Metro

Restaurant imposes ‘ethnic’ tips: suit

This Indian dinner allegedly came with an extra-large helping of discrimin-ation and a side of assault.

Two patrons filed suit against the Baluchi’s restaurant chain yesterday over claims that their bill was illegally padded with an “automatic” 18 percent gratuity reserved for South Asian customers.

Abe Shah and Hema Virani also charge that they were physically attacked by a worker after leaving Baluchi’s eatery in Forest Hills, Queens, without paying the alleged ethnic surcharge.

The Brooklyn federal court suit seeks unspecified damages over what the duo’s lawyer, Denise Shulman, called the “shameful and appalling” incident.

According to court papers, Shah, who is of Pakistani descent, and Virani, who is Indian, were slapped with the mandatory gratuity when they got their check on May 12.

Shah demanded to speak with the manager, who admitted that the restaurant added the charge for “Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi customers because ‘they never tip,’ ” the suit says.

A woman who answered the restaurant’s phone last night said no one was available to comment.