There is no denying that restaurant prices are set to rise this year. Multiple sources show that restaurants and customers will both pay more at all levels of of the industry. This includes fast-food, fast-casual, and fine dining.

For example, Andrew Robinson at BizJournals.com, reports that chain restaurants are increasing their prices. See this link for more on chains. He says that most chains expect to increase prices between 1.6 and 2 percent.

Likewise, Mark Branda from Nation’s Restaurant News states that companies like McDonald’s and Buffalo Wild Wings have made similar disclosures. See this link for that article. These articles were based on a survey from SpenDifference that primarily interviewed chain restaurants, but the story does not end there. All restaurants are likely to experience similar pricing needs, at least if they serve beef. Erin Dostal, also at Nation’s Restaurant News, reports that beef prices will rise for restaurants. Here is a link to that article.

Taking these facts together, it seems that prices will rise. Unfortunately for restaurants, though, costs are rising as well, which does not guaranty higher profits. Still, our own firm has seen quite the uptick in restaurant acquisitions in the first two quarters of 2013, so this still seems to point toward a more robust economy and ultimately good news for restaurants.