To the ignorant...a little blog about miscellaneous "charges"

Most people who write negative comments about any particular subject are the ones who are seemingly ignorant about the subject that they contest. The restaurant business has been in my family for over two decades, and while I do not plan to continue following that tradition, I feel as though it my responsibility to give a little insight into the hardships of the restaurant business life. Breaking even is the most crucial aspect of sustaining a business and how to go about it without losing credibility or clientele results in making compromising decisions. Prices must be set for each item to cover labor costs, utilities, rent, equipment and other variable costs in order to maximize a decent profit. To go about this, at the restaurant that I manage part-time sets a $7.00 minimum per person OR two dishes in order for the restaurant to succeed. Most restaurants enact this type of minimum charge, whether the customers are satisfied with this policy or not, simply due to the fact that restaurants compete to survive. Most restaurants also enact a sharing charge because if two people enter a restaurant simply to share a bowl or soup or an appetizer, that results in a deadweight loss. In terms of credit card minimums, every time a credit card is swiped, an automatic flat-rate credit card service fee is acquired, giving restaurants no choice but to place a mininum credit card charge. The opposing party to these matters may say, "If you can't take the heat, why bother to open a restaurant?" And to that, I must say, every person must make a living to survive and if you have never worked in the restaurant business, you will never know about the stress and the troubles that restaurant owners and staff members incur on a daily basis.

On a different note, I noticed a very interesting and borderline daring sign that Sam's Grill in Wynnewood, PA placed at the host stand that I will roughly paraphrase, "If you are grouchy, irritable or just plain mean, a surcharge of $10.00 will be automatically added to your bill." How's that for the complainers out there? ;)