DC restaurant 'Sticky Rice' blames Initiative 82 as it prepares to close down

WASHINGTON - Another popular D.C. restaurant is closing its doors and blaming the controversial Initiative 82 as one of the major reasons.

Sticky Rice will have its last day this Saturday, April 19 after being a staple on H Street for 17 years. The owners say that there are a lot of factors to blame but Initiative 82, which increased the minimum wage for tipped workers, played a big role.

What they're saying:

In a social media post, the owners said the decision wasn't easy - "The pandemic, decreased foot traffic, rising food costs, labor costs and the impact of Initiative 82 have all made it impossible for us to continue. We fought hard, but it's time to say goodbye."

Brookland's Finest Bar and Kitchen, down the road on 12th Street in Northeast D.C., also closed down last weekend after 11 years.

Co-owner Tony Tomelden said it was also a multitude of factors - rent, food costs, fewer people out to eat - but in his view, Initiative 82 is the only thing the city can step in and help with.

"There was an activist who told me, 'To get to the other side, sacrifices have to be made.' Well, I would have preferred it not be my staff that got sacrificed," Tomelden said, adding that 35 workers, half of them tipped employees, were part of the closure. 

RELATED: 40% of DC restaurants likely to close by the end of the year, survey shows

He also owns The Pug D.C. and is worried about the future of the pub on H Street.

Shawn Townsend is the president of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington - the group has been vocal against I-82 since the start and recently called on D.C. Council to repeal it.

"We can talk about cost of eggs, inflation, foot traffic, rent. We can talk about landlords," Townsend said. "But the common denominator across the board is the Initiative 82 increase in labor over the next couple years," Townsend said.

The backstory:

Initiative 82, passed overwhelmingly by voters in 2022, increased the tipped minimum wage for workers from $5.35 an hour, to now $10 an hour.

On July 1, it will go up to $12 an hour and keep stepping up until 2027, when restaurant workers will be making $17.50 an hour.

"We all want workers to have a fair and decent wage but what is of concern right now is jobs being lost if restaurants cannot stay open," Townsend said.

The other side:

The group One Fair Wage worked on I-82 for 10 years before it became law, telling FOX 5 that the numbers show it is working for workers.

"You have to look at the truth from the U.S. government from the Department of Labor which shows that February 2025 was actually the highest level of restaurant employment in Washington, D.C. since the pandemic shut the restaurant industry down," said Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage

That data shows more than 30,000 workers in the restaurant industry as of February 2025. 

"People want to look for something to blame, they'll blame workers, but let's remember workers are the ones who said after the pandemic, 'it's not just that wages are too low, they're so low I have to leave the industry,'" Jayaraman added.

Jayaraman said the data shows I-82 is working for workers.

"You might have individual restaurants close down, that happens everywhere all the time - happens in Maryland where the wage is $3/hour, happens in Virginia where the wage is $2.13/hour," she said. "The industry is doing well just fine and in fact, doing better than it has in the last six years."

It's not clear yet what D.C. Council's plans are and if I-82 could in fact be repealed. Some have called for a freeze at the $10/hour level.