Face it, Charlestonians: Prices at too many restaurants are too high and we need to start squawking about it.
A $78 steak? $65 for four beers and an appetizer? A $24 side salad? Really? Too much.
Oh, you’ll hear big excuses like how food costs are up. Or staffing is too expensive. Or about how the pandemic is to blame.
We get it — some costs are higher. But we’re no longer buying the pandemic excuse. The height of the shutdown was more than two years ago.
But operating costs can’t be up so much as to justify costly menus around town, particularly at a few big restaurant groups and outside new venture vultures who call Charleston home. They seem to be opening new eateries just to keep cashing in. And perhaps that proves the point — some businesses seem to have too much money thanks to their inflated prices. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know this food and bev windfall that is funding expansions is from the patrons at packed restaurants with sky-high prices.
It’s just not justified for a shot of vodka in a martini to cost $14, the same price for a side of mac’ and cheese at one place. Or pan-seared scallops for $59. Scallops! Or how about that $38 piece of salmon or $44 cut of a “flaky, white fish.”
One thing that Charleston restaurateurs need to keep in mind is that Charlestonians — not tourists — kept local eateries open when the pandemic swept through. We patronized local establishments that were open, ordered from new take-out menus, enjoyed delivery and more.
Now, more than two years after the height of the pandemic, it’s time to stop trotting out that old horse and normalize pricing.
Yes, we’re now a foodie town that makes top lists. But that doesn’t mean local restaurants need to jack prices to outrageous levels as if we were in New York, Chicago or Los Angeles. As one local owner told us recently, he keeps from raising prices to what his competitors charge because he wants to be slightly lower. Why? Because he knows he’ll do more business in volume with reasonable prices than his competition will and his business will end up doing better at the bank.
That’s the kind of attitude that needs to replace some of the greed going through Charleston’s food culture. Here’s more food for thought:
Offer more affordable items. If expensive restaurants want to keep charging outrageous prices, they should put a few affordable items on the menu to attract locals, their bread-and-butter customers.
Locals’ night. Or how about a once-weekly night for locals in which people who live here get a 25% credit on what they order (restaurants are carding patrons anyway to serve them overpriced booze).
We encourage you to tell restaurants that they need to be more reasonable on pricing if you feel you’re getting taken advantage of. Otherwise, look forward to more costs … and more meals at home.
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