It may come as a surprise to our US cousins, but in the rest of the civilised word, when an item is priced on the menu, that is how much you are expected to pay. I find it incredulous that for ANY purchase in the US, the final price has no resemblance to what the price list suggests it is. Supermarkets, restaurants, bars, hotels - all the same. Say one thing - charge another. I know the reasons why. I just think it is stupid to say a drink is $5 when you have to hand over $6 for the drink. Just tell me it's $6.
I mean, why not? Just tell me how much it is going to cost me - including any tax and allowances for paying the staff a living wage. Then I can make an informed decision? It's not like I get better service in the US. If I had US levels of service in the UK, I would not recognise it with a tip. And service in most of Europe outside of Paris is far superior to the service I get in the US so the argument of people working for their tip does not hold.