With higher minimum wage laws now in effect, some WeHo businesses are trying to offset the cost of paying employees more by having you make up the difference. Hamburger Mary’s, for example, has added a 5 percent fee to their bills. Opponents of the increase warned that customers would ultimately bear the financial burden of higher minimum wages, and evidence is mounting that they were correct. Coupled with runaway inflation, it’s becoming less and less affordable to live, work or play in WeHo.
Have you noticed extra fees or higher prices on your receipts? Take a photo and post it in the comments below!
If you don’t like the 5% “service charge” don’t go to Hamburger Mary’s. I not going to OR Bar because I won’t pay $25 for a drink but I have no problem with others choosing to spend their money as they wish. In and Out on Sunset is advertising $19 an hour for new hires; as they are in Hollywood, you can’t blame that on our City Council. It is not the minimum wage alone is fueling the wage hikes, it is a shortage of workers, particularly in the food service industry. But if the prices at Hamburger Mary’s or… Read more »
Stop being poor.
No reason to be a Karen, Steve!
The juvenile politics of West Hollywood participate in a race to the bottom. A city without credibility. 🙄🙄🙄
I have been annoyed by this kind of surcharge for quite some time. It’s not new. It started when businesses were required to provide health insurance so Norm’s added their surcharge for that purpose as did the rose café in Venice, and many other places. Why not just increase your price but no, they want to make a political statement. I’ve always thought that tips should be based on the quality of service not the price of the meal. Therefore, a tip at norms often time should be more than one at the pricey restaurants in West Hollywood where service… Read more »
we were told that if we did not approve it, the county would levy the tax and it would not go to weho’s bank account. The other city around us did not all actually raise the tax, so it was a bit of malarky. The increases to our revenues have been great, but they still cut the sheriff…so the residents pay more and get less.
The City was safer and City Hall more effective when the budget was half its’ current size.
The City is happy to spend massive amounts on frivolous “look at us” projects while safety and infrastructure exponentially diminish. The City strives for the headlines and awards for various projects hoping that the residents don’t look beneath the surface. WE DO, it is crumbling and the City Council members ignore these issues because they doesn’t provide media coverage for their self serving ideas.
People complain, and should, but vote for someone more conservative as far as spending. Dems love to spend other people’s money. Vote for it, live with it.
Republicans spend just as much as Dems. They just give to the rich and steal from the poor.
Time to go to the no tipping European model; menu price includes service. Tipping was traditionally to help wait staff make up for poor wages. Customers can’t be expected to cover both. The exception is when there is exceptional service and some discretionary cash is left on the table.
Good point.
To all the City Council members that have never owned a business , been responsible for anything or operated in the real world, please educate your selves. Trial and error hare brained ideas demonstrating how you all can flex your muscles is definitely not the answer. Less than marginally intelligent people. Such a shame.🙄
The 1st time it happened to was at Norm’s on La Cienega a few years ago. The food was good & cheap as was the service so I did not mind.
That’s in Los Angeles
Hollywood, LA, BH dinning, here I come!!!
Restaurant space on the north side of Sunset in LA just became a lot more valuable. Watch how fast WH eateries dry up!
West Hollywood has just become a town of scammers and Third World Extremist mayors.
People do not take kindly to being taken advantage of.
so very true.
Someone at Hamburger Mary’s and other restaurants adding these various surcharges and fees needs to consult with a labor lawyer on what they do with the money collected. According to the ordinance, those fees are collected and must be disbursed to the employees in addition to regular pay. So, it’s $17.50/hour, plus tips (that have increased substantially over recent years), plus share of the additional surcharges and fees. I get the message that restaurants are trying to send, but they can’t keep that money as an offset.
So hourly rage increase to almost $20an hour, tips (most want 20%) and then on top of that the “fees” they are collecting in their name. No need to get an education, table server in WeHo is now a real career! (And they need to clearly state on the menu that those “fees” will be added to the bill. They can’t just surprise customers with something they didn’t print in the menu with the other charges/prices, otherwise, don’t pay it!)
Please name one restaurant that qualifies for a 20% tip. Possibly Sunset Tower the only respectably, chic restaurant in West Hollywood. Being a server as a career in Europe may be a legitimate career but server/actress/model/ actor/server in West Hollywood 🙄🙄🙄. And then there is the food.😃
West Hollywood minimum wage is now $18.35 an hour (as of last July). It’s actually the highest in the country I believe.
Do I get to take 10% off Mary’s bill because their food sucks?
Good idea. A Food Sucks Discount
The food sucks. The service is awful. The bill is ridiculous. The shows are forgettable. Never going back.
The minimum wage, the sales tax and inflation are hitting West Hollywood hard. Breakfast of two eggs, bacon and hash browns + coffee at Norm’s in Weho was $18.93 this morning not including the tip. Significantly higher than their other locations. Eating from Weho El Pollo Loco is $5 to $7 more than in Hollywood, 1-1/2 miles away. Pavilions prices have gone up again within the past 4 days. What’s amazing is that with all the talk on the Council about affordable housing, they do nothing to make life in Weho more affordable for residents, on the contrary they just… Read more »
My family doesn’t shop at Pavilions or anywhere in West Hollywood any more.
I totally get that. I tended to shop out of Weho as well.
Where are all the people that are moving into affordable housing going to shop? They won’t be able to afford the prices in this city.
Uhhhh… Norm’s is not in West Hollywood, It is in the City of Los Angeles. Perhaps you were thinking of Mel’s on Sunet which is in WeHo.
Not to argue, but Norm’s is in West Hollywood:
470 N La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90048
WeHo border ends at the 500 block on the east side of La Cienega.
https://www.weho.org/city-government/contact-us/map-of-weho
Nope, it’s across the border in LA.
YEs, I was shocked at El Pollo’s prices and learned they are higher here vs. LA. Add to your list of pricing increases Trader Joe’s & Sprouts. Inflation plus the hourly wages is killing the wallet.
My bill for two breakfast was $40. FOR BREAKFAST!
I’m giving a 1-star review to any business that does this. Sick and tired of the foul stinking rich not budging when they live in the lap of disgusting excessive luxury while the slaves who do the actual work barely get by. This whole city needs a socialist revolution to destroy the stinking Rich once and for all. RISE UP IN ENRAGED DEFIANCE!!
Ugh. Imagine passing through an indirect tax onto the end user. Disgusting. DEFIE