Well, my restaurant friends, you have the California Restaurant Association and the grass roots effort from the folks at IHC to thank for this one.  They brought pressure on Senator Dobbs and the Democrats to amend the junk fee ban, to the chagrin of many patrons, and carve out a last-minute exception to this law. 

The new legislation allows restaurants, bars, food concessions, grocery stores or grocery delivery services to charge additional fees, such as an automatic service charge, so long as it’s “clearly and conspicuously displayed with an explanation of its purpose,” on menus, ads or other areas that contain prices, as is current practice for many food businesses. 

Restaurants will have a year to ensure the text meets the legal definition of “clear and conspicuous,” which is a larger or contrasting font than the surrounding text, or “set off from the surrounding text … in a manner that clearly calls attention to the language.” 

Take note, as I have ALWAYS said, this means that any service charge MUST be on ALL menus, even daily special menus, and in a different and LARGER font then the menu items.  Because patrons are aware of the junk fee ban but may NOT be aware of the new exclusion for restaurants, continue to implement these service and surcharges at your own risk.

Again, if you have any questions about how this applies to your establishment, please reach out!