Tipsheet

Brandon Johnson Plays the Race Card Over Restaurant Worker Wages

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  April 20, 2026 2:45 PM

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is desperate to cling to any sort of relevance as his city slips into bankruptcy, chaos, and crime. This time, he's set his sights on the restaurant industry in a renewed push for reparations and amid a fight to end tipped wages in the Windy City.

"And you just watched an entire City Council in transparency, try to take wages away from the very people who are part of an industry that has its ties to slavery," Johnson said. "Nobody's hiding from that. I am boldly declaring that we need reparations in this city and that's why I'm funding it."

The City Council attempted to override a veto of a measure that would have halted the city’s phaseout of the subminimum wage for tipped workers. That policy will go into effect in 2028 and will raise restaurant base pay to the full minimum wage. Restaurant owners and others warn that it will drive up prices, lead to job cuts, and cause businesses to close.

If restaurants are rooted in slavery, why not just ban them outright?

One poll showed his approval rating at just six percent, while others show more like 26 percent.

Well known.

We can always count on X to bring the memes.

Restaurants in the South used a tip system to avoid paying full wages, apparently.

And we all know the people working in Chicago's food industry today worked in the post-Reconstruction South, too.

It expired long ago.

Remember when we thought Lori Lightfoot was the worst mayor in Chicago's history? Good times.

We'll note here that Brandon Johnson didn't complain about the racism of Illinois opting out of President Trump's No Tax on Tips plan. So while restaurant workers in other states get to keep all of their tips, Illinois makes Chicago waiters and others fork over more of their money to the state. It seems like Johnson's outrage and priorities are, as always, misplaced.