05/17/2026
Copied from Worcester eats page with permission
I have been seeing more and more comments about the price of meals in restaurants. I want to address this to hopefully educate some people on what goes into it.
Restaurants don’t actually make money on food, drinks and especially alcohol is where money is made. A good year a restaurant will make 10% but usually much less than that.
The price you see on the menu is a combination of many things. Yes the cost of the food is part of it. Now you need to add in labor, utilities, rent, insurances(yes multiple), paper goods(receipt paper, napkins, straws, to go packaging, to go menus, maybe kids menus/coloring), glassware, silverware, plates, cookware, cleaning chemicals, cooking tools(pans, utensils, storage pans), and other things like salt/pepper shakers, oil/vinegar jars, beer/sangria/margarita pitchers, marg shakers, and branded glassware. This last group gets replaced very very frequently because they get stolen all the time, especially if you are in an event area.
All of these go into pricing a menu. They have all been steadily increasing in price for the last 5 years. Gloves that used to cost $30/case are now $80/case, which was done from $130/case during covid. Mind you these are prices that I remember paying and haven’t worked in a restaurant for 2 years so they are most likely different now. Some food is seasonal and price varies, like seafood, so you will pay more for them.
Let’s talk about the food. Sadly yes many restaurants, especially chains and corporate places, use the branded stuff from the food distribution companies. I’m not a fan of it. The case for it is that it saves labor, which it can, but you lose quality. Now if you make everything in house you will use more labor, which can raise the cost. So damned if you do and damned if you don’t.
Now this is not to say every restaurant is pricing properly, just wanted you all to know what goes into pricing a menu. And support your locally owned mom and pop places as they need the business more than the corporate chain places. And usually, not always, but usually have fresher food.
