The 12-14 days a year those people are in town are not enough to sustain a business unless it’s a pop-up. You have to have a decent local customer base to sustain a B&M operation.
$38 for chicken? Unless it was stuffed with lobster tails they can shove that right up their ass. $60 for a piece of chicken, salad, and a drink then add a fee plus tip?
Oh hell's no. That will be the next local place to close.
I don’t understand why they just don’t go up $.50 on everything. That would cover it and it would piss me off less. Is this for credit card transactions only?
The restaurant business in Athens is going through a horrific downturn in general. Very sad to see it. Just one more to add to the list of places not to go to.
I was just saying this to someone. I grew up in Athens and still come frequently because my parents are still there. There's almost no places left that I grew up with :( it's definitely sad
Which one? 😂 I think there are like… 8 and counting at this point. Who’s to say, since the rats in their basement keep eating their supporting evidence.
I don't know why people eat there. The front room was dirty when we were there, dead bugs on the floor by the front windows and smelled mildewy. The food was boring and I felt bad for the waitstaff after hearing how they put up with so much abuse. We went to Porterhouse grill recently and the food was exceptional. I can't remember the last time we had such delicious food. I also didn't pay $38 for some crappy chicken. I got chicken saltimbocca for $22 and I would have arm wrestled anyone who tried to touch my potatoes. Chophouse is good too. Hell, I'd rather eat at Longhorn then go back to LR.
So OP let me ask you this. If they had changed the price to $40 for the chicken would you have batted an eye? Cause technically you paid $39.33 for the chicken anyway.
Yep. I genuinely don’t mind paying for a great meal. My issue is the nickel and diming with a service fee. Just bake your costs into what you charge for your food. I’ll either pay it or I won’t. But if you are delivering a “premium” experience, tacking on fees like that really diminish the experience.
Honestly, why? Your menu choices could add up to $100 and have an extra $3.50 tacked on, which is clearly disclosed on the menu, or your menu choices could add up to $103.50. As long as the experience justifies the final price, why do you care how they itemize it?
I’m all for wrapping it up in to the menu prices, I just think it’s funny that someone would willingly pay $38 for chicken at a restaurant like LRG and then be bothered by an extra $2 added to the bill. $38. For chicken.
Printed on their menu (just Google LRG and look at any of the menu images) : "A 3.5% service fee is added to all checks. This is in lieu of increasing menu prices due to an increased cost of doing business."
You may not like that that's the way they've chosen to handle their pricing, but no one pulled a fast one on you.
Um, the chicken special Friday night was $38. Airline chicken breast over maple sweet potatoes with bacon turnip greens. I know what I ordered and what I paid. But thanks for knowing more about my meal than I do.
Everyone in here bitching about food prices can kick rocks. Restaurants are getting absolutely crushed by food prices. Food cost hasn’t just gone up .50 like some moron mentioned above, they have gone up 100-200% on many items. Be glad you didn’t pay $68 for the chicken alone. We aren’t even going to mention labor and the fact that you absolutely cannot get staff to work, so places are paying higher rates than they ever have, and even that doesn’t get staff in the door. I agree I don’t care for the “business service fee.” I wish they and everyone else doing it would just charge what it cost to stay in margin. Even if it is raising prices a good amount. If you don’t like it, stick with your neighborhood Applebees. Oh, wait they closed do to inflation. #RIPHeirloom #RIPTheGrit #RIPButcherandVine #RIPDinnerParty
The cost of lettuce had gone up so much recently that the place I work put up notes about how we will no longer auto put it on burgers.
The burgers go out without it and if they want it we have to go back and ask for it.
It’s not hidden, it is clearly printed on the menu. Not saying I endorse the practice, just that it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone eating there.
If the point of adding the fee and the reference to it isn't to minimize people's chances of noticing the increase, why don't they just add it themselves to the price of each item?
Wish I could upvote this comment more. Also, nothing on their menu is $38, with maybe the exception of seafood that’s market price. Main dishes range from $17-$23 and their chicken dish is $19. Even if they had a special I can’t see it being $38. Source: it only takes 2 seconds to google their menu.
Put your pitchforks back in the garage, people.
You’re wrong. Call and ask. The Friday night special was an airline chicken breast over maple sweet potatoes with bacon turnip greens. $38. I know what I paid. But thanks for thinking you know more about what I ate and paid than I do.
I will happily stand corrected without the need to call anyone. That’s a bananas price for a chicken dish. 🤯
I think I’m easy to go on the defense for the restaurant industry these days, especially local businesses. Those employ humans who deserve to live full lives and times are just too hard these past few years. I also have no idea why I engaged with internet arguments. It’s not my cup of tea. In any case, I’m sorry to insinuate you were dishonest and only escalate your anger. I only ask that folks please try to find some understanding during tough times.
I’ll take the down votes all day on this one 😂 People are clueless as to what things are actually costing right now. They want their food but at a discounted price. And you better make it fast or else you are getting a 1 ⭐️ review on yelp 🤡
Hey I agree with this. I don’t like the the “service charge” movement. I prefer bumping prices accordingly. The public won’t like that though, so restaurants are unfairly having to choose one or the other. And I don’t fault anyone for the decision they are forced to make.
Pretty sure Applebee's closed due to the pandemic? Maybe even before 2020?
And no, it's not cuz no one wants to work. No one wants to work for shit pay to deal with shit people who have become even more entitled and rude since the pandemic began. COVID created an entire new breed of debauchery.
going out is expensive. However, if you want to have a cool downtown with cool local businesses, this is the reality.
I don’t want another long time Athens establishment to go out of business.
If a 3.5% service charge keeps them from closing like the Grit, then I trust that they absolutely must do it. I doubt anybody is getting rich at the last resort.
Of all the longtime local eateries on the verge of closing or recently closed, it would likely be net positive if LRG closed. They have done so much irreversible harm to so many people.
I didn’t even know about the lawsuits until I read this thread, it’s horrifying that a flagship local business can do all of that and face very little repercussions. There are so many good local restaurants that deserve everything LRG has
Get out of here, the folks running LRG are amazing. Legit angels. The past mgmt/owners involved are gone/not involved. You are being ignorant to what is actually happening there. They have also done amazing things to THOUSANDS of past employees.
Melissa knowingly hired people that her good friend Hugh quietly removed from 5&10 after a whole lot of chatter about sexual misconduct. She fought sexual harassment claims tooth and nail with the highest power attorneys in the country rather than change practices and believe her staff. She also had those lawyers state to the judge that they didn't have records of their rampant, systemic wage theft because rats ate all their paperwork. Melissa is trash, so is the other owner who pulled up stakes mid pandemic to open his own thing in Atlanta. They've been abusing staff for decades.
Exactly Bama! Let’s do what it takes to keep local places around. Support them, not bash them for having to do what it takes to survive inflation. These naive folks attacking a local business for trying to stay afloat is ridiculous. Take your cheap asses to chilis 🤡
Businesses that accept credit/debit cards have to pay a transaction fee which ranges from 1% to 4%, sometimes more. Those rewards cards you carry around, the merchants are charged an extra fee for your use of a rewards card. The credit card company takes from the merchants and gives to you. Maybe that’s why the extra charge.
This. It's perfectly legal to add a CC service fee. It's discussed in my industry a lot as well, and we've decided to bake it into our prices. Just like this post, the service fee turns enough people of that it makes a difference.
Is the fee posted on their menu anywhere? I know there are laws about advertised prices and that feels a bit shady to me. I don’t think you can just arbitrarily charge more without warning the customer.
Wasn’t posted on the menu we received last night. I’ve been in the cards industry for 20 years, so I look for those everywhere I go. Only appeared on the ticket at the end of the meal.
Total BS. Issues with not treating staff appropriately as well. LRG is not on my list of places to go.
I think you know the answer is “Because they think they can.”
And you know what? The folks that roll into town for events won’t even blink an eye about it either.
Let’s face it; if you have a couple racks to drop on Dawgs tickets, travel, and hotel, you aren’t blinking at another $6 on your dinner total.
The 12-14 days a year those people are in town are not enough to sustain a business unless it’s a pop-up. You have to have a decent local customer base to sustain a B&M operation.
$38 for chicken? Unless it was stuffed with lobster tails they can shove that right up their ass. $60 for a piece of chicken, salad, and a drink then add a fee plus tip? Oh hell's no. That will be the next local place to close.
Would be a big deal if they closed, that place has been there for like 30 years
As someone who has lived in athens for 40 years, eaten LRG plenty of times, and works in the service industry …. I wish it would burn to the ground
I don’t understand why they just don’t go up $.50 on everything. That would cover it and it would piss me off less. Is this for credit card transactions only?
They will make WAYYYY more of a percentage based increase like this then a flat .50 increase.
Bc everything is already overpriced to shit so it’s the same difference. Neither option is a positive
Has always been overpriced, now it’s another 3.5% more overpriced
Sounds like they are passing along to the guest the credit card processing fee. Ask them if the fee applies if you pay cash.
I don't know why ppl go here. The food is absolutely mediocre, overpriced, and the atmosphere is "boomer chic".
I really have no idea why people still continue to support these obviously shitty businesses.
That place and it's owners are garbage.
The restaurant business in Athens is going through a horrific downturn in general. Very sad to see it. Just one more to add to the list of places not to go to.
I was just saying this to someone. I grew up in Athens and still come frequently because my parents are still there. There's almost no places left that I grew up with :( it's definitely sad
Stop eating at places that treat the employees like shit… just look up the lawsuit they are dealing with if you want the details.
Which one? 😂 I think there are like… 8 and counting at this point. Who’s to say, since the rats in their basement keep eating their supporting evidence.
Exactly
don’t forget they got $1.3 million in PPP loans
“Last Resort Grill implements a last resort business approach”
LMFAO
I don't know why people eat there. The front room was dirty when we were there, dead bugs on the floor by the front windows and smelled mildewy. The food was boring and I felt bad for the waitstaff after hearing how they put up with so much abuse. We went to Porterhouse grill recently and the food was exceptional. I can't remember the last time we had such delicious food. I also didn't pay $38 for some crappy chicken. I got chicken saltimbocca for $22 and I would have arm wrestled anyone who tried to touch my potatoes. Chophouse is good too. Hell, I'd rather eat at Longhorn then go back to LR.
Longhorn is actually really good imo
I personally don't mind them, but I always try to support local businesses whenever possible.
What chicken dish did you get that was $38? Also, isn't the $8 salad meant to be a meal rather than a side?
Love how this sub has decided that criticisms of LRG are cool, but say a bad word about Heirloom and you get downvoted into oblivion.
What's wrong with heirloom. Guess I'm ootl on that one.
their food was mediocre + overpriced imho
It’s two different conversations. How do you not understand that?
Never had a meal worth the price there. Always super underwhelming.
So OP let me ask you this. If they had changed the price to $40 for the chicken would you have batted an eye? Cause technically you paid $39.33 for the chicken anyway.
It's not due to inflation, it's due to covering their lawsuits
Lmfao this the one
I heard the judge let them write those lawsuit losses off on taxes, which means we foot the bill for LRG's misconduct.
What an absurd thing if this is true... I don't get to write off my speeding tickets!
I read it on a fb post someone had shared, the lawyer on the workers' side was sharing facts about the case.
bye bye last resort
You paid $38 for chicken and are complaining about a 3.5% fee?
Yep. I genuinely don’t mind paying for a great meal. My issue is the nickel and diming with a service fee. Just bake your costs into what you charge for your food. I’ll either pay it or I won’t. But if you are delivering a “premium” experience, tacking on fees like that really diminish the experience.
Honestly, why? Your menu choices could add up to $100 and have an extra $3.50 tacked on, which is clearly disclosed on the menu, or your menu choices could add up to $103.50. As long as the experience justifies the final price, why do you care how they itemize it?
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I’m all for wrapping it up in to the menu prices, I just think it’s funny that someone would willingly pay $38 for chicken at a restaurant like LRG and then be bothered by an extra $2 added to the bill. $38. For chicken.
Printed on their menu (just Google LRG and look at any of the menu images) : "A 3.5% service fee is added to all checks. This is in lieu of increasing menu prices due to an increased cost of doing business." You may not like that that's the way they've chosen to handle their pricing, but no one pulled a fast one on you.
But they sure pulled a fast one on their employees
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Um, the chicken special Friday night was $38. Airline chicken breast over maple sweet potatoes with bacon turnip greens. I know what I ordered and what I paid. But thanks for knowing more about my meal than I do.
Everyone in here bitching about food prices can kick rocks. Restaurants are getting absolutely crushed by food prices. Food cost hasn’t just gone up .50 like some moron mentioned above, they have gone up 100-200% on many items. Be glad you didn’t pay $68 for the chicken alone. We aren’t even going to mention labor and the fact that you absolutely cannot get staff to work, so places are paying higher rates than they ever have, and even that doesn’t get staff in the door. I agree I don’t care for the “business service fee.” I wish they and everyone else doing it would just charge what it cost to stay in margin. Even if it is raising prices a good amount. If you don’t like it, stick with your neighborhood Applebees. Oh, wait they closed do to inflation. #RIPHeirloom #RIPTheGrit #RIPButcherandVine #RIPDinnerParty
The cost of lettuce had gone up so much recently that the place I work put up notes about how we will no longer auto put it on burgers. The burgers go out without it and if they want it we have to go back and ask for it.
Most establishments are pretty much break even on food too. The alcohol is where you stay afloat.
Wait, are you saying…nobody wants to work?
So charge a price instead of a hidden fee.
It’s not hidden, it is clearly printed on the menu. Not saying I endorse the practice, just that it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone eating there.
If the point of adding the fee and the reference to it isn't to minimize people's chances of noticing the increase, why don't they just add it themselves to the price of each item?
Wish I could upvote this comment more. Also, nothing on their menu is $38, with maybe the exception of seafood that’s market price. Main dishes range from $17-$23 and their chicken dish is $19. Even if they had a special I can’t see it being $38. Source: it only takes 2 seconds to google their menu. Put your pitchforks back in the garage, people.
You’re wrong. Call and ask. The Friday night special was an airline chicken breast over maple sweet potatoes with bacon turnip greens. $38. I know what I paid. But thanks for thinking you know more about what I ate and paid than I do.
I will happily stand corrected without the need to call anyone. That’s a bananas price for a chicken dish. 🤯 I think I’m easy to go on the defense for the restaurant industry these days, especially local businesses. Those employ humans who deserve to live full lives and times are just too hard these past few years. I also have no idea why I engaged with internet arguments. It’s not my cup of tea. In any case, I’m sorry to insinuate you were dishonest and only escalate your anger. I only ask that folks please try to find some understanding during tough times.
I’ll take the down votes all day on this one 😂 People are clueless as to what things are actually costing right now. They want their food but at a discounted price. And you better make it fast or else you are getting a 1 ⭐️ review on yelp 🤡
I think people want menu prices to indicate the cost, not to see prices and then a bunch of separate fees.
Hey I agree with this. I don’t like the the “service charge” movement. I prefer bumping prices accordingly. The public won’t like that though, so restaurants are unfairly having to choose one or the other. And I don’t fault anyone for the decision they are forced to make.
Pretty sure Applebee's closed due to the pandemic? Maybe even before 2020? And no, it's not cuz no one wants to work. No one wants to work for shit pay to deal with shit people who have become even more entitled and rude since the pandemic began. COVID created an entire new breed of debauchery.
going out is expensive. However, if you want to have a cool downtown with cool local businesses, this is the reality. I don’t want another long time Athens establishment to go out of business. If a 3.5% service charge keeps them from closing like the Grit, then I trust that they absolutely must do it. I doubt anybody is getting rich at the last resort.
Of all the longtime local eateries on the verge of closing or recently closed, it would likely be net positive if LRG closed. They have done so much irreversible harm to so many people.
I didn’t even know about the lawsuits until I read this thread, it’s horrifying that a flagship local business can do all of that and face very little repercussions. There are so many good local restaurants that deserve everything LRG has
Get out of here, the folks running LRG are amazing. Legit angels. The past mgmt/owners involved are gone/not involved. You are being ignorant to what is actually happening there. They have also done amazing things to THOUSANDS of past employees.
Melissa knowingly hired people that her good friend Hugh quietly removed from 5&10 after a whole lot of chatter about sexual misconduct. She fought sexual harassment claims tooth and nail with the highest power attorneys in the country rather than change practices and believe her staff. She also had those lawyers state to the judge that they didn't have records of their rampant, systemic wage theft because rats ate all their paperwork. Melissa is trash, so is the other owner who pulled up stakes mid pandemic to open his own thing in Atlanta. They've been abusing staff for decades.
Who is the current owner/manager?
Exactly Bama! Let’s do what it takes to keep local places around. Support them, not bash them for having to do what it takes to survive inflation. These naive folks attacking a local business for trying to stay afloat is ridiculous. Take your cheap asses to chilis 🤡
Oh no! All the Emilys and Chads are probably going to stop taking their parents there because of this insane overreach. RIP Last Resort!
Businesses that accept credit/debit cards have to pay a transaction fee which ranges from 1% to 4%, sometimes more. Those rewards cards you carry around, the merchants are charged an extra fee for your use of a rewards card. The credit card company takes from the merchants and gives to you. Maybe that’s why the extra charge.
Yes, but last I knew, as part of a merchant’s agreement with the credit company, they weren’t supposed to pass that cost on to the customer.
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That depends on the state. It is legal in Georgia as long as it is disclosed.
This. It's perfectly legal to add a CC service fee. It's discussed in my industry a lot as well, and we've decided to bake it into our prices. Just like this post, the service fee turns enough people of that it makes a difference.
Is the fee posted on their menu anywhere? I know there are laws about advertised prices and that feels a bit shady to me. I don’t think you can just arbitrarily charge more without warning the customer.
Yes it is.
Wasn’t posted on the menu we received last night. I’ve been in the cards industry for 20 years, so I look for those everywhere I go. Only appeared on the ticket at the end of the meal.
Wow -- that seems crazy! I seldom eat out because of food allergies but that seems higher than usual.
lol last resort
LOLZ REZORT
Seabear hit me with a credit card fee that wasn't disclosed on the menu the last time I went there. Also the last time I'll go there.
I’m surprised anyone even eats there tbh