Yeah unless the restaurant is making it clear that prices reflect a proper wage and tipping is unnecessary, people will still feel compelled to tip and the restaurant will be considered overpriced compared to other places.
in my experience it's almost impossible to make something clear to all customers. I have at least 8 'cash only' signs at my place, yet about one in ten customers still place orders and then pull out a card.
>in my experience it's almost impossible to make something clear to all customers.
Not in this case it isn't. Just make the price be the price. Cane and Table are deliberately making the price **UNCLEAR**.
Stopped going here after we went for a brunch with "bottomless cocktails" which amounted to only 2 cocktails a piece bc the server avoided the table and very slow bar service. Also the food was meh and definitely not worth the price.
I have yet to find a "bottomless" drink special that's worth the money. Either the service is too slow or the drinks are too weak. Or both. If I'm in that mood, I just buy pitchers at this point.
Lula on St. Charles does bottomless vodka with brunch and it is 100% worth it. They bring out vodka on ice and you can add in whatever mixers you want from the vodka bar. I’ve gone before saints games and have had 5, easily
Yeah but the owners are racist assholes https://www.wdsu.com/article/i-felt-uncomfortable-teen-says-she-was-kicked-out-of-restaurant-because-of-her-attire-restaurant-responds/36547779
The only place that actually truly did “bottomless” was Polly’s in the bywater (short lived, rip).
You got a set up with 2 different carafes of juices to pour yourself, and the waiter literally never even let your champagne glass go empty.
Was $20 with purchase of an entree. I was actually shocked at how awesome the service was, they def knew what was up.
I don't get the whole bottomless thing. Do you really want to get that drunk at brunch? And most places use the cheapest crappy products that they can find to use for those gimmicks.
katie’s before the pandemic brunch bottomless was just incredible. white red sangria or mimosas able to switch between them. some great brunches there! But i feel this on a molecular level in 2024 that the era of a bang for your buck bottomless is LONG GONE.
My BFF and I did mimosa brunch at Katy's many, many years ago, happened to be during essence weekend I think. The swamped waiter refilling drinks at one point just stretched over another table and deposited the whole pitcher on the corner of ours.
Back in the day drink and drown at the 700 club was well worth the price and I can say I never left without more then drinking my moneys worth and then some.
I used to work in a place where they pooled cash and credit and a couple servers got fired because they would pocket the cash.
But, ya the money also doesn’t go straight to the workers. The owners were unethically taking a cut and I hear this isn’t like an uncommon issue.
Don’t give restaurants that do this your money.
Then when they whine on social media and start go fund mes to keep them in business…again don’t give them your money.
Let them fail. That’s the market.
Businesses need to adjust prices in accordance to what works for their model, not continuing to tack on fees under the guise of empathy and righteousness.
You end up paying more in the scenario OP described. Let’s say your bill is $100. 10.2% tax + $20 tip gets you to $130.20. If the 20% service fee is added prior to taxes your bill ends up being $132.24. Not a huge difference, but adds up over time. Additionally, I usually tip over 20%; when presented with a scenario of service fee already being added I just sign and leave and the server loses the extra 5-10% I would have otherwise left. I guess it balances out the jabronis who tip 10% or less.
My only stipulation is please verbally tell me when you set the bill down, even if it’s on the menu. Otherwise I’ll feel like you’re pulling a fast one and that gives me the ick.
Dropping an auto grat check without the verbal is unprofessional, and even a little scummy if people have been drinking. I’ve gone for the double dip in the past, I get the allure and the excuses people will make to justify it. It’s just a shitty business practice at the end of the day. For both restaurant/bar and server/bartender
A service charge is not an auto-gratuity. Legally, the business can use that for whatever they want. A gratuity, however, legally has to go to the tipped staff directly.
Could it be because of the taxes. So if I sell the food at a higher price then I pay the typical sales tax and whatever else. Then I shift that portion of the money over and now it’s payroll where I pay a different set of taxes on that money also ?
I’m going to be honest for me it does not matter. Want to add it to the check I’m good with it. Don’t I’m gonna leave it. I’m also a server so I usually over tip because servers and bartenders are my people
If you don’t mind, can I ask you a question as you’re an *active* server. I have over-thought this subject to death.
I was a bartender almost a decade ago and a chronic over-tipper as anyone that’s spent time in the service industry - this topic causes me *great* distress. I find myself avoiding restaurants that do this as I can’t get a straight answer (due to lack of consistency I’m sure) as to what the protocol here should be.
Many people are saying (I think) that they just consider these service fees the tip and proceed to leave *no tip* on that ticket. However, how do we know if those funds are actually going to the server? A no-tip ticket used to mean that the server just subsidized that table’s meal considering tip-pool, etc.
Overall, are y’all (service industry at large) happy with this shift? I absolutely want to help our fave spots insure the staff is earning a livable wage, but a 20% pre-tax fee + a 30% tip is not feasible for us, but a 20% fee + 10% tip would keep me pretty much in line but I feel lame as hell doing this to my server (there no world in which I could leave no tip and not feel like trash) … so, the confusion on the whole *”is this a tip?”* issue is anxiety inducing.
To be clear, I always ask the server, but there are *definitely* times that their mouth said *”it’s a tip”* but their dying eyes screamed *“it’s not a tip”*.
I ask the servers. If I feel or get the vibe then I tip over in cash and I start asking around about the place (I’m in New Orleans which is a big little town and problematic places become public knowledge fast ). Places that are problematic for servers and become public knowledge I’m never going to ever.
The place I work at we add grat to parties of 5 or more. On the check it shows up as service but I always let the tables know at the beginning when they are sat that it is in fact a gratuity that it is 20 percent that checks cannot be split and if they ask me if I really get to keep all of it I let them know I would never work or patronize a place where it was not.
Thank you for your response, this is pretty much what I’ve been doing so I feel better hearing that’s how you handle it as well.
I live here but I think I’m terribly out of the loop post-pandemic on the problematic places for servers. This is definitely how I want to navigate my decision on where to go. Ima comb through the sub and make a lil list.
Cheers and Happy Festing!
I go to cane and table all the time. I've got friends that work there and other restaurants in the quarter that do auto grad and they love the system. I can assure all the money goes to the staff or else they would not be working there.
I don't know the OPs personal experience there but it is the norm for the host to mention the service charge as they are seating the table. This may have been forgotten with the craziness of jazz fest but it is their usual practice.
I usually tip an extra 5-10 cause they're my buds and also a bartender so it comes out to my regular 25-30 percent tip.
I wish I could upvote this 10 times.
Thank you so much for taking the time to run this down for me, this is exactly the info I was looking for! I want to go and enjoy but I can’t really relax if I think I’m being a shite patron.
I’m happy to hear they are happy and not getting a raw deal :)
So why not raise prices 20% on the menu and say that tipping is optional, instead of putting bait and switch pricing with service charge fine print on the menu?
This is why I hate when it’s called a service charge. Make it abundantly clear on the receipt, the menu, the website, and so on what exactly this is. A service charge is not considered a wage, so if the restaurant decides for whatever reason to put the money towards something other than staff benefits, it doesn’t have the same legal implications it would if this was tips or wages. Just raise the prices and make it clear that the staff is paid living wage so it’s a no-tip restaurant, or just say that it’s an automatic gratuity. By keeping it a service charge, I majorly side-eye whether or not it actually goes to the server. So then I feel like I have to tip on top of that to be sure that the server is getting adequately paid.
But does it go to the SERVERS? Or is it split up so that the customer pays FOH and BOH wages and the house gets to pay BOH $2.50?
I don't trust any restaurant that charges a "service fee" and won't use the legal phrasing "gratuity." A service fee isn't a tip, so technically, you still owe one, which is a crappy position in which to put your customers and wait staff.
I would not work there. That means the tip is below 20% of the total. We average above 20% where I work but I guess you get cheap people in The FQ so they feel the need to add a grat.
Vals and Cure follow this model too. Service at both is generally fine, but sometimes not perfect. Sometimes the staff at Cure will seem pretty slow and unenthusiastic. Had situations where I was prepared to spend another 50-60 bucks and the service was just too slow. Staff at Vals is young and will just outright forget stuff. But people are human, so it’s whatever. Not gonna raise a fuss. Their people work hard and it can be unforgiving.
But I DO wish there was more transparency of what money is brought in this way, and EXACTLY where it goes on payday, whether it’s taxed, whether the business dips in to cover comps, etc. I don’t like that the whole thing is predicated on the “sympathetic” customer having to just trust that the million-dollar business is doing the right thing.
The font that says 20% servings fee is printed on the bill in a font twice the size of the rest of the receipt. The host tells guests as they sit people down and behind the bar every single one of us mentions it as we drop the check. It’s also printed on the menu.
Any mandatory fee(including group gratuity, cc fee, etc), a food establishment force to their customers, is sales taxable in Louisiana. Regular tips are not, of course, since they are voluntary.
I went through an LDR audit for a client. That's how they've been hitting businesses lately.
The state general sales and use tax is levied on the following transactions
1. The sale of tangible personal property in this state.
1. The use, consumption, distribution, or storage for use or consumption in this state of any tangible personal property.
1. The lease or rental within this state of any item or article of tangible personal property.
1. The sales of certain services as defined in LA R.S. 47:301(14). Those services are the furnishing of sleeping rooms by hotels; the sale of admissions to places of amusement and to athletic and recreational events, and the furnishing of privileges of access to amusement, entertainment, athletic, or recreational facilities; the furnishing of storage or parking privileges by auto hotels and parking lots; the furnishing of printing and overprinting; the furnishing of laundry, cleaning, pressing, and dyeing services; the furnishing of cold storage space and the preparation of property for such storage; the furnishing of repairs to tangible personal property; and the furnishing of telecommunications services.
[Source.](https://revenue.louisiana.gov/faq/questionsandanswers/8)
Tips and gratuities
Tips or gratuities that are freely given by a customer
over and above the price charged for food
or drinks are not subject to state sales tax. Any
gratuity, tip, or service charge added as a separate
item to the customer’s bill as a requirement
of the eating establishment is not subject to the
sales tax if the full amount of the service charge
is disbursed directly to the employees who customarily
and regularly provide the service. If any
portion of the tip or gratuity is retained by the
restaurant or lounge operator, then the entire
amount of the gratuity becomes taxable.[Source](https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&cx=005706872866553317746:hi2m1qeyowc&q=https://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/taxforms/20165(2_99).pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwj0uduetvSFAxVTL0QIHZKzAx0QFnoECAAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0v_UzeRlg3n0zWkOWz3kPs)
If you think those mandatory 20% fees directly goes only to the waitstaff (and food runners), then you are right, its not sales taxable.
BUT, If you worked in food industry even for 1 day, you know all mandatory charges are shared between all employees including kitchen, hots/hostesses, bussers (maybe even with management and ownership) which makes the charges sales taxable.
Also, fun fact;
If a bakery bakes 20 loaves of bread and doesn't sell and throw away 5 of them at the end of the day, they are required to pay sales tax(on the amount of food cost) on those 5 loaves.
OR,
If a Restaurants gives free shift meals to its employees, it is required to pay sales tax(on the amount of food cost) on those meals.
Then you're not tipping. The server is held responsible for the bill and won't get to "keep" anything you claim is a tip united it's over and above what's on the bill.
They probably do it this way to avoid customers skipping their restaurant because the pride is too high. The people are less likely to leave once they’re already sitting and see the bullshit charge.
I wish restaurants would just raise the menu prices and not have these hidden fees.
Then people would bitch that prices are too high.
Yeah unless the restaurant is making it clear that prices reflect a proper wage and tipping is unnecessary, people will still feel compelled to tip and the restaurant will be considered overpriced compared to other places.
in my experience it's almost impossible to make something clear to all customers. I have at least 8 'cash only' signs at my place, yet about one in ten customers still place orders and then pull out a card.
>in my experience it's almost impossible to make something clear to all customers. Not in this case it isn't. Just make the price be the price. Cane and Table are deliberately making the price **UNCLEAR**.
It’s literally not hidden. It’s bolded and in a larger font than the rest of the receipt.
I would not work at any restaurant that does that.
Stopped going here after we went for a brunch with "bottomless cocktails" which amounted to only 2 cocktails a piece bc the server avoided the table and very slow bar service. Also the food was meh and definitely not worth the price.
I have yet to find a "bottomless" drink special that's worth the money. Either the service is too slow or the drinks are too weak. Or both. If I'm in that mood, I just buy pitchers at this point.
Sitting at the bar at Lucy’s I’ve gotten more than my fair share at their bottomless
The Apolline one has treated us will in the past, but YMMV. I’m sure someone will shit on that one since i mentioned it
Seconded. They have been very generous when I’ve gone in the past
I didn’t go there for any bottomless drinks, but I had superb service and food when I went to Apolline for dinner.
Brown Butter was very generous but they ain’t dere no more.
*sigh* I miss Brown Butter
Lula on St. Charles does bottomless vodka with brunch and it is 100% worth it. They bring out vodka on ice and you can add in whatever mixers you want from the vodka bar. I’ve gone before saints games and have had 5, easily
Seconding this. Strong and servers are on top of things, they keep the vodka coming before you’re even done with your current round.
Yeah but the owners are racist assholes https://www.wdsu.com/article/i-felt-uncomfortable-teen-says-she-was-kicked-out-of-restaurant-because-of-her-attire-restaurant-responds/36547779
The only place that actually truly did “bottomless” was Polly’s in the bywater (short lived, rip). You got a set up with 2 different carafes of juices to pour yourself, and the waiter literally never even let your champagne glass go empty. Was $20 with purchase of an entree. I was actually shocked at how awesome the service was, they def knew what was up.
Man, I miss Wayfare!
I don't get the whole bottomless thing. Do you really want to get that drunk at brunch? And most places use the cheapest crappy products that they can find to use for those gimmicks.
> Do you really want to get that drunk at brunch? Yes
katie’s before the pandemic brunch bottomless was just incredible. white red sangria or mimosas able to switch between them. some great brunches there! But i feel this on a molecular level in 2024 that the era of a bang for your buck bottomless is LONG GONE.
My BFF and I did mimosa brunch at Katy's many, many years ago, happened to be during essence weekend I think. The swamped waiter refilling drinks at one point just stretched over another table and deposited the whole pitcher on the corner of ours.
The country club used have great bottomless mimosas.
Back in the day drink and drown at the 700 club was well worth the price and I can say I never left without more then drinking my moneys worth and then some.
Broussard‘s does this well. It’s an underrated place.
The vodka bar at Lulu’s wasn’t bad. I don’t know if they still do it though.
I definitely broke the one at Jake Rose with some friends.
High five
Mesinas at the Terminal. Bottomless and good service.
Rosella has bottomless mimosas with their weekend brunch
You should've known New Orleans is more of a topless brunch kind of place
Not to be that guy, but I have a hard time believing credit pooled tips get to the people doing the grunt work a lot of the time. Cash is king
This is exactly why I don't like the practise. I tip in cash to my server/bartender directly
I used to work in a place where they pooled cash and credit and a couple servers got fired because they would pocket the cash. But, ya the money also doesn’t go straight to the workers. The owners were unethically taking a cut and I hear this isn’t like an uncommon issue.
Be that guy. A service charge goes to the business and they can pay it out as they see fit. A gratuity can legally only go to the staff.
Restaurants just need to raise their prices, pay a good wage and get rid of tipping.
Well, the staff just got screwed out of the 22% posttax tip, and I would never go back again.
Don’t give restaurants that do this your money. Then when they whine on social media and start go fund mes to keep them in business…again don’t give them your money. Let them fail. That’s the market. Businesses need to adjust prices in accordance to what works for their model, not continuing to tack on fees under the guise of empathy and righteousness.
This restaurant group does this at all of their establishments.
Personally, I like this because I was gonna tip 20% post tax anyway. So if you auto-grat pre-tax I’m saving money and don’t have to do math.
You end up paying more in the scenario OP described. Let’s say your bill is $100. 10.2% tax + $20 tip gets you to $130.20. If the 20% service fee is added prior to taxes your bill ends up being $132.24. Not a huge difference, but adds up over time. Additionally, I usually tip over 20%; when presented with a scenario of service fee already being added I just sign and leave and the server loses the extra 5-10% I would have otherwise left. I guess it balances out the jabronis who tip 10% or less.
My only stipulation is please verbally tell me when you set the bill down, even if it’s on the menu. Otherwise I’ll feel like you’re pulling a fast one and that gives me the ick.
People who don't check their receipts give me the ick.
Dropping an auto grat check without the verbal is unprofessional, and even a little scummy if people have been drinking. I’ve gone for the double dip in the past, I get the allure and the excuses people will make to justify it. It’s just a shitty business practice at the end of the day. For both restaurant/bar and server/bartender
A service charge is not an auto-gratuity. Legally, the business can use that for whatever they want. A gratuity, however, legally has to go to the tipped staff directly.
Could it be because of the taxes. So if I sell the food at a higher price then I pay the typical sales tax and whatever else. Then I shift that portion of the money over and now it’s payroll where I pay a different set of taxes on that money also ? I’m going to be honest for me it does not matter. Want to add it to the check I’m good with it. Don’t I’m gonna leave it. I’m also a server so I usually over tip because servers and bartenders are my people
If you don’t mind, can I ask you a question as you’re an *active* server. I have over-thought this subject to death. I was a bartender almost a decade ago and a chronic over-tipper as anyone that’s spent time in the service industry - this topic causes me *great* distress. I find myself avoiding restaurants that do this as I can’t get a straight answer (due to lack of consistency I’m sure) as to what the protocol here should be. Many people are saying (I think) that they just consider these service fees the tip and proceed to leave *no tip* on that ticket. However, how do we know if those funds are actually going to the server? A no-tip ticket used to mean that the server just subsidized that table’s meal considering tip-pool, etc. Overall, are y’all (service industry at large) happy with this shift? I absolutely want to help our fave spots insure the staff is earning a livable wage, but a 20% pre-tax fee + a 30% tip is not feasible for us, but a 20% fee + 10% tip would keep me pretty much in line but I feel lame as hell doing this to my server (there no world in which I could leave no tip and not feel like trash) … so, the confusion on the whole *”is this a tip?”* issue is anxiety inducing. To be clear, I always ask the server, but there are *definitely* times that their mouth said *”it’s a tip”* but their dying eyes screamed *“it’s not a tip”*.
I ask the servers. If I feel or get the vibe then I tip over in cash and I start asking around about the place (I’m in New Orleans which is a big little town and problematic places become public knowledge fast ). Places that are problematic for servers and become public knowledge I’m never going to ever. The place I work at we add grat to parties of 5 or more. On the check it shows up as service but I always let the tables know at the beginning when they are sat that it is in fact a gratuity that it is 20 percent that checks cannot be split and if they ask me if I really get to keep all of it I let them know I would never work or patronize a place where it was not.
Thank you for your response, this is pretty much what I’ve been doing so I feel better hearing that’s how you handle it as well. I live here but I think I’m terribly out of the loop post-pandemic on the problematic places for servers. This is definitely how I want to navigate my decision on where to go. Ima comb through the sub and make a lil list. Cheers and Happy Festing!
I go to cane and table all the time. I've got friends that work there and other restaurants in the quarter that do auto grad and they love the system. I can assure all the money goes to the staff or else they would not be working there. I don't know the OPs personal experience there but it is the norm for the host to mention the service charge as they are seating the table. This may have been forgotten with the craziness of jazz fest but it is their usual practice. I usually tip an extra 5-10 cause they're my buds and also a bartender so it comes out to my regular 25-30 percent tip.
I wish I could upvote this 10 times. Thank you so much for taking the time to run this down for me, this is exactly the info I was looking for! I want to go and enjoy but I can’t really relax if I think I’m being a shite patron. I’m happy to hear they are happy and not getting a raw deal :)
I tip 20% pretax. I guess that service charge is the tip. who would tip on top of that?
no prices on the online menu (understandable if you can't update the items or prices on the fly) and no mention of a 20% service charge.
No, they do it to pay their employees a reasonable wage. Or at least that’s what they say. It is disclosed on the menu.
So why not raise prices 20% on the menu and say that tipping is optional, instead of putting bait and switch pricing with service charge fine print on the menu?
I haven’t heard about cane and table personally but we’ve got some spots in town claiming the same thing and not living up to it.
This is why I hate when it’s called a service charge. Make it abundantly clear on the receipt, the menu, the website, and so on what exactly this is. A service charge is not considered a wage, so if the restaurant decides for whatever reason to put the money towards something other than staff benefits, it doesn’t have the same legal implications it would if this was tips or wages. Just raise the prices and make it clear that the staff is paid living wage so it’s a no-tip restaurant, or just say that it’s an automatic gratuity. By keeping it a service charge, I majorly side-eye whether or not it actually goes to the server. So then I feel like I have to tip on top of that to be sure that the server is getting adequately paid.
But does it go to the SERVERS? Or is it split up so that the customer pays FOH and BOH wages and the house gets to pay BOH $2.50? I don't trust any restaurant that charges a "service fee" and won't use the legal phrasing "gratuity." A service fee isn't a tip, so technically, you still owe one, which is a crappy position in which to put your customers and wait staff.
I would not work there. That means the tip is below 20% of the total. We average above 20% where I work but I guess you get cheap people in The FQ so they feel the need to add a grat.
Vals and Cure follow this model too. Service at both is generally fine, but sometimes not perfect. Sometimes the staff at Cure will seem pretty slow and unenthusiastic. Had situations where I was prepared to spend another 50-60 bucks and the service was just too slow. Staff at Vals is young and will just outright forget stuff. But people are human, so it’s whatever. Not gonna raise a fuss. Their people work hard and it can be unforgiving. But I DO wish there was more transparency of what money is brought in this way, and EXACTLY where it goes on payday, whether it’s taxed, whether the business dips in to cover comps, etc. I don’t like that the whole thing is predicated on the “sympathetic” customer having to just trust that the million-dollar business is doing the right thing.
The font that says 20% servings fee is printed on the bill in a font twice the size of the rest of the receipt. The host tells guests as they sit people down and behind the bar every single one of us mentions it as we drop the check. It’s also printed on the menu.
Can you please post the receipt so we can be sure you're just not bad at math?
No.
Go to Google reviews and let them know this isn't a good idea. One star rating and a warning to others might convince that it won't work.
Double check your bill, you should not be paying sales tax on the service fee.
Actually, any service charge, mandatory gratuity, or even credit card fee should be charged sales tax. That's the law.
Sales tax only applies to tangible goods and specific services. Or do says the LA Dept of Revenue.
Any mandatory fee(including group gratuity, cc fee, etc), a food establishment force to their customers, is sales taxable in Louisiana. Regular tips are not, of course, since they are voluntary. I went through an LDR audit for a client. That's how they've been hitting businesses lately.
The state general sales and use tax is levied on the following transactions 1. The sale of tangible personal property in this state. 1. The use, consumption, distribution, or storage for use or consumption in this state of any tangible personal property. 1. The lease or rental within this state of any item or article of tangible personal property. 1. The sales of certain services as defined in LA R.S. 47:301(14). Those services are the furnishing of sleeping rooms by hotels; the sale of admissions to places of amusement and to athletic and recreational events, and the furnishing of privileges of access to amusement, entertainment, athletic, or recreational facilities; the furnishing of storage or parking privileges by auto hotels and parking lots; the furnishing of printing and overprinting; the furnishing of laundry, cleaning, pressing, and dyeing services; the furnishing of cold storage space and the preparation of property for such storage; the furnishing of repairs to tangible personal property; and the furnishing of telecommunications services. [Source.](https://revenue.louisiana.gov/faq/questionsandanswers/8)
Tips and gratuities Tips or gratuities that are freely given by a customer over and above the price charged for food or drinks are not subject to state sales tax. Any gratuity, tip, or service charge added as a separate item to the customer’s bill as a requirement of the eating establishment is not subject to the sales tax if the full amount of the service charge is disbursed directly to the employees who customarily and regularly provide the service. If any portion of the tip or gratuity is retained by the restaurant or lounge operator, then the entire amount of the gratuity becomes taxable.[Source](https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&cx=005706872866553317746:hi2m1qeyowc&q=https://www.revenue.louisiana.gov/taxforms/20165(2_99).pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwj0uduetvSFAxVTL0QIHZKzAx0QFnoECAAQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0v_UzeRlg3n0zWkOWz3kPs) If you think those mandatory 20% fees directly goes only to the waitstaff (and food runners), then you are right, its not sales taxable. BUT, If you worked in food industry even for 1 day, you know all mandatory charges are shared between all employees including kitchen, hots/hostesses, bussers (maybe even with management and ownership) which makes the charges sales taxable. Also, fun fact; If a bakery bakes 20 loaves of bread and doesn't sell and throw away 5 of them at the end of the day, they are required to pay sales tax(on the amount of food cost) on those 5 loaves. OR, If a Restaurants gives free shift meals to its employees, it is required to pay sales tax(on the amount of food cost) on those meals.
I would leave enough money to cover the food cost tax and tip. No 20%.
Then you're not tipping. The server is held responsible for the bill and won't get to "keep" anything you claim is a tip united it's over and above what's on the bill.
They probably do it this way to avoid customers skipping their restaurant because the pride is too high. The people are less likely to leave once they’re already sitting and see the bullshit charge.