A simple sandwich order turned into a debate over restaurant pricing, customisation and what diners should expect in the US. Influencer Vagmita Singh said she was charged 75 cents, around Rs 72, to remove cheese from a sandwich at a cafe in San Francisco.
In an Instagram video, Singh said she had asked the waitress to leave the cheese out. According to her, the staff agreed but told her the change would cost extra. “Why are you charging me for something I’m not even having?” she questioned.
She said the explanation given to her was that the cafe had fixed recipes and that the chef had to put in extra effort to make the sandwich without cheese.
Singh then sarcastically questioned whether restaurants would also charge customers for not drinking Coke, using the bathroom or paying by cash.
US-Based Creator Responds
Content creator Pranay Chaturvedi, who has lived in the US for 14 years, responded to the video with his own take. He first clarified that people in the US generally use the term “server” rather than “waiter” or “waitress”.
He then argued that some non-fast-food sandwich shops work with fixed recipes, and changing those recipes can involve additional effort. “But also this is not the norm,” Chaturvedi said, stressing that it is “very place dependent.”
He gave the example of smaller sandwich shops, where he said customers may not be charged for such changes, while suggesting that diners should not assume every American restaurant operates according to the same expectations as Indian establishments.
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His larger point was that people moving to the US should adapt to local practices rather than approach every situation with what he called an “Indian logic” or “desi jugaad mentality.”
In his caption, he wrote that using Indian logic in the US can often lead to frustration and advised newcomers to adapt to how things are done there. Chaturvedi later added that he was speaking from his own experience of having lived in both India and the US.
The Comments Did Not Completely Agree
Some users sided with Vagmita Singh and questioned the logic behind charging for an ingredient that was being removed. One person wrote, “But I lowkey agree with her. Charging for removing cheese is wild.”
Another commenter said they regularly ask restaurants in both the US and Canada to leave out ingredients such as onions or tomatoes and had never faced a problem. They added that if a restaurant does charge for a special request, customers simply have to decide whether they want to pay.
Others strongly disagreed with Chaturvedi’s suggestion that the charge could be explained by restaurant practices. “I live in the U.S., and I’ve travelled pretty well and eaten at quite a few sandwich shops,” one person wrote.
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Another commenter claimed to have eaten at several sandwich shops and restaurants in San Francisco without ever being charged for leaving out a basic ingredient.
One commenter took the argument beyond India and the US, writing that restaurants in Europe also accommodate small food changes without charging customers in many cases. “It’s called hospitality for a reason,” they said.
The comments showed that many diners saw the charge as unusual, regardless of whether it was technically a restaurant’s policy.
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