Restaurant owner tells it like it is

Business owners who reduce operations in California due to its onerous taxes and regulations usually don’t say much about their reasons. After all, they still have to deal with politicians and regulators who often don’t want to hear the truth. So give Eric Schnetz credit for telling the truth about why he abruptly shut down his Chicago Fire restaurant in Elk Grove.

Schnetz, the owner and founder of the Sacramento-area restaurants, told the Sacramento Business Journal last week his reasons included the state’s new $20/hr minimum wage for fast-food workers, the frequency of employment-related lawsuits within an unfavorable legal framework, higher than necessary food inflation due to current laws and regulations on food producers, and exorbitant energy costs. (The store’s monthly gas and electric bills totaled $8,500.)

“People really should interpret the closure of this Chicago Fire as the canary in the coal mine,” Schnetz told the paper in an email. “Many more restaurants will close until the perspective of the state legislators changes. If California residents don’t start electing legislators that understand microeconomics and the impact of their endless costly initiatives and regulations, our full-service restaurant choices will be reduced to only the largest chains.”

FBAC will continue making those points in the halls of the Capitol. Fortunately, at least for now, Sacramento-area pizza connoisseurs can still enjoy Chicago Fire’s offerings in Folsom, Roseville, and midtown.