What is kuver?
Kuver is the Turkish word for the bread, butter, olives or small bites brought to the table before ordering, and for the place setting itself. It comes from the French *couvert*, meaning a place setting at a table.
The word is used in two ways in Türkiye:
- In service training: "kuver açmak" means laying a single place setting of plate, cutlery, glass and napkin.
- On the bill: for years it meant a per-person "kuver" charge. That charge can no longer be applied.
Is the cover charge banned in Türkiye?
Yes. An amendment to the Price Label Regulation was published in the Official Gazette no. 33153 on 30 January 2026. According to the Ministry of Trade announcement, restaurants, eateries, cafés, patisseries and similar food and beverage businesses:
- May not charge guests mandatory service, table or cover fees.
- May not show these fees on menus or price lists.
- May not charge for complimentary items served before ordering unless the guest ordered them.
Voluntary payments such as tips remain allowed. Under the previous rule these fees could be charged if they were clearly shown on the menu. The ministry has also said it will not allow the removed fee to be quietly recovered through menu prices.
| Item | Before 30 January 2026 | After 30 January 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Cover charge (kuver) | Allowed if shown on the menu | Not allowed |
| Service charge | Allowed if shown on the menu | Not allowed |
| Table charge | Allowed if shown on the menu | Not allowed |
| Complimentary item not ordered | Practice varied | Cannot be charged |
| Tip | Voluntary | Voluntary |
Kuver, service charge and tip
- Kuver: a per-person charge for the setting and complimentary bites. No longer allowed as a mandatory fee.
- Service charge: usually a percentage added to the bill. No longer allowed as a mandatory fee.
- Tip: a payment the guest chooses to leave. Allowed, and cannot be made compulsory.
- An item ordered from the menu: if bread or meze is listed with a price and the guest ordered it, it is charged. What matters is whether it was ordered.
What should a restaurant owner do?
Removing the cover charge removes more than a line on the bill: the cost of complimentary items no longer has any income against it. Suggested steps:
- 1Clean up the POS: remove automatically added cover and service lines.
- 2Update menu copy: no wording about these fees should remain on menus or price lists.
- 3Decide what happens to the complimentary course: if it stays free, count it in your food cost; if it is sold, list it as a product and serve it only when ordered.
- 4Recalculate the price architecture: rather than spreading the lost income evenly across dishes, read the menu by profitability. The free menu engineering calculator helps here. Avoid presenting price changes as the cover charge under a new name.
- 5Train the team: servers need one correct answer when a guest asks about the complimentary course.
We support operators through this transition as part of kitchen consulting, where menu, cost and team are handled together.
If you see kuver on your bill
Ask the business to remove the line. If that fails, the Ministry of Trade's Alo 175 consumer line is the first point of contact in Türkiye; check the ministry's site for current channels. This article is general information, not legal advice.
For related terms, see what à la carte means, what a tasting menu is, types of restaurants and the culinary terms glossary.
