Free Republic

Seattle is about to embark on a civic experiment that most experts predict will be an economic disaster; a $15 an hour minimum wage is set to go into effect on April 1st. And some restuarants in the city have already shuttered their doors and are either going out of business or moving to friendlier climes. This was entirely predictable - and was predicted when the measure passed the Seattle city council. Restuarants are particularly sensitive to this sort of increase in wages since most of their employees are paid at the minimum, and such a large percentage of their...

BRIDGING a gap in the market between fast-food joints and full-service restaurants, fast-casual chains such as Shake Shack, Nando’s chicken restaurants and Chipotle Mexican Grill are enjoying success across the world. The combined sales of American fast-casual outlets rose by 10.5% last year, compared with 6.1% for fast-food chains, according to Mintel, a market-research firm. There are four main reasons why these outlets have been winning customers. First, they promise “fresh” food, meaning at the very least not frozen. Chipotle also says it uses, where possible, meat from animals raised without hormones or antibiotics, and organic and locally grown vegetables....

The Civil Rights movement in the Age of Obama has descended in to blatant anti-white racism and bullying of children.On St. Valentine’s Day this past weekend ‘Black Lives Matter’ protesters targeted the “white utopia” of Walnut Creek, California.This was abuse.One photograph taken by the protesters shows a white family seated at a breakfast bar with very concerned looks on the faces of the parents. Their young son seated between them has his back turned to the protesters and his head ducked low while his father has a protective arm on the boy.The photo, tweeted by BlackWomenUnchecked is mockingly captioned, “They...

Not even two years after being rolled out by the New York baker Dominique Ansel, the cronut -- that’s a doughnut made with croissant dough, for those who might have been living under a rock -- has gone mainstream. Dunkin’ Donuts, the Canton-based breakfast food franchise, said Wednesday that it would make the “croissant donut” a permanent addition to its menu. (“Cronut” is a trademarked term.) Since introducing the item in November, Dunkin’ said it has sold 8.5 million of them, with about 3.9 million sold since mid-December, according to past news releases.

The command and control mandates of ObamaCare continue to cause unintended consequences for businesses. In another example of government gone wild, the federal government is now forcing restaurants to post the calorie information of its menu items. Late last year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule under ObamaCare that requires retail food establishments with the same name and 20 or more locations to list calorie information for its standard menu offerings. The regulation applies to many food retail operations including restaurants, delicatessens, supermarkets and movie theaters to name a few. The goal of this regulatory effort...

Some Buffalo Wild Wings customers are noticing an extra charge on their bill that up until now has not been seen in the Panhandle. The Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants in both Amarillo and Lubbock recently attempted to pass their employee health insurance costs on to their customers by adding an Affordable Care Act surcharge. The two percent surcharge started appearing on bills January 1--the same day businesses with 100 or more employees were mandated to provide insurance to at least 70 percent of their full-time employees. The Howard Restaurant Group who owns the Buffalo Wild Wings said it implemented the...

Okay. Doesn't fall under "Breaking News" but, I don't post articles very often. So, I drop off my Alki friend so he can do some walk in/walk out bail thing at the Sheriffs Department. I'm bored and spy a Thai restaurant across the street. At first my thoughts were just about some delish lemongrass soup. So I walk in and order their lemongrass soup. But, they offered a twist I hadn't been offered at othe Thai restaurants "You want regular or spicy?". "Huh? Why I'll take spicy. I love spicy anything" I responded Well, they tried to talk me out...

The Food and Drug Administration is going to try its hand at shaming consumers into making healthier choices when they go out to eat. Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, the FDA announced a controversial and expansive rule that will require certain establishments with 20 or more locations -- including chain restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, and movie theaters -- to post calorie information on their menus and menu boards. A separate rule was also issued requiring operators of 20 or more vending machines to post calorie information. Section 4205 of the Affordable Care Act, a provision included in the law...

The federal government formally completed regulations that will force vending machines and restaurants to display calorie information, which can lead to businesses being fined thousands of dollars for not including the number of calories in a mayonnaise packet. The regulations, which originated in Obamacare, total 319 pages and will cost industry $1.7 billion to comply. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published the final rules last week just before the Thanksgiving holiday, arguing the rules are “an important step for public health.” The final rules increased costs by $542 million from the proposed rules, totaling $531.1 million for vending machines,...

Thanks to the FDA’s calorie labeling regulations announced Tuesday, major changes will soon be coming to the food and restaurant industries. The regulation itself is nothing new; it became law in 2010 as a provision attached to the Affordable Care Act, but final rules were delayed for the past few years, thanks in large part to heavy opposition from grocery stores, pizza chains, vending machines, convenience stores, and movie theaters. Although some concessions were made, none of these industries were fully spared. By November 2015, these establishments will be forced to post calorie information on menus and menu boards, which...

Restaurant Code Words: Crunchy, tempura, battered, crispy, breaded, crusted, golden, sizzling If you're making a healthy choice, you're probably not purposely choosing a fried food item. Look for words like crunchy, battered, crispy, breaded, crusted, golden, tempura; some of these options are a double-whammy on your caloric intake because the item is fried with an additional carb-based coating. ... Restaurant Code Words: Teriyaki, BBQ, glazed, sticky, honey-dipped Powdered doughnuts may be self-explanatory on a menu, but options labeled as Teriyaki, BBQ, glazed, sticky or honey-dipped could also be high in added sugars. It is wise to ask if sauces of...

Episode 115 of “Seinfeld” featured a gruff entrepreneur who ran a soup stand offering the best soup in New York City. “You can’t eat this soup standing up, your knees buckle,” Jerry Seinfeld explained to Elaine. “There’s only one caveat — the guy who runs the place is a little temperamental, especially about the ordering procedure,” Jerry said. “He’s secretly referred to as the Soup Nazi” because if you don’t order right, “He yells and you don’t get your soup.” No one liked the Soup Nazi — but everyone loved his soup! Despite his grumpy, rude and domineering demeanor, the...

Next time you eat out at a fancy restaurant, don't be surprised if, at the end of your meal, you spot an unfamiliar item on your tab — a surcharge to pay for Obamacare. Diners at high-end restaurants such as Melisse, AOC, and a dozen others in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas have noticed a 3 percent surcharge for employee healthcare tacked on to their bills, and the Los Angeles Times reports that some of the customers are none too happy about it. One diner complained in an online blog, "It's basically management saying 'Obamacare made me do...

At Panera Bread (PNRA), you're getting the option of dealing with a kiosk at the store instead of a cashier. Visit the local Chili's and you'll see tablets at the booth to help with orders. If you find the Domino's (DPZ) app too reliant on buttons, don't worry -- you can start interacting with a computerized voice.

On Tuesday, LA Weekly reported that several upscale restaurants in the City of Angels will be adding a 3 percent surcharge to cover their employees' healthcare costs, a trend that has been gaining steam since the Affordable Care Act launched nearly one year ago. Beginning on September 1, restaurants Lucques, Tavern, A.O.C, and a few offshoots all added a 3 percent surcharge to customers' checks, explicitly stating in a press release their decisions hinged on covering employee healthcare costs. Lucques Group, Suzanne Goin and Caroline Styne, owners of the restaurants, also named several other restaurant groups that will be duplicating...

While New Yorkers like to think of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, as the epicenter of the American hipster, it's hardly the only place in the country where vegan, handlebar-mustachioed trustafarians ride their single-speeds to nanobreweries inside organic farm-to-table restaurants inside abandoned artist lofts tricked out with rooftop gardens where they grow only kale. Pretty much any US city, short of maybe Birmingham, AL, has some elements/neighborhoods of hipster culture at this point (you really just need a fixed-gear bike shop, right?), but these 10 cities are vying for the title of hipster-est. Behind Williamsburg, of course....

This recount, found on The Meta Picture, tells the story of one restaurant’s quest to find out why they kept getting bad reviews despite serving the same number of customers on a daily basis. It took a look into their past to discover exactly what has changed in the last ten years – and their findings tell more about how we as a country have changed – possibly, for the worse. Now, although this particular instance may or may not be true, it tells a story that is all too common today in America. We are so engrossed in ourselves...

A picture circulating online shows what appears to be a note left for a server at a restaurant in which the customer rants about why they decided not to leave a tip. Although the source of the letter has not been confirmed or reported, the picture has angered people all over, with many saying that a liberal-minded person had to be responsible for writing it. “I do not tip anywhere because the law governing tipping causes pay inequality between servers and kitchen staff,” wrote the anonymous tipper. “My meal was made possible by an entire team of kitchen staff,...

Two national chain restaurants have asked that customers refrain from bringing firearms into their establishments, saying the weapons can create an uncomfortable atmosphere for other diners. Sonic Drive-In and Chili's Grill & Bar both issued statements Friday requesting that customers keep their guns out of their restaurants even if they have an open carry permit. The request, which stops short of an outright ban, came after members of the gun-rights group Open Carry Texas walked into Texas outlets of Sonic and Chili's carrying assault rifles. Dallas-based Brinker International, which owns the Chili's chain, said in a statement it was dedicated...

California's economy continues to experience a tepid recovery since the Great Recession. One reason why: according to CEO Magazine, California has had the worst business climate in the nation for the last eight years, due in no small part to policies out of Sacramento.Any economic growth in the Golden State is largely driven from the continued tech boom in Silicon Valley - although even it may not be immune to California's poor business climate. Depending on how one categorizes "small businesses"- typically, either fewer than either 50 or 100 employees - as of the 3rd quarter of 2012, between 96%...