Restaurants feel squeeze of rising prices and labor shortages

Warrenville, Illinois — Omelettes are among the mainstays at Nick Kostopoulos' Honey Milk restaurant outside of Chicago, but the rising prices required to make them — and nearly everything else on the menu — are becoming unsustainable. 

"Burgers are up about 40% from when we printed this," he said, looking at a menu.  Two-thirds of restaurant operators said their total food costs are higher than they were before the pandemic, according to a National Restaurant Association Research Group survey of 2,500 operators. In April, for the fourth straight month, wholesale prices increased for beef, pork and fruit.