Restaurant chain charges 'Honest to Goodness Fee' to keep prices low

Restaurant charging 3% 'honest to goodness' fee From CTV Kitchener's Natalie van Rooy: A Kitchener restaurant is adding an unusual 3% fee to all of its bills.

An extra fee aimed at keeping food quality high and prices low at a Kitchener, Ont. eatery is proving difficult to swallow for some patrons while others are saying they are happy to pay up.

Chuck’s Roadhouse Bar and Grill has added a three per cent charge to each bill before taxes since the franchise opened in 2015. The restaurant outlines its so-called “Honest to Goodness Fee” for customers on its menus and its website.

“We need to tell you that for us to continue offering great deals, then something has to give,” the restaurant explains. “In order for us to continue providing fresh, fabulous food at incredible prices, we need to add three per cent to all our prices. Don’t panic! It’s really not a lot.”

The menu and website illustrate how the fee would add $0.18 to a $6 burger and fries meal.

Some diners who spoke to CTV Kitchener said they don’t mind being charged a bit extra when it is done transparently, and noted Chuck’s prices are low. Others said they would prefer a higher price for each item, rather than an extra charge on the bill.

“I think it confuses people,” Chuck’s patron Karen Hammond said. “We already have so many taxes added on.”

University of Guelph Food Economist Mike von Massow is not surprised some might turn up their noses at a fee claiming to help keep prices low.

“We have a six dollar burger, but we are going to charge you three per cent because it’s what we need to do to keep our prices down. If you are marketing yourself as low price, I think maybe it’s a little disingenuous,” he said.

In a statement to CTV Kitchener, Chuck’s Vice President Chris Siders said the purpose of the fee is to “provide the highest quality food at the lowest possible prices while operating efficiently, ” and help Chuck’s “remain one of the most competitively priced full service restaurant chains in the hospitality industry.”

Siders noted the fee has remained at three per cent since 2015, in spite of rising food and wage costs.

With a report from CTV Kitchener’s Natalie van Rooy