New 'Kitchen Fee' At Restaurants Is Leaving Customers Infuriated

In certain areas of New York, a novel addition to restaurant bills is causing a stir among diners.

As the cost of living shows no signs of decreasing, more people are choosing to skip dining out to save some cash. 

Yet, for those who are going out to eat in Western New York, there's a new line item on their receipts catching their eye, dubbed the 'kitchen appreciation fee.'

This charge is meant to benefit staff members who don't typically receive tips directly from customers.

WGRZ-TV

Even though this extra fee is generally about three percent of the bill, it's not being welcomed with open arms by patrons, who are hesitant to refuse paying it, despite their reservations.

In an interview with WGRZ-TV, a customer shared his confusion: "I was wondering, A, what is this? B, do I have to pay this?"

"If it's optional, you don't want to be that person that says, 'Hey, I don't want to pay this,' because then you look like a jerk."

Melissa Fleischut, president of the New York State Restaurant Association, told the same news outlet, "This is trying to help boost the wages of the kitchen staff."

She also noted, "The consumers becoming more and more price conscience and adverse to higher prices."

"Our restaurant owners are [really] afraid of increasing prices so much, you stop coming out."

However, the public seems to think the solution should be to simply raise the employees' wages instead.

A viewer of WGRZ-TV's YouTube channel expressed their disdain, saying, "What a joke. Pay them more instead of trying to get customers to pay for it."

"If you do a good job cooking food then you should be payed well. If you want tips be a server."

Grace Cary/Getty Stock

Another person mirrored this sentiment: "Don't pay the fee. Ridiculous, they should just pay their workers better."

Yet, there's a voice in the crowd showing understanding towards this practice.

"I was opposed to this at first, but I got a little perspective from my daughter who works the kitchen at a high-end restaurant (not in NY) that uses a 3% back-of-house fee, and I can see where it's a valid approach to take," someone shared.

They elaborated, "Basically the workload for the kitchen staff varies based upon how busy the restaurant is, much like the wait staff, but their compensation is generally based on slower periods."

"On busy nights, the wait staff inevitably does better on tips, but the kitchen sees none of that since wait staff generally does not provide any portion of tips to back-of-house."

This new fee continues to spark debate among New Yorkers, clearly dividing opinions on the issue.