By Kent Hoover
Andy Shallal broke away from the lunchtime crowds at his Busboys and Poets restaurants to go to Capitol Hill and urge Congress to raise the minimum wage.
Why would Shallal, who runs five restaurants in the Washington, D.C., area, want to increase labor costs? Well, for starters, raising the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour wouldn’t raise Shallal’s labor costs — he already pays his employees at least $10.25 an hour. A decent wage is part of his business model.