The Official Los Angeles Shopping + Dining Thread

[foodguy]

without getting into the argument of health care charges, service charges, tipping, etc., i haven't been yet, but loved his food at Patina and at church and state. and i know several people of variously discerning palates who have all been enthusiastic.

 

[lawyerdad]



Where they add anywhere from 5-10% on top of your bill to 'give healthcare' or 'benefits' of some kind? Why not just add it to the price of the food rather than pretend and hide it in the notes?

Also, it says it is voluntary, but is automatically added. So for tip can you put a negative percent to balance it out or what?

Yes, that's the practice I was referring to. You can obviously drop the tip; I don' t know if you can actually do a "negative" tip.
A long debate can be had about the substantive merits of the approach, and reasonable minds can differ (although my own views are generally in line with where yours seem to be). But I was perhaps more bothered by the blatant hypocrisy and intellectual dishonesty offered as "justification" by the little clique of LA restauranteurs who decided to roll this out together. They did a whole little PR campaign about it that was riddled with logical fallacies and simple mistatements of fact. I found it really offensive. (And let me own: given that I have no real ties to the industry, there's no particular reason aside from general curmudgeonosity why I should take personal offense at their disingenuous justifications for this element of their business strategy.)

 

[foodguy]

it was certainly poorly thought out. they would have done better to just shut up and raise their prices. but i know the folks involved and except for one of them, their intentions were good. the downside of simply tacking the 3% onto the dish prices is that many (most?) restaurant leases are written with a percent of the gross included. so they would have effectively had to add more than 3% to the prices in order to net 3% to cover the costs. and there were tax implications on top of that. unfortunately, they chose not to make the argument simple, for reasons that aren't quite clear.
next up: tips and minimum wage. this is going to be a biggie. california is one of the few states where tipped employees get the same minimum wage as everyone else. So a waiter at a big deal restaurant, who's pulling down $500 a night in tips gets the same minimum wage as a line cook in back who gets nothing (even pooled tips can only be divided among actual service personnel ... there have even been attempts to have line cooks work one table a night so they could qualify). that's how you wind up with the odd situation where waiters are buying second homes while kitchen workers are doing four-way shares on scummy rentals.

 

[venividivicibj]

that's how you wind up with the odd situation where waiters are buying second homes

 

[Kid Nickels]



They did a whole little PR campaign about it that was riddled with logical fallacies and simple mistatements of fact. I found it really offensive. (And let me own: given that I have no real ties to the industry, there's no particular reason aside from general curmudgeonosity why I should take personal offense at their disingenuous justifications for this element of their business strategy.)

Who are we to question the logical reasoning and factual analysis of one seeking self-validation through furthering some agenda? Oh right. People who spent years studying and training to become certified professionals in logical reasoning and factual analysis.

 

[lawyerdad]



Who are we to question the logical reasoning and factual analysis of one seeking self-validation through furthering some agenda? Oh right. People who spent years studying and training to become certified professionals in logical reasoning and factual analysis.

Kudos to Nickels for providing a raison d'etre for every cranky post (which is to say 97.6% of my posts) I've ever made on the internet.

 

[piluchavez]

Republique is good. Had dinner there for New Years eve. Steak w/frittes, winter salad, and charred veggies were my faves. Tried their breakfast 2 weeks ago, it was just ok. My sandwich was essentially Eggslut+sausage patty.

 

[Kid Nickels]



Kudos to Nickels for providing a raison d'etre for every cranky post (which is to say 97.6% of my posts) I've ever made on the internet.

Hahaha… now I've just committed the cardinal sin my criminal law professor warned me about... I'm involved in a conspiracy!!

lololol

Cheers, LD

 

[JL77]

I've been to Republique a handful of times for both brunch and dinner, as it's right down the street from my shop. It's two very different restaurants depending on when you go. Brunch is quite casual, line-up, order at the counter and then find a seat anywhere. You can order off the menu or choose from their display of pastries and baked goods. On most days, the line is out the door to the sidewalk, which equates to about a 20 minute wait. Dinner is much less casual. The menu is quite extensive and priced on the higher-end though not ludicrous in my opinion. I've liked almost everything I've had there, but the frites, which some have said were the best in the city, have just been okay in my opinion.

 

[doctorman]

it was certainly poorly thought out. they would have done better to just shut up and raise their prices. but i know the folks involved and except for one of them, their intentions were good. the downside of simply tacking the 3% onto the dish prices is that many (most?) restaurant leases are written with a percent of the gross included. so they would have effectively had to add more than 3% to the prices in order to net 3% to cover the costs. and there were tax implications on top of that. unfortunately, they chose not to make the argument simple, for reasons that aren't quite clear.
next up: tips and minimum wage. this is going to be a biggie. california is one of the few states where tipped employees get the same minimum wage as everyone else. So a waiter at a big deal restaurant, who's pulling down $500 a night in tips gets the same minimum wage as a line cook in back who gets nothing (even pooled tips can only be divided among actual service personnel ... there have even been attempts to have line cooks work one table a night so they could qualify). that's how you wind up with the odd situation where waiters are buying second homes while kitchen workers are doing four-way shares on scummy rentals.

we should just eliminate tips altogether, like in most european and asian countries. i'm ok with making the menu a little (15%) more expensive. most waiters i know do not report honestly of their tips so on paper they are just dirty poor. and other tax payers, including those that make less, are paying for that. let the restaurants give the waiters a fair (a higher) wage and let the free market weed out the cheap owners.

 

[piluchavez]

Anybody know if there are any other places to get breakfast tacos besides Home State?

 

[jlchau]

Anybody know if there are any other places to get breakfast tacos besides Home State?

Haven't had them yet but Guisados does breakfast tacos on Sunday I believe.

 

[lawyerdad]



Anybody know if there are any other places to get breakfast tacos besides Home State?

Tons of brick and mortar places, plus some trucks. What parts of town?

 

[piluchavez]



Tons of brick and mortar places, plus some trucks. What parts of town?

Los Feliz area. Just moved here from Texas where breakfast tacos were in abundance. Didn't realize it was mostly a Central Texas thing.

 

[lawyerdad]



Los Feliz area. Just moved here from Texas where breakfast tacos were in abundance. Didn't realize it was mostly a Central Texas thing.

It's been a long time since I lived over there, but have you checked out Yucca's Hut? I can't remember if they do breakfast tacos per se, but it's worth knowing about regardless.