Celebrity Chef Won't Open New Restaurants In CA 'Until They Actually Fix Things'

CALIFORNIA — A celebrity chef will not open any more restaurants in California, he said in a recent interview with Fox Business, citing the state’s crime, regulations and taxes, and addressing its new $20 fast food minimum wage.

“I will not open another business in California until they actually fix things on a go-forward basis,” Andrew Gruel told the outlet.

Gruel has appeared as a judge on the Food Network shows “Chopped Junior” with Meghan Markle and “Food Truck Face Off.” He also founded the Slapfish and American Gravy restaurant groups.

“The pandemic obviously kicked off this astronomical firestorm of chaos,” Gruel told Fox Business. “... But it’s only getting worse. It’s constantly getting worse and worse every single day.”

When asked about Rubio’s Coastal Grill closing 48 locations in California, a move the restaurant blamed on the rising cost of business, which includes the recent $20 minimum wage, Gruel said the law, effective April 1, was one of several challenging factors in the industry.

“There’s many ingredients in a cake and that’s certainly one of the key ingredients, is the cost of labor,” he told the outlet, adding crime, regulations and taxes all make it harder to run a business in California, and noting he will franchise outside the state in the future.