The Working Lunch

The industry was active on Capitol Hill the week as industry leaders at IFA & NRA helped usher in new legislation to bring some much-needed certainty to the laws around joint employers. We are joined by our good friend Michael Layman, Chief Advocacy Officer at the International Franchise Association, to bring us up to speed on the new bill and what operators should expect going forward. And th...

McDonalds has taken their Happy Meal marbles and gone home. We do a deep dive on why McDonald’s parted ways with our industry’s premier association and assess their grievances,opine on their announcement rollout, and speculate on what it means for both them and the industry going forward.

Cracker Barrel folded like a checkered tablecloth in the face of right-wing backlash over their logo change. Uncle Herschel is safely back in his rocking chair on the porch but is it over? And who’s next? We’ll take apart this whole saga and discuss what other brands can learn from what happened in the blink of an eye to an iconic American brand. And who’s up for some flying burritos? Chipotle str...

We take a look at the evolving issue of Extended Producer Responsibility and the likelihood that restaurants will be playing an increasingly active role in the recycling system. Seven states have passed some type of EPR law and the first few are starting to take effect. We are joined by Michael Washburn and Chloe Kapanen from the Washburn Consulting Group who are helping to guide the industry on h...

While the Golden State always seems to be in some level of crazy, it appears that major metros in southern California have gone off the deep end. Los Angeles is considering a $30/hr minimum wage for hospitality workers in the city, $29.50 down the road in Long Beach, and $25/hr on the docket for San Diego. What in the world is going on out there? We’ll take a look. And a major compromise in Washin...

The big beautiful bill may be big and it may be beautiful but it is far from perfect. Lots of errors and missteps are becoming clearer and one big one may significantly impact corporate charitable contributions and in the restaurant industry, food donation is at the top of the list. We talk to Jim Larson, the Vice President of Development for Food Donation Connection - a major industry partner - t...

The Fourth of July period is usually a pretty sleepy time in the public policy world but this year was anything but. Big beautiful bills, escalating fights over alcohol and sugary beverages and ICE becoming the highest-funded law enforcement agency in the country were just a few of the stories percolating while most of us were at backyard barbecues. We’ll discuss what happened while we were all wa...

The Administration keeps changing its mind on immigration enforcement and ICE raids. How should restaurant operators view all this and what should they be prepared for? We’ll discuss. And the President was asked about recent legislation introduced by a Republican senator to increase the minimum wage to $15/hr. He was caught off-guard and didn’t offer an opinion, but unlike his Republican predecess...

Say it ain’t so! A conservative Republican senator - Josh Hawley from Missouri - has teamed up with a liberal senator from Vermont to introduce legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $15/hr. While the bill may or may not get traction, the bigger issue is the changing relationship that Republicans are forging with organized labor and working class voters. We’ll take a look. And we are...

We visit once again with Maggie Gentile, a partner at Food Directions and our industry’s resident expert on food policy, who stopped by the pod to talk about last week’s MAHA Commission report - what’s in it, what wasn’t in it, what comes next, and lastly, what it means to operators. And the industry had a big week on both coasts with regard to minimum wage. We’ll talk about the effort underway in...

We talk once again to Aaron Frazier, the Vice-President of Public Policy for the National Restaurant Association to get the lastest on the status of the President’s “big, beautiful” tax bill and what the industry can expect out of the current package on the table. We’ll also chat about tariffs and the MAHA Commission report coming later this week. We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with...

A new MAGA-focused trade association is taking shape offering enhanced access to Trump Admiistration officials and to the President himself. The new group is forming at a time when the Business Roundtable and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have encountered some significant friction with the Trump White House. Is this a potential threat or opportunioty for brands and their traditional trade associati...

We sit down with Aaron Frazier, Vice President of Public Policy at the National Restaurant Association, to discuss the pending tax bill, reconciliation, and what operators should expect at the end of the process. And Republicans across the country seem to be taking aim at voter-passed initiatives on minimum wage and paid leave among other issues. The problem is that despite large majorities in Flo...

Despite a terrible winning record the last few years, One Fair Wage seems to be making a stand in one of the last few big blue states, this time New Jersey. Is it their swan song or the beginning of a comeback? We’ll discuss. And then we’ll talk about tariffs and the 90- day window of breathing space the Administration gave us. Is it a given that the small guys are the most vulnerable or do the bi...

It looks like the MAHA train has pulled into Baton Rouge and offloaded one of the most expansive food policy reform bills we have seen to date. The legislation covers ingredients, oils, sugary beverages and even SNAP eligibility and appears to be a huge priority of the governor. We’ll unpack what it means not only in Louisiana but elsewhere across the country. We’ll talk about those issues and wra...

Tariffs, tariffs, tariffs. This week the President laid out some of the most aggressive tariff policies in recent American history causing instability in corporate boardrooms, workforces, world markets and with our trading partners themselves. But how should industry leaders look at this? Well, to answer that question, we sat down with one. We had a conversation with Fat Brands Founder and Chairma...

We’ll take a stab at answering a question that likely has never been asked before - namely what do California and West Virginia have in common? The answer: They have both enacted strict laws regarding food additives, dyes and preservatives. But while California’s laws were largely targeted at kids and school meals, West Virginia has taken aim at all products produced or sold in the state making th...

We sit down with the Independant Restaurant Coalition’s Erika Polmer and Robert St. John to get a status report on the organization, the role it’s playing in the industry and their agenda for 2025. And Gywnne Wilcox is back on the job at the NLRB bit with a huge asterisk hanging over her head. We’ll take a look at that. We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

We’re going to talk swipe fees with the NRA’s Brennan Duckett to update you on the status of the industry’s national effort to push back on the Visa and Mastercard payments duopoly that is bleeding restaurant owners dry. And then we’ll take a look at a national boycott of Target, Amazon and Walmart over their DEI practices and discuss whether they are an effective tool and should restaurant brands...

The Independent restaurant Coalition has remade its Board Leadership and is looking to reingage in conversations Important to the industry. Is this a help or a hindrance to the industry’s national issue agenda? We’ll take a look. And this week the President released a target list - his words - of companies that his administration will be going after over their DEI-related policies and a couple of...

We sat down with Davis Bae, the Managing Partner of the Seattle Office of Fisher & Phillips to talk about the immigration issue and how operators need to prepare for the foreseeable future. Is this a passing fad or the new normal? We’ll discuss. And we take a few minutes to discuss a future business model that includes cloud kitchens and what Travis Kalanick of Uber fame is up to in that area. We’...

We sat down with Jonathan Gold, the Vice President of Supply Chain & Customs Policy at the National Retail Federation to talk about the President’s tariffs policy and its impact on the industry and the broader economy going forward. We’ll talk about those issues and wrap it up with the legislative scorecard.

In an unprecedented move, President Trump fired two members of the National Labor Relations Board as well as the General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo. While removing the GC is permissible, the removal of Board members without cause is legally tenuous at best and most likely not legal at all. We take a look. And the no taxes on tips conversation is raging at the state level with a number of states tac...

Well it was a rock’em sock’em first week for the Trump Administration as countless executive orders, pardons and personnel changes have been executed in only the first four days. At the forefront of all this is the White House’s determination to begin large-scale immigration raids any day now. We’ll take a look at this fundamental threat to the industries’ workforce, what may happen over the next...

The portable benefits issue is back in the news as DoorDash strikes another agreement - this time with the state of Georgia - to pilot a portable benefits program for its drivers. There is growing consensus within liberal and conservative circles that portable benefits regumes are here to stay and a plausible solution for millions of gig economy workers without traditional benefits. We’ll discuss...