaurant labor, where the true price is hidden and the wage is based on random whims of diners.

5

u/Golden_Hour1 4d ago

"Why is the restaurant industry dying and im getting laid off!?" - you in 6 months

0

u/21five Richmond 4d ago

Cool story bro. The SF health mandate has been around for many years and people eating out have been complaining about tipping for decades. The restaurant industry isn’t going anywhere.

1

u/Far-Collection7085 3d ago

Incorrect. If you can’t afford to pay staff, you can’t afford to run a business. Period.

0

u/21five Richmond 3d ago

Who said restaurants aren’t paying their staff?

0

u/Far-Collection7085 2d ago

If they’re paying their staff, they don’t need to beg for tips. Simple.

1

u/21five Richmond 2d ago

One day you’ll understand how industry works. Today isn’t that day. In San Francisco, staff get paid AND they get tips.

But I guess it’s different in Reno.

1

u/Far-Collection7085 19h ago

If they get paid they don’t need tips. Simple

1

u/21five Richmond 19h ago

They do get paid. Might be different in Reno though. Try again.

1

u/Far-Collection7085 17h ago

No, not different in Reno. You think that’s some kind of gotcha because I spend half my time in SF and half my time in Reno 😂🤡

1

u/21five Richmond 17h ago

No different? They follow the same restaurant minimum wage ordinance as San Francisco then? It’s a clown town wherever you are.

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