Hotels and restaurants have had trouble hiring, so they innovated

Jul 17, 2023
That’s meant automating some tasks once done by humans and thinking carefully about the humans they do hire.
After two summers of worker shortages on Cape Cod, some restaurant and hotel owners have become more efficient, "enabling them to operate with a smaller staff,” the Beige Book says.
Tim Graham/Getty Images

Grocery inflation cools while restaurant prices continue to rise

Apr 12, 2023
Because a restaurant tab pays for more than just the food on the table.
Rising wages are the main reason restaurants are increasing prices. Many eateries have boosted pay, hoping to attract and retain staff.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Restaurant, retail recoveries diverge in downtown Boston

Apr 10, 2023
Downtown Boston has more restaurants and bars now than it did before the pandemic. Retail stores, meanwhile, are still struggling.
There are about twice as many retail vacancies in downtown Boston now as there were before the pandemic started, says Michael Nichols, president of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District.
Samantha Fields/Marketplace

Confident in the economy or not, American consumers are going out

Feb 28, 2023
Sales at restaurants and bars were up around 25 percent from last year. Part of that is likely due to pent-up demand.
Kooper's Tavern is one of many bars and restaurants in Fells Point, a historic neighborhood in Baltimore.
Stephanie Hughes/Marketplace

How is the restaurant industry faring these days?

Sep 9, 2022
More people are going out to eat, but some are frustrated with the rising cost. Yet the cost crunch is just as bad, or worse, for restaurant owners.
Even though restaurants' costs are rising, owners may not raise menu prices as much to avoid scaring customers away.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Why the price of groceries is going up faster than a meal out

Aug 10, 2022
In part, that’s because restaurants don’t want to scare away customers.
"If consumers were truly, truly worried," says economist Jennifer Lee, discretionary spending on things like restaurant lunches "would be one of the first areas they would cut back on."
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Online review extortion scheme targets the restaurant industry at an unsteady time

Aug 10, 2022
Scammers give restaurants bogus one-star reviews, and demand payment to stop.
Brian Williams is the general manager at Terrapin, a restaurant in Virginia Beach. He said he tries not to read restaurant reviews too often and addresses any questions that come up about once a month.
Paul Bibeau

FX series "The Bear" reminds some chefs why they left the restaurant industry

Aug 4, 2022
"A lot of people romanticize restaurant work" and don't realize how stressful it can be, says Genevieve Yam, assistant editor at Epicurious.
The after party for the Los Angeles premiere of FX's series "The Bear" at Goya Studios on June 20.
Amy Sussman/Getty Images

For this Detroit restauranteur, business is still "day to day"

May 18, 2022
For Lester Gouvia, chef-owner of Norma G's Detroit, business in the pandemic economy has been a "rollercoaster."
"We do have some good days, we do still have some bad days," says Lester Gouvia, chef-owner of Norma G's Detroit, a Caribbean restaurant.
Courtesy Lester Gouvia