I'm in LA and it's in a downward spiral. Went to a restaurant yesterday and a dish was $16 which was a shocking increase. I went to look at menu photos from 2019 on yelp and the same dish was $12 back then. Service was really bad, they basically took the order, delivered the food, and we never saw them again. No water refills, got tired of waiting for the check and had to walk up front to ask for it. I'm usually generous with tips, but why should this poor service be rewarded? And on top of the already inflated prices?

So restaurants are getting squeezed on all sides. Supply costs up, wages are up, labor shortage, rent is up. Tips will go down as customers are upset with poor service, which means more pressure on wages. All of this means higher prices, which means fewer customers and more takeout orders. The old restaurant business model is simply not sustainable.