Value deals for fast food favorites like the Popeyes Big Box Deal and Little Caesars's Hot-N-Ready pizza are a thing of the past thanks to historic inflation during the first year of the Biden administration, NBC's Today Show reported Tuesday.
"With fast food chains and restaurants facing higher costs across the board, one thing you're probably seeing is that deals are not as cheap as they once were," NBC correspondent Tom Costello said. Restaurants are raising wages to confront labor shortages and "those costs get passed down to all of us. ... Especially for restaurants where the margins are already very very thin, they can't afford to eat those extra costs."
"As a result, you and I are going to be paying more for that burger," Costello said.
The Biden administration has faced criticism for the nation's spike in inflation, with consumer prices climbing 7 percent over the last year, the Labor Department reported this month. A 6 percent rise in restaurant prices has contributed to the country's economic woes. Little Caesars, for example, raised the price of its famous Hot-N-Ready pizza for the first time in 20 years, from $5 to $5.55. Popeyes has raised the price of its Big Box Deal by $1, and Domino's Pizza has limited purchases of its $7.99 meal deal to online only.
The inflation surge has also wreaked havoc on dining establishments in Washington, D.C., and the surrounding area, the Washington Free Beacon reported last week. The cost of many of the capital city's iconic dishes, like Falls Church's Peking Gourmet Inn signature duck, has jumped more than 30 percent.