A photograph was uploaded to social media yesterday that showed a receipt from the Mi Vida restaurant. This was an order placed on September 6th that included margaritas, chips, and other foods which came to a total of $44.66. However, a further $4.30 was added to this price at the end of the meal. Reading on, the small print claimed: ‘*To offset the impact of DC’s Initiative 82 on independent restaurants, a 3.5% fee has been added to your bill.’

This bill was passed in late 2022 which saw the elimination of the $5.35 for minimum wage workers who were employed by restaurants.

Although this was passed with almost 75% of voters in favor, the move has not necessarily been welcomed by restaurants in the city due to having to pay workers more money. As is often the case with this sort of initiative, the cost has been passed on to the customer.

This receipt was originally posted to Reddit where the user uploaded it with the caption: ‘Seriously, why do restaurants do this instead of raising prices?’

This prompted users to claim that it was done out of protest by restaurants who were against i82 while others claimed it was ultimately the customer who lost out. It should also be noted that Mi Vida is not alone with this policy either.