Why Restaurateur John Howie Eliminated the Surcharge at His Bellevue Steakhouse
How a surcharge on restaurant tabs turns off patrons.
This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in the June 2018 issue. Click here for a free subscription.
Restaurateur John Howie has eliminated the 3 percent surcharge he was adding to patrons tabs at John Howie Steak in Bellevue after realizing it was a monumentally bad idea.
Howie instituted the charge in March 2017 and applied the additional income to covering a myriad of new employee costs, including minimum wage increases, expanded health insurance requirements, and new family and medical leave mandates.
After going on vacation and registering shock and dismay at a $3 water fee added to his bill for a round of golf, he nixed the surcharge and instead made minor price adjustments to the menu.
When I wondered aloud why the fee wasnt just added to the greens fees, my wife responded, Oh, its kind of like your … before catching herself and saying nothing more.
In that moment, he said, he understood how our surcharge felt to our guests.