COMP NEWS – Shades Bar and Grill, a restaurant in Panama City, has instituted a 20% restaurant service fee to all of its orders. This service fee is to keep restaurant employees happy as well as fight the rising rate of inflation.

For Steven Sapp, director of operations for Shades Bar & Grill, adding a service fee not only guarantees his waiters and waitresses will be appropriately compensated for their work, it also prevents the business from having to inflate prices to tackle rising labor costs.

Many restaurants have also considered adding a new service fee to all orders.

Located along County Road 30A in Walton County, the restaurant implemented a 20% service fee on Dec. 27, theoretically requiring all customers to tip at least 20%, no matter the level of service they receive. Some industry advocates say some restaurants across the state have begun considering similar changes to their business model as food and labor costs rise.

According to a post by the restaurant owner, The full 20% restaurant fee will not go directly to the server. The server will get 17% of the fee, as well as the tips they receive. The rest of the service fee will be distributed among other staff.

The post, which appeared to have been taken down as of Jan. 5, also stated that servers will collect 17% of the fee and the rest will be distributed to other members of the staff. Any additional “tips” will go directly to the server.

Shade’s bar and Grill’s new 20% restaurant service fee is on its way to becoming the new industry standard. This new fee would benefit service workers within the industry as well as combat rising food and labor prices.

To read more about restaurants adding service fees to combat inflation, click here.

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