Here's a fun exercise: go get dim sum at Dragon Beaux in the Richmond, enjoy your har gow, then flip over your bill and try to figure out what you actually agreed to pay.

A diner recently did exactly that and discovered a 4% "house surcharge" tacked onto their tab. When they asked staff about it, they were told it was a mandatory charge by the city. Spoiler: it is not.

There is no city-mandated 4% surcharge on restaurant meals in San Francisco. What does exist is SF's Health Care Security Ordinance, which requires certain employers to spend money on employee healthcare. Many restaurants pass that cost to diners via surcharges — which, fine, healthcare is expensive. But calling it a "mandatory city charge" is, at best, misleading, and at worst, a straight-up bait-and-switch designed to keep menu prices artificially low while padding the final bill.

And here's where it gets even better: the practice is completely legal. State Senator Scott Wiener — currently running for Nancy Pelosi's House seat — initially moved to ban these junk fees, then backed off after pressure from the restaurant industry. As one local put it, it's "a 100% legal (but obviously unethical) business practice rubber stamped by Scott Wiener." The compromise? Restaurants just have to disclose the surcharge somewhere in the restaurant. A tiny line on page four of the menu? Good enough.

The frustration is real and widespread. One SF resident summed up the mood perfectly: "Enough of the surcharges, fees, mandates! Just adjust the prices, charge us what they are listed as, and throw in the taxes. That's it." Another pointed out that Dragon Beaux's suggested tip percentages are calculated on the total including tax and surcharge — meaning you're tipping on the fee that was already a hidden upcharge.

Look, restaurants operate on thin margins in this city. We get it. Between labor costs, rent, and SF's regulatory gauntlet, nobody's pretending it's easy. But the answer isn't to obscure your real prices and then lie to customers about why. Just charge what you charge. Put it on the menu. Let people decide with full information whether your siu mai is worth it.

Price transparency isn't a radical concept — it's the bare minimum of an honest transaction. And when the government "fixes" junk fees by simply legalizing them with fine print, you don't have a solution. You have a permission slip.