A New Zealand restaurant has landed in hot water after a note on its menu stated customers with “hipster allergies” would cop a $5 surcharge.
A New Zealand restaurant has received backlash for claiming to charge an extra $5 for customers who have “hipster allergies”.
An Indian restaurant, Satya Chai Lounge in Auckland, has divided opinion after the note about the surcharge was spotted on its menu.
“Please let us know if you have any allergies or dietary needs, we will do our best to look after you, but we cannot guarantee traces of allergens will not be there,” the menu read.
“$5 surcharge for Hipster allergies. V = Can be made Vegan. GF = can be made Gluten Free.”
A picture of the menu was posted to Reddit, with the user stating they “approve of the $5 hipster allergies surcharge”.
But not everyone thought the surcharge was funny, with many people pointing out some customers could become very sick if their allergies are ignored.
“So someone with coeliac disease had to pay more because these ignorant tw*ts think it’s a
hipster allergy’?” one person asked.
“Twice in the last 3 months I’ve ended up floored for days by supposedly ‘gluten free’ restaurant meals,” another wrote.
“Ironically, they can charge you an extra $5, and chances are you’ll still end up spend the next 12 hours vomiting.”
There were a few commenters who defended the restaurant, with one claiming it was “fair enough” to charge extra for these types of changes.
One added: “I will just note, I don’t think anyone with legit allergies should be charged or made to feel stink, but after having seen some over the top hipster esque demands in hospo, I can see why they thought this was a funny way to pre-emptively nip it in the bud.”
The restaurant owner, Samrudh Akuthota, has since responded to the backlash, claiming the surcharge was just a “joke”.
He told the New Zealand Herald that the staff actually “bend over backwards” to cater to customers who have serious allergies.
“The frustrating thing is we have people say, ‘We’re coeliac, wheat will kill me’ but we offer them a gluten-free beer option and they say, ‘No, beer doesn’t count’. They take the p*ss,” Mr Akuthota said.
“The hipster allergy was really put on there as a joke. We’ve never charged that and we never will.
“It’s more a case of saying if you’re going to be hipster and trendy by being vegan or gluten-free please tell us how serious it is. If it is going to be life-threatening, we will do our best to look after you.”
He said people have become too politically correct and he wants customer to be able to come in and have a good time.