More Upscale NYC Restaurants Reportedly Tacking on Credit Card Fees to Bills

Restaurants charging credit card fees is not new — less expensive spots like coffee shops sometimes pass that cost to customers to offset the hefty processing fees on a bill that can total less than $5 — but it appears to be getting more ubiquitous at upscale spots in the city. The New York Post reports that pricier restaurants like Lower East Side tapas spot Poco and Peruvian place Mission Ceviche on the Upper East Side have started to add credit card fees to diners’ bills, pushing some customers to rethink paying with plastic. At Poco, a customer recently ran out to grab “ a couple hundred dollars” to pay for her meal rather than stomach the 3 percent credit card fee, according to the Post. Meanwhile, at Lamia’s Fish Market in the East Village, owner Lamia Funti offers a 10 percent discount to customers who pay in cash.

Cipriani’s sprawling Upper West Side food market is close to opening

Harry’s Table, the 28,000-square-foot Italian market helmed by the glitzy Cipriani restaurant group, is set to start opening shortly, according to W42st.com. Workers tell the neighborhood news site that the fancy on-site restaurant Bellini will be the first component to open at the end of this week, followed by the rest of the market in early May. The buzzy market was first slated to open in mid-2019.

A joint Starbucks and Amazon store moves into the New York Times building

According to Commercial Observer, Amazon plans to open the city’s second cashier-less Starbucks Pickup-slash-Amazon Go store on the ground floor of the New York Times building, at 620 Eighth Avenue, between West 40th and 41st streets. The store uses “scales, cameras, and sensors” to charge customers for their coffees and other items, the publication reports.

A private dinner with Le Bernardin chef Eric Ripert and artist John Legend went for $1.2 million at a City Harvest fundraiser

Hopefully, Ripert’s not making his take on Vietnamese pho.