If you’ve dined out in recent years, you might come away feeling like your wallet is smarting. What started as some tuna crudo, a seasonal salad, fries, a main course, and a couple of glasses of wine quickly adds up to three figures before you’ve even considered your dessert options. But that $20 plate of tuna crudo, however, represents more than just restaurant owners overcharging for shits and giggles—it covers fair wages for staff, rent,…
Restaurant Owners Feel the Squeeze Now More Than Ever, Juggling Tariffs, Inflation, and High Rents
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Well written. Looks like more and more will close, The few that will remain open will have sky high prices and only the well to do will be able to afford it.
Thank you so much for this wonderfully written article about the state of the restaurant industry. The neighborhood has changed significantly in the 15 years since our arrival. Unfortunately, it is way too expensive to live here and operate any small business. In addition, the restaurant/hospitality industry has so many regulations making it almost impossible to open a place here unless you have very deep pockets. We are grateful that we came into the neighborhood 15 years ago, and appreciate all the amazing people who embraced us from Day One. I explain to our guests that we would not be able to start now with what we began with in 2010. I find that to be a very sad statement. With that said, we are truly grateful to still be in Greenpoint!!!
Wait until Mamdani’s proposed $30 minimum goes into effect. That, by itself, will guarantee that many mom & pop retail businesses (including bars/lounges restaurants and consumer goods) will close because the owners won’t be able to pay their employees. Careful what you wish for. All of you clueless dopes who voted for the grinning communist-in-democrat-clothing can look in a mirror to see who was responsible for this. None of you know, or comprehend, just how destructive a socialist government is. If socialism is ever fully implemented, say good bye to your carefree partying lifestyle. Your present way of life will no longer exist. You won’t be able to afford going out to your favorite overpriced restaurant or bar because you’ll earn a lot less money because whatever level of wealth you might have attained will be redistributed so that everyone is at the same level of poverty.
Well I don’t think folks earnings would ever be redistributed, nor does he have the power to do that – but I do agree with the comment about $30 minimum wage increase – there is a limit to how high you can charge someone for a cold brew – then you reach a point where you have to shut down your local coffee spot and make way for some corporate crap to come in – they are the only ones who can afford the rent and wages – in turn we lose what makes this city so great: uniqueness
There’s a place in Rockaway Park called Tap That. It’s a self-pour bar/restaurant. The prices are off the charts. Beers cost up to $1.45/oz. A burger (not large at all. Fits on a small brioche) costs $23.10, no fries or sides included. If you want fries, they’ll set you back $12.60. So, one person will blow about 50 bucks for nothing much. If you’re going to drink 2 or 3 more 20 oz. glasses of beer on top of that, you’re in the hole for over $150 not including a tip. Maybe some of you might think that’s a decent price; I don’t.
Manhattan 3 Decker isn’t any better. I was there with my son recently We had two classic burgers served on toasted white bread, not on a bun. It was cut into quarters like something off a kid’s menu. Had to order fries as extras, toss in one can of soda and a smallish cup of coffee and it cost over 60 bucks before adding a tip. Does anyone remember the bowl of mints next to the cashier? One was welcome to grab a handful of mints at no charge while paying your check. No more. They’ll cost an extra two bits (that’s 25¢) from a candy dispenser. The new ownership succeeded in turning chicken steak into chicken shit. Sure miss Ernie.
To make this rant short, average people can’t afford to eat out anymore. It borders on the obscene that simple menu items are priced as if they were ordering steak from Peter Luger or eating at Le Bernardin. It has nothing to do with Trump or tariffs. This has been the situation long before.
Not only can one not afford to eat out anymore, but it is, 9 out of 10 times in my opinion, not worth it – the food is mediocre Sysco (food provider) crap, that is not made with any care, or point of view – add to that the service is also most of the time sub par.
I wonder how many readers of Greenpointers fall into the parentally subsidized playcationing flyover state urban explorers category? They’re usually the first to chime in with the “STFU, Boomer!” crap because someone like myself complains about the high cost of everyday things. Those are, or were, twentysomething professional college students whose parents would provide a monthly stipend deposited into their bank accounts on the first of every month. They’d go out and drink their $40 cocktails, splurge on $35 lobster rolls and other expensive things. They’d spend like drunken sailors from the first to the 15th of the month. From the 16th to the end of the month, they’re broke until the parents deposit more money on the first of the next month. That’s because they pissed through their dough. I used to laugh my ass off watching these dopes rifling through the garbage bags placed outside of Brooklyn Fare on Schermerhorn St. at closing time, scavenging for recently expired food to eat. They’d also live on a diet of Fruit Loops and ramen until the next deposit came in. Stupid is as stupid does.