According to data provided by Food Beat™, Wheaton, Ill., which focused on the last half of 2002, restaurateurs were perceptive enough to understand that this is not a good time to raise restaurant prices. “Only 15.1% of menu items in the second half of 2002 showed a price increase. That's a smaller number when compared to 19% in the first half of 2002 and smaller still when compared to 27% during the first half of 2001,” states Diane Fox, partner, Food Beat. Conversely, 1.3% of menu items tracked in the database experienced a price decrease, suggesting operators recognize that cutting prices is not the way to build business. “Questions such as how to increase check averages and how to attract more people to an establishment continue to be important,” she notes.
For example, Mexican and Thai foods can be found in chains that do not specialize in those cuisines. A Morning Quesadilla, a flour tortilla stuffed with scrambled eggs, bacon, peppers, onions, black beans, cilantro, cheddar and jack cheeses, and tomatillo sauce, was available at Cheesecake Factory, Calabasas Hills, Calif., $8.95; and a Thai Peanut Sandwich, chicken chunks, light plain cream cheese, Thai peanut sauce, lettuce, cucumber and sprouts, was on the menu at Bruegger's Bagel Bakery, Burlington, Vt., $4.29. The Hispanic dessert, dulce de leche, showed up under its namesake at T.G.I. Friday's, Dallas, $3.99.