Friends split up at a Little Tokyo restaurant to avoid a wait. Then they’re hit with an 18% large party fee and allegedly told: ‘we’ll blacklist you’
The diner says they were only a table of three
A Reddit poster has claimed that their group of friends was “blacklisted” from an LA restaurant after they disputed a “large party fee” they believe they should not have been charged. The group of six diners were split into two groups of three and allegedly sat at separate tables. However, when they asked for the bill, the poster claimed that the charge had still been applied despite the group being split up.
According to the diner, the group arrived at Jincook Little Tokyo on Halloween, where they were told: “a large table wouldn’t be available for a long time.” The group decided to split into two groups of three and sit at separate tables. They claimed that they sat across the aisle from each other, had separate bills, and different servers.
When the bill came, the restaurant had allegedly charged the two tables as if they were one; the poster claimed there was an 18% “large party fee,” which the group allegedly questioned. “After arguing for a bit, he realized he didn’t have a valid point,” the diner claimed. The server then allegedly told them, “Okay, we won’t charge you this time, but next time you cannot come here, we’ll blacklist you.”
The diner expressed their shock at the interaction, writing, “We fully intended to leave a standard 15-18% tip after the bill was fixed; we just didn’t think a mandatory large party fee made sense for two completely independent tables.”
The server continued to defend the restaurant policy afterward, with the diner claiming they later returned with a “sour look,” and allegedly muttered, “We’re right, we’re doing the right thing.”
Restaurants and large party gratuity fees
According to Diningrated.com, most restaurants add an automatic gratuity of 18 to 20%, although the rate can vary across establishments. The threshold for large parties is also typically set at groups of six, but this can also be more or it can be less.
Automatic gratuity charges differ from voluntary tips; they are considered a service charge, and the employer controls how the money is distributed, whereas a voluntary tip is income for the server and is reported differently. This can lead to double-tipping where the diner doesn’t see the service charge and still tips.
Diners usually won’t be able to opt out of large party gratuity charges, as it is considered to be a condition of service. However, they can speak to a manager if they can speak to a manager if they believe that they should not have been charged.
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