A Mediterranean restaurant has been slammed over its 'outrageous' demand for service fees on top of tips.

Alara, in Washington, DC, describes itself as being a 'culinary escape highlighting cuisine from Turkey, Greece, and the Levant region.'

But it recently came under fierce fire from potential customers after its policy surrounding service fees surfaced on Reddit.

One disgruntled visitor took to the discussion forum to share an image of the menu – along with its controversial footnote.

It read: 'A 20 percent service charge will be added to all guest checks and will be used to cover our increasing operational costs.

The furious observer uploaded it alongside a caption that read: 'I saw this and walked right back out. No way I'm dining here.

'If you hadn't noticed this before ordering, would you say something?'

A Mediterranean restaurant has been slammed over its 'outrageous' demand for service fees on top of tips

And it sparked an avalanche of comments from equally infuriated readers.

'I really don't understand what the point of having a percent service charge that's "not a tip" instead of just embedding the cost in the price of the item.