I should’ve written this story like a month ago, but here we are. My friend, journalist Gloria Dawson of indie restaurant newsletter, In the Weeds, learned about a small update to the Tock reservations platform that caused big trouble for one restaurant in Ohio. She writes:
At Isla, a fine-dining restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, chef Andrew Smith spent early September fielding messages from diners asking whether he’d raised prices. He had not. But after an update to his reservation system, Tock, which Resy and American Express bought in June 2024, the figure many diners now saw on the platform included the 20% gratuity Isla adds to every bill. It was a small change that had a big impact, he said.
That change meant the listed price of a meal at Isla was significantly higher than regular diners were used to seeing — even though they’d actually paid the same amount in the past, post-gratuity. Reservations fell dramatically.
When Dawson asked Tock parent American Express about the change, a rep told her, “As price transparency requirements continue to evolve, Tock displays all-in pricing to provide greater clarity for guests. The total price may include the cost of the meal along with all mandatory fees charged by the restaurant, giving guests a clearer view of the total cost when making a reservation.”
In other words, a change to increase clarity for the end user by including end-of-meal fees made diners errantly believe that the restaurant had raised prices.
The drop in business was so pronounced that Smith decided to switch from all-in pricing to a $50 cancellation fee. Isla’s reservation numbers rebounded.
This very specific problem affects a subset of restaurants asking for prepayment at the time of booking, and there’s a (good) argument that a kind of all-in pricing, indicative of how much the diner should expect to pay based on the experiences they’re planning to receive.
That so-called “all-in pricing” came via regulation to the hotel and live events industries, where companies were prohibited by policy to hide required fees until the end of the transaction. Restaurants were a kind of broad exception to such regulations, which also targeted “junk fees,” a term the Biden administration used to garner support for protective legislation and regulation.
Restaurants are not subject to the same laws that now govern things like concert tickets or hotels, but it’s an admitted gray area — a prepaid dinner at a restaurant is an event, too.It’s also an example of the kind of “small” tech tweak that — even if made with good intentions prioritizing customer experience — can cause challenges for restaurants that rely on platforms for discovery, booking, and payments. As of today, Isla is still using Tock.
(Thanks to Gloria Dawson at In the Weeds for sharing her story and reporting with me! Subscribe to her newsletter for more stories about independent restaurants in America.)
ICYMI
Exclusive: Tock’s former leader moves to Provi
The executive who brought reservations service Tock to American Express has a new gig. In August, former Tock CEO Matt Tucker joined Provi, a 10-year-old digital platform for the beverage industry, as its CEO. Tucker succeeds founder Taylor Katzman, who will remain on the company’s board of directors as executive chairman.
I’m late to sharing this news, but my hometown paper, the San Francisco Chronicle, brought back stars to its reviews.
I truly have no opinion on the stars vs. no-stars cycle; I am not a critic and I generally don’t choose a restaurant based on reviews. But many, many people do, and I’m not sure they all recovered from the shock of major outlets dropping star ratings (mostly during the pandemic). Now, the SF Chronicle says, stars are back.