Claim: The Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant chain has added a new surcharge in order to cover the cost of Obamacare.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2015]
Is this true? Obamacare surcharge at popular Buffalo wild wings?
Origins: In January 2015, numerous customers at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Lubbock, Texas, were upset to find a new Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) surcharge tacked onto their bills:
Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant franchise is adding ACA surcharge to the bill. #Obamacare #Buffalowildwings pic.twitter.com/wJTJJV9sY2
— Banned Vixen (@BannedVixen) January 10, 2015
The surcharge was implemented at Buffalo Wild Wings locations owned by the Howard Restaurant Group in Lubbock, Texas. Samantha Spitzer, director of marketing for Howard Restaurant Group, said in a statement the surcharge was meant to cover the cost of the Affordable Healthcare Act (commonly known as "Obamacare"):
Due to the Affordable Healthcare Act and its requirement of healthcare coverage to all full-time employees, our restaurant group has decided instead of cutting employee hours and raising food and beverage prices, to implement a two percent surcharge on all guest checks to offset the cost of the federally mandated employee healthcare with the least possible impact to the consumer.
On 9 January 2015, Eater reported that the Howard Restaurant Group decided to remove the surcharge after receiving several customer complaints. Heather Leiferman, Director of Public Relations for Buffalo Wild Wings, added in a statement that the decision to add the 2% surcharge was made by a local franchise owner and did not affect other restaurants around the country:
The health care surcharge at our franchised Buffalo Wild Wings in Lubbock, Texas, has been removed. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused. Our priority is to always provide our guests a great experience every day so they can enjoy our wings, beer and sports.
The Buffalo Wild Wings in Lubbock wasn't the only restaurant to add an Affordable Care Act surcharge in January 2015. According to
Last updated: 22 January 2015