Marker20 Sucks

http://findlocal.dailypress.com/downtown-hampton/restaurants/cuisine/second-mouse-inc-hampton-restaurant

We were out at the International Children's Festival this past Saturday (April 17, 2010) and happened upon Marker 20. Having never been there, we decided to give it a try. Our party consisted of 3 adults and 3 children (ages 4, 27months and 28months). Service wasn't great, food was barely edible. My fish (Fish and Chips) was leaking with oil, and my chips were burnt. The Dirty Rice Balls tasted like rice mixed with ketchup. The hushpuppies tasted like they were fried with onion rings. The Chicken Caesar Wrap was 80% lettuce and dressing. Everything we got that was fried, which includes the hush puppies, fish and chips, and chicken strips, all looked like they had been fried together and were all unappetizingly the same shade of dark amber brown. Service was slow, especially considering the patio was only half-full. We asked for our bill to be split, 2 adults and 1 child on one, and 1 adult and 2 children on the other. My bill came to $42.87. I only tipped $4.00 b/c as I've plainly stated, we had substandard service and food. So I filled in for a $4.00 tip, and signed for a total of $46.87. Imagine my surprise when I checked my bank account Monday morning and saw a charge of $51.44. The restaurant decided to auto-tip themselves 20%. Upon checking their website ( www.marker20.com ), I do see that "An 18% gratuity will be added to parties of 6 or more." BUT since when are children, who barely touched their inedible food and pretty much spent all their time coloring, considered part of the "party"? And by splitting the check, our "party" was only 3 anyway, including our 27month old toddler. And my biggest beef, which is over the smallest amount of money, is this mythical 18%. If you do the math, and I did, $42.87 + 18% = $50.59. Marker20 charged us 20%. While that may not seem like a lot of money (it's only 18¢), if they are doing this every time, then they are skimming a lot of money for people who may not be double checking their bank accounts. This is fraud. Do NOT go to Marker20.