Milwaukee City Wire

Inflation has continued to rise throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and one of the most prominent industries to feel its effects is the restaurant business, though its managers, owners and chefs continue to play with the hand they've been dealt.

Inflation has led to an increase in labor costs, necessitating layoffs, downsizing and for remaining staff members to refocus their efforts.

“A lot of the inflation has increased labor costs," said Nick Dawson, chef de cuisine of Barringer's, a restaurant in Fish Creek. "We have to be really flexible."

He discussed the shift management has gone through in recent years. 

"They used to be out of the kitchen, more along lines of costing and kind of a leadership role, ownership role. They don't own the business, but to be a good leader you have to have that ownership mentality. But the pandemic has brought us back into the kitchen. We are doing a lot of the work ourselves,” he said.

The cost of food has gone up as well thanks to inflation and it has been hard for Dawson to economically provide customers with restaurant staples. He used to pay between $29 and $35 per pound of steaks and now he finds himself paying $48 to $54 per pound. Barringer's is known for its high-quality meat, so Dawson isn't willing to downgrade. 

Many restaurants, like Flipper's Cove in Greenleaf, aren't willing to dramatically increase the price, as that will drive customers away. The result is selling at a loss.

Still, there is still hope for saving money while not driving away customers, as explained by Jerry Lintz, the restaurant management instructor at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. 

“You can make minor changes in price, ingredients, change your business hours. There's other things to do rather than looking at cost-cutting. Cost-cutting carries a negative approach,” he said. 

Dawson, one of Lintz's students, isn't daunted by the fraught times restaurants find themselves in. 

“I'll always find a way," Dawson said. "That’s kind of the magic of cooking, and that's why I love it, is that it is constant problem-solving game. And that's why I think that a lot of people in the restaurant industry, the ones who have come out on top and been successful, are the problem-solvers within the industry. The ones who really take the bull by the horns and figure out what the issue is and you figure out a way around it to make it best for the customer.”