What is the point of a separate service charge in restaurants?
score:2
Accepted answer
From a restaurant's perspective it is useful for a couple of reasons:
as JonathanReez pointed out it allows menu prices to be lower if they are stated before tax and service charge.
Stating a fixed service charge allows the restaurant to know what they will collect. This is especially useful if they typically get less than that (perhaps because they deliver poor service)
Many customers will not contest the service charge (even in those countries where they legally can) as they don't read the small print, or want to challenge the "default" payment.