Guy Fieri laments need to ‘become creative’ amid rising food prices

Restauranteur Guy Fieri acknowledged the damage that rising food prices have on his industry.

Fieri appeared on One Nation with Brian Kilmeade on Saturday, saying it is difficult to be a successful restaurant in today’s economy. According to Fieri, he’s seen restaurants succeed due to “resourcefulness” while filming his TV show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

“Looking at the pressure that’s put on these mom-and-pop restaurants, you know, when I go and do Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, the dollar isn’t going as far as it was, and this is so tough,” Fieri said. “And they’re really having to become creative, and you know, we saw the pandemic. We lost some of our favorite restaurants. They just couldn’t pull through. It’s resourcefulness right now, and it’s trying to figure out how to navigate these waters because, you know, the consumer doesn’t want to see the prices go up.”

Fieri advocated raising minimum wages in restaurants, which can be lower than the national minimum wage of $7.25 when it comes to tipped employees.

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“Where does it stop, and who’s gonna pay that price?” Fieri said.

A recent study found that the states with the highest minimum wages tend to make it more expensive for people who desire to open a restaurant. According to a study from Restaurant Furniture, food permit costs, liquor licensing costs, sales tax, corporate tax, rent, and minimum wages influence the difficulty of opening a restaurant. The top 10 most expensive states for restaurants to open were found to be, in order, California, New York, Colorado, Illinois, Arizona, Alaska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Washington.

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