I recently went to Sweetgreen (a make your own salad place) for the first time. When I got to the end of the counter and was ready to pay, I tried to hand the cashier a $20, but he said "I'm sorry sir, we don't accept cash".
I was really taken aback and ended up having to pay with a card. After lunch, I did some research and found out that Sweetgreen as a chain is going fully cashless in 2017.
Is that legal? Can a restaurant just not accept cash?
This statute means that all United States money as identified above is a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise.
