Burger joints feel pinch of beef price boom

State of play: Ground beef averaged about $6.70 per pound in March for U.S. shoppers, roughly 16% higher than a year earlier, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

• The impact is being felt by restaurants across the U.S. and right here in Northeast Ohio.

What they're saying: "Highest I've ever seen," Mike Beder, co-owner of Water Street Tavern in Kent since 2001, tells Axios.

• He's absorbing where possible, but has raised prices in some cases. The tavern's burger prices — currently $12-$15 — could go up for the first time in about a year.
• That includes a higher-than-he'd-like $42 T-bone at another higher-end restaurant concept he owns.

The intrigue: "People have started to steer away from even burgers," Beder says, opting instead for things like salads or pastas topped with protein.

The big picture: Beef prices may move sideways in the coming months as consumers shift toward those cheaper proteins.

• But without a significant increase in cattle supply, meaningful price declines are unlikely, economists say.

The bottom line: Beef prices aren't rising as fast — but they're still stuck high, and the forces keeping them there aren't going away anytime soon.