WTF
What the Fork Content
Iconic, long-standing restaurants are shuttering across California. Even busy, Michelin-starred locations aren’t able to pay the bills.
Your neighborhood restaurant does not want to raise prices, but it has become life or death for their business.
Why is that? Talk to your lawmakers!
420,000+ State and local policies make dining out more expensive
… And the list goes on and grows longer every year!
Higher Minimum Wage
Just look at the effects of the $20 fast food minimum wage. Your burger order costs more, 20,000 people have lost their jobs, and employee hours were cut to cover the 25% overnight cost jump.
Shakedown Lawsuits
California lawmakers have enabled trial lawyers to rake in billions of dollars off the backs of neighborhood restaurants in dubious lawsuits by exploiting laws intended to protect workers (PAGA) or people with disabilities (ADA). Every year, lawmakers make it easier for lawyers to target restaurants, which drives up the cost of insurance.
Credit Card Swipe Fees
Big banks are charging exorbitant fees on everything from workers’ tips to sales taxes restaurants are required to pay.
Extreme Environmental Policies
To-go packaging requirements, equipment bans, and other increasingly expensive policies are passed without regard to the realities for small restaurants on the ground.
Nearly 40% of restaurants reported that they were NOT profitable in 2024
The reality is that neighborhood restaurants who already operate on razor-thin profits are paying skyrocketing costs just to stay open. And they are grappling with pricing that keeps guests coming back and keeps their doors open.
What does it cost the community when neighborhood restaurants close?
The #1 funder of local services.
Cities need our sales taxes for public safety, education, and infrastructure.
People’s jobs.
23,100 jobs were cut just last year!
Social spaces.
They attract visitors with safe and fun environments.
Culture.
Whether it’s local flavors or international flair.
What People Are Saying About Restaurant Closures
a quick snippet of text, below would be graphics of quotes pulled from closures. simlar to the prop 32 “in the news”