Here’s something that might ruin your next dinner out: there’s a decent chance you’ve already been paying fees you never agreed to. Not tax. Not tip. Weird little charges with vague names like “kitchen fee” or “wellness surcharge” that show up at the bottom of your receipt like they’ve always belonged there. They haven’t. And the problem is way bigger than most people realize.
Hidden service fees are costing Americans over $64 billion a year. That’s not a typo. Across restaurants, hotels, event venues, and more, businesses are quietly padding your total by tacking on charges that weren’t part of the advertised price. And the kicker? Many of them started during COVID and just… never went away.
The COVID Fee That Outlived COVID
During the pandemic, a lot of restaurants started adding surcharges to offset the genuinely brutal costs they were facing. Supply chain nightmares, staffing shortages, the works. Fair enough. But the pandemic officially ended over a year and a half ago, and those surcharges are still sitting on checks across the country.
An investigation by ABC7 in Chicago spent two months eating at restaurants across the area and found surcharge after surcharge on dozens of restaurant tabs. Most were in the 3 to 4 percent range. On a $200 dinner, that’s an extra $8 you didn’t plan on spending. Some restaurants say you can ask to have the fee removed, but consumer advocates point out that you shouldn’t have to interrogate your server about mystery charges just to pay a fair price.
The Lettuce Entertain You restaurant group—one of Chicago’s biggest—admitted they add the surcharge but said they “advise guests in advance” and will remove it if asked. How generous.
What Are These Charges Even Called?
Part of the problem is that these fees hide behind confusing or intentionally vague names. You might see any of these on a receipt:
Health and wellness fee. Kitchen fee. Back-of-house fee. Improvement fee. Quality charge. Labor surcharge. Technology fee. Credit card processing fee. And my personal favorite—”health and happiness fee.” I did not make that up.
Credit card processing fees are one of the most common, typically running 2 to 4 percent of the total. Technology fees supposedly cover things like online ordering platforms or reservation systems. Wellness fees claim to offset employee health insurance costs and usually add 3 to 5 percent to your check. Some restaurants throw on a labor surcharge to deal with minimum wage increases. None of these are tax. None of them are tips. And in many cases, none of them were mentioned before you sat down and ordered.
Las Vegas Has Its Own Secret Surcharge
If you’ve eaten on the Las Vegas Strip recently, you might want to go dig up those receipts. A handful of bars and restaurants there have been adding something called a CNF fee—short for “concession fee” or “venue fee”—that runs 3 to 5 percent of your total. And here’s the infuriating part: it gets added before sales tax is calculated. So you’re literally paying tax on a fee. A tax on a tax.
The first reported instance of a CNF fee goes back to 2012 at the Sugar Factory at Paris Las Vegas. Since then, places like Cabo Wabo Cantina, Rhumbar at the Mirage, and Beer Park at Paris Las Vegas have all been called out for it. And reportedly, none of these spots mention the fee anywhere in the restaurant or on the menu. You just find out when the check hits the table. That’s not a surcharge—that’s a surprise.
Reddit Users Built a Wall of Shame
People are getting fed up. On Reddit, thousands of users in the r/LosAngeles subreddit started a page called “LA Restaurant Surcharge Offenders List,” where diners post photos of receipts showing mystery fees. The charges range from standard service fees and cork fees to bizarre line items like “medical benefits for restaurant employees” and “wellness and health and happiness fees.”
It’s basically a grassroots consumer protection movement, powered entirely by frustrated diners with camera phones. The fact that thousands of people are actively contributing to this list tells you everything about how widespread and annoying this problem has become. People don’t build community spreadsheets of restaurant offenders when things are going well.
The Double-Tipping Trap
Here’s something that doesn’t get talked about enough. When a restaurant adds a “service fee” to your check, most people assume that money goes to the server. It often doesn’t. A service charge is legally distinct from a tip or gratuity. If it goes to employees at all, it gets folded into their regular rate of pay for overtime calculations—it doesn’t function like a tip.
So if you’re tipping 20 percent on top of a service charge because you think both are going to your server, you might be doubling up while the restaurant pockets one of those payments entirely. The FTC has flagged this exact issue, noting that consumers are often misled by fees that don’t accurately describe their nature or purpose.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers estimated that junk fees across the entire U.S. economy add up to roughly $90 billion per year. Restaurant surcharges are just one slice of that pie, but they’re the one most of us encounter face-to-face on a regular basis.
States Are Finally Starting to Fight Back
The good news—if you can call it that—is that lawmakers are catching on. In 2025, several states passed laws cracking down on hidden restaurant fees.
Colorado’s Protections Against Deceptive Pricing Practices law, signed in April 2025 and taking effect January 1, 2026, requires restaurants and bars to clearly disclose any mandatory charge—its amount, its percentage, and exactly how it’s distributed—before you make a purchase decision. No more finding out at the end. The fee has to be in front of you before you order.
Florida went a similar route. Starting July 1, 2026, all restaurants in the state must inform customers about automatic fees before they order. Fees have to be listed on menus, online ordering sites, and apps. Restaurants that don’t comply face fines or legal action. Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody backed the law specifically to kill what she called junk fees.
A separate Florida bill, House Bill 535, went even further—it proposed limiting automatic gratuities to parties of six or more and giving customers the right to opt out entirely if they’re unhappy with service. That bill was introduced by Representative Demi Busatta, who said she was inspired by her own confusion over hidden fees at a Miami restaurant. Which is pretty relatable—when a state legislator gets surprised by their own dinner tab, you know it’s a problem.
California’s approach is slightly different. Governor Newsom signed SB 1524, which exempts restaurants from the state’s broader ban on junk fees but requires them to clearly display any additional fees along with their purpose on menus and advertisements starting July 1, 2025. According to the National Restaurant Association, 15 percent of restaurants had added a surcharge by 2023. A year later, it was 16 percent. That number is creeping up, not down.
The Federal Government Stepped In Too
In January 2025, the FTC issued a final rule specifically targeting what it calls “junk fees” in two industries: short-term lodging and live events. Hotels, vacation rentals, and event ticket sellers now have to disclose all mandatory fees upfront. This is the federal government’s answer to drip pricing—the practice of advertising a low base price and then piling on charges at checkout.
Several other states—New York, Tennessee, Connecticut, Maryland, and Minnesota—have also passed their own transparency laws. The trend is clear: lawmakers on both sides are getting tired of consumers getting blindsided.
What You Can Do Right Now
Until your state catches up, the best defense is just looking at your receipt. Actually reading it, line by line, before you sign. If something looks off, ask about it. Many restaurants will remove the charge if you push back—they’re banking on the fact that most people won’t bother.
Pay attention to whether a “service charge” is actually going to your server. If you’re not sure, ask. Don’t assume that just because it says “service” it means “tip.” Those are two very different things in the eyes of the law.
And if a restaurant is transparent about their fees—listing them on the menu, explaining what they cover—that’s actually a good sign. The ones you need to worry about are the ones that surprise you at the end. That’s not a business practice. That’s a magic trick.
