New Orleans Restaurant Called Out After Adding Mandatory ‘Kitchen Appreciation’ Fee to Bills

NEW ORLEANS, La. (KPEL News) — We're no strangers to hidden fees in this day and age, but every so often, a new one pops up that leaves us scratching our heads.

A user on a popular message board posted a ticket from a restaurant they say is in New Orleans (the restaurant wasn't specifically named in the original post). According to the picture in the post, the restaurant added a two percent "Kitchen Appreciation Surcharge," adding to the customer's bill.

A Surprise Fee?

The photo was posted to the "r/EndTipping" board on Reddit, with the user saying the surprise surcharge wasn't obvious at first.

"I understand it’s only 2% & $7 isn’t egregious, but the principal alone is annoying," the Reddit user noted. "No idea if it was announced anywhere - we were all busy catching up and chatting to have noticed, so that’s my fail."

2% Kitchen Appreciation Surcharge
byu/WhiskeyGummiBear inEndTipping

The point of the surcharge seems to be aimed at getting the kitchen workers their own shot at tips—a part of restaurant work usually reserved for waiters. However, it's the mandatory nature of the surcharge that seems to be rubbing people the wrong way.

"Paying your bill shows enough appreciation," one user posted.

"If they appreciate their kitchen staff, THEY should pay them more," another said.

Mandatory Tipping—Good Idea or Rip-off?

The problem is simple: restaurants are adding 15-20 percent gratuity to bills automatically, taking away customers' choice about how much to tip.

Diners hate discovering this charge when they get their bill, especially since many end up tipping twice without realizing the gratuity was already included. What used to be a way to reward good service has turned into a mandatory fee that customers feel tricked into paying.

The legal side makes things messier. Automatic tipping is legal, but the IRS treats it as a service charge, not a real tip. This means restaurants have to handle it like regular wages with taxes taken out. They're supposed to tell customers about these charges upfront, but most restaurants get this wrong. When restaurants don't give proper notice, customers can refuse to pay—which creates awkward fights nobody wants.

But the problem a lot of folks have? They don't know where their money goes.

Automatic gratuities belong to the restaurant first, not the server. The restaurant has to process it through payroll before staff get paid, and there's no guarantee servers see the full amount. Some places keep part of these charges while customers think they're tipping their server. Restaurants in Times Square got sued for not telling customers about their mandatory tipping policies.

Is Tipping Ruined?

People are still largely generous, and they do want to reward good service. But there's the rub—they don't want to be forced to reward mediocre or bad service.

It's not like people will stop tipping altogether, but practices like these threaten to curtail just how generous diners can be. Most critics of the practice want to see restaurants, at the very least, more transparent about where their money is going.