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Seattle restaurant owners described sharply different experiences with delivery apps as the City Council prepared to consider a change to its app-based worker minimum-payment law in May 2024. One owner had left the platforms; others said delivery remained important to sales. The expected May 28 vote was postponed, so the figures discussed then describe a proposal—not the law’s confirmed current rates.
What Seattle restaurant owners said about delivery apps
The owners’ accounts show why the debate was not simply a choice between supporting or opposing delivery. Third-party apps can connect restaurants with customers, while commissions, other platform charges, customer fees, and shifting order volumes can affect the economics for restaurants and workers. These are individual business accounts, not a citywide impact study.
Michelle Braash: leaving the apps
Michelle Braash, co-owner of three Seattle restaurants, including Smarty Pants, said her business stopped taking delivery-app orders. She cited commissions, bookkeeping and platform support, and said the restaurant directed customers to its own online ordering system for pickup. “We’re happier without it,” she told GeekWire.
Uttam Mukherjee: delivery is difficult to replace
Uttam Mukherjee, co-owner of Spice Waala, said the restaurant’s delivery orders were down 30–40% in the first five months of 2024 compared with the same period a year earlier. That was his reported business figure, not an independently verified market-wide statistic. He also described rising Uber marketing costs and said hiring the restaurant’s own drivers did not make financial sense. “We have to rely on the delivery companies to be part of the ecosystem, because that is where our customers are,” he said.
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Damiana Merryweather: keep worker pay protections
Damiana Merryweather, co-owner of Bok a Bok, said delivery accounted for 60% of the business’s sales and that sales fell 20% in January 2024, when the new fee began. Those figures were her account, as reported by GeekWire. She opposed rolling back worker wages, saying at a Council meeting, “Do not roll back wages. Instead, reign in corporate greed.”
Which law was under debate—and which was not
The Council discussion concerned Seattle’s app-based worker minimum-payment law, commonly associated with PayUp. It was separate from the city’s restaurant delivery-service commission rules. The distinction matters: one law sets a minimum payment standard for covered app-based workers; the other limits what covered delivery services may charge restaurants for delivery.
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PayUp worker-payment law
Seattle City Council unanimously passed the original PayUp legislation on May 31, 2022. The Council described its aims as ensuring minimum pay plus expenses and tips, improving transparency about employment terms and payment splits, and preserving flexibility. The City’s Office of Labor Standards says the App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance took effect on January 13, 2024.
In its May 28, 2024 report, GeekWire described a proposed revision that would lower the pay standard from $26.40 to $19.97 per hour. Those were the proposed figures reported at the time, not verified current rates. The vote expected that day was postponed. The sources available here do not establish the later disposition of that proposal, so they cannot support a claim that it passed or that either figure remains in force.
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Separate restaurant commission cap
Ordinance 126639, passed by the Council on August 2, 2022, and signed the following day, regulates food delivery platforms and amended Seattle Municipal Code Chapter 7.30. City guidance describes a 15% cap on delivery-service commissions for deliveries to locations within Seattle city limits. The 2024 report noted that platforms could charge more for additional, non-delivery services such as marketing. This restaurant-fee rule is not the worker-pay standard debated in May 2024.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read the business figures
The numbers in the owners’ accounts describe particular restaurants and periods. They do not establish what happened to Seattle restaurants as a whole, or prove that a specific law or fee caused a broader change in sales.
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- Spice Waala: Mukherjee reported a 30–40% year-over-year decline in delivery orders through the first five months of 2024.
- Bok a Bok: Merryweather reported that delivery made up 60% of sales and that sales fell 20% in January 2024, when the new fee began.
- Broader context: Seattle’s ordinance record cited more than 4,000 active food-industry business licenses at the time it was written. It also cited a 2016 survey estimate that nearly 48% of owners in Seattle metro accommodation and food-services firms identified as Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Neither figure is a current measure of restaurant performance or ownership.
The accounts illustrate different tradeoffs: a restaurant may prefer direct ordering and pickup, while another may depend on app-based reach. Platform commission limits, separate marketing charges, customer-facing fees, order volume, and worker pay are related parts of the debate, but the available accounts do not isolate the causal effect of any one factor.
Quick Recap
Timeline of the Seattle rules and debate
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| May 31, 2022 | Seattle City Council unanimously passed the original PayUp legislation. |
| August 2–3, 2022 | The Council passed Ordinance 126639, and the Mayor signed it, establishing separate rules for food delivery platforms and restaurant commissions. |
| January 13, 2024 | The City says the App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance took effect. |
| May 28, 2024 | GeekWire reported a proposed reduction in the worker-pay standard; the expected Council vote was postponed. |
Sources
- GeekWire’s May 28, 2024 report on restaurant owners and the postponed vote.
- Seattle City Council announcement on the original PayUp legislation.
- Seattle Ordinance 126639 record on food delivery platforms and restaurant fees.
- Seattle Office of Labor Standards: App-Based Worker Minimum Payment Ordinance.
- Seattle guidance on food delivery services.
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