Because technically they advertise the price of the food, not the price of gratitude.
Edit: you guys are downvoting me for telling you what the restaurant would say. I’m not here defending them. I’m here telling you that they will argue gratuity wasn’t advertised. They will even use logic against you, stating that you can’t advertise gratuity because the menu is itemized while gratuity is based on the total bill. Sure, there are ways around that… I’m not saying there aren’t. I’m telling you why I think it’s not illegal.
Because technically they advertise the price of the food, not the price of gratitude.
Edit: you guys are downvoting me for telling you what the restaurant would say. I’m not here defending them. I’m here telling you that they will argue gratuity wasn’t advertised. They will even use logic against you, stating that you can’t advertise gratuity because the menu is itemized while gratuity is based on the total bill. Sure, there are ways around that… I’m not saying there aren’t. I’m telling you why I think it’s not illegal.
But they only want to buy the food, not the gratitude.
From the perspective of the rest of the world, the US is really weird about prices.