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California-based fast food restaurants have hiked the price of menu items by as much as 8% in response to the $20-an-hour minimum wage law that went into effect April 1. .... A typical Chicken Burrito from a California Chipotle will now cost $10.25, while the average price of a Steak Burrito will set you back $12. ... Wendy’s also instituted substantial price hikes on staple menu items

Democrats' belief that raising the minimum wage for fast food employers would benefit them is being undermined by businesses closing down and/or laying off portions of their labor force. Loren Wright, owner of a Fosters Freeze franchise in Lemoore, said "my employees told me they'd rather have a job at the old wage than be laid off, but the new law doesn't give us that option. Gov. Newsom's restaurant does have that option." Newsom hastened to point out that "I'm only one of the owners of the PlumpJack Cafe. The law exempted this kind of restaurant from the required minimum...

Prices for burgers, fries and other fast food items have increased at various restaurant chains across California, according to a recent report. A New York Post investigation revealed that some fast food chains in the Los Angeles area raised prices on April 1, after new California statewide legislation went into effect Monday enforcing a $20 minimum wage for restaurants that have at least 60 locations nationwide, except those that make and sell their own bread. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the legislation, AB 1228, into law in September. In addition to the pay raises, it also establishes a "Fast Food Council,"...

Fast food giant McDonald's is to buy back all its Israeli restaurants following a boycott of the brand in response to the Israel-Hamas war. The company said it had reached an agreement with franchisee Alonyal for the return of 225 outlets across the country employing 5,000 people. McDonald's was criticised after Alonyal started giving away thousands of free meals to Israeli soldiers. Sales in the region have slumped since the conflict began in October. On Thursday, McDonald's said a deal had been signed with Alonyal which has been running the chain of Golden Arches in Israel for more than 30...

You’ll be dropping a lot of dollar on that Whopper. Menu prices at fast food chains across California have increased, as a new law went into effect requiring them to pay a $20-an-hour minimum wage to workers from Monday. The Post checked menus at several restaurants in the Los Angeles area to see if the costs are already being passed onto consumers — with mixed results. The biggest leap on was at a Burger King, where a Texas Double Whopper meal cost $15.09 on March 29, but surged to $16.89 on April 1, a price whopping increase of $1.80 for...

A Bojangles Cajun restaurant undergoing renovations near Raleigh, North Carolina, accidentally misspelled the chain’s name on an outdoor sign as seen in hilarious photos blowing up online. “I saw the sign and I was looking at it, and I’m like, ‘It’s not right,'” eyewitness Gonzalez Espinosa told USA Today of the recent incident. He saw the botched signage while landscaping near the chain’s Knightdale outlet, which has been undergoing renovations since fall.

Not too long ago, Gavin Newsom got caught with his hand in the cookie jar of political cronyism. In response to a draconian law passed raising fast-food worker wages to $20 an hour, known as A.B. 1228, Newsom carved out a little exemption for his friends at Panera Bread on the laughable grounds that these establishments bake bread on the premises. In reality, the owner of several Panera establishments was a high school buddy who was a really good donor to his campaigns. Once caught, Newsom backed off, but right when he thought no one was looking, he went right...

Despite its reputation for gastronomy, France has become an American fast-food mecca. Between 2019 and 2023, more than 1,300 fast-food restaurants opened in the country, and over the past decade, sales increased by 61%. McDonald’s has the biggest stronghold because of its first-mover advantage. But Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, KFC and Five Guys are expanding their reach. New players like Popeyes and Krispy Kreme moved in for the first time in early 2024 as French consumers continue to seek affordable and convenient food options.

What the hell is wrong with these people? Right in front of her kid too

The CEO of McDonald's admitted Monday that the sales for the fast food giant have dipped amid increased menu prices that have not gone unnoticed by customers. The Chicago-based chain has taken heavy criticism over its Big Mac combo that is priced at nearly $18, among other menu hikes, and has promised to focus on affordability, the New York Post reported. "I think what you’re going to see as you head into 2024 is probably more attention to what I would describe as affordability," McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said on an earnings call with analysts. Some global same-store sales grew...

An almost fully-automated restaurant in Pasadena, California, is using robot cooks and AI-powered ordering kiosks. Joy Benedict has the story.

Story by nluna@insider.com (Nancy Luna) • 5h Two Pizza Hut operators in California are eliminating their in-house delivery services at hundreds of stores, resulting in more than 1,200 driver layoffs, according to federal employment notices reviewed by Business Insider. The layoffs, effective throughout February, affect Pizza Hut delivery drivers across California, including at Sacramento, Palm Springs, and Los Angeles locations. The Pizza Hut franchisees are reducing staff as fast-food chains in the state brace for a new law that increases worker pay to $20 an hour in April. "PacPizza, LLC, operating as Pizza Hut, has made a business decision to...

When you think of a fast food chain, the usual suspects come to mind: McDonald's, Chick-fil-A, KFC, Burger King. In recent years, the restaurant industry has changed to referring to fast food places as quick-service restaurants (QSR), and the new-ish hybrid of fast food and casual-dining restaurants (like Applebee's) is called fast casual. Where the definitions blur is with regional fast food chains, meaning a QSR that usually started out in a particular state as a mom-and-pop shop and gained a devoted following thus enabling them to grow. Sometimes it's a few stores that don't cross state lines. Other times,...

They were anything but in and out. Burger lovers were so desperate to try Idaho’s first In-N-Out they waited up to eight hours in line — with some even camping out overnight. The excitement for the California-based chain’s celebrated patties, fries, and shakes was so intense that hundreds were already waiting for the drive-thru when it opened in Meridian on Tuesday at 9 a.m., much earlier than typical hours, the Idaho Statesman reported. The demand meant it was anything but fast food — with signs soon warning those joining the massive line to expect seven- to eight-hour waits, the outlet...

An enraged McDonald’s customer says the fast food franchise is no longer affordable for ordinary Americans, calling the company’s contemporary prices “crazy.” “So, I get there’s a labor shortage, I get there’s wage increases and a number of other things,” Idaho man Christopher Olive began in a viral TikTok clip, which has recently resurfaced. “But $16? $16 for a burger, a large fry and a drink? It’s just crazy!” the flabbergasted content creator complained, panning to his itemized receipt from a McDonald’s restaurant in the city of Post Falls. The video was original posted on social media last December, but...

Pizza Hut Hong Kong: Flying Fish Roe Salmon Cream Cheese Pizza If you’re a crust person, get ready for an unexpected surprise. One bite of this pizza’s edge will unleash an oozing cream cheese and fish egg combination in your mouth. The pie itself is topped with scallops, crayfish, clams and shrimp. You know, just your usual pizza toppings.

If you’re searching for a deadly infection, look no further than your local fast-food soda fountain. A survey of the water dispensed from soda fountains in fast food restaurants revealed that a shocking 41% of them were contaminated with coliform bacteria, an indicator of water impurity. Further analysis showed that the water was contaminated with some of the deadliest “superbug” germs known to science. These include antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Campylobacter jejuni, as well as listeria, salmonella and E. coli.

Califoria Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was exultant Thursday after signing a law to raise wages in fast food restaurants to $20 per hour and to create a new “council” that will govern the industry. “California is home to more than 500,000 fast-food workers who – for decades – have been fighting for higher wages and better working conditions,” Newsom said in a statement. “Today, we take one step closer to fairer wages, safer and healthier working conditions, and better training by giving hardworking fast-food workers a stronger voice and seat at the table.” The legislation, the Wall Street Journal reported...

In the face of recent intense pressures on fast-food workers, employees in the sector in California are about to get a boost with the creation of a body that will set wages and other standards for the industry. The move is a hard-fought win for the labor movement in the state and is expected to be signed into law – called the Fast Food Accountability and Standards Recovery Act – by Gavin Newsom, the California governor, later on Thursday. It comes after a tumultuous period. Fast-food workers in California have held over 450 strikes since 2020, according to the labor...

The California legislature just passed a new bill to require all major fast-food chains throughout the state to pay their employees at least $20 per hour – and McDonald's, the world's largest fast-food chain with 40,100 stores worldwide, is really angry about it. The passage of Assembly Bill 1228, which is now on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk, "will result in a devastating financial blow to California McDonald's franchises at a projected annual cost of $250,000 per McDonald's restaurant," responded the National Owners Association to the bill's passage. According to the legislators behind AB 1228, the bill only...