A restaurant in Washington, D.C recently shocked a diner due to an added 5% ‘inflation fee’ that was put onto the end of their bill. The savvy diner spotted the addition to their meal towards the bottom of the bill – which read, “Due to the uncertainty of inflation and the ever increasing costs of operating a restaurant in The District we have temporarily added a 5% operating fee.”

Unsurprisingly, this didn’t go down very well with the diner, and Washington locals weren’t very pleased with this fee either. The restaurant in question was the Ivy City Smokehouse which is known for serving seafood.

Now, perhaps a better idea would be to raise the prices of the menu by 5% as opposed to adding a potentially unknown expense onto the end of the meal. This view was shared by one Washington resident who wrote, “Anyone using ‘inflation’ as an excuse to raise prices is nonsense. Just raise prices. I would be curious about what is allowed with such fees.”

This sentiment was shared by another local who added: “These restaurants that do this are scared to put this notice on the door prior to you entering the restaurant because they know they will lose money. That’s why they try to sneak in on your bill on the way out.”

Whether this fee was added in good faith and whether it was genuinely necessary remains to be seen. Nonetheless, the people of Washington have spoken and they are not happy. Sadly, this is another insight into the rising living costs for your average American.