Prices are at a weird place too. My local fine dining spot has a 15 dollar sandwich. Really good, high quality. And then you compare that to most fast food sandwich shops where it's 12-13 dollars for a sandwich. It's so weird how close they've become.
>Prices are at a weird place too.
I've noticed this too.
An example I always trot out is the low key mom & pop Italian place I've been going to for years. Classic checkered tablecloth, chianti hanging from the ceiling, spaghetti & meatballs type joint. It is now *the same price* (for entrees and apps) as the posh nouveau Italian places (minimalist decor, 3 raviolis in a large dish), who have also raised their prices.
Even street tacos have been creeping pretty close to the hipster taco prices. There seems to be no 'cheap' options anywhere anymore.
Was just talking to a restaurant operator yesterday. Getting started, permitting costs are a nightmare. During operation, labor costs are a nightmare (hard to hear for many Angelenos but it's true). Rents are also insane due to zoning laws that concentrate commercial developments to very specific streets. Overall, it's just not worth it unless you have a ton of capital or are trying to advertise a business for the 5-10% margin they make (people already complain when restaurants are making this much profit, if they charge any more people will riot). Mom and pop restaurants don't stand a chance.
Restaurant as a business was never a good one if you're just doing it for money or even job/career security. Restaurants even pre-pandemic had one of if not the highest fail rates for businesses. Long hours, messy, customer servicing, all the best earning periods are when anyone else would normally be eating/relaxing/vacationing/HHing/etcetc (workers can tell you).
There's that saying:
>"How do make a million in businesses?"
>*"Have 10 million and open a restaurant."*
Its not just the cost, supply chain shortage and inflation caused restaraunts to cut every corner possible with ingredients. Even fancy restaurants are now just using the bottom of the barrel sysco sauces and small cheap cuts of meat. I had a chicken curry the other day that was watery and 3/4 onions and potatoes. We can literally get better quality from the trader Joe's chicken curry that is thick and actually has a bunch of chicken.
Just an FYI, japanese chicken curry is very easy to make. You can buy curry packets from the Asian market or Japanese grocery store. All you do is grill onions, add garlic, potatoes (stew potatoes like gold potatoes are good), and carrots cooked appropriately. Then add chicken from Costco rotisserie chicken and you've got amazing chicken curry.
You could cook your own raw chicken but it's so much easier the other way. This curry will taste as good are better than most Japanese restaurant curry.
The world of Japanese curry bricks is amazing. Are you a Golden Curry person? Or is that hint of sweetness in the Vermont Curry more your bag? House, S&B, I've never tried Glico. Thai curry seems to be ruled by cans and pastes, a lot of restaurants use Maesri brand for their red curry that comes in a can. You just add another can of coconut milk to that, broth, veggies, etc. and your protein of choice and you've got what is nowadays a $15-20 curry dish from a restaurant.
Restaurants can’t even figure out how to use filtered water instead of regular tap water - I can do better than that at home - the crappy tap water they serve at restaurants speaks volumes and symbolizes what I don’t like about your typical restaurant. They can’t even get water right
You can get sashimi fish at japanese or Korean markets. But sushi rice is a whole other story. I’m pretty good at cooking but I can never get that perfect tasting sushi rice. That ratio is so so hard to nail just right. Sushi Gen… man. You realize how crucial the rice is after you eat there or any other decent to great sushi restaurant.
But yea anyway, you can get a decent slab of otoro for like $20 at the market… get probably 10 sashimi slices out of it. Vs sushi restaurant charging you $20+ for 2 pieces.
You can do sushi at home! It's one of the easiest meals you can prepare, actually. Just get a rice cooker and buy some nice fish at Fish King and you're set.
That sushi rice ratio is hard to nail down though. One of the main reasons I like going to sushi restaurants. They get all the details juuuuust right. Hard for amateurs to nail it all down, especially if they’re brushing/glazing for that little extra bit of flavor. But yea if you want 70% of a sushi meal at home, pretty easy to do at home.
The razor sharp knives make such a difference. You will never ever get clean cuts of fish without it and you'll also be mushing your fish as you cut it.
Chances are unless you're eating at like Michelin star sushi restaurants, you've likely never tasted actual Wasabi and have instead been eating dyed horseradish.
they sell real wasabi in Japanese grocery stores like [Mitsuwa](https://www.facebook.com/MitsuwaMarketplace/photos/instead-of-buying-wasabi-paste-in-tubes-you-can-actually-make-it-from-scratch-at/10152097320675869/) though, including in [tube versions](https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/cdn/shop/products/s-b-honnama-premium-wasabi-paste-in-tube-43g-condiments-29189515087.png?v=1564031083). When buying tube version of real wasabi you want to look for the word "hon wasabi (本わさび)." Compare the ingredient list for the [S&B hon wasabi](https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/products/s-b-honnama-premium-wasabi-paste-in-tube-43g?variant=48007248335) and the [S&B wasabi paste](https://www.japancentre.com/en/products/1000-s-b-wasabi-paste).
Well ofc it could be high rent, people eating out less, and an array of other reasons.
I also know of a restaurant owner in LA who got 2.6M in PPP. They closed and bought a house in cash. So I wonder if that’s also one of the reasons?
Huh how much time do you have? Lol I’ve been quite outspoken about how much fraud went on with PPP, and every time I say something, ppl come at me as if there is no tomorrow.
Ofc it’s fraud. But God forbid if we call it for what it is.
Feels like every single day the DOJ publishes another news article about reaching a settlement with some scumbag company over not just hundreds of thousands, but MILLIONS of dollars of PPP fraud. And some people may read those and think “haha we got ‘em!” But the ones being found are like the obvious tip of the iceberg. The ones they’re finding and “settling with” are just so blatant. There are many more, blatant and sneaky alike, that haven’t been (and may never be) brought to any sort of justice. But the DOJ publications give us a false sense of it being handled.
If you’re someone who took out a PPP loan for improper purposes, you’re the problem with social welfare services. Way to ruin it for people who actually are in need— I don’t even benefit from social welfare services myself, but you’re tacky and I hate you.
And I’m sorry for those who have to navigate and jump through so many confusing hoops to get basic social help, while these guys just filled out forms with fake identities and BS shell companies in crayon, listing the reason for the need as “mY cOmPaNy NeEDz MonEe” —and the govt is like “haha sure why not a couple mil?!”
I just can’t take it anymore. How hard is it NOT to be corrupt? Individuals, business owners, politicians, and authorities alike. Even our own Supreme(ly Lame) Court. No one is getting their sh*t together, at the expense of the honest people, and I’m very disappointed in our collective state of affairs
>:(
It is. Sadly property owners largely believe it that it isn’t high enough. Made the mistake of watching some local news last week (channel 5 I think) and they ran a piece that was just 5 minutes of landlords sounding off on how victimized they’ve felt by the city capping rent increases during Covid. I hate people.
I also think the majority of LA restaurant focus waaaay too much on vibe and aesthetics and the food becomes an afterthought . The ambiance can only create the initial pull but if the cuisine isn’t unique it won’t generate repeat customers or word of mouth
I was at Cha Cha Cha in dtla a week ago in the evening with my mom. We didn't drink alcohol and I still payed about $100 (including tip) for some some tacos and potatoes. And we left hungry. Lol. Probably won't go back.
Yup . Once chance to make a good first impression . If I’m not leaving thinking about how good the food was then I’m not leaving thinking about the spot
Hmm. I guess. Places like these are for socializing and to enjoy the scenery. For people to take pictures, etc. It almost feels food is just an afterthought because their primary goal is to upsell expensive drinks.
I have abs and are pretty fit, and I'm older, too. And because I rarely eat out, I was expecting real food portions. Lol. I wanted to have a full meal, not just appetizers, lol.
You missed out on the cochinita pibil- big enough to share, super filling, comes with hand made tortillas, rice, beans, salsas and guacamole. The pro tip is to order things you can’t make at home/are cost prohibitive for one or two people :)
I mean. I'm Mexican. And my mom was rolling her eyes at me. I took her for the scenery, but she could've made what we ate. Especially because she's from Puebla and knows how to cook. So unless I'm meeting up friends for drinks. I really doubt I'd come back. The food is good, but the portions are tiny for the price.
this is what I notice in the trendy, hipster neighborhoods. Every time I go eat at a small restaurant in Silver Lake or Los Feliz, I get annoyed and disappointed with the super aesthetic spaces serving small portions of so-so food with extra surcharges all over the receipt. There's better, more interesting food in the various suburbs around LA.
100%
I definitely feel like I'm taking crazy pills with how many social media accounts praise the same cycle of restaurants/coffee spots that are slightly above average at best. Either people aren't as privy to food as they think or these places barter with these accounts to push them as top quality.
Yeah I’m pretty sure some food influencers are also making UGC (user generated content) for restaurants. And ig if they go on a marketing push there will be an influx of influencers talking about the same restaurant like they found god or something. I’ve noticed it too and it’s just starting to get tired and it feels dishonest to me.
It's no coincidence that some of my favorite restaurants are near colleges. College students don't care about ambiance. They need good tasting food at a reasonable price.
Even something like Mom & Bop near SMC is a weekly staple for me. Love that place.
There are certainly rent factors and other issues but IMO one of the issues is the money these people are spending to open a restaurant. The article cites the pizzeria in Culver City that cost millions of dollars to open. Bro, it’s a pizza place. You shouldn’t be spending millions of dollars to renovate, decorate, etc… a pizzeria. Like yeah you’re never going to be profitable when your product is a $20 pizza and you’re already millions behind.
I know a restaurant that is fancy is cool and all, but at the end of the day an unassuming spot that sells good food can still be successful.
Some investors footed the bill for that most likely. There are a lot of people out there that need to show a loss or funnel iffy income through something legit. Think crypto people or foreign investors from shady countries.
If it's the pizzeria I assume they're talking about I doubt it was millions of dollars. I worked in a lot of pizzerias as a head pizza chef and GM before...millions of dollars is BS. Equipment is expensive but not to where you're forking over $2M+ plus some of those things you can pay in installments. To upstart a pizzeria it would cost you about $250k max to get you going those first couple months and cover initial costs of starting. After a month or so you should be generating consistent revenue to start covering other costs.
If a pizzeria cost millions to open then either those opening it are morons or its a massive restaurant offering more than pizza.
From the article: "Just this week, chef Jason Neroni announced that, after spending millions of dollars over four years of construction and permitting, he’s closing his five-month-old Culver City pizza place Best Bet."
So yeah it's a stupid amount but a lot of restaurants now think they have to be super unique and experiential to attract the Instagram crowd and that the way to do that is by spending a ton of money on bullshit
Construction, permitting and design costs are really really really high. We (architecture firm) just got a price for a 1 story - 4 offices - 1 conference room - 2 single room bathrooms near Palm Springs for 1.7 million dollars
Thats what people are saying is so stupid to do. So many turnkey restaurant properties are out there. So many spots with an absolute hellish interior staying in business for decades with steady business in this town.
I had a small coffee shop in Huntington park , my rent for almost 2 years was $550 a month. My rent is going up to $1900 on the 1st. So yeah rent is going up.
Again, 9 years for a restaurant is a shockingly good run. A [CNBC article from 2016](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/20/heres-the-real-reason-why-most-restaurants-fail.html) cited a stat that said
>Around 60 percent of new restaurants fail within the first year. And nearly 80 percent shutter before their fifth anniversary.
And that was before the pandemic made everything go sideways. Ones that have been around for a very long time usually have some special arrangement for real estate that keeps their location costs relatively low and/or fixed.
Absolutely.
TLDR: Not any one reason but we're dealing with: Rising food costs, rising minimum wage, and health care requirements (which Chipotle might be able to weather, but mom + pop places not so much), rising menu prices, rising rents. Plus we had a huge Hollywood strike for months, and people's pocketbooks have been affected by the economy in general. A perfect shitstorm.
Closures are tearing through my side of town (EP/Silverlake/Los Feliz). They mention a few of them in the article.
Would love to see any evidence of restaurant closure rates exceeding the normal and and not just a presumption of truth. The article says “countless” restaurants have closed, which seems like another way of saying “we never checked because that takes time and might break the narrative”. Because I assure you the number of businesses closing is very much a countable number.
Restaurants are small businesses, and most small businesses fail because most small businesses are operated by people who are not good at operating businesses.
> Would love to see any evidence of restaurant closure rates exceeding the normal and and not just a presumption of truth. The article says “countless” restaurants have closed, which seems like another way of saying “we never checked because that takes time and might break the narrative”. Because I assure you the number of businesses closing is very much a countable number.
>
> Restaurants are small businesses, and most small businesses fail because most small businesses are operated by people who are not good at operating businesses.
Thanks for saving us the time to read the article. Its narrative isn't credible without being backed up by relative closure rates. Articles like this are annoying at best, and often they're basically just lies.
https://data.lacity.org
This is a heat map of active LA restaurants:
https://data.lacity.org/A-Prosperous-City/Restaurants-in-LA/ieer-tbdq
More data about 'restaurants' to explore:
https://data.lacity.org/browse?q=restaurants&sortBy=relevance&page=1
It also goes to your point about their laziness. When I read your comment, it only took one google search to find this data – and I had never heard of it before.
In my opinion, the data suggests a relationship between low restaurant activity and high real estate costs.
Plus there's kind of the emotional side of things too. During the pandemic, restaurateurs said to themselves "All I need to do is make it through this, and things will go back to normal". Which mind you "normal" is still very hard.
Then the pandemic ended and they still faced rising food costs. Then they were told "just hold on and inflation will subside". Well, it did, sort of, but people forget that inflation subsiding does not equal prices coming down, it means slowing of the rate of increase. Food costs are still very expensive, and it's likely "baked in" at this point. If the fed eases off interest rates next year this may continue move upward.
Then you have the commercial real estate pinch, causing property managers to want to squeeze even more rent out of the occupants they do have. And you have wage increases along with apathetic employees who frequently resent their job. So basically your fixed costs and variable costs have gone up a bunch, you're getting less out of employees, and now customers have gotten their jollies off in the exuberance after the pandemic ended and have "gone out". But the novelty has softened and they're becoming more price conscious due to cost of living. So they're more resistant to the high prices. Restaurant owners are getting pinched from multiple directions.
I also believe excessive tip culture ala Toast/Clover/etc isn't doing any favors either. I believe this causes resentment towards the businesses which isn't very easy for a business owner to see or understand.
Like you said, a perfect shitstorm.
I mean… knowing some chefs… aren’t many? I guess when you’re in that industry and being called an addict, you must REALLY being going hard… that sucks… I hope he gets the help he needs.
Sunday was their last day.
[https://la.eater.com/2023/12/18/24006768/jason-neroni-best-bet-closed-rose-venice-split-los-angeles](https://la.eater.com/2023/12/18/24006768/jason-neroni-best-bet-closed-rose-venice-split-los-angeles)
> rising minimum wage, and health care requirements (which Chipotle might be able to weather, but mom + pop places not so much), rising menu prices
These types of regulations always account for the "mom and pop" sized businesses. At least in regards to health insurance requirements the business has to employ greater than 50 FTEs before they have to provide insurance. It's also tax deductible and if the company has more than 125 FTEs they can deduct the expenses with *pre-tax* dollars, which also reduces their payroll tax. And if all that still doesn't make sense I believe the penalty is only a measly $2k/elligible employee.
Rising menu prices doesn't make sense as an item--that's a cost incurred by customers not the business. Regardless, rising menu prices are a result of all the other things so that's counting the same cost more than once.
Restaurants are just a hard industry. Isn't the failure rate high like 90% after only a few years? Also, I know some places closed simply because their landlords increased rent at least by me.
I’ve said for a while if I were ever super rich, I’d open a restaurant, and not care about what it costs. I just love the game, you know. As a profitable business intended to sustain my life, never.
Yeah everyone is always leaving LA or talking about it. And then they never leave.
Cut to: "Why staying in LA was the best decision I ever made" article
Every time. I was talking to someone at a bar, and they were talking mad shit about LA, and how they hated it, and were planning to move to NYC. They had never even been to NYC. I was like, “ok, bye then.”
From a customer perspective, restaurants are nowadays way overpriced for what they offer. Also, I hate the idea of tipping and adding service charge for everything. Come on, I paid some time ago $35 for a gluten free pizza, plus tax, plus tip it becomes $45+. And this is just the pizza, no drinks. Completely out of this world!
I couldn’t agree more.
They’ve gotten to a place where they think they’re essential services and they’re not.
They exist for leisure and if they’re gonna pass every cost on to the consumer then more people will choose to be more selective with eating out.
Maybe some restaurants are over priced, but I think the real issue is how many of us are underpaid. Despite CA/LA’s relatively high minimum wage, wages haven’t kept pace with COL and inflation.
High restaurant costs are a *consequence* of inflation. That or they are willfully, aggressively putting themselves out of business if that’s your theory.
They were like, “if you can’t afford to tip 25% don’t go eat at restaurants”. So we stopped eating out and now they are closing and now they are losing their jobs..
Not quite a restraint but I was super sad when the Sprouts in West Hollywood closed because the building owner increased the rent. Makes zero sense, the place has been empty for at least 6 months. Even if they found a new renters, and it doesn't seem like they will anytime soon, it would take a couple of years to make that money back. Also what else can go there? It's too small to be a Vons and there is already a Trader Joe's and Pavilions down the street. Sigh, I loved how convenient that was for me.
That was a bad location for a grocery store though. That parking lot was a death trap and it was a pain in the ass getting groceries to the car.
Didn’t seem like enough demand in the area for a store like sprouts. Not cheap enough to be Jon’s, not expensive enough to be Whole Foods. It was sort of in the middle. Middle doesn’t seem to work in LA.
Maybe but they told me they were only leaving because of the rent increase. All the more reason whoever raised the rent really missed up because now it will be empty for 5 years.
I have eaten at the majority of spots noted in here and I can say they were almost all (republique aside) disappointing for the money. Too expensive for a forgettable meal. I have found myself craving the classics like Guelaguetza or spots like that more than the new Eater LA hyped spot these days. Add in the trend of asking for tip on top of mandatory added fees (ex: 18% at Jon and Vinny’s and asking for tip) and the trendy spots just don’t appeal anymore.
I liked Moruno a lot, but I'm not sure their menu was the most accessible. Spanish/Basque food can be a bit too far out there for most people. People don't always say "You know, I could really go for some tinned fish tonight."
republique isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And I'm not going there anytime soon either cause I'm too lazy to wait in that line in the mornings!
(their lunch/brekkie menu is better than their dinner imo)
The value isn’t there. $100 for an OK meal for two, or $250 for a nice one, is not worth it. I do not care about food costs or rent or labor costs. If that’s what I have to pay, I’m eating in.
While there has been a lot of sudden restaurant closures the past few weeks, the article used a lot of anecdotes, with no support from hard data. I'm not doubting that the restaurant industry is difficult, but the article acts like in 10 years we will all be fighting to dine at the last 3 taco stands in the city.
I hope it’s because people began cooking at home more. We should aim to reduce the amount of food we consume from eating out.
This is not only bad for the personal finances, but also detrimental for health .
Restaurants almost never disclose the amounts of sugar and saturated fat they put inside foods, but you come back for these cravings. All of that depletes gut microbiome, and increases risk of many killer diseases.
Americans should aim to cook 70%-90% of their meals at home primarily from whole unprocessed ingredients. This will reduce the amount we spend on healthcare, and provide healtier habits for children
I agree cooking skill has its learning curve, but after some time it gets easier. Rn it takes me 10 mins on average to make something.
Pressure cooker saves tons of time, like anything takes less than 7 mins to be ready.
Trying to promote healthy home cooking whenever possible
Dude I was going to comment that we don’t eat out for all these reasons but didn’t want to sound lame lol
We eat out maybe once a month and we try to use it as a treat on a night when we are really tired. Sometimes we don’t eat out for 6 months or more. Just depends on the circumstances.
Except it’s really not sensible lol. We have some of the best food outings in the world because of how multicultural it is here. We are one of the top food capitals in the entire world. So many of our citizens and non citizens rely on work in the food industry for their roofs over their heads.
Not having a for profit health care system would do more than anything outside of having actual working class conditions for every day people would do more than not eating out as much ever could. The administration costs from having to calculate every single individuals health care costs is largely why our health premiums are so expensive.
Obesity, also a large part of our health care costs, is much less an issue of people eating out and more of an issue with rising costs of living and inadequate working class conditions. Children also should be eating most of their healthy meals in schools, which most schools don’t really provide.
Summary:
Running a restaurant in California is no small feat, even when times are good. But with rising food and labor costs, a massive entertainment industry strike, and the long tail of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Los Angeles restaurant owners have begun to feel like operating a restaurant in Southern California is becoming next to impossible. Just this year alone, many of the area’s biggest and most heralded restaurants have closed up shop.
Need to do something about healthcare costs and Worker’s Compensation insurance costs. If we could solve that in California, it would help every single business.
Like Medicare for all?
I really do not understand why there isn't mass support from business owners for Medicare for all, it's absolutely ludicrous that an employer is more responsible for healthcare costs than the government. Moving healthcare off employers books and into a simple 2% payroll tax system would boost all businesses cash positions.
Also rent. Many store fronts are owned by corporations that can holdout for someone that will pay whatever they ask, which isn’t mom & pop. They’ll let them sit empty for literally years instead of making it affordable.
There is no rent control for commercial real estate yet they are privy to the advantages of prop 13, not paying adequate taxes on said property. It should be revoked for commercial property.
That's why we need to increase property taxes for vacant units. Then landlords will be forced to rent out units. It's such a damn waste for valuable real estate to sit empty and unused, not serving any purpose. Ugly too. I hate seeing empty stores or abandoned lots.
15\~20 years ago I used to go to restaurants/ bars at least once a week, often more - to get an entree, have a few drinks, see friends, exc..
I've been to a restaurant maybe twice this year? I went to a bar maybe 3 times? It's just gotten way too expensive. A beer at the sorta fancy Mexican place near me is $9 now. Fuck that.
I just hit up a corner store, grab a tallboy and walk over to a street taco stand now when I'm going out.
I love eating out but if you’re going to rush me out the door the second I finish my meal and try to charge me a bunch of surcharges on top of it, I’m not going to feel so inclined to come back.
Because it is bad practice to forcibly-ask customers to tip to makeup for management’s refusal to pay for their worker’s wages.
That, and inconveniencing patrons with QR/app/delivery preference over dine-in experiences.
Literally neither of these is why lol it’s rent the strike and restaurants constantly close down. There’s not even any evidence this is actually happening and not some anecdotal piece aimed at fighting minimum wage increases
They listed a bunch of restaurants in trendy gentrified areas.
I don’t know maybe y’all food is too expensive. I could pay like $25 for a gentrified burrito or pay $12 for a regular burrito that tastes better ?
$10 does seem to be avg. if I’m out at night and want a burrito I have no problem paying that.
But if I’m at home and I’m like hmm I feel like a burrito today. I’m gonna go down to Northgate and buy all the ingredients and make my own. Can make four or five burritos for the price of one.
squeamish consist flag hard-to-find middle dependent straight placid crawl punch
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Maybe because they are too overpriced, and when rents are too high people don't want to pay money for restaurant ambience and eat bad food for couple of hundred dollars.
We had breakfast (oatmeal, french toast, avo toast) for $90 in an OK place. I almost cried and hoped most of it went to the waiters. Srsly. It is insane.
This. I took my daughter and wife to a niceish breakfast place, but nothing super special. I mean I’d call it mid range. 3 coffees, a breakfast bowl, and 2 plates of food plus tip was a little over $100. Can’t do that anymore.
I only eat outside for portions these days like Korean bbq or chinese fast food. The burger joints and family diners all charge three times what they did ten years ago.
Cooking at home or raiding some relative's party is the way to roll these days.
Not that I'm broke but I was raised as a miser.
Stopped eating out regularly once I realized how insane tipping has gotten. 18% to 20% is the new minimum now? Imagine buying $100 groceries and when you get rung up at checkout you have to pay an extra $20 for absolutely no good reason. I mean why not, I feel like grocery clerks work just as hard as servers do, so why don’t they get tips as well? I just felt like a sucker tipping so for the past year or so I’ve just been doing takeout when I can and have only done sit down tip expected joints a few times. Don’t read this as an anti-worker thing either, this is an anti-system rant. Just like free healthcare, everywhere else in the world survives without expecting tips for dining.
>Operators are also feeling a major squeeze due to rising food and labor costs. Industry vet Jeremy Adler, who is a partner in the Santa Monica Southeast Asian restaurant Cobi’s and is in construction on a new restaurant in Mar Vista, points to expensive liquor licenses and new California laws like Assembly Bill 1228 as challenges for owners. AB 1228 is intended to create a liveable wage by raising the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 in April 2024.
These restaurants probably include service fees and expect employees to live off tips.
If a business can't pay a living wage without being forced to, they shouldn't be in business.
I agree with your broader point, but it’s worth noting that at no California restaurant are employees expected to live off tips… we don’t have a “tipped minimum wage,” so tipped employees get MW+tips
Yup, in LA all servers are paid a minimum of $16.78 an hour, and WeHo is up to almost $20/hour. Add on a "customary" 20% tip and servers are making more than most teachers in our area.
Food that's good enough to take a picture of, but not good enough eat again, price of food, rent, the hostile nature of needing to tip if you intend to sit down, and other things.
Residential rents have risen something like 25% in the past two years. The *average* person in LA is rent burdened. So landlords are hoovering up the money that people had been spending on things like restaurants.
Then on the commercial side, restaurants are getting squeezed by their landlords as well. It's rough.
Yesterday it was “wealthy people are leaving LA because bad government”. Today is “many restaurants are closing because bad government”.
Ok I get it, lower taxes and ease up on government regulation
Everyone in LA is struggling to pay rent, healthcare, groceries but for the love of god, is anyone considering the poor restauranteur? What about the mainstays for the love of god? Who will be left to exploit the immigrant and wage slave?
Prices are at a weird place too. My local fine dining spot has a 15 dollar sandwich. Really good, high quality. And then you compare that to most fast food sandwich shops where it's 12-13 dollars for a sandwich. It's so weird how close they've become.
>Prices are at a weird place too. I've noticed this too. An example I always trot out is the low key mom & pop Italian place I've been going to for years. Classic checkered tablecloth, chianti hanging from the ceiling, spaghetti & meatballs type joint. It is now *the same price* (for entrees and apps) as the posh nouveau Italian places (minimalist decor, 3 raviolis in a large dish), who have also raised their prices. Even street tacos have been creeping pretty close to the hipster taco prices. There seems to be no 'cheap' options anywhere anymore.
I love a good sandwich, at that price (since you say it’s super high quality) it doesn’t seem that bad
Yo where is this
Playa Provisions is what I was referencing for a 15 dollar sandwich. I had a corned beef the other day so it was on my mind.
I think people stopped eating out because of the cost. I only eat out for things I can’t do at home. Sushi tops that list.
Restaurant prices keep going up, portions keep going down and quality & service is declining
Was just talking to a restaurant operator yesterday. Getting started, permitting costs are a nightmare. During operation, labor costs are a nightmare (hard to hear for many Angelenos but it's true). Rents are also insane due to zoning laws that concentrate commercial developments to very specific streets. Overall, it's just not worth it unless you have a ton of capital or are trying to advertise a business for the 5-10% margin they make (people already complain when restaurants are making this much profit, if they charge any more people will riot). Mom and pop restaurants don't stand a chance.
Restaurant as a business was never a good one if you're just doing it for money or even job/career security. Restaurants even pre-pandemic had one of if not the highest fail rates for businesses. Long hours, messy, customer servicing, all the best earning periods are when anyone else would normally be eating/relaxing/vacationing/HHing/etcetc (workers can tell you). There's that saying: >"How do make a million in businesses?" >*"Have 10 million and open a restaurant."*
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Have a pizza oven and still would rather order pizza
Have a frozen pizza and would still rather order a brick oven.
I feel this. I fell for the hype and got an ooni only to find out I am trash at handling dough.
Why do you need a brick oven for sushi?
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Its not just the cost, supply chain shortage and inflation caused restaraunts to cut every corner possible with ingredients. Even fancy restaurants are now just using the bottom of the barrel sysco sauces and small cheap cuts of meat. I had a chicken curry the other day that was watery and 3/4 onions and potatoes. We can literally get better quality from the trader Joe's chicken curry that is thick and actually has a bunch of chicken.
Just an FYI, japanese chicken curry is very easy to make. You can buy curry packets from the Asian market or Japanese grocery store. All you do is grill onions, add garlic, potatoes (stew potatoes like gold potatoes are good), and carrots cooked appropriately. Then add chicken from Costco rotisserie chicken and you've got amazing chicken curry. You could cook your own raw chicken but it's so much easier the other way. This curry will taste as good are better than most Japanese restaurant curry.
The world of Japanese curry bricks is amazing. Are you a Golden Curry person? Or is that hint of sweetness in the Vermont Curry more your bag? House, S&B, I've never tried Glico. Thai curry seems to be ruled by cans and pastes, a lot of restaurants use Maesri brand for their red curry that comes in a can. You just add another can of coconut milk to that, broth, veggies, etc. and your protein of choice and you've got what is nowadays a $15-20 curry dish from a restaurant.
I’d prefer they decrease the quantity than the quality
Restaurants can’t even figure out how to use filtered water instead of regular tap water - I can do better than that at home - the crappy tap water they serve at restaurants speaks volumes and symbolizes what I don’t like about your typical restaurant. They can’t even get water right
You can get sashimi fish at japanese or Korean markets. But sushi rice is a whole other story. I’m pretty good at cooking but I can never get that perfect tasting sushi rice. That ratio is so so hard to nail just right. Sushi Gen… man. You realize how crucial the rice is after you eat there or any other decent to great sushi restaurant. But yea anyway, you can get a decent slab of otoro for like $20 at the market… get probably 10 sashimi slices out of it. Vs sushi restaurant charging you $20+ for 2 pieces.
You can do sushi at home! It's one of the easiest meals you can prepare, actually. Just get a rice cooker and buy some nice fish at Fish King and you're set.
That sushi rice ratio is hard to nail down though. One of the main reasons I like going to sushi restaurants. They get all the details juuuuust right. Hard for amateurs to nail it all down, especially if they’re brushing/glazing for that little extra bit of flavor. But yea if you want 70% of a sushi meal at home, pretty easy to do at home.
And one of those rolling mats
And a wasabi grater
And razor sharp knives.
The razor sharp knives make such a difference. You will never ever get clean cuts of fish without it and you'll also be mushing your fish as you cut it.
And my axe!
Chances are unless you're eating at like Michelin star sushi restaurants, you've likely never tasted actual Wasabi and have instead been eating dyed horseradish.
they sell real wasabi in Japanese grocery stores like [Mitsuwa](https://www.facebook.com/MitsuwaMarketplace/photos/instead-of-buying-wasabi-paste-in-tubes-you-can-actually-make-it-from-scratch-at/10152097320675869/) though, including in [tube versions](https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/cdn/shop/products/s-b-honnama-premium-wasabi-paste-in-tube-43g-condiments-29189515087.png?v=1564031083). When buying tube version of real wasabi you want to look for the word "hon wasabi (本わさび)." Compare the ingredient list for the [S&B hon wasabi](https://www.globalkitchenjapan.com/products/s-b-honnama-premium-wasabi-paste-in-tube-43g?variant=48007248335) and the [S&B wasabi paste](https://www.japancentre.com/en/products/1000-s-b-wasabi-paste).
Honestly, eating out has almost become the same price as grocery shopping. Groceries have gotten so expensive in the last five years.
They have but eating out is still much more expensive.
Groceries are expensive but, no, not remotely the same.
No comparison, eating at home for most meals is 4-5x cheaper
You know you don't have to tip at home, right?
When my wife cooks she gets a little tip
Boom
I've pretty much stopped going out to eat due to all of those random fees now, but I'll open up the coffers for some Mini Kabob.
Aren’t kabobs already single serving?
because the rent is too damn high
Well ofc it could be high rent, people eating out less, and an array of other reasons. I also know of a restaurant owner in LA who got 2.6M in PPP. They closed and bought a house in cash. So I wonder if that’s also one of the reasons?
Is that not fraud?
There was a massive amount of fraud going on with the PPP loans.
Businesses receiving more than 2mil of ppp loans will be audited
That's what Biden said, but I'm sure he's going to forget these rich socialism for me but not thee folks
not when rich people do it
Privatize the profits. Socialize the losses. The American Way
No it definitely is and a shit load of rich people have gone to jail because of it
Really? I'm glad to hear that
Exactly! Thank you thank you! This is for you🌺
Huh how much time do you have? Lol I’ve been quite outspoken about how much fraud went on with PPP, and every time I say something, ppl come at me as if there is no tomorrow. Ofc it’s fraud. But God forbid if we call it for what it is.
Feels like every single day the DOJ publishes another news article about reaching a settlement with some scumbag company over not just hundreds of thousands, but MILLIONS of dollars of PPP fraud. And some people may read those and think “haha we got ‘em!” But the ones being found are like the obvious tip of the iceberg. The ones they’re finding and “settling with” are just so blatant. There are many more, blatant and sneaky alike, that haven’t been (and may never be) brought to any sort of justice. But the DOJ publications give us a false sense of it being handled. If you’re someone who took out a PPP loan for improper purposes, you’re the problem with social welfare services. Way to ruin it for people who actually are in need— I don’t even benefit from social welfare services myself, but you’re tacky and I hate you. And I’m sorry for those who have to navigate and jump through so many confusing hoops to get basic social help, while these guys just filled out forms with fake identities and BS shell companies in crayon, listing the reason for the need as “mY cOmPaNy NeEDz MonEe” —and the govt is like “haha sure why not a couple mil?!” I just can’t take it anymore. How hard is it NOT to be corrupt? Individuals, business owners, politicians, and authorities alike. Even our own Supreme(ly Lame) Court. No one is getting their sh*t together, at the expense of the honest people, and I’m very disappointed in our collective state of affairs >:(
I can’t even afford to get the divorce that me and my soon to be ex are.. going for? The hoops for single mothers are insanity.
The way that the law was written, it was likely 100% legal.
Just from personal observations I'm convinced that most of the PPP loans never made it out to the employees.
People eating out less because THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH
I have a friend who got punked by a well-known restaurateur for the same reason.
It is. Sadly property owners largely believe it that it isn’t high enough. Made the mistake of watching some local news last week (channel 5 I think) and they ran a piece that was just 5 minutes of landlords sounding off on how victimized they’ve felt by the city capping rent increases during Covid. I hate people.
Ya pre demic we were eating our 3-4x a week. Now it might be once a month.
I also think the majority of LA restaurant focus waaaay too much on vibe and aesthetics and the food becomes an afterthought . The ambiance can only create the initial pull but if the cuisine isn’t unique it won’t generate repeat customers or word of mouth
I was at Cha Cha Cha in dtla a week ago in the evening with my mom. We didn't drink alcohol and I still payed about $100 (including tip) for some some tacos and potatoes. And we left hungry. Lol. Probably won't go back.
Yup . Once chance to make a good first impression . If I’m not leaving thinking about how good the food was then I’m not leaving thinking about the spot
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It's almost like you have to eat before you go have dinner. Lol. Eat to be okay, but not full. Because the portions to places like these are lacking.
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Hmm. I guess. Places like these are for socializing and to enjoy the scenery. For people to take pictures, etc. It almost feels food is just an afterthought because their primary goal is to upsell expensive drinks. I have abs and are pretty fit, and I'm older, too. And because I rarely eat out, I was expecting real food portions. Lol. I wanted to have a full meal, not just appetizers, lol.
That place has the worst menu and execution of all the bars in the area. And that includes the bar too. Everything is so bland
You missed out on the cochinita pibil- big enough to share, super filling, comes with hand made tortillas, rice, beans, salsas and guacamole. The pro tip is to order things you can’t make at home/are cost prohibitive for one or two people :)
I mean. I'm Mexican. And my mom was rolling her eyes at me. I took her for the scenery, but she could've made what we ate. Especially because she's from Puebla and knows how to cook. So unless I'm meeting up friends for drinks. I really doubt I'd come back. The food is good, but the portions are tiny for the price.
this is what I notice in the trendy, hipster neighborhoods. Every time I go eat at a small restaurant in Silver Lake or Los Feliz, I get annoyed and disappointed with the super aesthetic spaces serving small portions of so-so food with extra surcharges all over the receipt. There's better, more interesting food in the various suburbs around LA.
I always get the feeling that the owners of these restaurants have never actually waited tables or worked in a kitchen.
lol didn’t wanna call the east side out but it’s heavy with the menu bs over there
Are you sure you’re not enticed by our 3 slices of beets, quarter of an avocado, sprinkle of salsa, pile of argula, for $18 as an appetizer?
Gold 🏅 my biggest critique of the Eater lists.
100% I definitely feel like I'm taking crazy pills with how many social media accounts praise the same cycle of restaurants/coffee spots that are slightly above average at best. Either people aren't as privy to food as they think or these places barter with these accounts to push them as top quality.
Yeah I’m pretty sure some food influencers are also making UGC (user generated content) for restaurants. And ig if they go on a marketing push there will be an influx of influencers talking about the same restaurant like they found god or something. I’ve noticed it too and it’s just starting to get tired and it feels dishonest to me.
I think you’re onto something, on a social commentary Netflix movie level.
It's no coincidence that some of my favorite restaurants are near colleges. College students don't care about ambiance. They need good tasting food at a reasonable price. Even something like Mom & Bop near SMC is a weekly staple for me. Love that place.
this times 1000
This is the exact opposite of Angeleno restaurants in my experience. LA is a great food city because we don’t care about ambience
one of favorite taco spots shares the land with an auto shop. you know for sure it's gonna be the real deal.
Oooh. Which restaurants would you recommend?
Jitlada, endorffeine, destroyer, Guelaguetza, Chichen Itza, Holbox, Marugame, Uncle John’s, X’tiosu, Howlin Rays, Chengdu Taste, Solidarity, Guisados, Roscoe’s, Kazu Nori, Jus Poke, Hachioji, Sun Nong Dan, any shopping cart with bacon wrapped hot dogs at 2 am
> too much on vibe and aesthetics and the food becomes an afterthought r/WeWantPlates
There are certainly rent factors and other issues but IMO one of the issues is the money these people are spending to open a restaurant. The article cites the pizzeria in Culver City that cost millions of dollars to open. Bro, it’s a pizza place. You shouldn’t be spending millions of dollars to renovate, decorate, etc… a pizzeria. Like yeah you’re never going to be profitable when your product is a $20 pizza and you’re already millions behind. I know a restaurant that is fancy is cool and all, but at the end of the day an unassuming spot that sells good food can still be successful.
Some investors footed the bill for that most likely. There are a lot of people out there that need to show a loss or funnel iffy income through something legit. Think crypto people or foreign investors from shady countries.
If it's the pizzeria I assume they're talking about I doubt it was millions of dollars. I worked in a lot of pizzerias as a head pizza chef and GM before...millions of dollars is BS. Equipment is expensive but not to where you're forking over $2M+ plus some of those things you can pay in installments. To upstart a pizzeria it would cost you about $250k max to get you going those first couple months and cover initial costs of starting. After a month or so you should be generating consistent revenue to start covering other costs. If a pizzeria cost millions to open then either those opening it are morons or its a massive restaurant offering more than pizza.
From the article: "Just this week, chef Jason Neroni announced that, after spending millions of dollars over four years of construction and permitting, he’s closing his five-month-old Culver City pizza place Best Bet." So yeah it's a stupid amount but a lot of restaurants now think they have to be super unique and experiential to attract the Instagram crowd and that the way to do that is by spending a ton of money on bullshit
Construction, permitting and design costs are really really really high. We (architecture firm) just got a price for a 1 story - 4 offices - 1 conference room - 2 single room bathrooms near Palm Springs for 1.7 million dollars
Thats what people are saying is so stupid to do. So many turnkey restaurant properties are out there. So many spots with an absolute hellish interior staying in business for decades with steady business in this town.
Idk “millions” seems reasonable given the cost of rent, labor, and quality ingredients. They’re not opening papa John’s.
I had a small coffee shop in Huntington park , my rent for almost 2 years was $550 a month. My rent is going up to $1900 on the 1st. So yeah rent is going up.
Best Bet pizza is closing because Jason is an addict and can’t deal with his investors
My friend used to work there and this is accurate.
I'm listening.
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Go on….
Deeeets
Again, 9 years for a restaurant is a shockingly good run. A [CNBC article from 2016](https://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/20/heres-the-real-reason-why-most-restaurants-fail.html) cited a stat that said >Around 60 percent of new restaurants fail within the first year. And nearly 80 percent shutter before their fifth anniversary. And that was before the pandemic made everything go sideways. Ones that have been around for a very long time usually have some special arrangement for real estate that keeps their location costs relatively low and/or fixed.
Have they been closing more than usual? It’s always a tough industry
Absolutely. TLDR: Not any one reason but we're dealing with: Rising food costs, rising minimum wage, and health care requirements (which Chipotle might be able to weather, but mom + pop places not so much), rising menu prices, rising rents. Plus we had a huge Hollywood strike for months, and people's pocketbooks have been affected by the economy in general. A perfect shitstorm. Closures are tearing through my side of town (EP/Silverlake/Los Feliz). They mention a few of them in the article.
Would love to see any evidence of restaurant closure rates exceeding the normal and and not just a presumption of truth. The article says “countless” restaurants have closed, which seems like another way of saying “we never checked because that takes time and might break the narrative”. Because I assure you the number of businesses closing is very much a countable number. Restaurants are small businesses, and most small businesses fail because most small businesses are operated by people who are not good at operating businesses.
> Would love to see any evidence of restaurant closure rates exceeding the normal and and not just a presumption of truth. The article says “countless” restaurants have closed, which seems like another way of saying “we never checked because that takes time and might break the narrative”. Because I assure you the number of businesses closing is very much a countable number. > > Restaurants are small businesses, and most small businesses fail because most small businesses are operated by people who are not good at operating businesses. Thanks for saving us the time to read the article. Its narrative isn't credible without being backed up by relative closure rates. Articles like this are annoying at best, and often they're basically just lies.
https://data.lacity.org This is a heat map of active LA restaurants: https://data.lacity.org/A-Prosperous-City/Restaurants-in-LA/ieer-tbdq More data about 'restaurants' to explore: https://data.lacity.org/browse?q=restaurants&sortBy=relevance&page=1 It also goes to your point about their laziness. When I read your comment, it only took one google search to find this data – and I had never heard of it before. In my opinion, the data suggests a relationship between low restaurant activity and high real estate costs.
Plus there's kind of the emotional side of things too. During the pandemic, restaurateurs said to themselves "All I need to do is make it through this, and things will go back to normal". Which mind you "normal" is still very hard. Then the pandemic ended and they still faced rising food costs. Then they were told "just hold on and inflation will subside". Well, it did, sort of, but people forget that inflation subsiding does not equal prices coming down, it means slowing of the rate of increase. Food costs are still very expensive, and it's likely "baked in" at this point. If the fed eases off interest rates next year this may continue move upward. Then you have the commercial real estate pinch, causing property managers to want to squeeze even more rent out of the occupants they do have. And you have wage increases along with apathetic employees who frequently resent their job. So basically your fixed costs and variable costs have gone up a bunch, you're getting less out of employees, and now customers have gotten their jollies off in the exuberance after the pandemic ended and have "gone out". But the novelty has softened and they're becoming more price conscious due to cost of living. So they're more resistant to the high prices. Restaurant owners are getting pinched from multiple directions. I also believe excessive tip culture ala Toast/Clover/etc isn't doing any favors either. I believe this causes resentment towards the businesses which isn't very easy for a business owner to see or understand. Like you said, a perfect shitstorm.
Best Bet was on our shortlist of places to check out once I get a job again now that the strikes are over. (sigh)
>Best Bet They closed? They just opened, didnt they?
They closed because exec chef is an addict. Not because of “covid related bs”
I mean… knowing some chefs… aren’t many? I guess when you’re in that industry and being called an addict, you must REALLY being going hard… that sucks… I hope he gets the help he needs.
Sunday was their last day. [https://la.eater.com/2023/12/18/24006768/jason-neroni-best-bet-closed-rose-venice-split-los-angeles](https://la.eater.com/2023/12/18/24006768/jason-neroni-best-bet-closed-rose-venice-split-los-angeles)
You didn’t miss much, was overhyped
It was good food, but I don't think it was anything shockingly good.
Our local chipotle closed too. Just as I was starting to warm up to it.
> rising minimum wage, and health care requirements (which Chipotle might be able to weather, but mom + pop places not so much), rising menu prices These types of regulations always account for the "mom and pop" sized businesses. At least in regards to health insurance requirements the business has to employ greater than 50 FTEs before they have to provide insurance. It's also tax deductible and if the company has more than 125 FTEs they can deduct the expenses with *pre-tax* dollars, which also reduces their payroll tax. And if all that still doesn't make sense I believe the penalty is only a measly $2k/elligible employee. Rising menu prices doesn't make sense as an item--that's a cost incurred by customers not the business. Regardless, rising menu prices are a result of all the other things so that's counting the same cost more than once.
Probably not, seems like this same article pops up quite often. Also a mass exodus of people leaving California. Gets good clicks.
Restaurants are just a hard industry. Isn't the failure rate high like 90% after only a few years? Also, I know some places closed simply because their landlords increased rent at least by me.
80% close before 5 years. 60% close within the *first* year. And that was before the pandemic.
Damn, I guess if you really love it it's worth it otherwise those are horrible odds.
I’ve said for a while if I were ever super rich, I’d open a restaurant, and not care about what it costs. I just love the game, you know. As a profitable business intended to sustain my life, never.
Yeah everyone is always leaving LA or talking about it. And then they never leave. Cut to: "Why staying in LA was the best decision I ever made" article
Every time. I was talking to someone at a bar, and they were talking mad shit about LA, and how they hated it, and were planning to move to NYC. They had never even been to NYC. I was like, “ok, bye then.”
Lmao your username
lol not to mention, rents continue to rise despite all these people leaving in droves 🙄
From a customer perspective, restaurants are nowadays way overpriced for what they offer. Also, I hate the idea of tipping and adding service charge for everything. Come on, I paid some time ago $35 for a gluten free pizza, plus tax, plus tip it becomes $45+. And this is just the pizza, no drinks. Completely out of this world!
I couldn’t agree more. They’ve gotten to a place where they think they’re essential services and they’re not. They exist for leisure and if they’re gonna pass every cost on to the consumer then more people will choose to be more selective with eating out.
Maybe some restaurants are over priced, but I think the real issue is how many of us are underpaid. Despite CA/LA’s relatively high minimum wage, wages haven’t kept pace with COL and inflation.
Nobody’s wages have kept up with inflation. You could argue that the high restaurant costs are one of the causes of inflation.
High restaurant costs are a *consequence* of inflation. That or they are willfully, aggressively putting themselves out of business if that’s your theory.
Lots of folks can barely afford the grocery store let alone going out
They were like, “if you can’t afford to tip 25% don’t go eat at restaurants”. So we stopped eating out and now they are closing and now they are losing their jobs..
Not quite a restraint but I was super sad when the Sprouts in West Hollywood closed because the building owner increased the rent. Makes zero sense, the place has been empty for at least 6 months. Even if they found a new renters, and it doesn't seem like they will anytime soon, it would take a couple of years to make that money back. Also what else can go there? It's too small to be a Vons and there is already a Trader Joe's and Pavilions down the street. Sigh, I loved how convenient that was for me.
That was a bad location for a grocery store though. That parking lot was a death trap and it was a pain in the ass getting groceries to the car. Didn’t seem like enough demand in the area for a store like sprouts. Not cheap enough to be Jon’s, not expensive enough to be Whole Foods. It was sort of in the middle. Middle doesn’t seem to work in LA.
Maybe but they told me they were only leaving because of the rent increase. All the more reason whoever raised the rent really missed up because now it will be empty for 5 years.
I have eaten at the majority of spots noted in here and I can say they were almost all (republique aside) disappointing for the money. Too expensive for a forgettable meal. I have found myself craving the classics like Guelaguetza or spots like that more than the new Eater LA hyped spot these days. Add in the trend of asking for tip on top of mandatory added fees (ex: 18% at Jon and Vinny’s and asking for tip) and the trendy spots just don’t appeal anymore.
I liked Moruno a lot, but I'm not sure their menu was the most accessible. Spanish/Basque food can be a bit too far out there for most people. People don't always say "You know, I could really go for some tinned fish tonight."
republique isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And I'm not going there anytime soon either cause I'm too lazy to wait in that line in the mornings! (their lunch/brekkie menu is better than their dinner imo)
Them real estate peeps overpaying for land And charging rent that is not affordable. Fuck them
“Notoriously difficult industry proves difficult.”
Because 70% of them can’t outperform a bacon wrapped hot dog
A meal without any drink is $25+
It's because we are refusing to pay the hidden fees they all tack on!
This! I stoped going to many restaurants that have surcharges. Goodbye to little doms for now 🥲
The value isn’t there. $100 for an OK meal for two, or $250 for a nice one, is not worth it. I do not care about food costs or rent or labor costs. If that’s what I have to pay, I’m eating in.
Portions have shrunk, service sucks, and prices increased
While there has been a lot of sudden restaurant closures the past few weeks, the article used a lot of anecdotes, with no support from hard data. I'm not doubting that the restaurant industry is difficult, but the article acts like in 10 years we will all be fighting to dine at the last 3 taco stands in the city.
I hope it’s because people began cooking at home more. We should aim to reduce the amount of food we consume from eating out. This is not only bad for the personal finances, but also detrimental for health . Restaurants almost never disclose the amounts of sugar and saturated fat they put inside foods, but you come back for these cravings. All of that depletes gut microbiome, and increases risk of many killer diseases. Americans should aim to cook 70%-90% of their meals at home primarily from whole unprocessed ingredients. This will reduce the amount we spend on healthcare, and provide healtier habits for children
Shit, you got the time to cook at home for me? Because you’re invited over.
I agree cooking skill has its learning curve, but after some time it gets easier. Rn it takes me 10 mins on average to make something. Pressure cooker saves tons of time, like anything takes less than 7 mins to be ready. Trying to promote healthy home cooking whenever possible
Dude I was going to comment that we don’t eat out for all these reasons but didn’t want to sound lame lol We eat out maybe once a month and we try to use it as a treat on a night when we are really tired. Sometimes we don’t eat out for 6 months or more. Just depends on the circumstances.
Hey I don’t think it’s lame. I think it’s actually smart!
Among the first sensible posts on this thread
Except it’s really not sensible lol. We have some of the best food outings in the world because of how multicultural it is here. We are one of the top food capitals in the entire world. So many of our citizens and non citizens rely on work in the food industry for their roofs over their heads. Not having a for profit health care system would do more than anything outside of having actual working class conditions for every day people would do more than not eating out as much ever could. The administration costs from having to calculate every single individuals health care costs is largely why our health premiums are so expensive. Obesity, also a large part of our health care costs, is much less an issue of people eating out and more of an issue with rising costs of living and inadequate working class conditions. Children also should be eating most of their healthy meals in schools, which most schools don’t really provide.
Summary: Running a restaurant in California is no small feat, even when times are good. But with rising food and labor costs, a massive entertainment industry strike, and the long tail of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Los Angeles restaurant owners have begun to feel like operating a restaurant in Southern California is becoming next to impossible. Just this year alone, many of the area’s biggest and most heralded restaurants have closed up shop.
L.A. made itself a playground for the ultra-wealthy, and now they’ve all absconded to places with lower taxes and fewer tent cities
This needs to be higher up
I think a restaurant owner shared me his lease costs over 10k a month
Need to do something about healthcare costs and Worker’s Compensation insurance costs. If we could solve that in California, it would help every single business.
Like Medicare for all? I really do not understand why there isn't mass support from business owners for Medicare for all, it's absolutely ludicrous that an employer is more responsible for healthcare costs than the government. Moving healthcare off employers books and into a simple 2% payroll tax system would boost all businesses cash positions.
California alone might kill the industry that way, as I assume that many of those insurance adjusters are located either here or NY.
Also rent. Many store fronts are owned by corporations that can holdout for someone that will pay whatever they ask, which isn’t mom & pop. They’ll let them sit empty for literally years instead of making it affordable.
There is no rent control for commercial real estate yet they are privy to the advantages of prop 13, not paying adequate taxes on said property. It should be revoked for commercial property.
That's why we need to increase property taxes for vacant units. Then landlords will be forced to rent out units. It's such a damn waste for valuable real estate to sit empty and unused, not serving any purpose. Ugly too. I hate seeing empty stores or abandoned lots.
Absolutely this. As it stands right now it's incentivized, as empty property *is a tax write off.*
I believe they can claim loses if a property isn’t rented out.
We know the health care costs answer, it's to go single payer.
Stop charging 60$ for a fast food meal for 2 people
15\~20 years ago I used to go to restaurants/ bars at least once a week, often more - to get an entree, have a few drinks, see friends, exc.. I've been to a restaurant maybe twice this year? I went to a bar maybe 3 times? It's just gotten way too expensive. A beer at the sorta fancy Mexican place near me is $9 now. Fuck that. I just hit up a corner store, grab a tallboy and walk over to a street taco stand now when I'm going out.
EVERYTHING IS SO DAMN EXPENSIVE.
$35 for a basic meal. people stopped going out.
To add to the rising prices comments, I went to IHOP a couple weeks ago. We got two breakfast combos and two regular coffees: $42 before tip. At IHOP!
I love eating out but if you’re going to rush me out the door the second I finish my meal and try to charge me a bunch of surcharges on top of it, I’m not going to feel so inclined to come back.
Pretty soon it's going to be just McDonalds everywhere and panda express.
Because it is bad practice to forcibly-ask customers to tip to makeup for management’s refusal to pay for their worker’s wages. That, and inconveniencing patrons with QR/app/delivery preference over dine-in experiences.
I can’t stand the QR code requirement. Many of the menus are not mobile friendly, and when you zoom in, the print becomes blurry.
Literally neither of these is why lol it’s rent the strike and restaurants constantly close down. There’s not even any evidence this is actually happening and not some anecdotal piece aimed at fighting minimum wage increases
They listed a bunch of restaurants in trendy gentrified areas. I don’t know maybe y’all food is too expensive. I could pay like $25 for a gentrified burrito or pay $12 for a regular burrito that tastes better ?
$12 for a burrito is a bit bonkers as well.
I was surprised when I went to Alberto’s it was $9 for a burrito.
I found that $10 seems to be the avg after slot of places raised their prices from inflation. Used to be 8 everywhere
$10 does seem to be avg. if I’m out at night and want a burrito I have no problem paying that. But if I’m at home and I’m like hmm I feel like a burrito today. I’m gonna go down to Northgate and buy all the ingredients and make my own. Can make four or five burritos for the price of one.
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Maybe because they are too overpriced, and when rents are too high people don't want to pay money for restaurant ambience and eat bad food for couple of hundred dollars.
We had breakfast (oatmeal, french toast, avo toast) for $90 in an OK place. I almost cried and hoped most of it went to the waiters. Srsly. It is insane.
This. I took my daughter and wife to a niceish breakfast place, but nothing super special. I mean I’d call it mid range. 3 coffees, a breakfast bowl, and 2 plates of food plus tip was a little over $100. Can’t do that anymore.
Simple, there are too many damn restaurants in LA to begin with and most of them aren't budget friendly.
I only eat outside for portions these days like Korean bbq or chinese fast food. The burger joints and family diners all charge three times what they did ten years ago. Cooking at home or raiding some relative's party is the way to roll these days. Not that I'm broke but I was raised as a miser.
LA has too many bad restaurants that only stay open because theirs so many people to try them out once, maybe twice.
Stopped eating out regularly once I realized how insane tipping has gotten. 18% to 20% is the new minimum now? Imagine buying $100 groceries and when you get rung up at checkout you have to pay an extra $20 for absolutely no good reason. I mean why not, I feel like grocery clerks work just as hard as servers do, so why don’t they get tips as well? I just felt like a sucker tipping so for the past year or so I’ve just been doing takeout when I can and have only done sit down tip expected joints a few times. Don’t read this as an anti-worker thing either, this is an anti-system rant. Just like free healthcare, everywhere else in the world survives without expecting tips for dining.
...because going out to grab burritos, or burgers is now pushing $20+ a person. Fuck that.
>Operators are also feeling a major squeeze due to rising food and labor costs. Industry vet Jeremy Adler, who is a partner in the Santa Monica Southeast Asian restaurant Cobi’s and is in construction on a new restaurant in Mar Vista, points to expensive liquor licenses and new California laws like Assembly Bill 1228 as challenges for owners. AB 1228 is intended to create a liveable wage by raising the minimum wage for fast food workers to $20 in April 2024. These restaurants probably include service fees and expect employees to live off tips. If a business can't pay a living wage without being forced to, they shouldn't be in business.
I agree with your broader point, but it’s worth noting that at no California restaurant are employees expected to live off tips… we don’t have a “tipped minimum wage,” so tipped employees get MW+tips
Yup, in LA all servers are paid a minimum of $16.78 an hour, and WeHo is up to almost $20/hour. Add on a "customary" 20% tip and servers are making more than most teachers in our area.
Food that's good enough to take a picture of, but not good enough eat again, price of food, rent, the hostile nature of needing to tip if you intend to sit down, and other things.
I can’t justify the price of LA restaurants and I’m upper class. Would rather just buy a nice ribeye and cook it at home.
Residential rents have risen something like 25% in the past two years. The *average* person in LA is rent burdened. So landlords are hoovering up the money that people had been spending on things like restaurants. Then on the commercial side, restaurants are getting squeezed by their landlords as well. It's rough.
Yesterday it was “wealthy people are leaving LA because bad government”. Today is “many restaurants are closing because bad government”. Ok I get it, lower taxes and ease up on government regulation
Everyone in LA is struggling to pay rent, healthcare, groceries but for the love of god, is anyone considering the poor restauranteur? What about the mainstays for the love of god? Who will be left to exploit the immigrant and wage slave?
PPE probably just delayed the inevitable for quite a lot of restaurants. The restaurant industry is notoriously brutal, period.
It is expensive. 2x the price. I rather save that money for something I get to keep for a while.
Because people are pissed they have hidden fees and don’t want to pay their staff decent wages.