Restaurants nationwide raise prices amid soaring costs, labor shortage

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Restaurants nationwide raise prices amid soaring costs, labor shortage


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With New York City’s restaurant scene coming back after ­COVID-19, there’s something new on the menu — bigger bills.

Diners had better bring their cash as well as their appetites, as city restaurant prices are going up thanks to rising costs in food, supplies and labor, restauranteurs said.

“If we’re getting squeezed there’s only two ways to handle it, either cut costs or raise prices, there’s no alternatives really,” Hakan Swahn, the owner of Midtown’s Aquavit, told The Post Monday.

The Nordic-cuisine purveyor said he’s spending about 15 percent more on supplies, while customers’ checks are on average about 15 to 20 percent higher.

Ciro Casella, the co-owner of San Matteo Pizzeria on the Upper East Side, said the price for “everything” has gone up “sky high.”

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US Labor Department data show prices across all products jumped 4.2 percent over the past 12 months — the largest increase since 2008 — and a myriad of issues is driving the uptick.

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