Originally Posted by
Jaimito Cartero
That’s why I think they are doing smaller 10% price increases. $2.65 taco to $2.95. Then $2.95 to $3.30. And two weeks ago, $3.30 to $3.60.
It’s a rather beloved place in the neighborhood. A Taco Bell is 75 yards away, so a real penny pincher is already going there for their crappy 99 cent tacos.
If tacos hit $5, I’d probably find an alternative.
Well, that's the free market for you right? If you have a great product, you can charge more. But even then, you can only charge so much. If you have to give 4 servers an extra $5 an hour for 40 hours a week, that's $3200 a month less profit. Even if only half is charged through to customers, I bet that's a buck more per taco!
Then you have the more expensive restaurants. I recall a couple friends I had right after college who had been waiting tables since high school and through college. They didn't want to give those jobs up because as more experienced servers, they could get Friday and Saturday nights - and would often make $1000-$2000 in a weekend for working about 16 hours...and that was at the minimum server wage. One guy ONLY worked weekends and an occasional weeknight and had no other job.