Minimum wage fee

Ya know, I can't really say I'd bitch about this at all and it definitely wouldn't make me consider eating someplace else because of it. I would venture to say that it might affect the workers tips tho, patrons might think of making the tip 35cents less because of it? I wouldn't but I can see some who would.

https://www.today.com/money/minimum-wage-fee-charge-bills-minnesota-cafe-1D80027612?__source=xfinity|mod&par=xfinity

"A restaurant in Minnesota opposes the state’s new minimum wage hike, and the writing is on the receipt.

Last week, Oasis Café in Stillwater, Minnesota, started slapping a 35-cent “minimum wage fee” on all customers’ bills after Minnesota upped the minimum wage on August 1 for the first time in nearly a decade.

The new minimum wage for smaller employers is now $8.00 per hour, up 75 cents from the $7.25 federal minimum wage. The breakfast-all-day café has listed the fee on patrons’ receipts below subtotal and tax..."

Did the restaurant add a line item to the bill for food commodity inflation that happened this year? Nope.

Sounds like he's trying to make a political statement. And he has every right to do so. And so do his customers. I'd look to eat somewhere else.

The River Oasis Cafe in Stillwater, MN has won the "Best Burger in the [St Croix River] Valley" vote in 2013 and again in 2014. Were DonDiego to find himself in the area, . . . and he might, as he has yet to see a Vikings home game, . . . he could drop in to find out how good a burger fer hisself.

Ref: twincities.com

A quick visit to tripadvisor.com indicates that the customers, and poor old DonDiego suspects some non-customers too, do indeed have a right to make "a political statement". After receiving typically 4 or even 5-star reviews, with an occasional lower mark for one reason or another, the eatery received eight 1-star ratings in a row on 7 and 8 August. Some folks from as far away as Hawaii and Amsterdam, The Netherlands objected to the 35-cent surcharge.
DonDiego also found the linked website is presently "unavailable".

All of a sudden DonDiego craves a Minnesota hamburger.

Well said and I will add what really pisses me off is when I go in to see a couple of doctors who do great work but they always have Fox News on in their office. If they didn't do such good work I would switch.

I want them to cure me but I don't really care to hear their political bullshit when in the doctors office. The same goes for MSNBC. It has no place being on TV in a doctors office or any business for that matter. If it was a restaurant I would not eat there.

Bingo. Its not a very bright move for a business owner to get involved in politics. Likely half of your customers have the opposite perspective.

Like Don Diego says - the guy makes a mean burger. Let it stand on its own feet. If he felt inclined to raise prices he could easily have added a few cents to several menu items without anyone noticing, complaining, or making a national spectacle out of it. He wanted a spectacle. And now he's got people talking shit about his restaurant.

Not smart.

Well, $8.00 and hour is no more a "living wage" than $7.25 is. But, again, minimum wage is not intended to be a "living wage". But that is another argument. Among food servers, it is common knowledge that the "living" part is expected to come from tips.

Maybe another $.35 is better deal than raising menu prices, but most patrons will not get that, won't know what's going on. And, like the ever popular resort fee, will spread like wildfire to other restaurants. Somehow, it just leaves a bad taste...pun intended.