Seattles new $20.76-per-hour minimum wage law forces at least 5 more restaurants to close

At least five more restaurants in Seattle are closing their doors just days after the city council’s new minimum wage law mandating an hourly pay of $20.76 an hour went into effect — with the local hospitality industry predicting that more small businesses will go under in 2025.The owner of the Bel Gatto bakery in West Seattle posted a sign on its door announcing that after less than a year in business, it will no longer offer service to customers.“Our revenues, unfortunately, are not able to cover the close to 20% increase in mandated wages, salaries and payroll taxes put into effect by the Seattle City Council effective 1/1/25,” the note read.“This ruling has made continuation of our bakery operations untenable.” News of the Bel Gatto’s closure was first reported by the local news site Westside Seattle.Jackson’s Catfish Corner, a soul food eatery that has served Seattle’s Central District for 40 years, announced its last day of operations on Friday, according to the restaurant review site Eater Seattle.“I just cannot do it anymore,” owner Terrell Jackson said in an Instagram video announcing the closure.“I’m maxxed out, y’all.”Jackson said that the new minimum wage hike, the dwindling foot traffic in his area and the overall rising cost of doing business in Seattle conspired to finish off his restaurant.“I know that the minimum wages went up to 20 bucks an hour… I know that’s hard for my business as a small black business,” Jackson told the news site Converge.“I’m not Amazon or Walgreens or Walmart who can pay their employees that much.”In the nearby, trendy neighborhood of Capitol Hill, the owners of the The Jilted Siren said the city council’s new minimum wage law forced them to go under and shutter their bar lounge.The owners said that they closed down their Bellevue Avenue location over the New Year weekend and are considering a reopening in a more affordable part of town, according to Capitol Hill Seattle.They sa...