John Metz operates 48 locations of Hurricane Grill & Wings. Restaurateur to add Obamacare tax

First Papa John’s. Then Red Lobster. Now this: the Obamacare surcharge.

John Metz, a restaurant franchisor who operates 48 locations of Hurricane Grill & Wings, several dozen Denny’s locations and a few Dairy Queens, told The Huffington Post Thursday that he’d join the growing list of restaurateurs piling purported Obamacare costs onto their customers and staff.


In his case, though, he’s going to label it so all of his customers know about it.

“If I leave the prices the same, but say on the menu that there is a 5 percent surcharge for Obamacare, customers have two choices. They can either pay it and tip 15 or 20 percent, or if they really feel so inclined, they can reduce the amount of tip they give to the server, who is the primary beneficiary of Obamacare,” Metz told The Huffington Post. “Although it may sound terrible that I'm doing this, it's the only alternative. I've got to pass the cost on to the consumer.”

Although other restaurants have mused about the prospect of cutting hours for employees or passing a few pennies in costs onto customers, Metz’s surcharge proposal goes furthest in linking the customer experience with the Affordable Care Act. According to the HuffPo piece, Metz said he hopes the move will encourage his employees to become civically engaged and lobby policymakers.

Earlier this year, John Schnatter, CEO of Papa John’s, estimated that the ACA could cause him to tack a few cents onto the price of his pizzas. And Darden Restaurants — which oversees Red Lobster and Olive Garden — described plans to reduce its fulltime workforce to avoid paying health benefits.

This article first appeared on POLITICO Pro at 4:59 p.m. on November 15, 2012.