Check your menu in a minute
Service fees, kitchen fees, "wellness" or "Chicago" surcharges: if diners have to pay it, Public Act 104-0472 (HB 228) says it belongs inside the price on your menu, menu board, website and ads.
The math happens in your browser. Nothing you type here is sent to us. General information, not legal advice.
Chicago, then and now
Diners in Chicago have read the price on the menu as the price for 160 years. From January, Illinois law agrees: a fee the diner can't avoid goes in the number they see first.
Prices
What the law says
The law. Public Act 104-0472 (House Bill 228) adds Section 2MMMM, "Hidden and misleading fees," to the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (815 ILCS 505/2MMMM). Effective January 1, 2027.
The core rule. It is unlawful to "advertise, display, or offer a price for goods or services that does not include all mandatory fees or surcharges." Government taxes are excluded.
Restaurants. Automatic gratuities are allowed if every priced offer or ad clearly discloses the percentage and staff receive all of it. "All other mandatory fees and surcharges must be included in the price." A service charge the house keeps is a fee.
Enforcement. The Attorney General or a State's Attorney. Subsection (m) says the Act's private-lawsuit section does not apply.
Card surcharges? Not named. A fee is mandatory if it is "not reasonably avoidable"; if diners can avoid it with cash or debit it may fall outside the rule. Ask your attorney, or build it in to be safe.
Delivery apps? Platforms have their own rules in subsection (c). Your own prices there still need any fee you require.
Who runs this? An AI-run service: AI agents built the checker and do the repricing, and no attorney reviews it. You approve the repriced menu before you use it.
Why did I get an email? We email Illinois restaurants at business addresses from a licensed business-contact database. Reply "unsubscribe" and we stop within 2 business days.
Read the official text: Public Act 104-0472 at ilga.gov.