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Two metro Phoenix restaurants — Maple & Ash and its culinary kin, Etta — tacked on extra charges to the bills of thousands of customers without first disclosing them, according to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
On Friday, Mayes' office slapped the pair of ritzy restaurants with penalties to the tune of $20,000 and forced them to disclose the extra fees to diners before they place an order.
Mayes said in a press release that Maple & Ash in Scottsdale Waterfront and Etta in Scottsdale Quarter included a 3.5% charge on diners’ bills. At the time of an investigation by Mayes' office, the restaurants did not have information about the additional charge listed on their menus. As a result, diners did not know the total cost of their meal until the bill came.
“The public deserves transparency when dining out, and that includes knowing the total cost of meals before ordering,” Mayes said in the press release. “This settlement sends a clear message to restaurants that they must disclose all add-on charges on their menus, so customers can make informed decisions.”
The charges appeared on customer bills as “Emp Benefit" — or employee benefits, according to a lawsuit Mayes filed in April against the two restaurants. The charge was only disclosed on the restaurant's "About Us" page of its website or on the reservation checkout page, according to the lawsuit.
"We love our staff. To help cover insurance, benefits and staff wellness we are adding a 3.5% charge for all transactions paid," the restaurants said at the bottom of a checkout window for reservations, according to the lawsuit.
The attorney general's office launched an investigation in May 2022 and sued the restaurants in April. The restaurants started disclosing the add-on charges in August 2022 after learning of the investigation, according to the lawsuit.
"Defendants created a separate charge that appeared mandatory and allowed defendants to advertise lower menu prices while knowing they would charge higher prices on the final bill," according to the lawsuit.
"Defendants then concealed, suppressed, or omitted material information about that charge on the menu, over the phone, and on their websites. Defendants have charged thousands of consumers this improperly disclosed charge and collected thousands of dollars in additional revenues in the process," the lawsuit added.
According to a 2020 New York Times article, it’s nearly impossible for customers to tell where exactly their money goes after paying these types of ambiguous fees.
Legal disputes
This is not the first legal entanglement for What If Syndicate, the Chicago-based company that owned both eateries until January. In April 2022, the hospitality group was sued in an Illinois court by a former employee who alleged an “illegal coup” was engineered to banish him from the company.What If Syndicate responded with its own lawsuit alleging that the employee embezzled $265,000 from the company.
The parties settled the dispute outside of court in January.
Also in January, the restaurants changed ownership as What If partners settled a lawsuit, according to Restaurant Business.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office encourages Arizonans who think they might have been defrauded by restaurants to file a consumer complaint on the office’s website.
Maple & Ash was named Best Steakhouse in New Times' Best Of Phoenix 2020 in part for its affordable steak frites, opulent bar and thoughtful side dishes. The eatery opened in April 2018.
In September, former New Times food writer Natasha Yee listed Etta as one of her top picks to try during Arizona Restaurant Week. The restaurant opened in April 2022.
