Stillwater cafe faces heat for adding 'minimum wage fee' to tab

Star Tribune ^ | 08/07/2014 | KELLY SMITH

[Responsibility2nd]

A small cafe in Stillwater has thrown itself into the big battle over Minnesota’s minimum wage increases, inundating the cafe with dozens of phone calls and online comments this week after it tacked on a 35-cent fee to meal tabs.

Oasis Cafe owner Craig Beemer said the fee is needed to offset the 75-cent wage hike that took effect Aug. 1, the first time Minnesota’s minimum wage has increased in a decade. Even with only half a dozen servers, Beemer says it will cost him $10,000 more a year to pay servers $8 an hour instead of the federal rate of $7.25 an hour. Instead of adding it on to food prices, he added the “minimum wage fee” — the only restaurant known to do so in Minnesota so far.

It’s set off a firestorm of debate on Facebook and in the east metro community, with one customer calling the cafe Wednesday to demand a refund and others taking to Facebook to encourage people to boycott the roadside cafe.

[New Perspective]

Maybe the restaurant owner should have two menus- one for those who support the higher minimum wage, and those that don't. The prices on the higher minimum wage menu would be higher. The thing about liberals is that they want to be able to tell others how to spend money, but they don't want someone telling them how to spend their own.

Or design a menu like obamacare. Based upon what it looks like you can afford. The same menu item will not cost the same for everyone. Those that look like they can afford more will subsidize the others.

[uncitizen]

Stupid people complaining wouldn’t be complaining if the guy simply increased the food prices.