Metro Phoenix margaritas and ice cream spiking in price due to inflation

Inflation has come for our carne asada and bruschetta, folks.

What's happening: To find out how inflation is impacting the Valley, we created our own local index pegged to familiar items around town, including Filiberto's burritos and Postino WineCafe's bruschetta boards.

What we found: All but one item we analyzed (a classic dog from Ted's Hot Dogs) has increased in price since last year.

• Many items got more expensive in the past year than they had over the previous four.

By the numbers: A Five Spot sandwich from Matt's Big Breakfast saw the biggest one-year hike, increasing 24% from $6.99 to $8.69.

• 🍹 A margarita at Joyride Tacos is now $11, up from the $9.75 price it had maintained since at least 2017.
• 🌯 A carne asada burrito at Filiberto's increased 18% from $8.18 to $9.68. From 2017 to 2021, the price increased 21%.
• 🍨 A single scoop of ice cream at Sweet Republic is almost $4, up 3%.
• 🍅 Postino bruschetta boards are up 5% this year, and its famous Board and Bottle deal is now $25 (it was $20 for years).

Context: Phoenix saw an 11% increase in prices between April 2021 and April 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

• Food prices rose about 9%.
• We had the highest inflation rate among big cities in the U.S.

Meanwhile: Wages grew by only a little more than 6% from March 2021 to March 2022.

💭 My thought bubble: Rising prices have made me even more obsessed with finding a bargain (including, but not limited to, the Taco Bell value menu). Please send me your favorite cheap eats or happy hour deals!

What price increases have you seen throughout the Valley? Email us at [email protected] to let us know.