Comments on: Restaurant Ups Prices Due To Gasoline

By: ima

ima — Fri, 20 May 2011 05:11:22 +0000

I have a takeout and delivery only restaurant so maybe I can add something to the conversation. My carryout menus cost me about 2k to print. Last printed in 2009, so no price increases on the menu since then. But, since then the cost of flour has increased by 113%, yes one hundred and thirteen percent. Pork and beef products have increased 28%. Paper products have increased approx 10%. Then there are increases in rent, electricity, gas, repairs, etc. Refuse collectors regularly increase their prices due to increased fuel costs to them. Suppliers tack on “temporary” fuel costs for delivery of their products, although the product costs keep going up too. Repair people charge a base trip cost plus a fuel charge, then tack on “waste recovery” fees for refrigerants, parts that contain elements that may be hazardous to the environment and disposal fees. Look at how your food costs have increased at the grocery store. And of course, the federal government gave all employees three raises over 2 years so that all the non-tipped employees have a minimum base wage that is 41% higher than it was 3 years ago. And we still have people that will tip a delivery drive nothing or a dollar when they are driving 10 miles round trip to deliver their food.
As always, there are two sides to the matter. Maybe claiming a gas price increase was easier than putting all the facts on the table.

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 18:56:23 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, I went out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant I’d been wanting to try (plus I had a coupon). When I got the bill, I saw that they had charged $1 for chips/salsa, which is normally free in Mexican places in our area. Then, I saw that the ice tea was $1.75! I’m kind of muttering in displeasure about this to my fiance, and we go up to the register to pay. The owner is running the cash register and we get to talking…he tells us that he had to charge for the chips/salsa, raising prices, because the people supplying him are raising prices….anyway, I came away from that dinner with some understanding of small business owners and the prices they pay and then charge us, their ultimate customer. Waling out of the restaurant, I wasn’t nearly as …miffed, I guess is the best word, as I was walking up to the cash register! Anyway, that’s my two cents.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 11:03:02 +0000

Some places I order from have increased their delivery charge (which makes some sense, although there’s no way that the cost of driving from the restaurant to my house and back has gone up _that_ much), but I haven’t seen anyone increase _menu_ prices (ie the price for carry-out or dine-in food).

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 20:05:17 +0000

Seems like a convenient way to pass the blame to someone else.

By: jim

jim — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 17:40:59 +0000

Probably for simplicity… the $1 increase across the board bothered me far less than the watering down/changing brands of the sauce because the increase was explicit and reasoned (even if I didn’t agree with it).

By: fivecentnickel.com

fivecentnickel.com — Mon, 17 Oct 2005 17:37:51 +0000

Weird. Why not just increase their prices by $1/item rather than playing games like this? I guess that would require new menus, though. It’s also weird that they applied a flat increase to things that cost varying amounts. Why an 11% increase on a $9 item and an 8% increase on a $12 item. Doesn’t the price of gas affect them both similarly?