Restaurant charges 'minimum wage fee' after hike

STILLWATER, Minn. -- People eating at a restaurant in Stillwater, Minnesota, are seeing a new fee added to their bill.

Restaurant owners added the fee because of the minimum wage increases in the state.

Owners of the Oasis Cafe say they had no choice. The 35-cent fee is needed to offset the cost of giving 12 hourly employees a raise.

For some, the thought of charging customers the fee sent them to social media to vent. One person wrote: You're essentially blaming customers for the increase when you charge for it the way you do.

Another said: It's Oasis' way of blaming our government for trying to set a fair living wage. It is political grandstanding.

Oasis owners fired back, saying: Thumbing my nose at the law change, you're right. Part of my thinking was to shine a light on this matter, which I truly believe is in the best interest of both my business and employees.

Many eating at Oasis said it's not a big deal to pay a little extra to keep a small business afloat.

"I don't take issue with it really," said customer Jordan Felt.

"Independents got to stay alive; you got to do what you got to do, and if it's fair," said another customer, Rob Felt.

Oasis management says they estimate the pay increase is costing them more than $10,000 a year. People WCCO-TV spoke with say they support the business' effort to keep the employees they have working.

"You want people to make more money, but on the other hand you also want more people employed," said one customer, who said he didn't even notice the charge on his bill .

"For a small business, I think that's an OK thing, but if you are a larger company and you have the money and you don't want to pay it yourself, then that's a whole different story," said customer Markie Babcock.