Labor
Restaurant Workers Get Tip-Pool Wage Claims Revived on Appeal
Bloomberg 11/24
The Fourth Circuit revived Tuesday federal and state wage claims brought by a group of servers who allege a now-defunct sushi restaurant in North Carolina wasn’t entitled to take a tip-credit from their wages because it operated an illegal tip pool.
Server Blames Indoor Dining for Her COVID Infection
SFist 11/23
She says she did no socializing and only left her apartment to go grocery shopping when she was not working, but during the latter part of the month of October, when the restaurant restarted indoor dining, she was working five dinner shifts a week. And she says that while she was masked, she was serving tables where people were often unmasked through their entire meals.
Food Industry Policy
With Capacity on the Decline, Restaurants Need to Control Speed and Efficiency
FSR Magazine 11/23
The restaurant industry continues to be hit hard by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With winter approaching, many locations will no longer be able to offer outdoor seating and will have to solely rely on takeout, delivery, and the small amount of indoor seating allowed by their city.
COVID is transforming restaurant design and interactions — for better and for worse
San Francisco Chronicle 11/23
On this episode of “Extra Spicy,” Roman Mars, author and host of the design and architecture podcast “99% Invisible,” talks about how the pandemic creates an opportunity to make restaurant design more resilient by innovating parklets and reclaiming outdoor space. He also digs into how delivery apps and contactless delivery are destroying people’s empathy toward restaurant workers.
Report: Restaurant guests want loyalty programs, online ordering
QSR Web 11/23
A hefty majority of restaurant goers, 93 million, would spend more in a restaurant offering loyalty and online ordering, according to a Paytronix Systems, Inc. report.
On the Side
As Restaurants Struggle, Diner Expectations Shoot ‘Impossibly High’
Eater SF 11/24
The restaurant business in the Bay Area was unsustainable before the pandemic hit, with skyrocketing rents, high costs of living, and customers expecting cheap food with free delivery. The pandemic exacerbated all of that, and revenues are low and margins tight. But the hardest part for me is that customers’ expectations are impossibly high right now. And the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment.
Restaurant tech start-up Toast soars to $8 billion valuation seven months after cutting half its staff
CNBC 11/23
Toast, a start-up that sells software to help restaurants with online ordering, has had a rollercoaster of a year managing through the pandemic.
Crave Collective brings ghost kitchen with a twist to Idaho
Restaurant Hospitality 11/24
The Mina Group concepts will be part of the new Crave Collective, which opened in an office park outside Boise this month. Operated by Crave Hospitality Group, the collective is a ghost kitchen-meets-food hall with a twist that Wade, CEO and co-founder of Crave Hospitality Group, plans to roll out nationwide.
