A waitress at Rosa Mexicano restaurant on the Upper East Side only gave a customer $1 in change on an $18.50 tab. When the patron asked for the 50 cents she was owed, the waitress told her: “We don’t do coins.”
“It’s stealing,” protested Diane Boardman who posted about the encounter on the NextDoor app on March 20, triggering an uproar that has yet to subside.
“Went to Rosa Mexicano on 2nd Ave today for lunch,” Boardman wrote. “My bill came to $18.50. I handed the waitress a $20.00 bill. When she came back with my change she handed me a dollar. I asked ‘Where’s my 50 cents?’ She replied . . . wait for it . . . ‘We don’t do coins.’ WTH?”
“I said, but I want my 50 cents,” Boardman stated. “She replied again ‘We don’t do coins.’ So I said then give me another dollar. She hesitated and then reluctantly fished a dollar bill out of her pocket with Major Attitude. What nerve! I wonder how much $ this place makes a year with the scam of ‘we don’t do coins.’ Unbelievable. It’s stealing. Never again.”
By March 28, as we were going to press, over 340 people had responded to the original post. Some humorously suggested going to the restaurant with some friends, ordering a big meal and then taking out sacks of coins to pay for the meal.
Others offered that as long as the restaurant posted its policies, it was not running afoul of any city regulations. “Actually I did some research on this. It seems it’s not illegal,” wrote Vincent Ricci, “but the establishment must be up front about it.” He added, “It’s becoming a common thing. Also there’s no law that they even have to accept cash. My opinion: it’s still my change and I want it.”
Leslie Costa from the Upper West Side responded, “I think that is precisely the point. Of course there are ways to work my way around this, but why is it on me to get my rightful change. Unfortunately, this will lead to unsavory solutions, like taking it from the person’s tip.”
And some wondered if the original customer left a tip. “In due respect if the bill came out to $18.50 and you gave the waitress $20. Yes your change would be $1.50 however you should tip her 15 or 20% which should round up to $3 or $4 dollars!,” posted Jermaine Montell, adding, “Come on people WE ALL MUST DO BETTER !”
“My theory on this is,” wrote David Gar from Hell’s Kitchen, “that if you go to any establishment and short them 25 cents, they WILL ask for it, so Diane you did the right thing.”
Elisa Mercado proposed a way to get back at the restaurant. “Check it . . . next Friday we . . . (me, you and some friends) charge up a $500 bill, just on appetizers . . . maybe by the end of it all . . . $2,300.00 . . . then we all pull out our sacks of change . . . hey get this, her tip is gonna be in cash . . . $2 bills . . . 5 of them.”
On its website, Rosa Mexicano says that its flagship location on the Upper East Side opened 40 years ago. It has since added other establishments on 9 E. 18th St. and in the Lincoln Center area at Columbus Avenue and West 62nd Street.
The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection website says establishments are prohibited from refusing to accept to cash, but does not say anything about refusing to give change in coins. Press queries were not returned by press time.
We attempted to reach out to Rosa Mexicano for comment. A person named “Brian” who answered the phone and identified himself as the manager, referred the call to his marketing person. She had not returned our call by press time.
There are ways to work my way around this, but why is it on me to get my rightful change? Leslie Costa on social media