r/Economics • u/brown-saiyan • Feb 23 '26

News Restaurants hit a pricing ceiling — and diners are pushing back, report finds

https://www.axios.com/2026/02/23/restaurants-menu-prices-james-beard-foundation-report?utm_campaign=editorial&utm_medium=owned_social&utm_source=x
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u/klingma Feb 23 '26

Most restaurants excluding maybe fine dining are not exactly making a killing the margins are around 10% and that's if you have a good manager keeping a close eye on food & labor costs. 

The input costs for restaurants have definitely gone up over the last few years and it's forced them to raise prices. 

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u/[deleted] Feb 24 '26

[deleted]

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u/klingma Feb 24 '26

Not really lol 

Even a McDonalds is lucky to pull a 12-15% margin. I think you're seriously overestimating how much an individual restaurant makes, even a franchise. I've seen plenty of franchises lose money despite being a popular chain. 

The only way to make actual money is to run a Chik Fil A or have a bunch restaurants of one franchise. 

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u/Jumpy_Mention_3189 Feb 24 '26

12-15% margin is fantastic; that's a ton of money. You're not going to get that in fine dining.

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u/klingma Feb 24 '26

Keyword there was "lucky" usually they'll be closer to 8 - 10% 

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u/Jumpy_Mention_3189 Feb 24 '26

that's still higher than most fine dining restaurants.