The Complete Guide to
Restaurant Hidden Fees

Service Charge

A service charge is a mandatory fee added to your bill by the restaurant, separate from any tip you leave. Unlike a tip, a service charge goes directly to the restaurant and is distributed at the restaurant's discretion. You can rarely opt out of a service charge.

Service charges became increasingly common after the COVID-19 pandemic as restaurants looked for ways to raise revenue without raising menu prices. They are sometimes used to redistribute income between front-of-house and back-of-house staff, but this is not always the case.

Hospitality Fee

A hospitality fee is functionally identical to a service charge, it's typically a mandatory percentage added to your total, but branded differently. Some restaurants use "hospitality fee" to signal that the money supports staff wages more broadly than a traditional tip structure would.

In states or cities with tip credit regulations, hospitality fees can be a legal mechanism to ensure servers receive a living wage regardless of tip variability. In practice, diners often don't know the difference between a service charge and a hospitality fee until they see it on the bill.

Credit Card Surcharge

A credit card surcharge is an additional fee charged when you pay with a credit card, intended to offset the interchange fees restaurants pay to card processors (typically 1.5% – 3.5% of the transaction). In recent years this fee has become increasingly common in restaurants of all types.

Credit card surcharges are legal in most U.S. states, though some states restrict or prohibit them. They may appear under several different names on your receipt.

Some restaurants offer a cash discount instead of explicitly charging a surcharge, look for two prices on the menu or a note at the bottom of your receipt.

Employee Benefit / Wellness Fee

Employee benefit fees, wellness fees, and similar charges are added to help restaurants cover the cost of providing health insurance, paid sick leave, or other benefits to their employees. These fees became more prevalent following the Affordable Care Act and local minimum wage legislation.

These fees go by many names and are often buried in the fine print of a menu or not disclosed at all until the check arrives.

Tip Prompts

Tip prompts are the suggested gratuity percentages shown on a payment terminal or printed on your receipt. While tipping is technically optional in most cases, the way tip prompts are presented can create strong social pressure to tip at the suggested amount, even at counter service or fast-casual restaurants where tipping was not previously the norm.

The lowest tip option shown is particularly telling. Many restaurants now default their lowest prompt to 20% or higher, effectively redefining the social baseline for what constitutes an appropriate tip.

Other Common Fees

Beyond the major categories above, restaurants may charge a variety of other fees. Here are the most common:

• Takeout / To-Go Fee, A fee added for packaging, containers, or the convenience of ordering to-go. Typically $0.50 – $2 or a small percentage.
• Convenience Fee, Common in online ordering or delivery contexts, intended to cover platform or processing costs.
• Kitchen Appreciation Fee, A creative label used by some restaurants to redistribute revenue to kitchen staff. Functionally equivalent to a service charge.
• Surcharge, A catch-all term for any additional percentage charge that doesn't fall neatly into another category.
• Administrative Fee, Occasionally seen on large-party or event bookings.
• Resort Fee, Common at hotel restaurants, sometimes added automatically to all dining bills.

How to Spot Hidden Fees Before You Dine

The best time to learn about restaurant fees is before you sit down, not after you've already ordered. Here's how:

• Check FairTab first. Search for your restaurant on FairTab to see community-verified fee data including service charges, credit card surcharges, employee benefit fees, and tip prompts.
• Read the menu footer. Many restaurants disclose fees in small print at the bottom of their menu. Look for lines that start with asterisks or percentage signs.
• Ask before ordering. It's completely reasonable to ask your server whether any automatic charges will be added to your bill.
• Check for dual pricing. If a menu shows two prices per item, the higher price is usually the card price and the lower is the cash price.
• Review your receipt before paying. Look for any line items between your subtotal and tax. Any percentage-based line that isn't tax is a fee.