Free Republic

(Epic Economist)—Over the past four years, many of us have had the unpleasant surprise of learning that our go-to restaurant, coffee shop, or fast food joint was closing doors for good. Thousands of well-established companies have gone out of business since the pandemic accelerated the descent of the U.S. economy, and conditions have been particularly tough in the restaurant industry. Even during the best of times, managing a restaurant comes with plenty of uncertainty. Though a brand can be incredibly popular amongst consumers, there’s a variety of factors that can result in mass closings, and in some cases, bankruptcy. We...

In California, a Foster’s Freeze location closed and laid off its workers due to a new $20 per hour minimum wage that took effect April 1st. The wage increase was mandated by Governor Gavin Newsom under a law raising the fast food minimum wage by 25% to $20 an hour. The assistant manager said the owner could no longer afford the higher salaries. Some employees initially thought it was an April Fool’s joke. Prior reports indicated many California restaurants had already begun layoffs anticipating the wage hike. While economists debate the impacts of minimum wage increases, the restaurant industry is...

California-based fast food restaurants have hiked the price of menu items by as much as 8% in response to the $20-an-hour minimum wage law that went into effect April 1. .... A typical Chicken Burrito from a California Chipotle will now cost $10.25, while the average price of a Steak Burrito will set you back $12. ... Wendy’s also instituted substantial price hikes on staple menu items

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing backlash after a restaurant he partially owns posted a job listing for $16 an hour when a new state law is forcing fast food eateries to pay their employees $20 an hour. PlumpJack Cafe in Olympic Valley – which is among a group of eateries owned by a company Newsom founded in 1992 – is hiring a part-time busser who “will aim to assist the food server … to ensure guest satisfaction during all aspects of the dining experience,” according to a ZipRecruiter posting. The job listing states the salary for the busser is...

Not too long ago, Gavin Newsom got caught with his hand in the cookie jar of political cronyism. In response to a draconian law passed raising fast-food worker wages to $20 an hour, known as A.B. 1228, Newsom carved out a little exemption for his friends at Panera Bread on the laughable grounds that these establishments bake bread on the premises. In reality, the owner of several Panera establishments was a high school buddy who was a really good donor to his campaigns. Once caught, Newsom backed off, but right when he thought no one was looking, he went right...

The search is on in Keego Harbor for a couple who left a restaurant without paying then hit their waitress with their car as they fled. It happened during the dinner rush Friday night outside of El Camino restaurant on Orchard Lake Road. The suspects drove off in in a 2005-2009 dark colored Mercedes C Class. “I'm just extremely sore," said Keirah Stack, the waitress and victim. "I have an infection in my knee now, basically learning to walk all over again.” With visible bruises and cuts on her ankles and knees, Stack says it’s a miracle she has no...

The Government responded quickly this week to news of a wave of restaurant closures in the post-Christmas vacuum that haunts all businesses in the hospitality sector once New Year’s has come and gone. This year’s dry January appears to be particularly arid. It is not an unusual time for food and drink-led businesses to close their doors, but the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) claims that the number of its members which have shut down since Christmas has pushed the total number of closures over the last six months to more than 280. These closures are across the country, with...

One of California’s most recognizable roadside restaurants has closed without so much as a goodbye to longtime fans and travelers. Pea Soup Andersen’s, the staple Central Coast destination in Buellton, California — just off Highway 101 en route to the Danish holiday town Solvang — has gone dark, and rumors are swirling that the property itself may be redeveloped for housing. The property was previously listed for sale for just under $5 million in 2021, but no buyer was publicly announced. The restaurant has a robust history on the Central Coast, claiming at its height to serve 2 million cups...

Inflation, a driving force behind many of the challenges businesses face today, has caused one restaurant owner to charge nearly $16 for a BLT sandwich due to rising costs. Will Restaurants Investment Group founder and CEO Brian Will broke down his monthly expenses during an appearance on “Varney & Co.” after a friend confronted him about the price of his $16 BLT sandwich. The wholesale cost for the popular sandwich is only $5 according to Will, but the need to cover operational expenses is what caused the meal that was once $12.99 three years ago, to become $15.99 today. Will...

The future of Boston Market is in jeopardy after owner Jignesh Pandya filed for personal bankruptcy on Dec. 8 with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Court. The chain, which has over $329,000 in unpaid sales and payroll taxes, also had its headquarters seized by the Colorado Department of Revenue. Engage Brands, one of the Rohan Group of companies, owned by Pandya of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, purchased Boston Market from affiliates of Sun Capital Partners in 2020, the same year it also acquired Corner Bakery from affiliates of Roark Capital Partners. The Dallas-based bakery, however, filed for Chapter 11 earlier...

Not every deal is a good deal.Yes, you can, in fact, have too much of a good thing. And it appears Red Lobster is learning that the hard way. In an earnings report call in early November, Ludovic Regis Henri Garnier, the CFO of Thai Union Group, which owns Red Lobster, announced that its Ultimate Endless Shrimp deal, which is normally a limited-time offer but was added to the daily menu in June, was exceedingly popular — so popular that it caused the restaurant chain to post an operating loss of more than $11 million in the third quarter of...

This is the shocking moment a pro-Palestine activist let dozens of mice douse in red, green, white and black paint, were let loose in a McDonald's restaurant in Birmingham, terrifying customers. Footage shared on social media showed a man holding to fake number plates that read 'PAIISTN' and 'Free Palestine' as he arrived in his car at the chain's Star City restaurant yesterday. The man, wearing a Palestinian flag around his head, then opens the boot of his car and grabs the huge box of rodents, before walking into the fast food restaurant and flinging the Palestinian-flag coloured mice on...

O’Charley’s is not alone, judging by the spate of chain restaurant closures this year. Boston Market has closed at least two-dozen stores; Applebee’s is planning dozens of closures; Qdoba intends to shrink by as much as 1.5% annually; and Veggie Grill has closed 40% of its locations in recent months. But O’Charley’s struggles predate even today’s harsh environment. From 2017 to 2022, systemwide sales fell 34%, and unit count declined by nearly a third, according to data from Technomic.

The city has spent $1 million on grants for vandalism relief... Vandalism is becoming almost unavoidable for San Francisco’s restaurants, a new survey shows. Only 3% out of 74 restaurants surveyed said they had not experienced graffiti or property crime in the last month, according to a new survey from the Golden Gate Restaurant Association. The city has spent $1 million on grants for vandalism relief since 2021, and nearly 800 businesses have received $1,000 or $2,000 grants for graffiti, broken windows, or other vandalism, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. San Francisco’s 311 call center has received 10,000 reports of...

Two New York City eateries owned by restaurateur Danny Meyer will shutter this month as the historic hotel they’re housed in clears out to accommodate asylum seekers. The Redbury Hotel, a landmark hotel in NoMad, began housing migrants earlier this month as the city flounders trying to house over 57,000 asylum seekers each night. The Union Square Hospitality Group — run by Meyer — announced Friday that Marta and Maialino (vicino), which are located in the Redbury, will have their last service on August 25, Eater reported. While a spokesperson initially said that the migrants’ makeshift accommodations would not impact...

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the spicy Thai food restaurant. A woman is suing a San Jose, Calif.-area restaurant and its employees for negligence and emotional distress, claiming that one of the eatery’s mega-spicy dishes was “unfit for human consumption” and left her with health issues that lingered two years after she ate it. The complaint filed at the Superior Court of Santa Clara County on July 3 alleges that the diner, Harjasleen Walia, suffered “permanent bodily injuries” after trying the Dragon Balls appetizer at Coup de Thai in Los Gatos on July 15, 2021, according...

This morning I wrote about the Renter’s Misery index with rents spiralling out of control for the middle class and low wage workers. Now let’s switch focus to the restaurant business which are suffering under Biden’s reign of economic error. Two years of negative real wage growth, depleted savings, mounting credit card debt, and soaring interest rate payments put pressure on consumers’ wallets. This might lead to some consumers trading down to cheaper quick-serve restaurants, ditching casual-dining chains in the second half of this year, according to a new report. Bloomberg Intelligence’s Michael Halen penned a new note titled “2H...

McDonald’s Corp is temporarily closing its US offices this week as it prepares to inform corporate employees about layoffs undertaken by the burger giant as part of a broader company restructuring, ... McDonald’s said in an internal email last week to US employees and some international staff that they should work from home from Monday through Wednesday so it can deliver staffing decisions virtually, ... During the week of April 3, we will communicate key decisions related to roles and staffing levels across the organization,” the Chicago-based fast-food chain said

McDonald's Corp temporarily closing U.S. offices . . . "to inform corporate employees about its layoffs as part of a broader company restructuring"

Alex Yenni recently endeavored to take his wife and 5-year-old son bowling with another family in Petaluma, Calif., close to their home. The plan quickly went into the gutter.Mr. Yenni, a 42-year-old advertising executive, tried to book online in advance at AMF Boulevard Lanes, where he wanted to reserve two lanes for two hours at 3 p.m. on the last Thursday of the year during winter break.The price quoted by the website, run by national operator Bowlero Corp., knocked him over: $418.90. “This strikes me as outrageous for a pedestrian family activity,” he said.