As cost of food soars, restaurants get creative

Clark Wolf, a New York-based restaurant consultant who has advised high-end clients how ways to save money on ingredients, said the idea is to "reconfigure dishes that have an end result of being appealing food that we can afford to sell."

"What you don't want to do in an uncertain economy is make people think they're getting ripped off," Wolf said.

So far, the changes haven't seemed to faze consumers. Although rising food costs, record oil prices and falling home values have hit Americans hard, they still spend an estimated half their food budget at restaurants because of convenience and time pressures.

"Even though cash is tight, consumers are pretty reticent to back off on their restaurant habit," the National Restaurant Association's Riehle said.

In another dining trend, T.G.I. Friday's, Quiznos, Au Bon Pain and other "fast-casual" restaurants are offering smaller, cheaper portions. But the restaurants are finding that doesn't mean people are eating any less. Instead, many customers are using small-dish dining as an excuse to add to their orders, spending — and probably eating — just as much as before, experts say. The entrees may be smaller, but diners believe that leaves more room for dessert.

Rising world food prices aren't the only factors hurting restaurants. At Captain Joey Patti's seafood restaurant in Pensacola, Fla., scarcity of the popular grouper fish have sent prices skyrocketing.

"We took it off the menu as an everyday item because the cost was outrageous. Now we're selling catfish and mullet instead," said Josie Patti Merritt, co-owner of the 20-year-old family-run business. Wholesale food cost represent roughly half of Merritt's business expenses, forcing to scale back her employees' hours to get by.

"My accountant told me I need to get my food costs to around 35 percent. I told him good luck," she said.

For other restaurants, swapping food items simply isn't an option.

Marc Roth, owner of Roth's Westside Steakhouse on Manhattan's Upper West Side, said he looked into buying cheaper cuts of beef but couldn't find anything to his satisfaction.

"I was looking at different cuts, organic meats, you name it and I never felt it could keep the consistency. It was a tough call but I had to make it," Roth said.

Jack Johnson, owner of Dr. of Barbecue restaurant in Springfield, Ill., said pork prices have shot up by a third in the last year, but that he can't replace pork because it's his most popular item. As a result, a pulled-pork sandwich that cost $4.95 last year costs $5.45 today.

To avoid future price increases, he's considering acquiring a big walk-in freezer and stocking it with a year's worth of pork. "But that's a gamble because if the bottom falls out of the meat market you'd be stuck with a ton of expensive cuts," Jackson said.

Still, given that other restaurants are facing even more cost pressure for eggs, cheese and bread, Jackson considers himself lucky.

"At least I'm not in the pizza business," he said.

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