A Food Network chef slammed Los Angeles’ “soft on crime” district attorney on Wednesday and vowed never to open a business in the state again until lawmakers “fix things.”
Appearing on “Food Truck Face Off,” Andrew Gruelle criticized progressive District Attorney George Gascón for putting three men accused of killing an elderly tourist back on the streets, even though at least one of them had a lengthy criminal record.
“At this point, it’s a crime for the DA’s office and officials to claim insanity in this crime. There is no nuance in this, it’s deliberate,” Gruelle said on X.
Chef Andrew Gruelle says he won’t open a new restaurant in California until lawmakers “fix things.” Getty Images
“How many thousands of cases do you have to see to know that this will lead to more violence? Everyone on the left, right and center can see this. It’s about sowing fear and destroying communities.”
The public outcry comes just a month after the celebrity chef promised not to open any more restaurants in California because crime there is out of control.
The Food Network judge told Fox Business that he has no plans to close the Rubio’s Coastal Grill chain, but that he plans to “franchise out of state” in the future.
“I’m not going to open a new venture in California until things are really moving forward,” Gruelle said during an appearance on “Varney & Company” last month.
Gruell closed 48 of Rubio’s Coastal Grill’s roughly 134 locations at the end of May and filed for bankruptcy in June. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
“By allowing this crime to occur, it really undermined the social fabric that business is known for. And businesses suffered because of crime in their neighborhoods. Businesses declined and regulations piled on.”
He continued that rampant crime has been almost unbearable for restaurateurs who are still dealing with the “astronomical storm” of the pandemic.
California’s new minimum wage increase will only make things worse, said Gruelle, who closed 48 of his roughly 134 Rubio’s Coastal Grill locations at the end of May and filed for bankruptcy in June.
Gruelle blamed Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón for the rise in crime. AP
Starting in April, fast-food restaurants began paying workers a minimum wage of $20 an hour, up from the previous standard of $16.
Gruelle said the new minimum wage rules will cost Rubio’s Coastal Grill about $25,000 a year in lost revenue.
“Let’s say you were paying your employees $17 an hour and now it’s going up to $20 an hour. If you have 30 employees working 40 hours a week, that’s just three $1,200 increases, which comes to $3,600. In payroll taxes alone, that’s at least $5,000 to $6,000 a week. That’s $300,000 a year for 52 weeks,” Gruelle said.
In response to the policy, restaurants across California cut nearly 10,000 jobs.
