There's Always An Excuse to Fiesta
Here at On The Border San Diego, we strive to make our customers and our employees happy. We are always trying our best to strike a balance so that our employees are treated and paid fairly and our customers can enjoy great prices for their favorite foods at their local On The Border restaurant.
While minimum wage has increased across the entire country, it is rising especially quickly in California. In San Diego alone, the minimum wage as of 2017 is 28% higher than it was in 2015 – by the time 2020 comes, that number will rise to 44%. This increases the costs of running a restaurant significantly, and On The Border and all restaurants across California are doing their best to offset these costs.
The employees in our restaurants fall into two distinct categories: tipped and non-tipped. A court ruling in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals does not allow kitchen employees to share in the tips collected by the serving staff. This means that there is a growing income gap between tipped and non-tipped employees. By implementing a surcharge, we able to comply with these new minimum wage ordinances and – this is important – we are also able to raise the pay for our kitchen staff, closing some of the income gap between tipped and non-tipped employees and treating all of our staff with the respect and pay that they deserve.
Every restaurant will have to make decisions as to how they will cover these increased labor costs. When we looked at what was best for our employees and our customers, we believe that the surcharge is the most honest method of doing this, while maintaining great service and a great product to every customer who walks in the door.
Here at On The Border, we put our employees and our customers first. We thank you for your understanding and we hope you will continue to visit us as loyal customers that have become a part of our family.
Thank you,
Our Team at On The Border San Diego