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I ate at a restaurant in Berkeley a few weeks ago that doesn't accept tips, but instead automatically adds a 20% gratuity to your bill. This is a good first step, but I wish they would go one further and increase the price of menu items by 20%, rather than separating the prices.

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Sous Beurre Kitchen in the Mission does just this:

http://sf.eater.com/2015/2/6/7974123/sous-beurre-kitchen-san...

I like seeing the service included in the bill, it makes it explicit that it's a separate thing from the dinner and something that I'm paying for.

So how about separate charges for cleaning and accounting?

The restaurant pays for a lot of other things too that are not directly part of the dinner. I don't understand why service should be considered special.

Because the service is a direct and prominent factor in your experience of the meal.

So are the ingredients, the recipe, and the individual elements of the cooking. I also personally rate restaurants on the comfort and style of the furnishing, the "ambience", the location, and events, if any (a Lebanese restaurant I like occasionally has a belly dancer).

None of these are separately itemized on my bill, nor would I expect them to be.

How is the server's wage different from the rest of the cost of the meal (profit, chef's wage, rent, electricity, carpet cleaning, etc.)?

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