Has anyone noticed the prices in restaurants increasing?

[sir pball]

28. I'm a manager in NYC, it's not your imagination...but it's not (just) inflation.

Menu prices are definitely going up citywide; in NYC's case I'd venture to guess the biggest driver is the increase in minimum wage (WHICH I COMPLETELY SUPPORT) - it went from $11 to $12.50 last January and is slated to go to $15 next year. The margins in this business (for at least nominally independent operations; chains and franchises operate differently enough that it's a generally different calculus that I don't really have time to get into at the moment) are absolutely razor-thin...a very well run, tightly cost-controlled ship will have a final net profit of 5-6%, and that's a very good scenario. It's not just my straight labor cost going up by a third, either - all my purveyors are in the same boat so they need to compensate as well, there's been a not-insignificant increase in wholesale pricing as well. I'd guess that total operational costs since 2016 are up somewhere around 15-20%.

Bottom line, all that extra expense simply can't be absorbed by the business while maintaining sustainability let alone profitability. Some places are opting to adjust the menus, to either reduce food costs or required staffing levels, others are just shrugging and raising their prices, and some are outright shuttering. It's a complicated situation that I don't have an easy answer to besides "you're gonna pay more to eat out", but maybe I can at least help you understand why it's happening.