DALLAS — Have you noticed an unexpected line item on your restaurant receipt lately? TouchBistro says service charges, also known as, “mandatory fees…sometimes referred to as junk fees” that “may not be particularly popular with guests” are being added by many Texas restaurants to bring in some extra revenue to offset higher food, rent and labor costs.
TouchBistro provides technology for those convenient point of service payment systems and other computer programs to help run thousands of restaurants.
They surveyed restaurant owners and found that 34% of them in Houston, 30% in Austin, and 26% of them in Dallas are now adding an extra charge to the check to help their bottom lines.
So, look out for service charges, even though restaurateurs have apparently already figured out that the hungry folks of Texas are fully fed up with paying more when they go out to eat.
Sizable percentages of them in Texas (57% in Austin, 45% in Dallas, and 30% in Houston) acknowledged they’ve raised menu prices this year, and that many of them then observed that many of us started spending less, tipping less, and ordering less alcohol and fewer food dishes.
Truth be told, I wish I had ordered one less dish recently when I opted for a slice of key lime pie at a Texas restaurant that shall remain unnamed here. I never saw it on the menu, the waiter just suggested it. And the pie was good. But then I got the bill and saw it was $12.95 a slice. Frankly, it wasn’t that good.
There were a few other interesting takeaways from the TouchBistro restaurateur survey. If you are wondering what is taking so long in the Dallas area, the survey found the restaurant staffing shortages are worse there (an average of 4.5 positions short) than at the average restaurant in Austin (3.7 positions that need to be filled) and Houston (3 positions shy of full staffing).
Also, it looks like those QR code menus are here to stay. Responding to TouchBistro’s questionnaire, restaurants reportedly indicated, “QR code menus and QR code payments have been among the most popular tech to implement”.
They also found that more of us here in Texas are ordering takeout. The survey says that compared to last year, 52% of restaurant owners report ‘slightly increased’ takeout/delivery orders, with another 36% noting ‘significantly increased’ to go order activity.
The check-in with restaurants also revealed that more and more Texas eateries are trying to entice us to come in or take out by advertising on social media. And while higher percentages of them are using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, 44% are on TikTok and that number is growing, “Likely driven by the fact that organic content can gain much wider reach via TikTok’s ‘For You Page’ discovery tool”.
A word about tipping (outside of restaurants)
How does your holiday tipping budget look? This has become a big thing. Bankrate put out a survey and tipping comparison for all sorts of vital service professionals in our lives. Here are the varying percentages of people giving holiday gratuities and the median amount they are giving to the people on whom they rely:
- Housekeeper: 57% plan to give a median of $50
- Childcare provider: 55% plan to give a median of $50
- Teacher: 53% plan to give a median of $25
- Landscaper/gardener/snow remover: 41% plan to give a median of $30
- Mail carrier: 31% plan to give a median of $20
- Trash/recycling collector: 26% plan to give a median of $20
Kiplinger also put out a holiday tipping article and went much further, offering suggested gratuities, including:
- Newspaper delivery person: Suggested Tip: $10 to $30
- Grocery delivery person: Suggested Tip: $10 to $30.
- Hair stylist: Suggested Tip: The cost of one visit
- Pet’s groomer: Suggested Tip: Up to the cost of a session
- Personal trainer: Suggested Tip: Up to the cost of one session
- Personal caregiver: Suggested Tip: One week to one month of pay
- Golf, pickleball or tennis pro: Suggested Tip: A nice gift
- FedEx/UPS/Amazon drivers: Suggested Tip: Basket of pre-packaged goods
So, how’s your holiday budget looking after all that? A final note from the Bankrate survey: Most people reported they add a holiday tip to say thanks or for good service or to be generous. But a decent percentage admitted they do it because it’s expected or because they want to get better service next year. Perhaps sometimes it is just the money that should count and not the thought…