A restaurant in Georgia is getting backlash and unwanted publicity after being called out for a fee imposed on customer bills.
The Atlanta eatery was flagged by a customer who shared a photo of a bill from a recent trip to JenChan’s Pizza and Chinese in Cabbagetown. The photo, posted on Reddit last month but then deleted, showed an extra $2.02 charge that purportedly was a 4% fee for employee health insurance.
Though the post was eventually deleted from Reddit, it did garner over 2,000 comments and nearly 9,000 reactions, according to Fox Business.
Fox Business reported:
Criticism trickled in from others, with one Facebook user even commenting on a photo of JenChan’s owners — showing the married couple Jen and Emily Chan, plus their child — with these ominous words: “I’ve never seen a family that needs to be beaten up more, make that health care come in handy.”
The owners responded in a statement posted on Facebook on Dec. 29, 2023, writing that “everything seemed fine” when they served the customer in question at the restaurant.
“We post it on the menu itself and the receipt to avoid this,” the restaurant contended, noting that the charge is optional for customers. “It has been on the menu for about a year now; we were inspired by another couple of restaurants here that do the same.”
The restaurant’s menu and bills state: “On your receipt you will notice 4% health insurance we implemented after our premiums more than tripled last year. Thank you for being a part of our efforts to ensure our staff can seek care for whatever mental or physical ailments they may face. We have appreciated all the positive feedback from you, thank you! Please know that we will be more than happy to remove this for you without hesitation.”
Emily Chan told Fox 5 Atlanta that the owners have not wanted to roll the costs onto the price of food.
“We don’t want to do that,” she said. “We want to raise awareness. We want people to see that there’s a crisis.”
The eatery had posted that “this is a hostile climate for small business owners with rising food costs, taxes, inflation, you name it.”
“We are just trying to keep our doors open and our employees’ health insurance covered, and we are doing it as transparently and honestly as we can. Because we do care,” the post read, according to Fox Business.
“If we didn’t do something, we would have [had] to cancel the insurance or close our doors,” the owners said in a statement. “So, we do it because we are driven by passion and sentimentality and a desire to bring folks together around a table … It is in our bones. Hospitality is why we wake up in the morning.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
- Joe Kent’s claim that Charlie Kirk’s last words to him were about Iran is met with anger - March 19, 2026
- Top ‘CBS Evening News’ producer may be on chopping block as ratings plummet to new low - March 19, 2026
- State Department to require bonds of up to $15,000 for visa applications from a dozen more countries - March 19, 2026
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.