Going out to eat is something many people enjoy, whether it’s a date night, a celebration with friends (be sure to get a free meal on your birthday) or a nice alternative to cooking dinner for your family once in awhile (as long as the restaurant allows children). There are so many great restaurants out there, but with rising health insurance costs and rising food costs, many restaurants have had to get creative about how to cover their expenses.

While some restaurants choose to charge more for the food on their menu, other restaurants break it down on the receipt so customers can really understand what they’re paying for.

One such example is what the Bartmann Group in Minneapolis is doing at all nine of its restaurants. Owner Kim Bartmann explains that she added a “health and wellness” charge to the receipt to help pay for her employees’ health insurance. At first, customers were upset about it and thought she should’ve just increased the prices on her menu, but it’s important to Bartmann that her customers know that the company cares about the health and wellness of its employees.

Bartmann got the idea for the “health and wellness” line item on the receipt when she saw restaurants in other markets adding this cost. It’s a small 3% charge that really does help pay about 70% of the health care cost for her employees.

Bartmann says, “I have been subsidizing health insurance since 1993, covering 100 percent of their health insurance, but due to rising costs I’m now covering 70 percent thanks in part to this charge.” She adds, “A lot of small businesses don’t think they can afford it, and I know not every industry can get away with a 3 percent charge like this, but for us, this little 3 percent really does cover most of it.”

Also in Minneapolis, the Travail Collective, which owns 2 restaurants, is adding a “health and wellness” charge to their receipts too. Co-owner Mike Brown says, “We feel that making sure our people are taken care of is the most important thing in our company.”

For more details about why Bartmann and Brown added the “health and wellness” charge to their receipts, check out the video below.

Next time you go to a restaurant, check your receipt and see if you see a “health and wellness” charge.

Do you think it’s a good idea for restaurants to add a “health and wellness” charge to their receipts? Have you noticed this line item on receipts at restaurants you’ve been to?