The Breakfast Club Seaside Charge: 20% Gratuity and CA Rules

A charge on your statement from The Breakfast Club in Seaside almost always traces back to a meal at “Breakfast Club – On the Monterey Bay,” a breakfast and lunch restaurant at 1130 Fremont Blvd that is open daily from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM and also takes orders through the Toast Tab online platform.¹ If the amount is higher than you expected, the most common reason is the restaurant’s automatic gratuity policy: a 20% gratuity is added to the bill for parties of six or more.²

The 20% Automatic Gratuity for Larger Parties

The menu states that a “20% Gratuity will be added to parties of 6 or more.”² If you dined with a group that size, the restaurant tacked a mandatory 20% onto your food and drink total. The line is printed on the menu, but many diners don’t notice it until they see the receipt or the posted charge.

One thing worth knowing before you leave a tip on top: under California law, a mandatory charge like this is not treated as a gratuity. It’s classified as a service charge, which means it counts as wages rather than a tip, and the restaurant is not required to pass the full amount to your server.³ Diners who want the server to receive the money directly usually leave a separate voluntary tip.

Add-Ons and Substitutions That Push the Total Up

If the charge is only a few dollars off from what you expected and you weren’t in a large group, menu customizations are the likely explanation. Substituting fresh fruit for potatoes costs $2.95. Onion rings add $1.50, and garlic fries add $1.00. Avocado runs $2.95 to $3.50 depending on the dish, extra meat in an omelet is $2.50, and cheese on a burger is $2.25.² Menu prices run from about $3.95 for beverages up to $19.50 for certain steak and burger dishes.

How to Check or Dispute the Charge

Start with the restaurant. You can reach The Breakfast Club at (831) 394-3238 or BClubSystem@gmail.com and ask for an itemized copy of your receipt.¹ An itemized receipt shows the food total, any automatic gratuity as a separate line, and applicable taxes, which is usually enough to explain the number on your statement.

If the amount is unauthorized, or if the restaurant won’t resolve it, file a dispute with your credit card issuer or bank. They will investigate the transaction with the merchant directly.

If your concern is that a mandatory fee wasn’t clearly disclosed before you ordered, California gives consumers a few options. The California Attorney General’s office accepts complaints through an online form where you can upload a receipt or a photo of the menu.⁴ Because Seaside is in Monterey County, you can also contact the Monterey County District Attorney’s consumer complaint line at (831) 755-5070.⁵

California’s Disclosure Rules on Automatic Gratuities

California’s “Honest Pricing Law” (SB 478) took effect on July 1, 2024, and generally bars businesses from advertising prices that exclude mandatory charges.⁶ A follow-up law, SB 1524, lets restaurants keep charging mandatory service fees and automatic gratuities separately, but only if those fees are “clearly and conspicuously displayed” on any menu or advertisement listing food prices, with an explanation of the fee’s purpose. As of July 1, 2025, the notice must also appear in larger type, contrasting font or color, or be set off by symbols that draw the reader’s attention.⁷

Violations fall under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act. A consumer must give the business 30 days’ written notice to fix the problem before suing, and successful plaintiffs can recover mandatory penalties of $1,000 per violation plus attorneys’ fees.⁸⁹

1
Breakfast Club. Breakfast Club – On the Monterey Bay
2
Breakfast Club. Menu 2024
3
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. California Service Charge Tips Law
4
California Office of the Attorney General. Consumer Complaint Against a Business or Company
5
County of Monterey. District Attorney Consumer Services
6
California Office of the Attorney General. Hidden Fees
7
California Restaurant Association. SB 1524
8
Greenberg Glusker. California’s Drip Pricing Law and Restaurant Exemption
9
Fenton Keller. SB 478 The End of Service Charges and Other Hidden Fees