You’re a working person in Los Angeles. A life milestone approaches which calls for a night out with dear ones. You make a reservation. You go. A moment of gratitude as you look around the table.
But then you’re handed the bill.
Suddenly, you’re feeling a little less grateful and are questioning your choices. But you realize, as you hand over your card, that even with $100-plus tabs for basic sit-down meals and $60 or more for weeknight takeout, the closures of scores of eateries — All Day Baby, Bicyclette, the venerable Rose Cafe, the Original Pantry — haven’t stopped.
What’s going on?
We spoke with three L.A. restaurant proprietors across a range of price points to try to understand how the math works — or doesn’t.
We asked them to drill down on a specific entrée on their menu, and compare its price today to its price in pre-pandemic 2019. We also asked them to compare food costs, staff wages and money spent on overall operations.
A few caveats: First, hats off to these owners for their transparency, as many others were reticent to allow a peep into their books. Second, although we’d have liked to use the same line items across eateries, each place had different ways to get to the final numbers, which we respected. Some shared greater specificity with the costs while others were more free with their feelings.
Here’s what they said.
Read the full article here: https://laist.com/news/food/why-dont-restaurant-prices-work-for-anyone-involved