Since 2022, food prices have increased by 9.9%. 63% of U.S. citizens say price increases have brought them financial hardship. Local Menlo Park Downtown restaurants report feeling stuck on finding ways to continue operating with rising food prices, rent, and wages.
Tilak Indian and Nepalese Cuisine owner Prakash Ban established his restaurant in downtown Menlo Park. Despite its wholesome opening in 2022, Ban is now concerned for his business.
“For one month, I raised the prices of my menu by 20 cents and we lost business. I want to be able to support my employees with families of their own to take care of, but food prices are going up. The owner of my shop’s property keeps increasing rent, and, in the end, I’m suffering because I have to decide which of my employees’ hours I have to cut to save money.”
Ban usually buys his restaurant goods in bulk at Restaurant Depot, but his receipts have reached shocking numbers despite consistent purchases. “Before, I was able to fill up a cart full of groceries for $1,000, but the same amount of groceries now cost me $1,350. Even a case of garlic is $50 more expensive.”
Other local restaurant owners have expressed similar concerns over rising grocery prices and waning customer bases. “Before inflation and COVID, on average, we’d have around 150 customers per regular day, but now, it’s closer to 40,” Mama Coco owner Omar Pina said.
Pina also owns a second Mama Coco restaurant in San Carlos, which he plans to shut down due to the challenging economy. “There’s nothing I can do but wait until the economy gets better.”
Fey Restaurant on El Camino has been open for 13 years and also reported a drop in customers since the pandemic and food inflation. “The revenue dip is bearable but prices on products such as eggs, fish, and meat have increased the most for us,” manager Minyi Lee said.
Lee reported that the business used to receive an average of around 160 customers per day, but now only has around 40, a 75% decrease since the pandemic. “I remember when our restaurant used to be packed with guests and every table would be full,” she said.
Jeffrey’s Hamburgers, a popular Menlo Park diner, has also taken significant blows from inflation. Owner Serge Karanov started working the grill and register due to his business’s 10% decrease in revenue.
Karanov, who opened Jeffrey’s 18 years ago, has less time for his personal life than ever before. “I’ve been putting in a lot more hours since I can’t afford to rehire a manager. Now I’m the manager and don’t have enough time to spend with my kids,” he said.
With the property facing redevelopment plans, Karanov expects Jeffrey’s to last three to five more years before they will be forced to relocate.
Families are dining out less with inflated prices after the COVID-19 pandemic, and restaurant owners now see continuous dips in their revenue. “I’m looking for the economy to get better in the next couple of years because if it doesn’t, a lot of businesses will start disappearing,” Pina said.
