Besides the immediate annoyance of less cash in our pocket, one of the side effect of July’s 1% sales tax increase in Cook County (plus an additional percent-and-a-half if the transaction takes place within the McPier boundaries) might be fewer new restaurants, period. The Sun-Times reports that out of the 8 new Flat Top Grills slated to open in the next year and a half, only one is in Downtown Chicago, and that’s only because “the location’s assets offset the negatives: It is expected to attract a built-in lunch crowd of office workers, and it’s close to Millennium Park, new condo buildings and the college students who live in downtown dorms.”
We are all for public health initiatives — the governmental programs that our additional tax rate is supposed to benefit — but hello: basic math tells us that if a 1% increase in price leads to a greater than 1% loss of business — let alone business actually shying away from opening at all! — this is putting less money in the state’s and city’s coffers than was the original rate.
Beating the tax bite [Sun-Times]
Location is key for restaurants to survive [Sun-Times]
Flat Top Grill [MenuPages]
Flat Top Grill [Official Site]
