The sign on the deli counter at downtown's Cafe Barista & Deli says it all. "Due to the rising cost of tomatoes, we will not have them until they come down in price."
The same thing is happening atZip's, in Mount Lookout, where owner Mike Burke took tomatoes off the menu a few weeks ago. Burke said the only ones that were available were poor quality. Despite that, Burke was asked to pay $89 a 25-pound case versus the $25.96 he was paying just one year ago. "So you'd be buying an expensive product that looks and tastes like s---," he said.
Across the Ohio River, Alyssa Joy Adkins – who, along with her partner Sergio Gutierrez, ownsOllataqueria in Covington – paid $43.18 for 25 pounds of tomatoes in September. As of this week, they cost $97.85.
According to the latest consumer price index thecost of tomatoes jumped 15%in one month, February to March, and 22% in the last year. What's even more telling is that the monthly inflation rate for tomatoes in March was the largest for any consumer good or service, outside energy commodities such as gasoline.
A variety of factors are impacting the price, including rising transportation costs due to high diesel fuel prices (caused by the war in Iran), a cold snap that wiped out $160 million worth of tomatoes in Florida, and a 17% tariff the Trump administration placed on Mexican tomatoes.
And there's no sign of prices going down anytime soon.
"We are just making sure to let guests know that we will bring them back when we have an option that isn't cost prohibitive and matches the quality that we/they expect," Burke said.
It's not just tomatoes
While tomato prices are grabbingall of the headlines, local chefs say prices of meats and fish are also rising.
One restaurant owner who is feeling those price increases firsthand is Danny Combs, of Colette,a restaurant in Over-the-Rhine. The price of the cod he uses for one of his most popular dishes jumped 30% since they opened in 2023.
In College Hill, Matt Cuff, owner of Just Q'in barbecue, has seen his pork prices climb 13%. While pork was something he could always count on for profits, that's no longer the case.
But it's beef prices that have chefs and restaurant owners most worried.
"Beef prices are sky high," said Tavis Rockwell, owner of Rump & Roll Delicatessen, in Dayton, Kentucky. While fuel costs from the war are partly to blame, he also cites small herds that can't keep up with demand.
"Beef is going through the roof, because less people are farming it in America," Rockwell said.
Anthony Sitek, owner of Crown Restaurant Group – which runs Marigold, Crown Cantina and Losanti, among other restaurants – said he is switching to Ohio-raised cattle at one of his restaurants, since it is cheaper than the cattle he's bringing in from out of state.
Len Bleh, owner of Avril-Bleh butcher shop – which sells its beef to several Cincinnati restaurants, including Zip's – said he's had to raise the price of his ground beef 12% since the beginning of 2026. "Demand is up and supply is short," he said. "And with rising fuel prices, shipping costs are higher." Bleh added that factors such as drought in the West combined with higher prices for feed have lead to farmers raising less cattle.
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Will rising prices mean menu prices will be going up?
For a small business like Rump & Roll, it might be necessary to raise prices to survive. "I took my sandwiches all up a dollar from when I opened," Rockwell said. "I might have to do another one this summer."
Cuff is struggling with the decision to raise prices at Just Q'in, too. "I am considering it," he said. "We reduced prices at the end of last year to make things more affordable, but I am looking at (raising them) right now." He's also pushing the restaurant's burgers since they help him make the most of his brisket, the trimmings of which he can grind into burgers.
Burke is trying to hold off on increasing prices at Zip's as long as he can. "We have not raised our prices in almost a year," he said.
The primary reason he's hesitant to do it again is that he doesn't want to scare customers off. "We are known for being a family friendly restaurant. If I let prices get to high I fear we might lose that," he said. "However, if the prices continue to rise, restaurants will be forced to raise their prices."
Like Burke, Olla co-owner Adkins is trying to wait things out, "Last year we sat down as a team and raised our prices 50 cents across the board," she said. "We do not have any plans to raise our prices any further. We're going to keep pushing through as long as our employees are paid, the lights stay on and our customers leave fed and happy. That's what matters most to us."
Sitek said Crown restaurants are far better off than those smaller mom-and-pop-owned places, which are more fragile when it comes to cost fluctuations. "One bad week for a mom-and-pop is detrimental," he said. Since Crown butchers all of their own meat, he isn't feeling as much of a crunch. But customers are already complaining about his menu prices being too high.
He thinks there's a major misconception between consumer and restaurant owners when it comes to menu prices.
"They see beef at Costco going for $10 a pound, or a porterhouse at Kroger for $8.99 a pound. But I can't buy (quality) beef for under $18. It gives us a bad perception, but they are not giving you good quality meat." From a cost standpoint, he wants his customers to understand that he is putting the best meat and produce possible on the table, and that is what they are paying for.
Meanwhile, Combs is playing around with his Colette menu to keep prices affordable.
"We will try and eat some of the costs on items and ingredients that people love, but we make sure we balance that somewhere else on the menu to try to make up for it."
To make sure he can keep the cod on his menu, Combs focuses on affordable sourcing. He also makes sure his kitchen crew knows how to butcher it properly and use what's leftover so nothing goes to waste. He also counterbalances the cod with menu items that don't create as much of a financial loss.
While Combs is determined to keep using the best ingredients he can afford, he knows that raising prices to absorb those costs can be a death knell for any restaurant that is already perceived as expensive.
"You can have a line out the door and be busy every night, but if you are not paying attention to your (menu) costs, you will not last. He also wants to make sure he trains the next generation of Greater Cincinnati chefs to deal with more uncertain times ahead.
"This is something chefs and their teams should be working on every single day," Combs said. "It is the responsibility of us chefs to be training our teams so that when they get their opportunities or go somewhere else, they are running successful establishments."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer:Why tomato prices aren't the only headache for restaurants right now
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