If your eyes absolutely popped the last time you went out to dinner and got the bill, don't worry, it's not just you: Prices are way, way up. Here's how much:
[W]e designed a check that reflects the complicated reality of running a single restaurant in 2022, and the sometimes-hidden costs and causes that have led it to charge more.
Give the New York Times credit, sometimes they do the legwork. Consider the spike in food costs alone (and this, remember, is one restaurant):
Those numbers pop. Canola oil, in case you weren't aware, is a very popular oil for frying, cooking, etc. That price increase is almost unbelievable. The increase in flour is similarly catastrophic. Even the lower increases, like those of carrots, can very quickly add up to ruin for small restaurants.
This is the type of sticker shock that can make you feel like you're shelling out three fistfuls of cash for your meal at the point of a gun.
That's hardly even the most brutal spike. Consider labor costs:
Even the price of just looking for a line cook has gone up unthinkably. But those hourly wages are just out of control, just instant business-wreckers. If canola oil gets too expensive, you can always switch to something else. You can't easily do the same with employees, if at all. You need them!
Even the stuff you eat with is more expensive!
I tell you, if the flatware is getting that expensive, it's enough to make you want to pocket those forks when you leave.
Don't do that, though — these folks are already struggling enough as it is.
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