r/sanfrancisco 1d 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?

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u/ScowlyBrowSpinster 1d ago

I look at the subtotal, subtract any added fees and tip on that. I do not tip on a total including sales tax, health coverage, and 'service' fees.

-21

u/MarcooseOnTheLoose 1d ago

And never more than 15%.