Got a WGA union card? These bars and restaurants want to give you a discount during the strike

Jeff Strauss made people smile with sitcoms. Now he does it with sandwiches, cocktails and matzo ball ramen.

Whether it’s with the entertainment industry or with food, his priority is cheering people, so it’s no surprise, he said, that he’s found a way to delight and support his fellow Writers Guild of America members as they strike this week and beyond: Strauss is offering them discounts at both of his restaurants and will be dropping off food to the picket lines periodically. And he’s not alone.

On Tuesday, the Writers Guild of America went on its first strike since 2007, calling for higher wages in the streaming era, span protections, safeguards against artificial intelligence and other key changes. The strike could last weeks or months.

With thousands of writers out of work, some of L.A.’s restaurateurs, chefs and bartenders are offering discounts and other specials for Writers Guild members, many of whom have already spent long days on picket lines at L.A.’s major studios such as Netflix, Disney, Paramount and NBCUniversal this week.

“One of the first things that I did as a member of the Writers Guild was go on strike in 1988, and so I’ve been on that picket line a number of times in my career,� said Strauss, a retired screenwriter and producer.

Strauss’ own writing credits include “Friends,� “Charles in Charge� and “Dream On,� among others, and while he left the trade four years ago when opening his Highland Park deli, Jeff’s Table, he’s still a card-carrying WGA member and says he plans to be for life.

Now, he focuses on his deli as well as his newer Studio City bar-restaurant, Oy Bar. At the former, he’s offering 10% off sandwiches for all current members with proof of an active WGA card, while at the latter, members of the guild can get 50% off the Hard Cel cocktail. Strauss plans to drop off sandwiches and other goods, and potentially change and rotate his specials and items at Jeff’s Table and Oy Bar, in support of the striking writers.

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“People whose lives and energies go into creating this stuff that has value almost forever, all they want to do is participate reasonably in that value both in what they get paid up front for doing the work, and then also in the ongoing value of that product,� Strauss said. “We have steadily and historically gone on strike for what is a pretty basic concept: fairness and participating in a reasonable way in extended-value material.�

Highland Park deli Jeff’s Table, from former screenwriter Jeff Strauss, is offering all active WGA members 10% off sandwich orders during the strike.

(Angeline Woo / Los Angeles Times)

Other restaurants and bars began posting specials much like Strauss’ this week. Glassell Park wine bar and restaurant Wife and the Somm is offering a menu of daily specials to members of all affected guilds, including WGA, DGA, SAG/AFTRA and IATSE. Menu items by the husband-and-wife team behind it — formerly of the entertainment industry themselves — include options such as $16 blue-cheese-butter burgers, and from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, $8 andouille sausages, $8 salads, $13 Little Neck clams with grilled bread and $10 marinated olives with almonds and baguette.

“We have so many friends and family affected by this, it seemed natural to offer a place for them to come and enjoy without worrying about costing a ton of money,� said co-owner Christopher Lucchese, a former IATSE member. “During the last writers’ strike, I remember it well: trying to still live life, and not spend too much money.�

At Hollywood bar the Three Clubs, WGA members with proof of their union card will receive 50% off their tab through the duration of the strike. The Roguelike Tavern, in Burbank, is offering 10% off all food. A growing list of specials and discounts can be found in a spreadsheet and on Twitter, updated by screenwriter Deanna Shumaker.

While not a screenwriter herself, All Day Baby co-owner Lien Ta has a number of close friends and loved ones who are — and many of her daytime customers at the sunny Silver Lake restaurant can regularly be found there working on screenplays, some sharing when they’ve just finished.

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When Ta woke up to open the restaurant one morning earlier this week, she noticed her Instagram feed full of photos of her regulars out on the picket line, whether as members or simply joining in solidarity.

WGA members walk the picket line on the first day of their strike in front of Paramount Studios in Hollywood on Tuesday.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

“I just felt compelled to stand with them,� she said. “We’re not really in a business to afford lots of free things or discounts and stuff like that, but I wanted to do something.�

Ta and beverage director Jorge Figueroa decided to offer all WGA members 50% off their first daiquiri orders, something refreshing for those who might have spent a day out picketing. They hope to offer the special for the extent of the strike, and if the restaurant can no longer financially afford to do so, Ta says they might explore finding “a sponsor for our sponsored cocktail.�

Since posting the All Day Baby special to social media on Wednesday, she says a range of guild members and supporters have reached out in thanks and to share the deal. She said she feels there are a number of similarities between the writers and other behind-the-scenes, less-acknowledged entertainment crew members and hospitality workers.

“On a deeper level, I feel like the restaurant industry — and some of the confusion of how we work or don’t work or the undervaluation of our workers — reminds me a little bit of their fight as well,� Ta said.

“It’s not a rich industry, but we do this because of our passion and our abilities and our interest in expressing ourselves, and that’s how I feel about these writers,� Ta added.