Cover charge

A cover charge is an entrance fee sometimes charged at bars, nightclubs, or restaurants. The American Heritage Dictionary defines it as a "fixed amount added to the bill at a nightclub or restaurant for entertainment or service." In restaurants, cover charges (or "couvert" charges) generally do not include the cost of food that is specifically ordered, but in some establishments, they do include the cost of bread, butter, olives and other accompaniments which are provided as a matter of course.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a "cover charge" as "a charge for service added to the basic charge in a restaurant". Such a charge is made in many countries, usually described by the word equivalent to "cover" (couvert,coperto,cubierto, etc.). A place-setting at a restaurant, in English and in other languages, is often referred to as "a cover" or equivalent term in other languages. A term sometimes used in the US is "table charge". The charge is typically a few US dollars or equivalent. Although the charge is often said to be for bread, butter, olives, etc. taken to the table, it is payable whether or not they are eaten.

Restaurants in English-speaking countries sometimes have a menu in French; in these and other restaurants the cover charge is sometimes described with the French word "couvert". This term and the related charge, originating in France, has been used with this meaning in English since at least 1899. The French word both means table setting and is the past participle of couvrir, "to cover";couvert or "cover" in the sense of place-setting derived from the French past participle according to the OED: "Cover (7): After French couvert, (1) ‘the covering or furniture of a Table for the meale of a prince’ (Cotgrave), the cloth, plates, knives, forks, etc. with which a table is covered or laid; (2) the portion of these appropriated to each guest".

The couvert or cover charge has been levied for many years, certainly in English-speaking countries by 1899. The concept, and term, was later used in the US in the 1920s by illegal bars called speakeasies, during the Prohibition-era ban on alcohol. Manhattan saloonkeeper Tex Guinan, was an early example of a bar requiring a cover charge from patrons. In the US the cover charge later became an entry charge where both entertainment and food and drink are provided, and carries the expectation of entertainment.

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