Hello, Thanks for asking. While menu price increases certainly help in covering the rising costs of doing business, they also disproportionately raise the pay of tipped employees (because both minimum wage and the 20% of menu price that they usually make as a tip increase). By adding a surcharge instead of raising prices on menu items, we can decrease the wage gap between tipped and non-tipped employees by using that money to cover raises and healthcare.
They're putting the weight of operation cost on their customers.
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