This week in Nation’s Restaurant News, political news again dominated the headlines. The most-read story of the week was about the Senate’s passing of a restaurant relief budget resolution amendment. In a bipartisan effort, the amendment passed 90-10. The Working Lunch podcast from Align Public Strategies also dug into COVID relief.
The next day, the bipartisan $120 billion RESTAURANTS Act to provide long-term relief was reintroduced. The reupped legislation is modeled after the bill introduced last Congressional session and would create a fund to provide relief for foodservice businesses with fewer than 20 units.
Finally, although a vote on minimum wage has been tabled for now, NRN dug into what a $15 per hour minimum wage would look like for restaurants, talking to experts, analysts and operators.
In other news, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, which began the current chicken sandwich trend by going viral in 2019, announced its newest sandwich: the Cajun Flounder Sandwich, which can come with 15-cent “sandwich insurance” in case consumers don’t like it. A judge ruled that McDonald’s case against ousted CEO Steve Easterbrook can continue. And Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group filed to raise $250 million for a new SPAC.
Get all those stories and more in this week’s trending gallery.