Beloved Restaurant Chain Rubio’s Closing 48 Locations in California Due to ‘Rising Cost of Doing Business’ After Newsom Raises Minimum Wage to $20 Per Hour

Meanwhile in the Democrat hellhole of California…

Beloved restaurant chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill is closing 48 locations in California due to the rising cost of doing business.

In September California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed a law raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 per hour.

“Eighty percent of the workforce, these fast food places – 80 percent of people of color, two thirds…are women, the majority are breadwinners and we have the opportunity to reward that contribution, reward that sacrifice and stabilize an industry in turn. What a remarkable moment,” Newsom said in September during the bill signing.

And here are the results…

Rubio’s became the latest victim of California’s Democrat insanity. Rubio’s started out as a taco stand in 1983 and 40 years later they are being forced to close down dozens of locations because of failed Democrat policies.

The restaurant chain known for their ‘fresh Mex’ and fish tacos is closing 48 locations in California.

“The closings were brought about by the rising cost of doing business in California,” said a statement from a Rubio’s spokesperson. “While painful, the store closures are a necessary step in our strategic long-term plan to position Rubio’s for success for years to come.”

Excerpt from CBS News:

Rubio’s Coastal Grill, a beloved restaurant chain known for their fish tacos, has announced that they will be closing 48 locations in California due to the “rising cost of doing business.”

Of the 48 locations, which represent about a third of the Rubio’s found in California, Nevada and Arizona, 24 are in the Los Angeles area, 13 are in San Diego — where the company is headquartered — and 11 in Northern California.

The decision has caused disappointment amongst residents who enjoy the “Fresh Mex” style of food, but experts say it’s not surprising — especially after minimum wage jumped from $16 to $20 an hour.

On top of that, Rubio’s had filed for bankruptcy in 2020.

UCLA economist Brian Wheaton says this is the exact type of company that’s vulnerable to increased costs of any nature.

“Those business that are … not doing very well, near the shutdown margin, this increase in costs when they try to pass it on their consumers, … it may be the thing that pushes them over the edge into a situation where they go out of business,” Wheaton said. ” I think that’s the sort of thing we’re seeing in the case of Rubio’s.”

More than 10,000 fast food workers have lost their jobs in the last 9 months in California.

In December two major Pizza Hut operators in California announced they would be laying off all of their delivery drivers thanks to a new law that raises the minimum wage to $20 per hour for fast food employees.