WALNUT CREEK, Calif. – As of July 1, it will be illegal for any restaurant in the Golden State to add special surcharges to diners’ checks, which has become a favorite method that restaurants use to lower costs and enhance employee incomes. 

Except for taxes, the surcharge disclosure law applies to all imposed add-on fees such as service fees, dining-in charges, delivery charges, credit card processing fees, and even imposed tips. But this is not crystal clear.

Attorney General Rob Bonta, who had previously said restaurants would be allowed to make surcharges, says they must be disclosed in advertising, which, presumably includes menus. 

However, the California Restaurant Association, is ready to fight back, saying that the written law only applies to advertisements because courts have ruled that “advertisements” for goods and services do not include menus.

In Walnut Creek, many people dining out had essentially the same opinion. “Yeah, it needs to be in the price of the food. It might help somebody decide on a menu item,” said Susan Bomba,

If this bundling happens, don’t expect the price of dining to decline. In fact, expect them to rise sharply. 

“Seeing the fee, we know about it and, I guess, if you eat somewhere long enough and you see those prices raised, you know that’s where those fees went,” said Dana Barry.

In fact, many folks think tipping, fees and surcharges are way out of control now. 

“I absolutely agree with that. Like I said, I’ve been to restaurants before and put a nice tip down and then realized later, the tip was included or something else,” said Bob Kennedy. 

“They shouldn’t be tipping on those fees,” said Dana Barry. “Now, for a carry-out, you’re expected to tip. That was never the case. I didn’t mind it during Covid, but now we’re back to something normal, we’re still expected to tip for carry-out food,” said Bomba.

Restaurant owners say they need clarity and specific answers soon, given that these rules take effect in just 60 days.
 

One of the filming locations for Meghan Markle’s highly-anticipated cooking show is reportedly a cannabis farm marred by controversy.

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, has been shooting the Netflix series in two California locations: a $5 million home in Montecito belonging to Tom and Sherrie Cipolla and a farm owned by the cannabis-supplying Van Wingerden family in the nearby seaside city of Carpinteria, the Daily Mail reported.

The Van Wingerdens are the area’s largest vendors of legally produced cannabis, according to the website.

Markle’s film location, dubbed Farmlane, is owned by David and Cindy Van Wingerden, who turned their flower farm into a marijuana mecca in 2015. They now sell cannabis flowers and pre-rolled cannabis joints.

But the Van Wingerden family’s operation and other cannabis farms have had the neighborhood up in arms over the pungent weed fragrance contaminating the air.

Local Carpinteria residents filed 2,340 odor complaints from mid-2018 to 2022, according to the website.

In September, homeowners in the area filed a class-action lawsuit against two weed farms, unrelated to the Van Wingerden’s business, with claims that their property values had been severely damaged due to the “sewer-like” smells.

“The neighborhood surrounding their property has a thick, heavy, strong stench of cannabis on a near daily basis,” the lawsuit states.

Angry citizens said their homes and clothes reeked of marijuana and that some people were experiencing breathing problems, headaches and nausea.

Page Six confirmed in March that the former “Suits” actress would collaborate on a Martha Stewart-esque show tying into her newly launched lifestyle brand, Montecito Riviera Orchard.

The wife of Prince Harry has already debuted the first product of her cookware and home needs company with a jar of strawberry jam sent to her closest high-powered friends.

An insider told Page Six Style at the time that the business would focus on home, garden, food and general lifestyle wares.

“She’s been working on this for over a year, and it’s all the things that are close to her heart — all the things she’s passionate about,” an industry source said.

A trademark application obtained by Page Six Style revealed that the company would sell cookbooks, an assortment of edible treats like jellies and spreads and tableware staples like cutlery, table linens, drinkware and more.

It’s a complicated time for the nation’s largest EV market. California EV sales increased in the first quarter of 2024, but market share still fell, according to a new quarterly report from the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA).

The absolute number of EVs sold in California grew from 89,741 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 90,296 in the first quarter of 2024, the report found. But EV market share still decreased from 21.5% at the end of 2023 to 20.9% in Q1 2024. That’s because new-car registrations grew overall, with even more non-electric vehicles being sold. The rise of EV sales by volume rather than share is a trend that continues from the previous quarter.

Tesla’s EV sales lead in California also continues to shrink, the report found. Tesla registrations were down 7.8% from the previous quarter, which itself saw a 9.8% decline in registrations for the once-California-based automaker.

Without a deeper dive into the trends, it might be argued that sagging Tesla sales, not sales of EVs of other brands, are what have caused the recent flattening for EVs in California and elsewhere. That’s because Legacy automakers are selling more plug-in vehicles, the report noted. Mercedes-Benz and BMW saw the highest increases in California in Q1, posting 3% and 2.4% gains, respectively.

2024 BMW iX

EV sales through franchised dealerships also increased 14% in Q1, while direct sales—the model used by Tesla and some startup automakers—saw a 3% drop. Franchised dealerships account for 66% of “alternative powertrain types” in California, according to the CNCDA.

Even with EV sales rising in the rest of the country, California remains near a third of the nation’s EV sales. And even with this market-share hiccup, in the state, one of four new vehicles sold in California has a charge port—although some are plug-in hybrids rather than all-electric models.