What is a service charge at a restaurant? Is that like a tip?

I took my mom out to a restaurant and the bill came out to like $137. Then they took 18% "Service charge"





Is that a tip that goes towards the waiter basically?


I still put on another $20.





I was confused and now I am worried that that was too little but can;t go back in time.





Im confused as to what that was...A service charge was like a tip they already took out themselves?|||Gratuity is the tip.





It's bullyish, since they decide what percent you are going to leave.





To Megan: The only reason your hotel pays servers $18.00/hour is because they collect this gratuity for them and pass it along in the form of salary. And if they used it for other expenses, then they are underhanded because they should raise room rental rates and not deceive customers into thinking the price is one thing and then tacking on extra at the end. Technically lawful, yet crappy to do.





P.S. If a server earns $18.00/hour, they don't need tips. It's serving a plate of food, not rocket science.|||It is like a rip off to overcharge you. Restaurants add these fees to cover things like raises in energy costs or a payment on the owners Mercedes. It is a dishonest practice and if they are fudging there they are probably not giving the customer top quality food. The servers probably are working for a minimum wage and rely on tips to survive. The owners service charge cuts into the servers tip jar.


If it were me I would let the restaurant know you were un happy with their practice and let them know I was going to a better quality honest restaurant in the future.


Good luck with this.|||Here's what happens. The Restaurant pays a tax on a percentage of each bill. This tax is passed on to the servers or wait help. When people (unlike yourself) Choose to not leave a tip the tax still needs to be paid and it comes out of the servers pocket. When it gets to a point to where the place of business cannot keep their help, they come up with service fees. But they don't always give it to the servers or help. So, it would depend on the restaurant. Ask the server if they are getting that service charge as a tip. They may and they may not.





You should always ask about the bill if there is anything that you do not understand---BEFORE YOU PAY IT!|||The service charge was the tip. You did not have to tip them but it was a nice gesture. After all, it was a good day because you took your mother out to dinner so a nice tip to the staff completed a good outing.|||(( @Steve- it's an annoyance, not a dishonest practice. I hate it just as much as anyone else but I've never known a single manager of a fine dining establishment, hotel, or any business using the 18% gratuity to "pay off their Mercedes."

I work at a 4-star resort where they do this. As a customer, I hate it, but as a manager it is the only way that we can do business, especially here in Florida during the summer months when it is literally dead. At a large property, every single hotel room, and every single ballroom, every restaurant, and function space--whether used or not--costs money in rent. Imagine putting together a five-day event for a fortune 500 company, and earning half of what you had to spend in rent, supplies, equipment, audio/visual, food, uniforms, etc, to even put on the event to begin with? Not to mention the fact that the things people generally don't take into consideration--linens always being destroyed and needing replacement, renovations needed, insurance, injury, property damage.. these things cost huge amounts of money. Believe me it has nothing to do with being "dishonest," it has everything to do with running a hospitality operation without going bankrupt. Plus the waitstaff at my hotel have a base pay of about 18 dollars an hour--well above minimum wage. Management gets that gratuity which in part helps them distribute payroll, which ADDS to waiters' overall income, not cut into their tipping pool. Where I work, we get the most business off-season in the county, and there were 47 people in there. We have between 500-600 employees, so how the hell do you generate a profit from that? Fees. I suggest you take a couple of business classes before you gallivant about something you know nothing about )) /endrant



...Anyway. The 18% gratuity, to answer the question, is added on to be distributed to management in order to pay off waiters, rent, and basically meet the financial requirements of wherever you are working. It is not necessarily the tip. You would tip based on the cost of the bill (without any gratuities/fees/tax included). The tip that you put on the bill went to the waiters (or, in some cases, the "tipping pool" that waiters have to split), and the 18% gratuity went towards management, which helps them distribute money where it is needed--staff basepay, rent etc.



@ Susan: that was my point. That does go towards the salary of the servers. But the way it works here is that they will throw other fees at you, like I said I would hate it, but from a business standpoint it's the only logical way to do things, ie charging huge amounts to use a function space, wedding cake cutting fees, what seem to be millions of wine service fees, package fees, just-existing-in-time-and-space fees. The guest is informed of them before paying, so it's not dishonest and truthfully it's the only way to be able to provide VIP business all the time. The servers also earn more because they do more, they aren't just serving food. Working as a server in a large hotel during banquets, weddings, and conventions is not the same as a waitress working at TGI Fridays.