Some restaurants struggle with high cost of food - Atlanta News, Weather, Traffic, and Sports | FOX 5

Have you been out to dinner lately and noticed that your favorite menu items are a little more expensive than usual? If so, you can blame the high cost of food. Some local restaurant owners say it's so bad, they've had to raise prices just to keep up.

Sometimes restaurant owners can deal with slight increases in food costs and food inflation by absorbing the cost and not have to pass it on to the customers.  Prices are up significantly from this time last year, and it could get worse.

Manuel's Tavern has been a staple in the Virginia Highland neighborhood for more than 50 years. Owner Brian Maloof says his customers are like family. That's why he issued a letter on Facebook, telling them he's raising prices on the entire menu.

"There's nothing that we buy that has gone down in price. Not a single thing. In the letter I specifically mention the cost of tuna, sushi grade tuna. We were buying at $55 a case, it's now $112.50 and that happened after the Japanese tsunami," said Maloof.

The increase in the cost of food is reflected in the increase in prices on the menu.

Maloof says he's partly to blame. Instead of making small price adjustments to specific items along the way, he's held out, and now it's to the point that he's got to make dramatic increases all across the board. And he isn't alone.

Chef Mimmo Alboumeh raised prices at Red Pepper Taqueria 5 to 8 percent on certain items.

"The cattle, the beef is more expensive. The chicken is more expensive," said Alboumeh.

Some local restaurants have managed without having to raise prices. Rise-n-dine café gets a lot of its food locally, and they have made other adjustments.

"Consumers are not making any more money and meanwhile, they're probably having to pay more for their product. It's a tough situation that probably is going to get worse," said a Rise-N-Dine representative.

It's something customer Marshall Quin isn't too concerned about, just as long as the food is good!

"It never doubles or anything, just you know, little small changes, so it goes up incrementally. So, it's not devastating," said Quin.

According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, when you compare food prices from January of this year to January of last year, beef is up 3.2 percent, chicken is up 6.1 percent, fruit is up 4.6 percent, and vegetables are up 2.2 percent.

Much of that is because of the drought in the Midwest and energy costs. It may get worse throughout 2013. Price inflation is expected to be slightly higher than normal this year, so you may have to get used to seeing higher menu prices, and higher prices at the grocery store

In addition to that, the new health insurance law is going to add huge expenses for restaurant owners.

How are you coping with the high cost of food? Post your comments on our FOX 5 Atlanta Facebook page, or tweet us @GoodDayAtlanta.