Do You Charge for Substitutions?

In the May issue, Mike Sanson's editorial, A Buck Fifty and You're Dead, got more than a few of you heated over the subject of whether to charge customers who want to substitute one menu side item for another. Because of the volume of letters, we're only sharing excerpts.

Anytime customers order a la carte they should absolutely expect to pay more. The server should have mentioned the up-charge. If the kitchen is not getting the price they should for the food it serves, then it will not be around long, whether a customer decides to visit again or not.

Mike DeMarco
Owner
Haley's Pizzeria
Litchfield, NH

In my case, mashed potatoes are made from fresh potatoes daily. The sweet potato fries are frozen and are cooked to order. At the end of the day, leftover mashed potatoes are tossed. Waste is expensive and must be absorbed.

Judy Dunston Kissel
Owner
Dunston's Steakhouse
Dallas, TX

If we don't tell a customer a side dish change will cost more, he or she will get angry and possibly won't come back. However, if we do tell them there is an up-charge, their response sometimes is, “I didn't ask if it costs more, I want it” or “You don't think I can afford to pay more?” So we just don't go there at all. At my restaurant there is no up-charge, no squabbling, just happy customers.

Billy Gene Smith
Owner
Billy Gene's Restaurant
Kerrville, TX

It's very difficult to run a restaurant now. There is a huge amount of competition, people are extremely careful where they dine, food costs are going through the roof and profit margins are slim. People who eat out do not care about food costs. They just want what they want and we need to accommodate them as best as we can. Hopefully as time goes on we will win.

Bill Quigley
General Manager
Ponderosa Steakhouse
Dearborn Heights, MI

Restaurants are always dealing with the have it your way mindset, and $1.50 won't keep some customers from requesting changes. But it's hard to explain to a customer that their food is going to take a little longer because the table next to them all had special order requests. Your best bet as a restaurant owner is to train your staff to tell the client, “No problem, that'll be $1.50 extra.”

Chriss Papayannis
Owner
Al Dente Italian Restaurant
York, PA

It's never a good thing to tally an extra fee for anything without telling the customer first. It's not the cost, it's the principle of the thing. It's always a good idea for a restaurant to spell out how valuable communication is between server and customer and leave the surprises for birthdays. Our staff will be revisiting our policy on customer service thanks to your great column.

Ellen Michie
General Manager
Avanti Restaurant & Catering
Phoenix

A lady who had dined with us complained that she thought she was overcharged for a dessert because the server rang in a different dessert than what she had ordered. In an effort to pass along some savings to her, we charged her for a peach cobbler a la mode ($6.50) instead of the bread pudding a la mode that she had ordered. We, in fact, do not have a bread pudding a la mode. We have bread pudding ($3.95) and a side of ice cream ($3.25). So she would have paid $7.20 for bread pudding a la mode. The server was trying to save her 70 cents, but she could not be convinced that we did not overcharge her $1.55. Go figure. The result of this incident is that now our customers will be charged appropriately for each of the items they order. Your article has brought about a discussion that we in the industry rarely think about.

Dan Dickerson
Managing Member
Driftwood LLC
Jekyll Island, GA

I think you and your friend both are wrong. You for sugg- the server should have informed your friend of the up-charge. That is the age-old question: Do you tell the guest of the up-charge, implying that he or she didn't read the menu or that the customer may not be able to afford it? Shouldn't the general public understand that if there is a menu substitution that they should expect a charge? The restaurant selling sweet potato fries is most definitely paying more for them. Tell your friend to loosen up a little. I'm sure the restaurant didn't mean to offend him and he probably didn't mean to be a jerk.

Phil de Gruy
Owner
Phil's Grill
New Orleans

I find it hard to understand why people want to customize an order, but not pay for the difference in cost. We have a list of a la carte pricing. If the change is equal, there is no up-charge. But if the substitution costs more, the difference is charged to the guest. I believe the server should have made the guest aware of the charge, but since it was not the money that was the issue I think your friend would still have been upset.

Jo Brady
Owner
Wildfire Restaurant
Georgetown, TX

Regarding your friend and the buck fifty: He is using the excuse “matter of principle” because he really is cheap. He should just let it go. Better yet, maybe he should get into the restaurant business and experience how demanding it is and how many personalities there are to please.

Jack Studiale
Owner
Tropical Acres Steak House
Ft. Lauderdale

I had an exchange with a customer a while back who become enraged when he was informed (while he was ordering) that a side dish substitution would be one dollar extra. He told me, among other things, that he would never return to the restaurant again. In the end, I told my server to take the dollar off of the check, and I might have even sent him dessert on the house. Did the substitution really cost that much more? No, but if we offered a choice of side dish (instead of a designated side dish) for every entree on our menu, our costs would be substantially greater, and our entrees would cost at least a dollar more. And if your friend's chicken dish had been $1.50 more expensive from the get-go, he wouldn't have blinked an eye.

I bend over backward to please my customers, and, since the aforementioned experience, I am very hesitant to up-charge. On the other hand, I can understand why other restaurants hang the “NO SUBSTITUTIONS” sign. Still, when I dine out, I pay the stinkin' buck fifty with a smile.

Elizabeth Barsotti
General Manager
Nino's Restaurant
Mount Pleasant, PA

From a chef's point of view, it is a little annoying when you compose a menu item or special with ingredients that you think go together nicely and a guest substitutes or changes different components. Personally, I would want you to order another menu item. Professionally, I've learned to let it go. Even during peak hours, our policy is if we can accommodate a special request without slowing service to the other 100 diners in the room, we do.

Albert DeAngelis
Executive Chef
Z Hospitality Group
Fairfield County, CT