Going outfor a drinkor two is a nice way to unwind at the end of the week. In fact, a 2017report showsthat 51% of young people in the U.S. go out to drink at least once a week. But lately, it has become a luxury.

And that’s what the TikTok creator @blondeswhoeatfound out when she went out for margaritas with some gals. She claimed that the restaurant charged them $80 extra for prep to shake theirdrinks. Confused and appalled, the woman asked people online whether this was normal. And many replied: no, it is not.

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Having a drink with some friends is quite pleasant, that is, if it doesn’t break the bank

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Image credits:Doğu Tuncer (not the actual image)

One woman recently shared her experience about ‘prep charges’ on drinks and went viral

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Image credits:blondeswhoeat

Okay, I just needed to do this now because I just got home, and tomorrow, I feel like I just won’t care anymore.We went to dinner here tonight in Dallas, and I’m not gonna say the name of it cause the food was exceptional.

But we’ve got the bill… Normally, I don’t look at bills. I’m just like, “Yep, sounds good. Here’s my card.” I know that sounds ignorant, but whatever. We got the bill, and I, in my head, knew that we only got like $100 worth of food (which food was great). So how did we get to $530? Let me tell you.

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

I’m doing this because I just need justification or, like, [to know] if this is normal, if you’ve ever heard of this before?

So I’m going through it. Right. Okay, so Haley got three cause I only got one. There’s four on here. Lalo Blanco skinny spicy margaritas, right? $14 plus prep, $3. Okay. What?

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

When we get further, you’ll understand. But I was like, “What’s prep?” and he was like, “Oh, it’s the shaking of the Margarita.” I was like, “You charge $3 to shake the Margarita?”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

So our Lalo Blanco margaritas are $17. That’s fine, right? Just put $17, don’t put prep.

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

So then we go further down, and we get to the Fortaleza (sue me if that’s not how you say it). Fortaleza Blanco, $32. Okay, great. It’s fine. Some drinks are $32. The prep for that specific one was $13. $13 to shake the Margarita.

Then Topo Chico, $7. Okay, whatever. Alright, moving on.

Then another girl got a Casa Dragonis Blanco, three of them, $28. That’s fine. Right. Okay. Her prep was $15. Then she got a double, which was $22. $75 drink. What?

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Okay, so anyways, all this to say, what the F? This place charges to shake your Margarita.  And he was like, “They charge the shaking, or the ‘prep,’ per the tequila of your choice.”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

So if you got this far, thank you for being here. Yeah. $530, and $400 of that was alcohol. Pretty bad, right? So, yeah.

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Internet detectives quickly deduced which restaurant the creator was talking about

This video comes from sister duo Kristi and Morgan, or @blondeswhoeat. The women have been foodie influencers since 2015 and blew up around 2019 when they posted photos of themselves eating large slices of pizzas.

The video in question, posted onTikTokon September 5, caused quite a stir on social media. It went well beyond their usual audience: 400k followers on TikTok, 240,000 on Instagram, and 10k on Facebook.

However, Internet sleuths got to work fast. Many did the math and started speculating that the restaurant in question was Mar Y Sol Cocina Latina in Dallas. And therestaurantpossibly confirmed those suspicions when theyposteda snappy caption on their Instagram page on September 6. “No extra fees were charged in the shaking of this cocktail,” the text below a photo of a bartender shaking a drink read.

“We were looking forward todininghere but after the poor reviews we might just have to cancel our reservation this Saturday,” another user wrote. Since then, neither the restaurant nor the creator have commented any further.

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Image credits:Solen Feyissa (not the actual image)

Many different factors come into pricing cocktails, yet a ‘prep fee’ is one you’ll see rarely

Cases like these raise many questions about cocktail pricing. What even is a “prep fee?” Can restaurants and bars actually put an extra charge like that on the bill? And what are the general rules for pricing a cocktail?

The first factor of a cocktail price is, of course, the place you’re drinking it at. Even a martini will have a different price at one of the trendy bars in Manhattan than at your local restaurant. As Serious Eatswrites, acocktailis a combination of different ingredients, each with its own costs.

Jeffrey Morgenthaler, the bar manager at Clyde Common in Portland, Oregon,claimsthat the standard is between 18% and 24%. Other owners, however, choose to have all drinks at the same price, like at Betony in Midtown Manhattan.

Eamon Rockey, general manager of Betony, says he wants each drink to be an experience and for customers not to choose a drink based on the cost of its ingredients. “It’s less about parsing things down between ingredient to ingredient, milliliter to milliliter,” he explained to Serious Eats.

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Image credits:RDNE Stock project ​(not the actual image)

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Apparently, stuff like this happens to people quite a lot

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

Woman Confused After Getting A Higher Bill Than Expected As Restaurant Charges A “Prep Fee”

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