Seattle restaurants closing at a high rate, thanks in part to the $15 min. wage (Bellevue: coupon, felony)

[dubfan]

Originally Posted by RVD90277

of course the other thing that these restaurants can do is the same thing that all chinese restaurants do in the international district....no, i don't mean hire illegal immigrants and make them work solely for tips...i mean, hire like 1 waitress for the entire restaurant so that the service will be poor. their staff budget can be the same if you just reduce your headcount by 50%.

oh, you want to complain that your water wasn't refilled during your meal, etc.? oh well, that's the price you pay. there are plenty of restaurants where the service is poor but there's a line out the door.

That makes sense. Seattle diners already have pretty low standards for service compared to many other cities in this country. It's already pretty common for restaurants and bars to be understaffed, and it's not because they can't hire anyone. On the bright side, I will have another good reason to improve my cooking ability.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by victorianpunk

I will concede that people in Seattle will still dine out in Seattle even if it means paying more, but I ask this:

If you live in north Seattle, and you have a choice of ordering a pizza from Shoreline or North Seattle, and the Shoreline pizza is 20% cheaper and the same delivery time, which one would you order?

If you live in Georgetown and want to get something to eat, are you going to drive to West Seattle, or save money and pay less by driving to Tukwila?

if I live in Georgetown and want something to eat, there are enough good places to eat right in Georgetown that I'd just walk to one, rather than drive to either West Seattle or Tukwila.
And the pizza? It would depend on the pizza. There's a lot of bad pizza around Seattle. It would be worth an extra 20% if the pizza was good. I'm cheap when it comes to most things. But I'll spend money on good pizza.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by RVD90277

of course the other thing that these restaurants can do is the same thing that all chinese restaurants do in the international district....no, i don't mean hire illegal immigrants and make them work solely for tips...i mean, hire like 1 waitress for the entire restaurant so that the service will be poor. their staff budget can be the same if you just reduce your headcount by 50%.

oh, you want to complain that your water wasn't refilled during your meal, etc.? oh well, that's the price you pay. there are plenty of restaurants where the service is poor but there's a line out the door.

Not only that, but there are restaurants where there's a line out the door, the service is poor, and the food sucks.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Not only that, but there are restaurants where there's a line out the door, the service is poor, and the food sucks.

Now that you mention it, I don't recall ever getting stellar service at Paseo despite waiting in some ridiculous lines. The Cuban sandwiches were good but not excellent. It was, however, a short windy drive down the hill and about half the cost of happy hour at either Ray's Cafe or Anthony's right across the street. Granted, to get the same view as Ray's or Anthony's while you dine you have to walk the dirt path next to the Elks lodge to get to the secret beach.

Despite having North Beach access, secret beach is in many cases a better beach to eat takeout food at.

[coregis]

Originally Posted by victorianpunk

As usual, reality has a very pro-business bias:

"he move comes after the mini-cheesecake mini-chain caused a stir in the minimum wage debate earlier this year when its ownership said an immediate $15 an hour wage increase would force the Broadway dessert shop to close and the company would need to lay off of half of its staff."

After $15 minimum wage fight, Broadway cheesecake shop The Confectional pares back | CHS Capitol Hill Seattle

So much for "no restaurants closing".

If you want to bring up restaurants not included in the OP's article...

I guess it's 100 steps forward, 1 step back.

Undaunted by new minimum wage, Seattle restaurant entrepreneurs make plans to extend Capitol Hill food+drink

Some businesses simply can't hack it. Or perhaps the Confectional's owner just didn't want to risk moving into a higher tax bracket.

[RotseCherut]

Originally Posted by coregis

If you want to bring up restaurants not included in the OP's article...

I guess it's 100 steps forward, 1 step back.

Undaunted by new minimum wage, Seattle restaurant entrepreneurs make plans to extend Capitol Hill food+drink

Some businesses simply can't hack it. Or perhaps the Confectional's owner just didn't want to risk moving into a higher tax bracket.

What brave business owners..

[victorianpunk]

Originally Posted by mkarch

I'd order the one I like better. Typical pizza delivery bill in my household is $35, 20% more is $42. It's already a waste of money vs making my own which I can do for under $10. The extra $7 would not be the deciding factor, convenience and quality is.

You are not really answering the question. A regular working class person living in North Seattle, if presented with a choice of a $35 pizza or a $42 pizza, will order the $35 pizza.

Granted, you have the liberals who want the "organic, sustainably, metaphysical baked, hydraulically formed artisan artese gluten-free vegan friendly pizza made from locally sourced non-grain wheat germ infused dough," and will pay big bucks for it, but the average working class man and woman living on the Aurora corridor is not a hipster and hence does not have that kind of money to spend on a politically correct pizza.

I think what you and Rotse are missing is that most of the restaurants make their money on people that spend quite a bit to eat out. I bet if you did an inventory, something like 70% of the revenue is coming from households that spend over $1,500 a month on dining. There is going to be some re-balancing, but not quite the kind you predict. Dining out, eating prepared food is a luxury that is not affected by cost the same was as other luxuries like $6/pack cigarettes and tall boys.

I've worked in the restaurant industry for over a decade, I understand these things better than you do. Unless you're talking Canlis, every restaurant has to deal with price sensitivity in guests. I've seen people not order the roast duck for $35, but seen its sales increase when we changed the sides and portions and lowered to it $29. I've also seen customers THROW FITS over not getting a $2 off parking validation...and of course this is after they dropped over $200 on dinner

Would paying full price for parking make or break them? No. But they still wanted to save.

It is a common myth the Seattle Occutards throw around is that price-sensitivity does not exist in people with more money to spend. That is simply untrue. People with six figure incomes are just as cautious about spending their money as working class people are.

And no one is even asking this: if grocery prices go up (and they will) will working class people EVER buy groceries in Seattle? A trip to Shoreline is worth it to save $70 on groceries.


This is going to be bad for this city, and it only takes three minutes of thinking to realize that. I'm just happy I have a chance to get out of here before it really makes things difficult for businesses and people.

[victorianpunk]

Originally Posted by coregis

If you want to bring up restaurants not included in the OP's article...

Completely besides the point.

I guess it's 100 steps forward, 1 step back.

Undaunted by new minimum wage, Seattle restaurant entrepreneurs make plans to extend Capitol Hill food+drink

Some businesses simply can't hack it. Or perhaps the Confectional's owner just didn't want to risk moving into a higher tax bracket.

So "losing money" means people move into "higher tax bracket"?

Obama voters...gotta love em.

[victorianpunk]

Originally Posted by RotseCherut

VictorianPunk, you are one of the more rational-minded and sensible posters I enjoy on this forum. I'm sorry to see you leave Seattle.. Maybe you should consider moving out to Snohomish County or East King County, which is much more conservative, instead and trying to help Washingtonians re-claim their state. But, I can understand your sentiments and why you wish to leave.

Bellevue, I think in the next 10 years will be the new boom town and will eventually replace Seattle as the major city center of the Puget Sound, because of Seattle's insanely suicidal politics which war against the very foundations which made the city so successful to begin. Seattle was a thriving blue-collar/white-collar city that was moderate and sane in its politics for a long time, but then all these outsiders decided to move in, like this socialist lady from India and now are going to fix everything. They are going to tell us how we need to think, eat, vote and what we can and cannot believe in. I fear that Seattle may one day create its own constitution such as the mayor of New York did. However, it will become an even much worse of a city-state than New York City has become.

Thanks.

But my restaurant is national and I have a chance to transfer to our Charlotte location, and they are opening a second location in Charlotte as well.

But I do like the East Side and think it will eclipse Seattle soon. NO ONE is going to want to do business in Seattle proper soon and this minimum wage nonsense is just the beginning. They also want to have every employer provide paid maternity leave and paid vacations...yep, that part-time, seasonal barista at Starbucks needs two weeks paid vacation alright

I've noticed what few conservatives, libertarians and moderated there are around here either live on the East Side or are moving to the East Side. And they have elected Republicans there and everything. I can't see Bellevue NOT growing by leaps and bounds thanks to the stupidity of the Seattle politicians and people.

I've just never seen a city, ANY CITY, where the voices of business and/or non-leftist voices are just not given the time of day. I've heard San Fransisco and Berkley are also like this, but even in NYC you have some Republicans in power (from Staten Island mainly) and you do here alternative voices.

It is absurd that Seattle would elect a Marxist but would never, EVER allow a moderate Republican to run, let alone win.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by victorianpunk

And no one is even asking this: if grocery prices go up (and they will) will working class people EVER buy groceries in Seattle? A trip to Shoreline is worth it to save $70 on groceries.


This is going to be bad for this city, and it only takes three minutes of thinking to realize that. I'm just happy I have a chance to get out of here before it really makes things difficult for businesses and people.

I'm going to have to give you a little nudge on this one. I think you know the answer and aren't admitting it to yourself because it's not what you want to hear.

The working class are already leaving the city. They're not who the businesses cater to. They're not the ones buying houses and having babies. They aren't going to drive up to Shoreline or down to Burien to do grocery shopping because they'll shop where they live - which isn't going to be in Seattle.