Deciding how much of a price hike customers will tolerate is nothing new

The question of the moment for many restaurateurs is how readily customers will accept menu price increases to counter the soaring costs of food and labor. While the rate of inflation may be unprecedented, the challenge is decidedly not, as this week’s edition of the Restaurant Rewind podcast attests.

Host and Restaurant Business Editor At Large Peter Romeo looks at past instances of operators having to adjudge where patrons would draw the line. As he recounts in taking listeners back to those historic moments, it’s a matter of determining the psychological price barrier consumers won’t cross, be it a $10 ticket for Applebee’s entrees back in the 1980s or a $5 ticket for one of Subway’s signature Footlongs several years ago. Which limits were real, and which were misperceptions?

Draw yourself a $27 beer and give a listen. Download this and every installment of the retro-focused Restaurant Rewind from wherever you get your podcasts.