America’s best restaurant winner stokes outrage with automatic 20% charge because of country’s racist past

America’s top-rated restaurant in California was flooded with one-star reviews over its woke message at the bottom of its receipts — calling for an automatic 20% service fee to combat what it called the country’s racist “ugly past” of tipping.

A now-deleted Reddit post went viral for pointing out the message that’s tacked onto the bottom of receipts at Burdell, a Michelin Guide soul food restaurant in Oakland, SF Gate reported.

“Tipping in the US has an ugly past, allowing the continuation of underpaid labor,” it says. “We don’t like that history. Included on your check is a 20% Service Charge which we use to pay hourly staff a consistent and livable wage, not dependent on archaic tipping customs or chance. No need to add anything else. Thank you!”

The restaurant, who was named best US restaurant by Food & Wine magazine in 2025, was hit with a slew of bad Yelp reviews and nasty emails, some accusing it of having horrible food and others saying it failed to disclose the automatic service charge.

But owner and chef Geoff Davis shrugged off the hate.

“Most of the people who left reviews are from outside our region and community,” he said.

“They’re using this as a crusade against Oakland, DEI, and the moment that we’re in. People are upset about a lot of things in America right now.”

Davis addressed the backlash on Instagram and said they disclose the service fee in advance. He added that many Bay Area restaurants have their own service fees, some higher than his, which made it feel more like a personal attack.

This isn’t the first time the restaurant — which was named America’s best last year by “Food & Wine” magazine — has been attacked. After receiving several accolades, critics said the recognition was only due to “affirmative action or because they’re black-owned.”

“It is what it is, and as Americans, we have to understand that racism is part of our core identity as a country. All we can do is do the best work that we can,” Davis said.

Yelp has since started monitoring Burdell’s business page.