to be annoyed that we were going to be charged for extra butter?

[NotEnoughTime]

I went out for lunch on Sunday with my DH (a very rare occurence). We went to a restaurant that we have been going to for years. We go there on special occasions ie birthdays, anniversaries etc. It usually costs around £60-70 for lunch for two with no alcoholic drinks.

Anyway, we ordered soup for our started and we were given bread with this. We used the (small amount of) butter and then asked for some more butter. We were then told we could have some more butter but we would be charged a £1 for it! I thought this was very strange. Has anyone else ever been charged extra for butter? The waitress insisted this was common practise but I have never come across it before. I know it was only a £1 but I thought it was very mean.

I do not expect to pay for butter separately in a restaurant. Maybe in a cafe where there's a choice of toast with or without butter etc.

Depends on how the waitress expressed the fact of additional cost as to whether I'd tip her, or not. It is part of the experience. And unfortunately for the waitress such jarring surprises often negatively impact on how you feel about the whole meal. I'd certainly check she got to keep the tips as a place that charges a pound for a tiny bit of butter is exactly the sort of place that keeps a server's tips "for the Christmas party" or some other such shite.

I would certainly feedback on trip advisor and I'd not return.

I'd expect to be charged in a cafe. But such places are usually appropriately generous with their butter

£60 for lunch is a lot

Definitely write a Tripadvisor review and mention the stingy £1 butter

Ah, memories! In the bad old days when I was a waitress it was 50/50 if the chefs or waiting on staff would portion up the butter in the mornings or not. We HATED the chefs doing it bevause they were so bloody stingy and 9/10 customers would ask for more and look at us like we were barking! When the chef is boasting that the bowl of soup cost 3p in ingredients and sold for £5.95, I'm so glad we didn't have a policy of charging extra for butter!

Its the restaurants who charge an extra £1 or £2 for gluten free bread who annoy me greatly. You're making your mark up on the sandwich anyway, the bread costs you an extra 10-20p, so fair enough pass that on if your margins really can't take it () but don't make extra mark up on the gf bread, that's not fair on the coeliac, we are not eating shit bread for funzies

I'd leave a review about them - used to enjoy going to this restaurant, bit of a treat, but charging £1 for extra butter when they only provided a small amount anyway really left a bad taste, so decided I'm spending my
money elsewhere from now on

That sort of thing, they'll get the jist of how it affects customers

If a cafe yes I’ve been charged extra ( only 1 mini packet was included in the price) but it was a cafe so fair enough.

However in a restaurant I have NEVER been charged extra for butter

I have paid extra for more butter in an M&S cafe but they don’t seem to do that now.

I think it’s ridiculous, you paid for bread and butter inclusive with your soup. You should get bread and sufficient butter.

Who's talking about piles of butter...

Restaurants never give out enough butter for the amount of bread. Then seem to rely on the momentary heat if a slice if toast to be enough to spread it well enough that you can make one small individually wrapped portion do 2 slices of toast.

If they cant afford butter give out less bread...

For a pound I would of nipped to the shop and got a block!

This would have been brilliant
Offer it round to other diners too!

YANBU @NotEnoughTime In Patisserie Valerie I used the tiny amount of clotted cream they gave and asked for more..£1.50!! The thing I was most annoyed about was they didn’t tell me and I only found out when the bill came. Didn’t go back.

I've often been charged for bread (and butter). A sign of a bad restaurant IMO

Oh that's skanky for a £70 meal. That would be me gone... silly idiots.

While it's not unreasonable to be unhappy about it...
YABU for not leaving a tip- it's not your waitress who makes the rules, they just get stuck being the one to explain them to you.

When I was a waitress, though for not quite such a fancy place, we also charged £1 for extra butter because people literally would come in and grab fistfuls of butter tabs to take home otherwise. Sounds stupid, but people do it.

A better thing would have been to complain to their corporate offices rather than taking it out on a low paid food service worker.

I can understand in a cafe when you pay per item and its not fine dining. But in a restaurant you pay over the odds for a meal cooked and served the way you like it.

Don't go back, and leave a review stating exactly why.

I didn’t mind paying extra in the M&S, I do use a lot of butter 😂

Thanks all. We didn't leave a tip as the waitress was very rude and surly anyway (so not just because of the butter!) It is a family owned/run restaurant. I have waitressed myself many years ago and I know that it can be stressful and we all have bad days but she was 'off' with us at the start.

Just to clarify we had two starters (soup) and two mains (roasts) and 1 pudding and 3 cokes so yes, I think £60 is plenty!

YVBU for not leaving a tip. It's hardly the waiter fault that he/she has to charge you for butter!

Really bad customer service for a high end restaurant. You go there for the whole experience and don’t mind paying more for that. Penny pinching just gives a really bad impression. It’s like staying in an expensive hotel and finding out they only give you 2 teabags in the room. Expected in a Premier Inn, but feels mean somewhere else. Relative to the overall cost these things cost pennies and make you feel taken care of.

I get extra butter with my £3.50 poached eggs on toast at our local cafe. I would be seriously peed off at being charged when lunch was already expensive. That's really mean.

Catering prices are not some magical low cost thing. Especially with a commodity like butter.

Meals will have been carefully costed- the general rule in catering is that you need to charge 70% on top of food prices in order to turn a profit. Rent is expensive. Wages are expensive. Licensing is expensive. VAT is 20% fgs, so of your £60 £12 has gone straight to the tax man.

Entitlement like that which is shown on this thread is the reason so many businesses go under.

I agree it’s tight and also expensive for a pat of butter BUT I would never not tip on that basis. Unless the waitress was the owner that was very Unfair.

£60 for lunch for two is really not that much when you break it down

And comments like this make me wonder what world people live in, are they really so out of touch they think £60 isn't expensive for lunch!?

Entitlement like that which is shown on this thread is the reason so many businesses go under.

It's a tiny amount of butter, not a whole roast dinner they asked for.

Why should you get it for free?

Because they put less out to ensure less waste, which is fine, but for some people it won't be enough. Just tight!

VAT is 20% fgs, so of your £60 £12 has gone straight to the tax man

No it hasn't. A strong argument usually gets the maths correct.