A Brooklyn, New York, pizzeria called Franny's has announced it is raising prices to be able to afford the spending requirements of ObamaCare. Now, the menu reads, "a 3 percent surcharge will be added to all checks to cover the Affordable Care Act for all Franny's employees."
"We've always been criticized for prices," explains Franny's executive chef John Adler, "so we said, 'Hold on, before we start putting $22, $23 pizzas on the menu, let's be transparent about what that money is going towards.'" Because the pizzeria's owners run two other restaurants, they meet the 50-employee baseline requirement of the ACA — and with it, "upwards of a quarter million dollars" in added costs, Adler says.
"This is a cost that we cannot absorb without going out of business," said owner Francine Stephens, though she also notes that some of the new costs the surcharge will cover stem from expected minimum wage hikes in New York State, which Franny's is pre-emptively scaling wages to accommodate. Bonnie Kristian
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Update 12:01 p.m.: In a statement given to Grub Street, Franny's owner Francine Stephens cleared the air:
"It is appearing that many of our guests are viewing the proposed ACA surcharge as anti-ObamaCare, which is so unfortunate, because it is in fact, quite the opposite! Through this surcharge, Franny's is embracing ObamaCare. Clearly our intent was misunderstood and our guests have made it clear that they would prefer to see higher prices as opposed to a surcharge. We've always worked in the service of our staff and guests and will amend our prices accordingly while removing the surcharge entirely.Initially, we thought, before we start putting $22 pizza on the menu, let's be transparent about what that money is actually going towards. However, it seems given the stated preference of our guests as well as the potential for misinterpretations into the future, we will retract the surcharge and reconfigure our menu pricing instead." [Grub Street]
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful northThe Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Texas declares end to measles outbreakSpeed Read The vaccine-preventable disease is still spreading in neighboring states, Mexico and Canada
-
RFK Jr. shuts down mRNA vaccine funding at agencySpeed Read The decision canceled or modified 22 projects, primarily for work on vaccines and therapeutics for respiratory viruses
-
Measles cases surge to 33-year highSpeed Read The infection was declared eliminated from the US in 2000 but has seen a resurgence amid vaccine hesitancy
-
Kennedy's vaccine panel signals skepticism, changeSpeed Read RFK Jr.'s new vaccine advisory board intends to make changes to the decades-old US immunization system
-
Kennedy ousts entire CDC vaccine advisory panelspeed read Health Secretary RFK Jr. is a longtime anti-vaccine activist who has criticized the panel of experts
-
RFK Jr. scraps Covid shots for pregnant women, kidsSpeed Read The Health Secretary announced a policy change without informing CDC officials
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sickspeed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last yearspeed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
