As the price of food continues to skyrocket, restaurant owners are having to raise their menu prices in order to continue making profit.
People are facing significant cost increases at the pump, at the grocery store, and also at some of your favoriteSkeeter Miller runs The County Line Bar-B-Q, which has been an Austin staple since 1975. His operating costs have jumped significantly.
"What we pay for brisket has gone up about $1.63 a pound, which doesn't sound like much, but in a year that's about $580,000 in increased costs just on one item. We can't get contracts, because none of our suppliers can guarantee a contract price. They can't guarantee a supply," said Miller."The barbecue was about $8 for a plate, maybe $15 on the high end, now you're at like $20-$30 in some cases," he said about the new menu prices.
"The consumer realizes what's going on because now when they go to the grocery store they see how much it costs to get something," said Miller. The USDA said the Consumer-Price Index, the tool that measures inflation, is up 8.5 percent from March of last year. "This isn't something that you can just flip a switch and end overnight," said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst at Lending Tree.