Higher costs have Ohio restaurants feeling the squeeze

Ohio restaurant owners hoping to 86 their pandemic anxieties this year now have a new worry on the menu.

Driving the news: Restaurateurs say they've dealt with significant increases in operating costs thus far in 2022, per a poll conducted last month by the Ohio Restaurant Association.

Why it matters: Central Ohio, which saw a wave of restaurant closures during pandemic lockdowns, is now trying to stave off even more losses.

Takeaways from the recent poll:

📈Costs are up across the board: Restaurants are paying much more for food, supplies and labor than they were just six months ago.

💲Patrons bear the brunt: Nearly all restaurants have increased menu prices to offset these higher expenses, some by up to 15%.

🧑‍🍳Workers are still needed: Just 11% of restaurants report being fully staffed. Nearly half of respondents say they've closed areas or shortened hours because of these staffing shortages.

What they're saying: "[The poll] tells us that things are still pretty tough for restaurant operators and employees," John Barker, president and CEO of the restaurant association, tells Axios.

• Some businesses are taking unusual steps, Barker says, like charging market price for non-seafood dishes like beef and chicken.

State of play: Restaurant reservations were on the rebound this spring, as we wrote in early June, but the trend tapered off since then.

• Across Columbus this summer, most days have seen fewer reservations than on the same date in 2019, according to OpenTable data.

• The loss of downtown traffic is still harming businesses, with Barker pointing toward the recent closure of Melt Bar and Grilled's Short North location — which once was "the center of the universe" in that business district.

Yes, but: Americans trying to avoid expensive restaurant meals are also now feeling the pain at the grocery store.

💭 Tyler's thought bubble: Ohio Diner Journalism™ is a cliche on top of a cliche, but it occasionally proves constructive.

• The menu of a Cleveland-area diner I visited last Sunday featured a sticker reading: "All menu prices up $1."

The bottom line: Restaurateurs and patrons alike are trying their best to navigate higher costs, making discounts like those featured in 614 Restaurant Week even more enticing.