# When do expect to pay more when you order "extra" at a restaurant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 12, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610 "2015-08-12T02:12:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/21 "2015-08-12T14:08:45Z")
There are several Thai restaurants in my area that all have pretty close to identical lunch menus. You get an entree with rice and a spring roll for 6.95. It used to be a great deal until they started getting really chintzy with the meat. Several years ago one of these such restaurants started adding a 2.75 charge for “extra meat”. This would be acceptable if “extra meat” didn’t actually translate to the amount of meat they used to use, which was hardly excessive to begin with. As it stands, they can go fuck themselves and the elephants they rode in on. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/22 "2015-08-12T15:00:32Z")
Didn’t a lot of fast food places go through a phase awhile back where they limited the number of packets they would give BUT ALSO wouldn’t even sell you more? That drove me crazy. I don’t mind you charging a reasonable amount for the extra stuff. But I can’t get it no matter what?! :mad: In particular IIRC Wendy’s was doing that with their sour cream packets with their taco salad. One small packet wasn’t cutting it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/23 "2015-08-12T15:02:10Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > I’m a bit disgruntled when I’m charged for \*substitutions \*of equal priced items. If the side order of grits is $2.95, and the side order of hash browns is $2.95, I’ll be a bit annoyed if I order a Special #1 with grits instead of hash browns and I get charged extra. But it happens enough that I still sort of expect it, I’m just not happy about it. My guess is that they included grits with the special because they got a good deal on grits this week. So the restaurant’s cost for a side order of grits is fifty cents while their cost for a side order of hash browns is a dollar. By substituting two items which appear to be equal, you’re costing the restaurant money and they charge you a substitution fee to reflect that. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/24 "2015-08-12T15:04:21Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Didn’t a lot of fast food places go through a phase awhile back where they limited the number of packets they would give BUT ALSO wouldn’t even sell you more? > > That drove me crazy. I don’t mind you charging a reasonable amount for the extra stuff. But I can’t get it no matter what?! :mad: > > In particular IIRC Wendy’s was doing that with their sour cream packets with their taco salad. One small packet wasn’t cutting it for me. We’re still getting free extra sour creams at Wendy’s here. (Ottawa) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/25 "2015-08-12T15:07:54Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Remember back in the day when if you ordered blue cheese salad dressing they’d tell you that it was an extra quarter or so? I used to always pause and thoughtfully consider the ramifications before agreeing. I think that was roquefort dressing. Blue cheese dressing eventually replaced roquefort in most restaurants, because it tastes nearly the same but isn’t as expensive. No restaurant I’ve worked in has ever charged extra for blue cheese. I do remember an anecdote I read in _Reader’s Digest_ years and years ago, about a couple attending a $1000/plate fundraiser dinner. In fine print at the bottom of the menu, was “Roquefort dressing 25 cents extra”. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/26 "2015-08-12T15:10:51Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Many years I just got a craving for a cheeseburger with bacon on it. All those ads had finally worn me down. So I drive down to Wendy’s and order their double bacon cheeseburger with lettuce tomato mustard and onion only. Given it was a Wendy’s burger and a double and lots of bacon it wasn’t exactly on the cheap side. > > I get the mile or so back home. Here is a nicely wrapped burger that says in handwriting bacon double cheese burger. Except there is NO bacon or Cheese on it. Somebody took my instructions too literally. I guess I’m lucky I got the meat and buns! > > About a decade or so later I go inside Whataburger to order the same sorta thing to go. Again with lettuce, tomato, mustard and onion only. I EVEN tell the first story to lady taking my order. She thought it was funny. That’s crazy! What kinda idiot would do that? > > Guess what lady. One of the idiots that you work with apparently. McDonald’s did this to my ex all the time. “A cheeseburger with only lettuce and onions.” And she would get a hamburger with lettuce and onions. In fact, once she ordered the “cheeseburger with only lettuce and onions” and got a cheese, lettuce, and onion burger with no meat! We learned to specify “a cheeseburger with lettuce, onions and cheese.” That seemed to work. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/27 "2015-08-12T15:35:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > My guess is that they included grits with the special because they got a good deal on grits this week. So the restaurant’s cost for a side order of grits is fifty cents while their cost for a side order of hash browns is a dollar. By substituting two items which appear to be equal, you’re costing the restaurant money and they charge you a substitution fee to reflect that. From the context, I think that WhyNot’s “Special #1” is a regular menu item sold as a special combo. It sounds like you’re reading it as “This Week’s Special,” but I don’t think that was the intent. Also, you got it backwards: the combo included a side of hash browns, and WhyNot asked for a side of grits instead. If the sides were purchased by themselves instead as part of a combo meal, they would have been the same price. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/28 "2015-08-12T15:59:11Z")
Nugget sauce? Never heard of it, but it sounds like evidence from a sex crime. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/29 "2015-08-12T16:12:11Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Nugget sauce? Never heard of it, but it sounds like evidence from a sex crime. Lenny Briscoe from SVU: I might be wrong but I don’t think that’s extra mayo over there on the wall… ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/30 "2015-08-12T17:14:40Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > I didn’t want to make a fuss but I think it’s devious. There’s a fast food place out here that, when you order a combo, they always say “Do you want medium or large?” as if those are the only two options. But the posted price on the menu board refers to small size, which is never offered by the cashier. They don’t say “Do you want a medium combo for $.50 more?” They don’t say, “Do you want to supersize your combo?” It is not exactly lying but it’s definitely a little misleading. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/31 "2015-08-12T17:29:23Z")
> [@Cartoonacy](#): > > From the context, I think that WhyNot’s “Special #1” is a regular menu item sold as a special combo. It sounds like you’re reading it as “This Week’s Special,” but I don’t think that was the intent. Also, you got it backwards: the combo included a side of hash browns, and WhyNot asked for a side of grits instead. If the sides were purchased by themselves instead as part of a combo meal, they would have been the same price. Yes. > [@amaguri](#): > > There’s a fast food place out here that, when you order a combo, they always say “Do you want medium or large?” as if those are the only two options. But the posted price on the menu board refers to small size, which is never offered by the cashier. > > They don’t say “Do you want a medium combo for $.50 more?” They don’t say, “Do you want to supersize your combo?” It is not exactly lying but it’s definitely a little misleading. Fucking Burger King, again. They do this, and it makes me crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/32 "2015-08-12T18:10:38Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > A CHEESEBURGER comes with cheese. Very, very, very, very few other sandwiches do. A customer is expected to figure that out pretty quickly. > > Incidentally, it’s standard practice in the restaurant industry to charge extra for cheese. That’s another thing that most people can figure out on their own. If you’re over the age of 15 you should already know that. > > I used to work at Burger King. Let me tell you–we didn’t think very highly of people like you. Some things are so obvious that they really shouldn’t take long at all to figure out. I don’t go to Burger King very often. The last time was probably more than five years ago and if I went this week, I would expect the next time to be many more years in the future. At my rate of consumption and given the amount of menu changes at Burger King, how long should it take me to memorize the vagaries of the menu? I’m going with never; at my rate of experience, I will never learn the menu to your satisfaction. So I would go by what’s on the fucking picture. If the sandwich I got differed from what was on the picture or if it cost me more than what was on the menu, I’d say your restaurant screwed up. > [@Flyer](#): > > I used to work at Burger King. Let me tell you–we didn’t think very highly of people like you. Some things are so obvious that they really shouldn’t take long at all to figure out. You must be so proud of having mastered all that is expected of the highly-trained workforce at Burger King. Given the high esteem in which the public generally holds fast food workers, I’m sure your customers felt that earning your approval was critical to their emotional well-being. They must crawl out of the restaurant dejected when they catch the drift that that you don’t think highly of people who expected their sandwich to at least contain the same components as used in the picture to promote it. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/33 "2015-08-12T18:14:21Z")
I’m still bitter about places that charge an extra 25 cents for a slice of tomato and some lettuce on a roast beef sub. To me, there’s a class of condiments that just seem like basic parts of a sandwich rather than extras, and mayo, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, and tomatoes are all in that class. This actually plays a part in my lunch selection decision: “Well, I could go to sub shop X, but they charge me for tomatoes. So screw 'em, I’ll walk to Subway.” So sub shop X makes .25 extra when I show up, but I don’t show up very often. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/34 "2015-08-12T18:44:24Z")
As someone who occasionally (like once a month) gets a craving for a Whopper from Burger King, I think **JohnGalt** is missing out on how to do it. Scenario #1 - You want a Whopper with cheese. You say _“I’d like a Whopper with cheese please”_ Scenario #2 - You want a Whooper without cheese. You say _"I’d like a Whopper_ (and here is the tricky part)\* with NO CHEESE" \*You have to emphasize and enunciate that last part to head off their Pavlovian response of “Would you like cheese with that?” Now my typical BK Whopper order is "_I’d like a Whopper, no cheese, no mayo, heavy everything else, please"_ Which means extra lettuce, onions, pickles, ketchup, tomatoes, and mustard, but no mayo, and no nasty-ass cheese And you know what? I don’t think I get charged extra for that. I think it’s because of the “please” I throw in there somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/35 "2015-08-12T18:45:39Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > I don’t go to Burger King very often. The last time was probably more than five years ago and if I went this week, I would expect the next time to be many more years in the future. At my rate of consumption and given the amount of menu changes at Burger King, how long should it take me to memorize the vagaries of the menu? I’m going with never; at my rate of experience, I will never learn the menu to your satisfaction. So I would go by what’s on the fucking picture. If the sandwich I got differed from what was on the picture or if it cost me more than what was on the menu, I’d say your restaurant screwed up. > > You must be so proud of having mastered all that is expected of the highly-trained workforce at Burger King. Given the high esteem in which the public generally holds fast food workers, I’m sure your customers felt that earning your approval was critical to their emotional well-being. They must crawl out of the restaurant dejected when they catch the drift that that you don’t think highly of people who expected their sandwich to at least contain the same components as used in the picture to promote it. Best username - post combination so far. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/36 "2015-08-12T19:11:32Z")
> [@leftfield6](#): > > As someone who occasionally (like once a month) gets a craving for a Whopper from Burger King, I think **JohnGalt** is missing out on how to do it. > > Scenario #1 - You want a Whopper with cheese. You say _“I’d like a Whopper with cheese please”_ > > Scenario #2 - You want a Whooper without cheese. You say _"I’d like a Whopper_ (and here is the tricky part)\* with NO CHEESE" \*You have to emphasize and enunciate that last part to head off their Pavlovian response of “Would you like cheese with that?” > > Now my typical BK Whopper order is "_I’d like a Whopper, no cheese, no mayo, heavy everything else, please"_ Which means extra lettuce, onions, pickles, ketchup, tomatoes, and mustard, but no mayo, and no nasty-ass cheese And you know what? I don’t think I get charged extra for that. I think it’s because of the “please” I throw in there somewhere. I agree that a friendly “please” always gets better results, but I maintain that if the product normally comes with cheese (or not) you should not have to specify “with cheese” (or not). And I still think it’s weasely to advertise the product with extras on it. Yes, I understand why they do it (that’s why I know it’s weasley). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/37 "2015-08-12T19:21:48Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > … Given the high esteem in which the public generally holds fast food workers, … My teenaged daughter works at a fast food restaurant. Believe it or not she’s an actual human being with emotions and everything. People can be assholes to workers who they feel are beneath them. Don’t be one of those people. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/38 "2015-08-12T19:34:51Z")
> [@3trew](#): > > John Galt is having an issue with researching his purchase and paying for what he gets? Fucking socialism is everywhere, man. John Galt makes his own damn cheeseburgers, thank-you-very-much. And no one else in the world makes one better. At least the OP didn’t order a cheeseburger, hold the cheese… _BETWEEN YOUR LEGS!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/39 "2015-08-12T19:59:52Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > My teenaged daughter works at a fast food restaurant. Believe it or not she’s an actual human being with emotions and everything. > > People can be assholes to workers who they feel are beneath them. Don’t be one of those people. I don’t think that people who work in fast food restaurants are beneath me. I am not one of the people who looks down on fast food workers. I don’t criticize anyone doing their best in an honest job. I hope your daughter enjoys her experience and benefits from it. I was responding to Flyer’s comment suggesting that the real problem is customers who are expected to “figure out…quickly” things that are never explained to them and which are inconsistent with what is evident on the menus and signs in front of them, and then aren’t “thought highly” of by the staff. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610/40 "2015-08-12T20:15:58Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > I don’t think that people who work in fast food restaurants are beneath me. I am not one of the people who looks down on fast food workers. I don’t criticize anyone doing their best in an honest job. I hope your daughter enjoys her experience and benefits from it. > > I was responding to Flyer’s comment suggesting that the real problem is customers who are expected to “figure out…quickly” things that are never explained to them and which are inconsistent with what is evident on the menus and signs in front of them, and then aren’t “thought highly” of by the staff. Thanks. Apologies for thinking otherwise. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-do-expect-to-pay-more-when-you-order-extra-at-a-restaurant/727610.md?page=3)