Additional surcharge at Tampa restaurant surprises customers, parent company says its a ‘venue fee’

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A surcharge at a restaurant in Tampa was brought to light by a Nextdoor app user claiming she was surprised to see a fee added to her receipt.

The individual was dining at RO in Hyde Park when she noticed an additional surcharge on her receipt. When she asked restaurant staff about it, they told her other restaurants in the area were doing the same.

8 On Your Side visited other restaurants in Hyde Park, but RO was the only place that we could find charging a 3 percent fee, a surcharge that was not listed in their menu.

“There should be an end to surcharges completely, and being upfront on what it costs to run your restaurant with all its operational expenses, that should be included in the menu prices,” David Weingand, the director for the Coalition Against Unfair Restaurant Fees, said.

Local legislators agree that state law SB 606 has a section going into effect next week, which states that “every public food service establishment that charges an operations charge, or includes an automatic gratuity or service charge in the price of the meal, shall include a notice on the food menu, written contract, and website or mobile application where food and beverage orders are placed.”

The bill sponsor, Senator Thomas Leek, stated, “Those who visit Florida’s dining establishments deserve the ability to see what they are paying for in an era where everything is being broken out into separate fees and charges.”

“If you think about it, a restaurant, like you’re already paying gratuity, you’re paying tax, all of this. So, if you’re going to throw on another 3% on top of an already large bill, I wouldn’t be happy at all,” Nick Cimaglia, who was visiting Hyde Park, said.

We called and emailed Three Oaks Hospitality, the parent company of ‘RO,’  asking them about the surcharge.

NewsChannel8 went to their corporate office in Tampa as well, where we were told that the surcharge was a ‘venue fee’ for that specific location, and that we needed to get in contact with their team’s director of marketing for additional information.

Three Oaks Hospitality hasn’t responded to our request for a statement. Hyde Park Village told us they do not wish to make a public comment at this time.

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