In article .com>,
"NYC XYZ" > wrote:

> Steve Pope wrote:
> > A waitstaff angling for a better tip will leave out the
> > plate sharing fee even if there is one mentioned on the
> > menu. Especially if you are not under-ordering in general,
> > it's reasonable not to charge it. It's really there
> > for people who are taking up too much table space in
> > exchange for not ordering enough -- such fees go to the
> > house, not the server.

> Thanks Steve and Ericka...I guess the place was much more "hoity" than
> my usual ethnic haunts! I've never had such a fee in any Asian
> restaurant (Chinese, Thai, Indian, Pakistani, etc.), even those with
> waitstaff and real china, so maybe it's a European cuisine kind of
> thing. Though...I've dined at other Spanish restaurants before, and
> Italian ones, too, and this plate-sharing fee is news to me. That's
> just plain ridiculous...I wish I had the presence of mind at the time
> to ask for a $6 salad instead of paying a $6 fee....

Wait until you bring your own favorite bottle of wine or birthday cake,
and they charge you to uncork/slice it (whether it is you or they who do
the uncorking/slicing)! <G>

While I admit to agreeing that this is unsettling, it is also quite
common enough to be considered customary. The places which do not do
this are "a cut above."

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