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No rice for you! Restaurants cope with rising costs by cutting back

girl eating pancakesThere's an interesting story in the New York Times this morning about how restaurants are dealing with soaring food costs. Some Chinese places are no longer automatically delivering rice to the table, others are subtly trimming portion sizes, some are simply raising prices. One proprietor even admitted to tacking tax onto the check rather than upping prices on the menus. A brunch spot has started charging $2 for the walnut-raisin topping that used to come free with the French toast. Frozen blueberries have begun replacing fresh.

With rice, flour, beans, tofu and milk prices through the roof, we're likely to see more penny-pinching maneuvers everywhere. Food costs in the New York area are up 5.3 percent this year, says the article, but the problem's nationwide.

So have you all noticed any changes in your favorite restaurants? Prices up? Hidden taxes? No more free green tea?

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