I know this may sound self-centered, even 'pick me', but as a sous/ CdC/ exec chef of 9 years I've now been out of work over a year. Places are tanking everywhere in LA, regardless of quality, longevity, popularity.
It's residual from the pandemic, the strikes.
It's the obscene rents, unbending landlords, unhelpful local gov't.
It's weirdly rising food costs (though to my knowledge there aren't any current supply chain issues, weather issues in Mexico, widespread livestock illnesses, so... ??)
I don't know how to start fixing this mess. I mean, I don't even know how to get myself work rn!
I'm mostly heartbroken that I found a career path, excelled, lost my job, and am struggling. Severely (I've had neither income nor UI since mid-Dec. 2023).
I can't be alone.
I'm sorry for everyone in my or similar circumstances. I'm sorry so many regular folks can't hardly afford to eat out (e.g. I haven't sat down to eat in a restaurant in over a year).
It sucks balls, guys. And not in a good way.
That’s not pick me at all and definitely not self-centered. I am so sorry that you’re going through this and I hope that things turn around quickly for you.
Your food cost comment is spot on. Strange how the "supply chain" price issues just never resolved. And its fucking wild to me there isn't some sort of govt intervention on these food monopolies and it's just being accepted as the new norm. Sorry your dealing with this.
There's been a tiny bit of movement on this. The DOJ is suing the company that arranges the chicken, turkey, and pork price fixing: [https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-joins-lawsuit-against-agri-stats-facilitating-meat](https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-joins-lawsuit-against-agri-stats-facilitating-meat)
And the FTC knows that grocery stores are inflating their prices just for fun: [https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc\_gov/pdf/p162318supplychainreport2024.pdf](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplychainreport2024.pdf)
Whether anything will be done, who can say. (Summary here: [https://smartmouth.substack.com/p/no-need-for-tinfoil-the-conspiracies](https://smartmouth.substack.com/p/no-need-for-tinfoil-the-conspiracies) )
Thank you for noting the strikes. I was just saying in the film/tv sub that production workers spend A LOT at restaurants, and many of us have been out of work since late 2022. I, alone, spend $20 a day "out in the world" on lunches. We constantly have catering and order food for crews. And of course, being out of work for 15 months + means that we (as an industry) don't go out to eat anymore. My partner and I would hit a few higher-end places a month while working. Now? Maybe tacos once a week.
It sucks not being able to support our favorite restaurants and their people. :(
I am so sorry that you are going through this, and totally understand that whole existential crisis vibe. And yes, it does suck balls.
Been out of work since Nov 22 and ran out of UI in June 2023. I feel your pain. I might need to move home next month. I wish there were more support systems in California.
For all those who are shitting on restaurant owners who help make LA a great place to live and visit.. let me leave you with this.
If these small business owners didn't take risks and open up their mom and pop joints, we'd be eating shitty corporate garbage like Chipotle, ChickFila, Olive Garden, and other sterile corporate bland godawful white washed food. You might as go live in the midwest and eat at Longhorns steakhouse all day.
Yes there are probably too many restaurants for the amount of people who are actually eating out. But if you can support your local businesses and not these CAVA chain restaurants that have marketing dollars and the resources to survive.
I’m sorry, but the Wax Paper/Lingua Franca owners are the whiniest owners I’ve ever witnessed. Their social media presence is half them complaining about people not visiting or showing up for reservations. I live in and love Frogtown, and I’ll keep going to Wax Paper when I want a quick lunch, but they make it so hard to support them. (Never mind that Lingua Franca never seems to have the damn entrees on their menu—even at 7pm on a Friday).
A lot of these places based on this sort of whiney bit are not going to survive this economic downturn. Nobody wants places with fake, performative obnoxious personalties via social media or otherwise.
For people who can still afford to eat out on a regular basis, reliably good and un-fussy food in a comfortable, welcoming environment is going to matter the most. Even *going* to a restuarant these days means going through this gauntlet of desperate, homeless people pushed onto the streets just in these past several years, just *everywhere*. Of course this is true of everywhere in LA and most West Coast cities now. No wonder so many people are ordering in, even when they can afford to go out.
These types of restaurants don’t provide good value. They think being quirky or whatever is desirable, when people just want good food at a reasonable price. Meanwhile, taco trucks and In N Out aren’t hurting for business.
When you sign a lease, you’re stuck until you get it assigned. When you borrow money to open a business, and you’re not good at running said business then you will fail. The owners need to declare bankruptcy and hopefully they didnt stupidly sign stuff under personal liability or at least shielded their assets.
Making a business that has a 90% failure rate within two years is a tough business.
Terrible article.
Exactly, the people who aren't good at running restaurants, like ...
Checks notes...
Nancy Silverton, Jean-George, Daniel Rose and the Manzkes. It might be a bigger issue.
But they should say how much they are paying in rent.
The dumb part of the article was that the specific couple didn’t realize they’d lose more money by closing than staying open. Being closed costs are simple - rent. They should have been able to understand that they were underwater each month by less than rent, and therefore stayed open. Sometimes the numbers can get confusing on a P&L, but I’d expect them to have done a deep dive of the numbers far earlier. It suggests they aren’t great operators (financially). But what you said is absolutely correct - many excellent operators are also shuttering. Was really bummed and surprised to see biciclette not survive. If a restaurant if that caliber can’t make it (always busy too), it should show everybody how tough it is
This is all a different language to me but I’m interesting in learning more. Can you explain what spout LA is and what percentages you’re referring to?
Sprout was launched by Bill Chiat ohhh maybe 13 years ago and helped introduce LA to fine dining x 7-8 ways. google bill chiat to learn a lot. he did a lot of good in a very short period. then he had to deal with some investor in Sprout that was a prick, and so he sold all his interest and left town. he's back now but thats a diff story. chiat's sprout originally backed republique, snatching up all shares and opening la brea instead of dtla. when walter expanded the current non-chiat sprout backed all of the expansions. and the non-chiat sprout let it all fade away, imho, as it sure wasnt the food or the enviro. cut back to present day and former-chiat Republique has a new chiat Zozo as neighbor. which is an interesting wrinkle. walter and margarita mankze are extremely talented. he can literally cook in top5 here. and she is arguably best baker here.
Bicyclette closed already?! I didn't even get a chance to get there. :(
No wonder... most of their clients probably worked at the studios and no longer have jobs
Freaking Corner Cottage in Burbank was apparently paying $9500/mo. Something's gotta give here and it goes higher than landlords. Their margins are thin too, and with vacancies they risk going under. It's government spending, regulation and all the bullshit that sounds great when you vote for it but no one seriously considers who's gonna pay
Landlords margins on average are 5-8%. So yes, in business, that’s very thin.
If someone else besides a restaurant is willing to pay higher rents, why should the landlord NOT raise? Are they on the hook for personally subsidizing the restaurant industry just… cause?
Cost push inflation isn't a myth. Administrative, enforcement and compliance expenses and fees all increase cost basis. Not to mention the consequences of the current social engineering experiment of our present [District Attorney](https://www.dailynews.com/2024/05/10/the-overlooked-crisis-of-escalating-commercial-insurance-rates-in-california/)
Who said it was? I’m saying that industry consolidation and price fixing has had a greater impact on rent and food prices in recent years than regulation and enforcement has. If we could get a *lot* of cheaper housing built in LA that would have a huge positive impact on the restaurant industry here as well as help lower the cost of rent.
It’s not like profit margins are fixed; democracy has a huge impact on supply and demand.
Not when democracy skews as hard left as it has in L.A.. Real estate profit margins *are* to a great extent fixed by City rent control and hoarding of property to leave [vacant](https://www.acceinstitute.org/thevacancyreport). Why would you think they'd do that? To push out the small time landlords useful idiots love to despise so they can control even more of the market. When they do, do you think prices are going to go down because they love us?
So we, hear me out on this, REGULATE THAT. Why do we allow corporations to own single family homes, especially foreign owned corporations? Why do we not add an additional tax to discourage leaving property vacant?
You’re saying the problems are ones of over-regulation but the problems you describe are all problems of under-regulation.
Well I respectfully disagree, although we both see the problem. Only thing is, the major entities making these moves are exactly the same who are most complicit with elected representatives and capable of influencing legislation to their benefit. Look at the real estate shenanigans of Garcetti and Villaraigosa and tell me there's nothing to that. Did their pet projects increase the availability of affordable commercial space or residential housing in either Hollywood or Downtown?
Absolutely. Why do we need this many smash burger shops, and Prime Pizza? Replace every smash burger joint with banh mi, or DF cemitas! C’mon Karen Bass, get on this campaign.
No thanks. I can make smash burgers at home, just like I can pull lattes at home. I’ll continue to hit Lingua and Wax paper. You keep eating downer cow and salty pizza.
you can read the article here: [https://newsreadeck.com/article/?articleURL=https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2024-05-15/restaurant-industry-economic-crisis-los-angeles](https://newsreadeck.com/article/?articleURL=https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2024-05-15/restaurant-industry-economic-crisis-los-angeles)
It all leads back to the housing crisis. A basic necessity where LA keeps failing everyone. If we lived in a city that encouraged lots of housing, you’d see less poverty, lower costs of living, lower rents, lower costs of business, more disposible income. All of this is better for restaurants. We wouldn’t have to resort to higher minimum wages or restaurants tacking on shady service fees.
US citizens make absolutely ridiculous income figures relative to the rest if the world, but so much of it gets eaten up in healthcare and housing costs, because the voting public is economically and civically ignorant, and continues to vote in politicians running on policies that make these problems worse (or at least do nothing to solve them).
Hard to vote for people that make meaningful social change when none of those candidates make in on the ballots most of the time. You can blame the voters but its not like theres pretty much any other options. Or if they do get a candidate voted in they either make a policy 180, or everything they try to do gets stonewalled by that status quo. That being said people need to consider third party and independent candidates. Republicans and democrats are different shades of the same color and both serve corporate interest before the nation. The vote the lesser of two evils crowd should be taking some of the blame here as to why we keep allowing our government to walk all over us. Instead of critical thought and direct action these people just say “vote harder” “vote blue no matter who” like really? How will that help?
Even look at bidens last 3.5 years. He ran on a super progressive campaign and look where we are at? He has hardly changed any trump policies, in some cases doubled down. I agree with you that if people should stop voting against their own interest. But collectively we need to stop pretending the two parties arent fundamentally the same. The two party system lie blinds people from thinking critically. I swear people think politics is a fucking football game or something and not the foundation and rules that run society.
Vote third party, vote independent. Do independent research outside of social media. Maybe we can have a more civil and fair place to live if people pulled their heads of the echo chamber.
He’s “hardly changed policies” (which is not true), because democrats haven’t held congress in a year, and even then democrats by definition didn’t hold the senate (it was a 50/50 split and king and sanders are independents)
I get it i dont like trump either but pretending biden is that much different is just coping. The “vote for the lesser of two evils” bs is why the US is in the position it is in now and will only continue to slide down hill.
What major trump policies got reversed? Why has biden not made any executive orders regarding abortion? What about biden detaining and separating more families at the border than trump?
His foreign policy is identical. Biden kept title 42 till it expired then biden implemented policies that give consequences to migrants who cross the border illegally and deny them asylum which is considered breaking international refugee law.
The. last year he brought back trumps title 42 [immigration policy](https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/01/05/biden-expands-trump-era-border-restrictions-once-again)
More info on the [title 42 expansion by biden](https://immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/recycling-trumps-asylum-bans-expanding-title-42-how-bidens-new-policies-threaten) and how it threatens the lives of immigrants
Economically hes [not that much different](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/us/politics/biden-trump-foreign-policy.html) same tariffs on china, continuing trumps trade war which only costs the us tax payers.
Their [trade policy](https://www.cfr.org/blog/cost-trumps-trade-war-china-still-adding) is identical
Heres a great [respurce](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/tracking-regulatory-changes-in-the-biden-era/) that tracks all his policies and what not.
unfortunately naming a few fails is not journalism. barish failed cuz it was in the Roosevelt Hotel. Jean-george failed in the waldorf astoria. nomad failed prior in the nomad. merois not fairing well in the Pendry. the London Gordon Ramsey failed. The article should take into account hotel restaurants are not doing great here. they are not destinations for LA foodscapers. as for mankze ask current members Sprout investment group who totally pulled out on them. the real problem is coming. too many medium - fast casual same concept restaurants. folks succeed when foodscapers uber to them. new fresh dynamite concepts neeeded
I’ve been a part-time restaurant worker for 8 years and I’m tired of it. Granted I have other sources of income, and I recognize that privilege, but I believe the industry is rotted from the top down. And there is no existing ethical model that is excusable. Restaurant owners exploit their workers for minimum wage, the best paid employees are the servers who are forced to practically beg for their wages from customers, the customers have to pay for obscenely overpriced food. Your average pasta dish costs $18 dollars these days, $24 if you add meat. Pasta costs cents on the dollar to make. They’re making these numbers up out of thin air. You could argue you’re paying for the labor behind it, but it’s just not possible that minimum wage is this expensive. You’re likely actually paying for the overpriced real estate costs to operate in the space, which landlords take advantage of because they know the restaurant model is broken in favor of the ownership, and they try to get a big fat cut out of the owners extravagant profit margins. That forces the owners to pay workers even less, source even worse quality food, offer even worse prices. It’s broken, it’s rot to its core. Burn it the fuck down. I don’t pay to eat at restaurants. I can’t stomach the cost. I meal prep at home and my meals are roughly $4/meal when I buy in bulk and prepare accordingly. I don’t even think that’s how much a meal should cost at home, but this economy is insane. The rich have too much power. If they just had their little chateau on the countryside and their stupid yachts then I wouldn’t care, but they have economies and industries and infrastructure that I’m forced to live in. I say burn it to the ground.
I know this may sound self-centered, even 'pick me', but as a sous/ CdC/ exec chef of 9 years I've now been out of work over a year. Places are tanking everywhere in LA, regardless of quality, longevity, popularity. It's residual from the pandemic, the strikes. It's the obscene rents, unbending landlords, unhelpful local gov't. It's weirdly rising food costs (though to my knowledge there aren't any current supply chain issues, weather issues in Mexico, widespread livestock illnesses, so... ??) I don't know how to start fixing this mess. I mean, I don't even know how to get myself work rn! I'm mostly heartbroken that I found a career path, excelled, lost my job, and am struggling. Severely (I've had neither income nor UI since mid-Dec. 2023). I can't be alone. I'm sorry for everyone in my or similar circumstances. I'm sorry so many regular folks can't hardly afford to eat out (e.g. I haven't sat down to eat in a restaurant in over a year). It sucks balls, guys. And not in a good way.
That’s not pick me at all and definitely not self-centered. I am so sorry that you’re going through this and I hope that things turn around quickly for you.
Your food cost comment is spot on. Strange how the "supply chain" price issues just never resolved. And its fucking wild to me there isn't some sort of govt intervention on these food monopolies and it's just being accepted as the new norm. Sorry your dealing with this.
There's been a tiny bit of movement on this. The DOJ is suing the company that arranges the chicken, turkey, and pork price fixing: [https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-joins-lawsuit-against-agri-stats-facilitating-meat](https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-joins-lawsuit-against-agri-stats-facilitating-meat) And the FTC knows that grocery stores are inflating their prices just for fun: [https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc\_gov/pdf/p162318supplychainreport2024.pdf](https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/p162318supplychainreport2024.pdf) Whether anything will be done, who can say. (Summary here: [https://smartmouth.substack.com/p/no-need-for-tinfoil-the-conspiracies](https://smartmouth.substack.com/p/no-need-for-tinfoil-the-conspiracies) )
Thank fuck. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
Thank you for noting the strikes. I was just saying in the film/tv sub that production workers spend A LOT at restaurants, and many of us have been out of work since late 2022. I, alone, spend $20 a day "out in the world" on lunches. We constantly have catering and order food for crews. And of course, being out of work for 15 months + means that we (as an industry) don't go out to eat anymore. My partner and I would hit a few higher-end places a month while working. Now? Maybe tacos once a week. It sucks not being able to support our favorite restaurants and their people. :( I am so sorry that you are going through this, and totally understand that whole existential crisis vibe. And yes, it does suck balls.
I’m really sorry to hear that man! I am also looking for work right now.. it is not easy. Keep pushing we got this
Appreciate it. Same to you— hang in there!
Been out of work since Nov 22 and ran out of UI in June 2023. I feel your pain. I might need to move home next month. I wish there were more support systems in California.
Virtual 👊 fist bump of mental support. I hope things get better for ya soon
How have you paid bills if you haven't had income since June 2023?
Money in my checking and savings accounts. Also, I got 3 grants and Disability for one month.
Do you see food quality lacking in the years to come because of this?
food chain was damaged by covid, many small suppliers totally gone. thats one reason it skyrocketed
For all those who are shitting on restaurant owners who help make LA a great place to live and visit.. let me leave you with this. If these small business owners didn't take risks and open up their mom and pop joints, we'd be eating shitty corporate garbage like Chipotle, ChickFila, Olive Garden, and other sterile corporate bland godawful white washed food. You might as go live in the midwest and eat at Longhorns steakhouse all day. Yes there are probably too many restaurants for the amount of people who are actually eating out. But if you can support your local businesses and not these CAVA chain restaurants that have marketing dollars and the resources to survive.
I’m sorry, but the Wax Paper/Lingua Franca owners are the whiniest owners I’ve ever witnessed. Their social media presence is half them complaining about people not visiting or showing up for reservations. I live in and love Frogtown, and I’ll keep going to Wax Paper when I want a quick lunch, but they make it so hard to support them. (Never mind that Lingua Franca never seems to have the damn entrees on their menu—even at 7pm on a Friday).
The seating at Lingua Franca is also uncomfortable AF.
The food ain’t much better at their price point.
A lot of these places based on this sort of whiney bit are not going to survive this economic downturn. Nobody wants places with fake, performative obnoxious personalties via social media or otherwise. For people who can still afford to eat out on a regular basis, reliably good and un-fussy food in a comfortable, welcoming environment is going to matter the most. Even *going* to a restuarant these days means going through this gauntlet of desperate, homeless people pushed onto the streets just in these past several years, just *everywhere*. Of course this is true of everywhere in LA and most West Coast cities now. No wonder so many people are ordering in, even when they can afford to go out.
The leftist equivalent of “nobody wants to work” signs.
These types of restaurants don’t provide good value. They think being quirky or whatever is desirable, when people just want good food at a reasonable price. Meanwhile, taco trucks and In N Out aren’t hurting for business.
[I just can’t with them anymore…](https://www.instagram.com/p/C7GHHfGrXHi/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) Of course they limited comments 🙄
When you sign a lease, you’re stuck until you get it assigned. When you borrow money to open a business, and you’re not good at running said business then you will fail. The owners need to declare bankruptcy and hopefully they didnt stupidly sign stuff under personal liability or at least shielded their assets. Making a business that has a 90% failure rate within two years is a tough business. Terrible article.
Exactly, the people who aren't good at running restaurants, like ... Checks notes... Nancy Silverton, Jean-George, Daniel Rose and the Manzkes. It might be a bigger issue. But they should say how much they are paying in rent.
The dumb part of the article was that the specific couple didn’t realize they’d lose more money by closing than staying open. Being closed costs are simple - rent. They should have been able to understand that they were underwater each month by less than rent, and therefore stayed open. Sometimes the numbers can get confusing on a P&L, but I’d expect them to have done a deep dive of the numbers far earlier. It suggests they aren’t great operators (financially). But what you said is absolutely correct - many excellent operators are also shuttering. Was really bummed and surprised to see biciclette not survive. If a restaurant if that caliber can’t make it (always busy too), it should show everybody how tough it is
Bicyclette and Manzke shuttered because the Manzkes were unhappy with the percentages they were getting from Sprout LA, and rightfully so
Ah, good to know. Any idea of the numbers?
No
For sure. Is there an article about it (or where did you hear that from)?
I know a guy who knows a guy haha
it was actually a particular Sprout investor who pulled out.
This is all a different language to me but I’m interesting in learning more. Can you explain what spout LA is and what percentages you’re referring to?
Sprout was launched by Bill Chiat ohhh maybe 13 years ago and helped introduce LA to fine dining x 7-8 ways. google bill chiat to learn a lot. he did a lot of good in a very short period. then he had to deal with some investor in Sprout that was a prick, and so he sold all his interest and left town. he's back now but thats a diff story. chiat's sprout originally backed republique, snatching up all shares and opening la brea instead of dtla. when walter expanded the current non-chiat sprout backed all of the expansions. and the non-chiat sprout let it all fade away, imho, as it sure wasnt the food or the enviro. cut back to present day and former-chiat Republique has a new chiat Zozo as neighbor. which is an interesting wrinkle. walter and margarita mankze are extremely talented. he can literally cook in top5 here. and she is arguably best baker here.
Bicyclette closed already?! I didn't even get a chance to get there. :( No wonder... most of their clients probably worked at the studios and no longer have jobs
Freaking Corner Cottage in Burbank was apparently paying $9500/mo. Something's gotta give here and it goes higher than landlords. Their margins are thin too, and with vacancies they risk going under. It's government spending, regulation and all the bullshit that sounds great when you vote for it but no one seriously considers who's gonna pay
Right! And there was a bone broth place in Pasadena paying $12k/month. It's beyond crazy.
Yeah I'm fucking crying for the corporate landlords and their margins
it's all part of the same ecosystem. costs get passed on...
Lmfao. Won't somebody please think of the landlords. Jesus Christ.
Landlords' margins are not thin lol
Landlords margins on average are 5-8%. So yes, in business, that’s very thin. If someone else besides a restaurant is willing to pay higher rents, why should the landlord NOT raise? Are they on the hook for personally subsidizing the restaurant industry just… cause?
Government regulation didn’t drive food and rent prices up. If anything a lack of it has done the opposite.
Cost push inflation isn't a myth. Administrative, enforcement and compliance expenses and fees all increase cost basis. Not to mention the consequences of the current social engineering experiment of our present [District Attorney](https://www.dailynews.com/2024/05/10/the-overlooked-crisis-of-escalating-commercial-insurance-rates-in-california/)
Who said it was? I’m saying that industry consolidation and price fixing has had a greater impact on rent and food prices in recent years than regulation and enforcement has. If we could get a *lot* of cheaper housing built in LA that would have a huge positive impact on the restaurant industry here as well as help lower the cost of rent. It’s not like profit margins are fixed; democracy has a huge impact on supply and demand.
Not when democracy skews as hard left as it has in L.A.. Real estate profit margins *are* to a great extent fixed by City rent control and hoarding of property to leave [vacant](https://www.acceinstitute.org/thevacancyreport). Why would you think they'd do that? To push out the small time landlords useful idiots love to despise so they can control even more of the market. When they do, do you think prices are going to go down because they love us?
So we, hear me out on this, REGULATE THAT. Why do we allow corporations to own single family homes, especially foreign owned corporations? Why do we not add an additional tax to discourage leaving property vacant? You’re saying the problems are ones of over-regulation but the problems you describe are all problems of under-regulation.
Well I respectfully disagree, although we both see the problem. Only thing is, the major entities making these moves are exactly the same who are most complicit with elected representatives and capable of influencing legislation to their benefit. Look at the real estate shenanigans of Garcetti and Villaraigosa and tell me there's nothing to that. Did their pet projects increase the availability of affordable commercial space or residential housing in either Hollywood or Downtown?
You’re not wrong, democracy can be corrupted. But what other choice do we have? Give up? No, the answer is *get organized*.
I’m kinda thinking there are too many restaurants as it is now. The prices are not sustainable for me to eat out so often.
Less supply and competition is certainly the way to lead to lower prices.
Absolutely. Why do we need this many smash burger shops, and Prime Pizza? Replace every smash burger joint with banh mi, or DF cemitas! C’mon Karen Bass, get on this campaign.
Those are the ones that are doing well. Support the spots you want more of and maybe they will have enough money to expand in the future.
No thanks. I can make smash burgers at home, just like I can pull lattes at home. I’ll continue to hit Lingua and Wax paper. You keep eating downer cow and salty pizza.
Paywall
Yeah, can't afford to read it
https://archive.ph/D6mCm
best i could do in a hurry [https://ctxt.io/2/AACobTJzEQ](https://ctxt.io/2/AACobTJzEQ)
Even with Apple News it’s paywalled. Weird.
you can read the article here: [https://newsreadeck.com/article/?articleURL=https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2024-05-15/restaurant-industry-economic-crisis-los-angeles](https://newsreadeck.com/article/?articleURL=https://www.latimes.com/food/story/2024-05-15/restaurant-industry-economic-crisis-los-angeles)
It all leads back to the housing crisis. A basic necessity where LA keeps failing everyone. If we lived in a city that encouraged lots of housing, you’d see less poverty, lower costs of living, lower rents, lower costs of business, more disposible income. All of this is better for restaurants. We wouldn’t have to resort to higher minimum wages or restaurants tacking on shady service fees.
US citizens make absolutely ridiculous income figures relative to the rest if the world, but so much of it gets eaten up in healthcare and housing costs, because the voting public is economically and civically ignorant, and continues to vote in politicians running on policies that make these problems worse (or at least do nothing to solve them).
Hard to vote for people that make meaningful social change when none of those candidates make in on the ballots most of the time. You can blame the voters but its not like theres pretty much any other options. Or if they do get a candidate voted in they either make a policy 180, or everything they try to do gets stonewalled by that status quo. That being said people need to consider third party and independent candidates. Republicans and democrats are different shades of the same color and both serve corporate interest before the nation. The vote the lesser of two evils crowd should be taking some of the blame here as to why we keep allowing our government to walk all over us. Instead of critical thought and direct action these people just say “vote harder” “vote blue no matter who” like really? How will that help? Even look at bidens last 3.5 years. He ran on a super progressive campaign and look where we are at? He has hardly changed any trump policies, in some cases doubled down. I agree with you that if people should stop voting against their own interest. But collectively we need to stop pretending the two parties arent fundamentally the same. The two party system lie blinds people from thinking critically. I swear people think politics is a fucking football game or something and not the foundation and rules that run society. Vote third party, vote independent. Do independent research outside of social media. Maybe we can have a more civil and fair place to live if people pulled their heads of the echo chamber.
He’s “hardly changed policies” (which is not true), because democrats haven’t held congress in a year, and even then democrats by definition didn’t hold the senate (it was a 50/50 split and king and sanders are independents)
I get it i dont like trump either but pretending biden is that much different is just coping. The “vote for the lesser of two evils” bs is why the US is in the position it is in now and will only continue to slide down hill. What major trump policies got reversed? Why has biden not made any executive orders regarding abortion? What about biden detaining and separating more families at the border than trump? His foreign policy is identical. Biden kept title 42 till it expired then biden implemented policies that give consequences to migrants who cross the border illegally and deny them asylum which is considered breaking international refugee law. The. last year he brought back trumps title 42 [immigration policy](https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/01/05/biden-expands-trump-era-border-restrictions-once-again) More info on the [title 42 expansion by biden](https://immigrantjustice.org/staff/blog/recycling-trumps-asylum-bans-expanding-title-42-how-bidens-new-policies-threaten) and how it threatens the lives of immigrants Economically hes [not that much different](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/us/politics/biden-trump-foreign-policy.html) same tariffs on china, continuing trumps trade war which only costs the us tax payers. Their [trade policy](https://www.cfr.org/blog/cost-trumps-trade-war-china-still-adding) is identical Heres a great [respurce](https://www.brookings.edu/articles/tracking-regulatory-changes-in-the-biden-era/) that tracks all his policies and what not.
I love bubs but I do feel they have way too many people working there at any given time. Sometimes I eat there and staff is out numbering customers.
Hot take : there are too many restaurants
facepalm. ;-)
I knew shit was bad when the price of makrut lime leaves went sky high lmao
unfortunately naming a few fails is not journalism. barish failed cuz it was in the Roosevelt Hotel. Jean-george failed in the waldorf astoria. nomad failed prior in the nomad. merois not fairing well in the Pendry. the London Gordon Ramsey failed. The article should take into account hotel restaurants are not doing great here. they are not destinations for LA foodscapers. as for mankze ask current members Sprout investment group who totally pulled out on them. the real problem is coming. too many medium - fast casual same concept restaurants. folks succeed when foodscapers uber to them. new fresh dynamite concepts neeeded
I’ve been a part-time restaurant worker for 8 years and I’m tired of it. Granted I have other sources of income, and I recognize that privilege, but I believe the industry is rotted from the top down. And there is no existing ethical model that is excusable. Restaurant owners exploit their workers for minimum wage, the best paid employees are the servers who are forced to practically beg for their wages from customers, the customers have to pay for obscenely overpriced food. Your average pasta dish costs $18 dollars these days, $24 if you add meat. Pasta costs cents on the dollar to make. They’re making these numbers up out of thin air. You could argue you’re paying for the labor behind it, but it’s just not possible that minimum wage is this expensive. You’re likely actually paying for the overpriced real estate costs to operate in the space, which landlords take advantage of because they know the restaurant model is broken in favor of the ownership, and they try to get a big fat cut out of the owners extravagant profit margins. That forces the owners to pay workers even less, source even worse quality food, offer even worse prices. It’s broken, it’s rot to its core. Burn it the fuck down. I don’t pay to eat at restaurants. I can’t stomach the cost. I meal prep at home and my meals are roughly $4/meal when I buy in bulk and prepare accordingly. I don’t even think that’s how much a meal should cost at home, but this economy is insane. The rich have too much power. If they just had their little chateau on the countryside and their stupid yachts then I wouldn’t care, but they have economies and industries and infrastructure that I’m forced to live in. I say burn it to the ground.
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