Running a restaurant has always been a labor of love, but it continues to feel more like a daily battle for survival.
Between skyrocketing food and labor costs, the relentless pressure of inflation on rent and utilities, rising credit card fees, our industry’s economic vitality is at risk.
With food costs surging 35% compared to pre-pandemic levels and labor expenses spiking by that same 35%, our profit margins have been squeezed to the breaking point. Restaurants have always had tight margins, around 5%, but now those margins keep getting smaller. For a restaurant, alcohol sales are where we have the highest profit margins that allow us to help absorb and stabilize costs in other food areas…