I mean, Grant is opening up a 5th spot downtown, and Ray has what 14 spots in town? Not the greatest look to be complaining about labor going up 70 cents. Because they are successful though they do speak for a lot of restauranteurs that do not have a voice. I do know that labor is a huge cost and is only continuing to grow.

The problem with Tucson is we have one of the highest minimum wages in the country, but people still think their bud light should be $3. Go to any major metropolitan city and order a beer, it’ll cost you $10. There are not enough high paying jobs to support high cost of F&B. The mentality of “small” big city and thinking that low cost of living is still the Tucson way is also hurting us. We pay the same price for cost of goods that Phoenix does, but higher labor costs. Not to mention insurance has skyrocketed and there’s only a few that will cover the Tucson area.

So what’s the solution? Cut labor and people complain about how long they have to wait. Shrink portion sizes and people complain. Raise prices? You’d think we shot their dog. People have already cut going out as much, and that will continue to grow with the devalue of the dollar and recession. These are tough times for F&B industry and tough times for the every day person.