Bread baskets were once an automatic addition to restaurant tables around the country. However, because they generally cost upwards of $2,500 each month and some diners never even touch them, many restaurant owners are choosing to implement cost-saving measures.

Some restaurants, such as The Vestry in San Francisco, have simply done away with bread baskets all together. Others, such as Oenotri in downtown Napa, offer them to patrons by request only, using fine print on the bottom of the menu.

Baker & Banker and Fog City, both in San Francisco, take yet a different approach; they each charge a small fee ($5 and $3 respectively) for their bread baskets, making what was once a free food item an actual menu addition.