SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Some San Diego restaurant owners are grappling with higher costs on rent, food, and delivery.
“There are so many things restaurants have to do right to succeed," said Denny Knox at the Ocean Beach Main Street Association. "And everything is slim margins.”
Knox said this past year was especially difficult on local businesses, and most of their expenses have trickled down to customers.
“They had really big increases. It was hard to keep up with," Knox said. "They had to keep changing their prices and changing their prices just to keep some sort of profit.”
Data from Smart Asset, a financial tech company that tracks consumer prices and offers financial advice, shows local restaurant and takeout prices have shot up in the last year, rising by 6.3% overall.
According to the data, the San Diego area had the largest increase in cost of food away from home, compared to other large metro areas in the U.S.
“Consumers have to be smart when they go out to eat -- are they going to have two drinks or one drink, are they going to have a full meal or something off the appetizers?” Knox said.
“It’s hard to make ends meet right now for a lot of people, so eating out less is the first thing they cut out,” said Jacob Veltre, who lives in Ocean Beach.
Several people ABC 10News spoke to said they are cutting back on going out by packing lunches and meal planning whenever possible.
“I build a menu every week, so the kids know what to expect," said Kara Wasser, who was visiting Ocean Beach. "I usually build the meals in when we’re going out. So, Thursday's Chipotle, then they know they're going to eat out that day. Then we’re not spontaneously extra spending.”
And when they do eat out, they hunt for special discounts.
“Happy hours are always super helpful," Veltre said. "That’s what we try to stick to. That's our time of day we try to hang out.”
“Even just cutting back on sodas when you go out to eat is a big thing because you pay a lot extra for the drinks,” Wasser said.
Saving every dollar to use in other areas of their budget.
