A counter-service sandwich shop posted a ‘No Tipping Required’ sign. But it added a mandatory 20% service charge to every order anyway

A customer visiting a counter-service restaurant for sandwiches and ice cream noticed a sign near the register that read “No Tipping Required.” The setup seemed to fit the type of service, since customers order at the counter, find their own seats, and throw away their own trash.

But the sign did not mean tipping was simply unnecessary. It explained that the business adds a mandatory charge to every order instead of accepting tips.

A Reddit user who goes by MsTata_Reads shared a photo of the sign in the subreddit r/EndTipping and described the experience in a post. She said the average menu item cost $18, so the added charge brought the price closer to $22.

The sign describes the charge as a way to support fairer pay for workers

The sign, posted at the restaurant, states: “To support a more equitable pay structure, a 20% service charge is added to each transaction in lieu of gratuity.” It adds that the charge “is shared among all hourly team members.”

In her post, MsTata_Reads questioned what kind of service justified the charge at a counter-service location. She wrote, “What service are they providing? Cooking the food or putting soft serve into a bowl?” Such unexpected charges can appear on bills in various forms, like when a restaurant customer noticed an unusual house fee that included a charge for the music playing in the background. 

The post drew a number of comments from other Reddit users reacting to the policy. One commenter wrote, “Yeah, I really think they should just raise the prices and eliminate all service charges and tipping. Then people can make the appropriate decision when reviewing the menu.” Another commenter asked, “Hopefully you decided to not give this business your money, right?”

One commenter said they had worked at a business with a similar mandatory fee. They wrote, “I worked at a place with a mandatory service fee and no tipping. The management took a cut of the service fee for their ‘work.’ I hate these types of fees.” Another comment read, “Pretty much everything associated with tipping is disingenuous and scammy.”

The post reflects a broader discussion around service charges and tipping practices at restaurants. A Fox News opinion piece by Carol Roth described a pattern of businesses adding fees such as “crew appreciation” charges on cruise ships and “surcharges” at restaurants for reasons like offsetting rising costs, instead of raising menu prices directly.

The piece also noted that some of these charges are described as “optional,” with businesses saying customers can ask to have them removed from the bill. The writer argued that having to request a fee’s removal can feel like an unnecessary extra step for customers, rather than straightforward pricing.

The same piece pointed to tip prompts at coffee counters as another example of how tipping requests have expanded into more types of transactions, including some online retail purchases. It also said that when a tip is requested before service is provided, customers lose the ability to base the amount on their experience. The debate over unexpected fees extends beyond restaurants, as a California woman was charged $110 for asking a rooftop bar to cut her birthday cake. 

The sign at the sandwich shop did not name the restaurant in the version shared online. The name of the business was blacked out in the photo posted by MsTata_Reads. The post did not specify whether the customer paid the charge or left the restaurant without ordering.