Is Subway Adding A 10% Service Fee at Its Minnesota Restaurants?

Throughout the pandemic, many restaurants started including mandatory fees, often called "health and wellness fees," to support their employees' pay and benefits during the tough times. Even though COVID restrictions are no longer in place, many restaurants are still tacking on these extra fees.

Subway has been trending on social media after a post about the restaurant charging a 10% service fee went viral. The company, known for its footlong sandwiches, is the largest chain restaurant in Minnesota with more than 450 locations so naturally our audience wanted to know if each store would be implementing these new charges.

I'm not sure why restaurants do this instead of just bumping up their menu prices a little. I'm pretty sure no one would notice if their sub cost an extra quarter, but everyone is going to notice that extra fee tacked on to the receipt.

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A lot of restaurants don't even let you know they're charging these fees until you get your bill and that isn't sitting well with one Minnesota lawmaker.

Minneapolis Representative Emma Greenman believes it's misleading to customers because they only find out about the fees after they've placed an order and has introduced a bill that would require businesses to disclose all fees before purchase.

FYI, the Subway that went viral wasn't adding the fee after purchase. That restaurant had a sign displayed that explained the charge.

Is Subway Adding A 10% Service Fee at Its Minnesota Restaurants?

The chain hasn't commented on the fee yet so it's not clear if this fee is charged at every location or select franchises.

I did call my local Subway and spoke with an employee who told me that she wasn't aware of any charges or fees like that. So it sounds like the decision to add a service fee might have been made by one franchisee.

If Subway's corporate office puts out a statement, we'll update this article to include it.