Diners in uproar over 'crazy' and 'deceptive' fee being added to restaurant checks

A Texas diner who had saved up to treat herself and others to breakfast was upset after the restaurant added a 'deceptive' fee to her check without her knowledge. 

The 30-year-old woman took to Reddit on Tuesday to share a picture of her receipt from Paperboy in Austin, Texas, where their bill for three meals added up to $72.03. 

When she looked at the August receipt, she was dumbfounded to see an additional three percent charge - for a total of $1.94 - added to her bill for 'kitchen appreciation.' 

'I feel the fee is just a way to hide the true price of each item,' the woman told Newsweek. 'Kitchen labor at a fair wage should be included in the price of $20 chicken and biscuit.' 

She told the outlet that if she had known about the three percent, she would have ordered something else as $20 was her limit. 

'It's deceptive - the item should have been listed as $20.60 on the menu,' she said. 'If we had seen that, we would have chosen a different place, but I guess they got us with that trick.' 

The woman and her group also purchased a Texas Hash for $17, Paperboy Pancakes for $12, and her Chicken and Biscuit meal for $20, alongside drink purchases ranging from $3.75 for drip coffee to $6 for orange juice. 

The restaurant defended its decision, saying the kitchen appreciation fee has been a part of their business for two years now. The fee is added on because kitchen staff cannot receive front-of-house tips, like waiters, and they wanted to 'bridge the gap' between the two. 

'We are proud to pay our kitchen staff above competitive rates. However, there remains an industrywide disparity between the front and back of house,' a Paperboy spokesperson told Newsweek. 

'Due to labor laws, back-of-house positions cannot be included in the tip pool; 100 percent of the kitchen appreciation fee goes to the hourly kitchen staff working that day.' 

The entirety of the three percent fees goes to the kitchen staff that day and Paperboy sees it as 'way to stabilize our operations and avoid continuous menu price increases necessary to support our team.' 

The spokesperson also said that the fee is 'clearly stated on the printed menu' and that 'guest may request to have it removed at any time.' 

'We will do so without question or hesitation,' the spokesperson said. 

Despite the kind-hearted nature behind the fee, Redditers were not happy.

'You would think a place that charges $5 for a cup of tea would be able to afford paying their employees without having to do this,' one user wrote. 

Another wrote: 'Everything on the menu is super expensive AND they add an unsolicited tip?' 

A dfferent user agreed, writing: 'Those prices seem insane to me.' 

'Sorry...but If I'm paying $6 for a glass of ORANGE JUICE... You "Kitchen Appreciation" can kindly appreciate my middle finger,' another wrote. 

'Brah...you paid $26 for a chicken biscuit and orange juice,' one wrote. 

One user said they won't even pay $6 for a McDonald's McMuffin, let alone $72 at Paperboy. 

Another said they'd pay the fee 'once, but I'll never come back.' 

One user said: 'Hate on me all you want, but if the restaurant adds a fee for me, that's my tip. I make sure to leave a note to the server so they know exactly who to take it up with.'