Labor
HMB’s $15 minimum wage kicks in Jan. 1
Half Moon Bay Review 9/24
The city of Half Moon Bay will implement a new $15 per hour minimum wage beginning Jan. 1, 2020. Whether that will improve life for low-wage workers in the city or prevent their employers from keeping them depends on whom you ask.
Food Industry Policy
Tenderloin Streets Close to Cars, Transforming Into a Gigantic Outdoor Dining Space
Eater, San Francisco 9/24
After months of work by neighborhood groups and political officials, several restaurants in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood will soon spill out beyond their smattering of sidewalk-bound tables and chairs, taking over area streets with expansive outdoor dining setups where cars used to speed through.
On the Side
2020 has done a number on downtown Sacramento restaurants. What does the future hold?
The Sacramento Bee 9/24
COVID-19 risk and social distancing protocols have crippled restaurants across the region, and no neighborhood has been hit harder than downtown Sacramento.
Panda Express Had a COVID-19 Task Force in January
QSR Magazine 9/24
There’s a sentiment today that cleanliness is the new ambiance. You’d be hard-pressed to find a restaurant not touting enhanced measures and COVID-19-inspired changes.
The dozen closed restaurants of the Top 100 list
San Francisco Chronicle 9/24
Six months ago, our Top 100 list was precisely that: One hundred wonderful and extraordinary restaurants, ones I thought represented the best of the Bay Area’s high-energy dining scene, its ethical yearnings and cultural nuances.
Rise of the ghost kitchens: How virtual restaurants are reshaping L.A.’s dining economy
Los Angeles Times 9/24
It’s 11 p.m. on a weeknight and you’re hungry. Already in your pajamas, you unlock your smartphone and open a delivery app to scroll through a virtual buffet of options.
McDonald’s all-day breakfast menu may be gone for good
Fox News 9/24
The most important meal of the day may no longer be served all day at McDonald’s. The fast-food chain stopped serving its coveted all-day breakfast menu at the end of March during the height of the coronavirus pandemic as more franchisees pivoted to drive-thru and delivery only to curb the spread of the virus.
Fresh Brothers and Beyond Meat Launch New Items
QSR Magazine 9/24
Fresh Brothers is partnering with Beyond Meat, Inc., a leader in plant-based meat, to enhance its plant-based game and offer all new menu items and create your own options using plant-based Beyond Beef. The new items replace existing plant-based options on the menu and will be available starting this week.
McDonald’s is quietly working on its first-ever food loyalty program
The New York Post 9/23
McDonald’s, which recently ran out of ingredients for its mega-popular Travis Scott meal promotion, is quietly gearing up to test a food loyalty program to boost pandemic sales.
Where Are San Francisco’s Interesting Fine Dining Experiences These Days?
Eater, San Francisco 9/23
Fine dining fans have been left out in the cold. If you want to dig deeper, the entire industry is discussing the future of fine dining right now.
