Confused by DC Restaurants irt Tipping?

[Anonymous]

I hardly go out to eat unless it’s hole in the wall ethic restaurants in the burbs. However tonight i’m headed into DC to eat at a place that will cost approx 175/pp and do not understand how tips now work in DC. It looks like restaurants add a 20% service fee. They are not calling it explicitly a tip, but the language on the menu sounds like a tip. Since the bill will be around 1k, this is not insignificant. Is a tip expected in top of this!?

Here is the language. What gets me is the last sentence. It would like this bit a tip??

A 20% service charge will be added to your bill. The charge goes entirely to increasing the wages of our employees to above the current minimum wage for all employees in DC. Tips are not expected, but always appreciated!

[Anonymous]

If there is a service fee then I’m not tipping on top of that. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hardly go out to eat unless it’s hole in the wall ethic restaurants in the burbs. However tonight i’m headed into DC to eat at a place that will cost approx 175/pp and do not understand how tips now work in DC. It looks like restaurants add a 20% service fee. They are not calling it explicitly a tip, but the language on the menu sounds like a tip. Since the bill will be around 1k, this is not insignificant. Is a tip expected in top of this!?

Here is the language. What gets me is the last sentence. It would like this bit a tip??

A 20% service charge will be added to your bill. The charge goes entirely to increasing the wages of our employees to above the current minimum wage for all employees in DC. Tips are not expected, but always appreciated!

If you normally tip over 20% add the difference. If not no tip. You do not have to tip.

[Anonymous]

Tipping is out of control. It is time to just stop tipping. If there is a service fee you don’t tip.

[Anonymous]

The service fee is the tip. I would not tip twice.

[Anonymous]

OP here with an update. I straight out asked the server about it and she said the service fee is shared across the ENTIRE restaurant front and back of the house. She didn’t come out and say to but i got the impression she didn’t like this fee. I still tipped her 20% because i felt bad. We won’t be going into DC for dinner anymore. The meal cost us $700 when all was said and done and that was for 4 people and a total of 4 alcoholic beverages. Between the sales tax, service fee and tip, it’s not worth it. I will stick to my excellent ethnic restaurant rotation in the burbs.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't have tipped her 20%. She gets some of the service fee. Maybe $50 max.

[Anonymous]

Why do restaurants break down their fees like that, if the food is $X, wages are a separate 20%? Are they going to start charging for use of tables and chairs too? I would not tip over the 20%, it clearly says it goes towards their wages.

[Anonymous]

Goes toward wages = it goes to the overhead of the restaurant, just like the rest of your bill.

The service fee is a tip for the restaurant owner, not the staff. You have to tip the staff separately if you want them to get cash beyond their wages. Better yet, don't eat there. OP has it right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do restaurants break down their fees like that, if the food is $X, wages are a separate 20%? Are they going to start charging for use of tables and chairs too? I would not tip over the 20%, it clearly says it goes towards their wages.

They do that in some parts of Europe now. Don’t give them ideas!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here with an update. I straight out asked the server about it and she said the service fee is shared across the ENTIRE restaurant front and back of the house. She didn’t come out and say to but i got the impression she didn’t like this fee. I still tipped her 20% because i felt bad. We won’t be going into DC for dinner anymore. The meal cost us $700 when all was said and done and that was for 4 people and a total of 4 alcoholic beverages. Between the sales tax, service fee and tip, it’s not worth it. I will stick to my excellent ethnic restaurant rotation in the burbs.

I totally understand being confused by a stupid fee but to write off an entire city worth of restaurants because you chose to go to a ridiculously expensive one and had a poor experience seems pretty dumb.