Labor
Biden doubles down on $15 minimum wage, end to tip credit
Restaurant Dive 9/16
Biden had already expressed his support for the $15 minimum wage and ending the tipped minimum wage, and the mention of the subminimum wage for workers with disabilities touched on a similarly controversial subject.
‘There Are So Many Fewer Jobs to Go Around’
Grub Street 9/16
Six months into the shutdown, cooks, servers, and bartenders reflect on how their lives have changed.
Food Industry Policy
What happens when a restaurant can’t pay the rent?
Los Angeles Times 9/16
Greg Morena owes the city of Santa Monica about $31,000 each month in rent. The former City Council member owns and operates two restaurants on the Santa Monica Pier, the Albright and Rusty’s. When the city shut down the tourist attraction in March due to the pandemic, Morena said he had no way of paying his rent, and no way of doing takeout.
San Diego County Close to More Restrictive Purple Tier, But Not There Yet
NBC, San Diego 9/15
San Diego County’s case rate entered purple-tier territory on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s color-coded COVID-19 monitoring system on Tuesday, and while it could mean a rollback of business reopenings for the region, we won’t know for certain for another week.
On the Side
Planned for summer 2021, Oakland’s Town Revival restaurant bets on brighter future
San Francisco Chronicle 9/16
A trio of Bay Area restaurant industry veterans with deep Oakland roots are planning a new restaurant in downtown Oakland called Town Revival, which is set to open next summer.
Iranian pop-up Komaaj debuts its herb-packed fare in a new SF cafe
San Francisco Chronicle 9/16
San Francisco’s Persian restaurants tend to serve a familiar lineup of grilled kabobs and meaty stews, but a newcomer is specializing in the less-represented cuisine of Northern Iran and its vegetarian-friendly bounty of smoked rice, fresh herbs and sour flavors.
Inching Through the Pandemic, the Path Forward is Paved With Delivery
Modern Restaurant Management 9/16
Since April, our team at Revenue Management Solutions (RMS) has been asking consumers how they are interacting with restaurants. Everything has changed, but customers are settling into new rhythms. Chief among those habits? Delivery, takeout and drive-thru.
Dine Diego is a reimagined Restaurant Week
CBS 8 9/16
Instead of the traditional Restaurant Week, Dine Diego kicks off a month-long showcase of local eateries.
Launching a foodservice concept in the midst of a pandemic
Food Business News 9/16
Six months following the first shutdown of restaurants for the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the restaurant industry is in limbo. For some out-of-the-box thinkers, the new norm presented them with an opportunity to be creative and secure their share of the limited foodservice dollar.
Close to 20,000 Restaurants Have Permanently Closed Since COVID
FSR Magazine 9/16
Closures are on the rise for restaurants as COVID-19 crosses the half-year mark. Yelp released its latest Economic Impact Report on Wednesday, which, once again, placed restaurants atop its hardest hit sectors. Closures totaled 32,109 as of August 31, with 19,590 of those listed as permanent, or 61 percent.
