Fatburger owner to raise prices, trim hours as California hikes minimum wage (msn.com)

Article talks about steps a Fatburger franchisee is planning on taking when the $20 minimum wage goes into effect on April 1st in California. Menu price increases, PTO time take back, reduced hours.

It's going to get worse. The funny thing is that it's typical journalism: fact checking misses again because of math for the Fatburger sandwich increase:

"Walberg expects to raise menu prices by as much as 10%. The increase would lift Original Flatburger's price to $11.62, up from $7.75". (Should be $8.53).

Can they not simply double the sales of tea every hour to offset the costs?

Can't wait for the Calculon Burger Flipper 3000 replacing them all, and with awesome acting abilities included free with the meal.

zoneag said:

---

Can they not simply double the sales of tea every hour to offset the costs?

---

You could also keep the prices exactly the same, but cut the portions of everything they serve in half. That way nobody at all is affected. It is a win, win , win for everybody!!!

Just sell one more burger.

"and scrapping the 72 hours of PTO"




No more PTO libs.

Bwahahahahaha

Just as long as the employees are rude and or not paying attention I will pay any price they ask. Just get my order wrong or make me repeat myself at least three times and we are all good.

I see you. Sly m'fer.

Quote:

---

Marcus Walberg, who owns the popular outposts, said he was forced to take the drastic action because the new law is expected to spike payroll by 30%.

---

Unpossible

Leftist swore to us that not only would MW increases not lead to price increases but that it would lead lower costs and more employment as well

Your math is going to be a little off for California so let me add some recent experience. I left 5 months ago so my numbers are reasonably current.

Eating lunch at In'N'Out Burger in Studio City costs about $10 per person.
In'N'Out would usually have about 10-12 people working in the kitchen and two more in the parking lot taking drive thru orders and the drive thru line was well into the street but moved reasonably quickly. The dining room and outdoor seating was full.

In'N'Out was hiring at $22/hr which provided them the benefit of higher quality employees.
But, you've probably noticed that they're moving eastward - Texas, Colorado, etc.

Eating lunch at the Dog Haus in Burbank costs about $17 per person.
They would have about 3 people working and the seating would be 50% full.

Eating lunch at Del Taco cost about $10 per person and they would usually have 2 people working with a short drive thru line and a dining room that was less than 1/3rd full.
Del Taco was hiring for $20/hr.

Point here is that the prices were already high and other than In'N'Out, these businesses were struggling.

If you want to look at the other end of the spectrum, I ate at Morton's Steakhouse a couple times with some co-workers and there would be 1-2 waiters serving an entire dining room that was about 50% capacity at best.

California Covid killed the restaurant business.

Eating out has become a luxury and not that many people can afford it anymore. And there is a shortage of workers - even at prices above $20/hr.

I moved just before it permanently closed but one of my favorite restaurants in Burbank - Gordon Biersch is now history. It had survived the scamdemic thanks to outdoor seating but this place was always busy and still couldn't make it.

Logos Stick said:

---

"and scrapping the 72 hours of PTO"




No more PTO libs.

Bwahahahahaha

---

No BS, most libs would counter that with "well there should be labor laws in place to prevent businesses from responding in a fiscally sound manner in response to our insane, suffocating anti-Econ 101 wage laws…they should not be able to raise prices, fire people or reduce hours".

All liberals are clowns.

BG Knocc Out said:

---

Logos Stick said:

---

"and scrapping the 72 hours of PTO"




No more PTO libs.

Bwahahahahaha

---

No BS, most libs would counter that with "well there should be labor laws in place to prevent businesses from responding in a fiscally sound manner in response to our insane, suffocating anti-Econ 101 wage laws…they should not be able to raise prices, fire people or reduce hours".

All liberals are clowns.

---

Guess they haven't thought of the super-simple solution; just put a 5%(?) cap on their profits. The company's won't have to raise prices or anything!

Duh that will keep those greedy capitalists in line!

News Flash: California unemployment skyrockets. On the bright side, those still with jobs make $20 or more!!

DallasAg 94 said:

---

I don't know how any restaurant can survive Lunch with $20/hr mw.

When I waited tables in college, I'd work an 11a-1p shift at $3/hr+tips. I'd do well to make $10 TOTAL in tips some days. My day would start with me heading there at 10a after putting on uniform and I'd finish sidework, etc by 1:30-2 and get back about 2:30. When I was at A&M, that meant taking the bus back to campus.

Lunches during the week were the price you paid for better dinner shifts.

Imagine you are waiting on a table with a $15meal. 2 people and you get 4 tables. 8 x $15 =>$120 in sales. 15% = $18 in tips. You think the owner can afford $40 in wages for a server getting 2 hrs.

$120 (Sales) - $40 (Server) - Food Cost - Cook - Busboy - Food Prep

The building cost and electricity is a sunk cost, so no need to include that. Although some electricity is necessary.

How many guests would you need to cashflow a lunch?! It was barely worth the owners time when labor for servers was $3/hr. Mark that at $20 across the board?!

SMH.

---

$15 waited meals don't exist in the cities of California. You might get a hamburger, sandwiches, and salads for $16 or $17.

BG Knocc Out said:

---

Logos Stick said:

---

"and scrapping the 72 hours of PTO"




No more PTO libs.

Bwahahahahaha

---

No BS, most libs would counter that with "well there should be labor laws in place to prevent businesses from responding in a fiscally sound manner in response to our insane, suffocating anti-Econ 101 wage laws…they should not be able to raise prices, fire people or reduce hours".

All liberals are clowns.

---

I would like to believe that they are just clowns. I mean I'm sure the majority is. But I think there is far more evil intent behind it all.

This is all moving inexorably to the destruction of wealth, the marketplace, and property ownership. The minimum wage stuff is just one of the tools to destroy small businesses. The end goal is to make everyone slaves to the state where the party elites will dictate who gets to do what job and gets whatever small benefit they decide to dole out based on whatever whimsical criteria those elites come up with on any particular day.

This is the communist dream they all have. Absolute control and power. It's just unbelievable that vast numbers of people can't see the trendline. Some of those people even post on this forum.

Quote:

---

I moved just before it permanently closed but one of my favorite restaurants in Burbank - Gordon Biersch is now history. It had survived the scamdemic thanks to outdoor seating but this place was always busy and still couldn't make it.

---

Definite was a favorite restaurant not because of the food. Never cared for the food at gordon Biersch.

bmks270 said:

---

DallasAg 94 said:

---

I don't know how any restaurant can survive Lunch with $20/hr mw.

When I waited tables in college, I'd work an 11a-1p shift at $3/hr+tips. I'd do well to make $10 TOTAL in tips some days. My day would start with me heading there at 10a after putting on uniform and I'd finish sidework, etc by 1:30-2 and get back about 2:30. When I was at A&M, that meant taking the bus back to campus.

Lunches during the week were the price you paid for better dinner shifts.

Imagine you are waiting on a table with a $15meal. 2 people and you get 4 tables. 8 x $15 =>$120 in sales. 15% = $18 in tips. You think the owner can afford $40 in wages for a server getting 2 hrs.

$120 (Sales) - $40 (Server) - Food Cost - Cook - Busboy - Food Prep

The building cost and electricity is a sunk cost, so no need to include that. Although some electricity is necessary.

How many guests would you need to cashflow a lunch?! It was barely worth the owners time when labor for servers was $3/hr. Mark that at $20 across the board?!

SMH.

---

$15 waited meals don't exist in the cities of California. You might get a hamburger, sandwiches, and salads for $16 or $17.

---

yep. I'm blown away by spending +$30 for two takeout meals at jersey mikes.

American Hardwood said:

---

BG Knocc Out said:

---

Logos Stick said:

---

"and scrapping the 72 hours of PTO"




No more PTO libs.

Bwahahahahaha

---

No BS, most libs would counter that with "well there should be labor laws in place to prevent businesses from responding in a fiscally sound manner in response to our insane, suffocating anti-Econ 101 wage laws…they should not be able to raise prices, fire people or reduce hours".

All liberals are clowns.

---

I would like to believe that they are just clowns. I mean I'm sure the majority is. But I think there is far more evil intent behind it all.

This is all moving inexorably to the destruction of wealth, the marketplace, and property ownership. The minimum wage stuff is just one of the tools to destroy small businesses. The end goal is to make everyone slaves to the state where the party elites will dictate who gets to do what job and gets whatever small benefit they decide to dole out based on whatever whimsical criteria those elites come up with on any particular day.

This is the communist dream they all have. Absolute control and power. It's just unbelievable that vast numbers of people can't see the trendline. Some of those people even post on this forum.

---

Oh no doubt about it at all, there definitely is. I am just talking about the millions of useful idiot foot soldiers that do their bidding. The typical leftist truly thinks like a 5-year old when it comes to anything economic or political.

I have several old HS peers who were always moderately lib, but then turned basically into socialists/social justice warriors during Covid and the George Floyd OD. I will see them posting stuff like this from time to time...basically arguing that businesses should not be able to lay people off or cut hours/PTO in response to crippling wage laws.

Sofa king dumb.

DallasAg 94 said:

---

bmks270 said:

---

DallasAg 94 said:

---

I don't know how any restaurant can survive Lunch with $20/hr mw.

When I waited tables in college, I'd work an 11a-1p shift at $3/hr+tips. I'd do well to make $10 TOTAL in tips some days. My day would start with me heading there at 10a after putting on uniform and I'd finish sidework, etc by 1:30-2 and get back about 2:30. When I was at A&M, that meant taking the bus back to campus.

Lunches during the week were the price you paid for better dinner shifts.

Imagine you are waiting on a table with a $15meal. 2 people and you get 4 tables. 8 x $15 =>$120 in sales. 15% = $18 in tips. You think the owner can afford $40 in wages for a server getting 2 hrs.

$120 (Sales) - $40 (Server) - Food Cost - Cook - Busboy - Food Prep

The building cost and electricity is a sunk cost, so no need to include that. Although some electricity is necessary.

How many guests would you need to cashflow a lunch?! It was barely worth the owners time when labor for servers was $3/hr. Mark that at $20 across the board?!

SMH.

---

$15 waited meals don't exist in the cities of California. You might get a hamburger, sandwiches, and salads for $16 or $17.

---

Actually... they do exist.

I just pulled up the Red Lobster in Inglewood and the Olive Garden in Burbank. Based on Hollywood's location reference.

My point was specifically Lunch... and while RL is at $15-18, OG is $12-15 for lunch.

Fast food disguised as sit down, for sure... but waited meal.

---

Man, I bet that is some good people watching. Haven't been there in probably 20+ years, but I always liked their cheddar biscuits. Might have to check this place out next time I'm out there.

Economics is racist.

I mean, hell math is.

akm91 said:

---

Quote:

---

I moved just before it permanently closed but one of my favorite restaurants in Burbank - Gordon Biersch is now history. It had survived the scamdemic thanks to outdoor seating but this place was always busy and still couldn't make it.

---

Definite was a favorite restaurant not because of the food. Never cared for the food at gordon Biersch.

---

C'mon man - Garlic Fries

Fun fact, the Burbank location kept the Blonde Bock available in store after the rest of the chain quit carrying it. At 7%, two of those was a great way to end the work week.

I'll bet I haven't been to the Olive Garden in Burbank since maybe 2005.
Right next door is Outback Steakhouse and in the mid-2000s, you'd be waiting outside for an hour.

These days, you can walk right in because the limiting factor now isn't seats, it's servers.
The trick is, you have to sit in the Bar if you want to get served.

Quote:

---

My point was specifically Lunch... and while RL is at $15-18, OG is $12-15 for lunch.

---

Yeah, but then you also have to tip on top of that, assuming the service was good and a patron is not an *******.

DallasAg 94 said:

---

I'm not correlating your post to mine.

Morton's... I read your previous post on it. Morton's isn't really a good example. That lebmvel dining... sure... Covid has caused a problem. I posted how it caused a similar, but lower-end place like that at City-Line in DFW to eliminate their Lunch offering and it was at a cost of about $500k in revenue.

Inn-N-Out is another outlier. They've always paid more... $15/hr for years. Well run. Well staffedIgrew up in Del Taco and Green Burrito... Del Taco failed in Texas. There was one they opened about a decade ago and the food was just garbage. INO seems to be doing well.

Cane's 6 piece meal is now $16 with fries and a drink. Quality has dropped as prices have doubled.

Our favorite Sushi place for the past 7 years was so terrible and expensive last week that my kids deemed it off the list. One didn't eat and refused to try anything else.

Covid has had a terrible impact... but my point was... restaurants will no longer be able to afford a sit-down lunch in California. It is difficult in Texas, currently. Any additional turmoil (pay increase) will start to see it go away, here, IMO.

Fast food will just increase cost. For dining, there is a limit what people will pay relative to drive through. I could be wrong.

---

My point is that the restaurants are dead anyway because of how California handled Covid.
The increased wages make it even worse.

The customer have moved down market.

Gordon Biersch as one example had been a fixture in Burbank for 25 years - now it's gone.
Meanwhile, Raising Cane's just opened a year or two ago and they literally had to re-route traffic because it is so popular.

The McDonalds on Olive Avenue used to be a place only HS kids went.

With the cost of living so high now, McDonalds is more popular than ever and it's only two blocks from Raising Cane's.

People don't have the disposable income they used to have in California.

This is already getting rid of the idea of cheap fast food. Why pay for a sandwich at half the quality for the same price as a quality one? Only the wealthy will be able to afford to eat out which is what the libs want I guess.

Loved the Garlic Fries and the Red Ale they had at their Vegas location....shame they closed.

I never got out of that place with a bill under 20 bucks...

why are we importing millions and millions of immigrants from over 180 different countries every year to pick vegetables for jerry nadler and fruits for nancy pelosi (only reasons dems have given so far for the invasion invitation) if no one is going to be able to order food after all the restaurants get shut down after business killing poverty inducing socialist policies?

You know the reason.

EX TEXASEX said:

---

Can't wait for the Calculon Burger Flipper 3000 replacing them all, and with awesome acting abilities included free with the meal.

---

I, for one, look forward to getting my burger after a dramatic























Pause!!!

oh no said:

---

why are we importing millions and millions of immigrants from over 180 different countries every year to pick vegetables for jerry nadler and fruits for nancy pelosi (only reasons dems have given so far for the invasion invitation) if no one is going to be able to order food after all the restaurants get shut down after business killing poverty inducing socialist policies?

---

democrat tyrants want slaves. They've always wanted slaves. They had slaves a while back and even fought a war to keep their slaves. They've had a few setbacks, but they are well on their way to reinstating slavery. They just that they don't call it that, and the chains aren't made of metal anymore, at least not yet. Wouldn't be surprised to see them again at some point though.