So this afternoon I had a burger craving and went to this pub in my neighborhood, which serves pretty good burgers. I've been going there off and on for over a decade. Nothing fancy, but decent.

I order, and the waiter asks me if I want tomato, lettuce, or mayo on the side. I say just lettuce but nothing else. Anyway, I get my burger, eat, and ask for the check.

On the check, I see I'm being charged an extra 50 cents for lettuce. For fricking LETTUCE. They have never charged me extra for lettuce at this place. They have never charged me extra for lettuce ANYWHERE in the known UNIVERSE.

I pointed this out to the guy and asked, "You're charging extra for lettuce now. Really?" He responded in a kind of desultory tone that they've always done that (not in my experience, and I've been going to the place since before he hit puberty) but he would remove the charge, which he did.

Is this a thing now?

haha i hope not, ive never seen a charge for lettuce, in fact ive never seen a charge for lettuce or tomato. Cheese? sure but not lettuce or tomato.

Never been charged for lettuce. But lots of (non North American) places will put a basket of bread or a dish of peanuts on the table, then if you eat it they'll charge you. Ticks me off when they do this but I ate it so it's not like I can give it back ...

But lettuce has always been free.

It's not new, lots of places have been charging for lettuce or tomato, though it should be listed on the menu as an extra charge. With the intense cold snap coming, it's going to be much harder to drive lettuce across the country, so people on the East Coast should be prepared for a price increase or an additional charge for it.

Of course many places over the year that have charged extra or raised their prices when the price of lettuce rose always forgot to bring them back down when the price came down, but that's another story.

Vegetables are getting more expensive now.

that's a new one...taxing people on soda and limited calories...but yet charging for lettuce? Maybe it's an unheard/unwritten burger tax

"Restaurant" (old person cafeteria-style place) here in St. Louis charged $.05 for a pat of butter to go with your roll....my son went up and asked for some butter from the line, they gave him 1 pat and put it on the bill.

My kids never let me forget that every time we drive by the place. We haven't been back.

here in dc, a common charge is $3 or $4 for all the filtered water you wish to drink at dinner. "we filter it here in the restaurant!!""

how about a refund when you say no pickles or something

Weather situations that damage crops can cause this sort of thing. When I worked at Wendy's in college, we had a bad season for tomatoes and had to charge extra for them for about a year.

I have not seen a charge specifically for lettuce, but I have seen a charge for making a burger/sandwich "deluxe", which usually adds lettuce, tomato, etc.

Flying back from SFO right now. At Peet's at the airport, bought two large bottles of water and two coffees -- clearly more than can be carried by hand. Was charged $.15 for a small paper bag. This is actually a city-wide policy in SF now, though SFO is outside of the city.

Went to a Whole Foods in SF yesterday, bought a tea and bottle of vitamins, totaling around $12. Asked for a cup of water to take the vitamins, was told it would be $.10. Asked them to fill my tea cup with cold water, give it to me, and then fill it with tea. Idiocy.

I understand the need to keep freeloaders away, but you'd think a customer already committed to overpaying for some items would be afforded the luxury of a free paper cup.

If airlines now charge for seat assignment and luggage, why can't a restaurant charge for extra condiments? Welcome to the new reality.

There's a restaurant in Chicao that has burger night, where you get your burger for something like a buck. Printed in the small type is information that condiments are an extra $.50 each, meaning that you can quickly equal or surpass the burger's normal price.

dc charges a dime or so for each bag. has reduced the plastic bags in the anacostia river by 90%.