‘A no-win for everyone:’ Restaurants struggle to keep customers, employees as prices rise

YAKIMA – Along with higher grocery bills and rent costs, Yakima residents may have noticed increased prices on restaurant menus. Local restaurant owners are balancing increased supply costs, keeping essential employees and ensuring their menus are reasonable for their customers. Many think it will get worse before it gets better.

Maria Lua, owner of Main Stop on the Avenue in Yakima, said restaurants can’t survive right now without raising prices.

“You have to put prices up to provide for your employees,” she said. “I feel shame and embarrassment, but you have to do it. The cost of living is going up.”

In September, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said inflation for all items had reached 8.2% in the previous year. Prices for food rose 11.2% in the same period.

Lua is caught in the same bind as other small businesses. High prices across the economy increase spending for businesses and for workers, who need higher wages as the cost of living increases. But increasing menu prices can lead to fewer customers.

Lua wants to keep her customers, but she also wants to provide for her employees. Lua likes her staff. She knows if she can’t keep them employed, they’ll find opportunities elsewhere. It’s hard to get good employees after losing them. And being unemployed in the midst of high inflation could be catastrophic.

“We don’t want to send people home,” she said. “They have a family to support.”

“I owe my employees,” Lua added. “I wouldn’t be here if they didn’t come into work.”

Lua has avoided any major crisis by decreasing profits in the short run, but she can’t do that forever.

“I should have put my prices up two or three times, but I don’t want to scare my customers,” she said.

The minimum wage is set to increase in January in Washington. While it will help employees with the cost-of-living increases, it could force businesses into difficult decisions.

Carrie Calhoun, who manages Major’s Burgers on South Third Avenue in Yakima, said the restaurant will prioritize employees who are supporting households and families. Part-time employees, like high school students working their first jobs, may be the first to face shift or hour reductions.

Calhoun’s family has run the Yakima restaurant for 22 years. Major’s has another location on Lincoln Avenue. She said the restaurant has built up a loyal customer base and it wants to keep its products affordable for customers. At the same time, prices for necessary supplies are increasing through the roof.

“Our food costs have gone up 15% in about the last six months,” Calhoun said. “Maybe more if you count how much it went up before that.”

She estimated that paper and beef products, which the restaurant needs for most of its meals, have increased by 30-40%. Prices for cooking oil, which is used to cook almost everything on Major’s menu, have increased by 50% in the past two years.

Supply chain issues have made the problem worse, Calhoun added. Certain supplies have just been unavailable. It adds to the uncertainty, she said, and makes it difficult to plan.

Javier Gonzalez owns Javi’s Chicken and Churros in Grandview and Sunnyside. He noted supplies of raw goods and produce have been low. Last week, he saw a box of lettuce double in price because it was in short supply.

“It’s hard to get good-quality foods at a good price,” he said.

Gonzalez said that despite those difficulties, Javi’s Chicken and Churros has managed to weather the storm .

He has managed to keep his prices lower. He said that’s a combination of quantity and quality in his servings. Gonzalez added that his menu’s prices were lower than other restaurants’ when he first started, so the increase doesn’t feel as drastic.

Javi’s Chicken and Churros location might also be beneficial. There’s a reliable customer base in the Lower Valley, as well visitors who will regularly stop at his restaurants for food.

The restaurant’s Grandview location is about a half hour drive from Richland. Its Sunnyside location is about the same distance from Yakima. Gonzalez estimated that around a quarter of his customers may come from Yakima and the Tri-Cities on the weekends.

It’s not all smooth sailing, though. Gonzalez is worried that things could change, and not for the better.

“I do expect it to get a little worse. Then we would have to see about it … I don’t see inflation leveling out or going down any time soon,” he said. “There’s always a fear in the back of your mind.”

That fear may be closer to the front of her mind for Lua. She’s bracing for the bumpy road ahead.

“It’s going to be really difficult, especially during the first quarter of the year,” she said. “It’s a no-win for everyone.”

Calhoun is just grateful that customers have continued to come and stay loyal. She said Major’s is doing its best to keep serving quality meals.

“It’s really hard to look at the numbers and ask what we’re going to do,” Calhoun said. “We continue to be grateful that people choose to eat here.”