Talk:Cover charge

Does a cover charge sometimes also cover the cost of things at the business too? I wonder.

That's possible. I added the "two-drink minimum" as a form of an implicit cover charge. What else did you have in mind? SkerHawx 12:01, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

In the restaurants section, it suggests that 'minimum charge' is an alternative term. This would imply the cover charge isn't charged if the bill exceeds that amount, which is at odds with the description elsewhere in the text. Which way does it work? Might be an idea for someone who knows to adapt that section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.173.248.125 (talk) 08:02, 21 August 2010 (UTC)


 * 'Minimum charge' is not an alternative term for cover charge, it's a different concept. Pol098 (talk) 15:31, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

US usage
As far as I know the use of "cover charge" as an entry charge where entertainment is provided is a regional US practice, not international; in most countries a cover charge is paid in a restaurant in addition to what's eaten and drunk (in non-English-speaking countries exactly equivalent terms are used, couvert, coperto, cubierto), and this is coming into US usage too[e.g., www.ehow.com/list_6893760_revolving-restaurants-new-york.html]. This is about the term "cover charge", not what is done; an entry charge is often levied where there is entertainment, but it is not called a cover charge. The article has references confirming that "cover charge" applies to restaurants.

Investigating a bit further, I find that "cover charge" is used in many different ways: Less usual: -*a charge to people who book but don't show (example in article).
 * the main international use of charge in a restaurant in addition to food and drink
 * the main US use of entry fee if entertainment is provided
 * a flat charge for unlimited food (US-only, I think; different words are used elsewhere)
 * a minimum charge for a meal (the logic: charge "per cover", i.e.,per diner, not less than xxx)

Pol098 (talk) 16:46, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

Beneficiaries?
Uh, maybe I missed it somewhere, but it was not clear to me as a reader as to who are the beneficiaries of the cover charge. For example, in the US does all of the money go to the hosting establishment and they pay a contracted (fixed) fee to the performers, keeping any overage (writing off any deficit)? Or, is the performers earnings determined by the cover charge, with them paying a fixed fee to the hosting venue to cover the establishment's costs? Or, is the division of the funds determined on a percentage basis (i.e., the venue gets 25% and the performers 75%, for example)? Obviously the arrangement will vary, but I am interested in knowing what are the most common arrangements, or what is customary in the US, for example. This seems a very interesting, but missing, part of the article. Jdevola (talk) 19:49, 10 June 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on Cover charge. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.mass.gov/legis/laws/mgl/140-183d.htm
 * Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051215/news_1w15night1.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120324152532/http://www.lcbapps.lcb.state.pa.us/webapp/legal/PublicAdvOpnDisplay.asp?opinion_year=2009&opinion_sequence=261 to http://www.lcbapps.lcb.state.pa.us/webapp/legal/PublicAdvOpnDisplay.asp?opinion_year=2009&opinion_sequence=261

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 22:30, 13 August 2017 (UTC)