Customers shocked when restaurant charges nearly 60 euros for birthday cake cutting fee

A British family of 13 went to a restaurant in the southern Italian province of Arezzo for a meal on August 22. The group asked permission to bring in a cake to celebrate their mother’s birthday, and the restaurant allowed it. They also asked the restaurant to cut the cake for them.

Later, when they looked at the bill, the British tourists were shocked to see that they were charged for cutting the birthday cake and helping to bring it to the table. Each guest was charged an additional 4.50 euros for the birthday cake brought in from outside, totaling 58.50 euros for the 13 guests. This was more than the 45 euros the cake cost.

The angry daughter shared the story on an Arezzo community group. The female tourist said the restaurant explained that this was a restaurant policy.

The restaurant owner later explained that the fee was to prevent customers from bringing in outside food. "My restaurant has to pay for waiters and other related services, so it needs to be recouped somehow," the owner added. The additional 4.50 euros per person is said to be for cutting the cake, washing the knives, forks and dishes used by customers to eat the cake.

The owner was not present that evening and said the staff "may have been too fussy in handling the situation." The staff should have discounted or not charged the cake cutting service, which would have made everyone happy.

In August 2023, another restaurant in Italy also angered customers by charging 20 euros for a similar situation. This group of customers brought a birthday cake to a restaurant in Palermo, Sicily, to organize an event and were charged extra.

The story of the British female tourist received many opinions. Many people think that many restaurants have a rule of charging an additional fee if customers bring food from outside. This fee is to pay for the staff to serve and wash extra dishes because customers bring food from outside. However, the restaurant should clearly tell customers about the additional amount (service fee) when customers want to bring food from other places to avoid unpleasant situations like the above.