Restaurants adapt to leaner times

Restaurateurs seem loath to raise prices, for fear of losing customers. Menu-price inflation is about 4.3 percent year to date, Riehle said, lower than overall inflation (4.94 percent in September) as well as the price of food purchased at supermarkets (4.6 percent).

Even bars, which supposedly thrive in hard economic times, are not outpacing inflation.

The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, which sells all wines and spirits in the state, reported that sales were up 5.1 percent between the start of the fiscal year on July 1 and mid-October, compared with the same period last year. Sales to retail customers rose 6.5 percent, but the LCB's direct sales to restaurants and bars were up only 1 percent, spokesman Nick Hays said.  

"I see people not going out to have a second $10 drink," said Starr, whose empire was built on many olives. "They'll go to the liquor store and get a bottle of vodka."

Pete Ciarrocchi, who owns the Chickie's & Pete's sports bars, said he was doing fine now but predicted a downturn a year and a half from now. "My customers are union people, and they're the last people to feel the pinch," he said. "They're working now, but as [the jobs] dry up, then I will feel it."

One big question is the future of Center City's upper-end dining. By midwinter, Center City will have nearly 3,000 seats in steakhouses alone - triple the number it had two years ago. This year saw the debuts of Chima, Table 31 and Butcher & Singer, where per-person tabs at dinner can exceed $75.

Del Frisco's Double Eagle, a national white-tablecloth brand, will have 616 seats when it opens to the public Nov. 26.

"The economy is affecting everyone the same," said Shang Skipper, Del Frisco's general manager. In a nod to the economy, Del Frisco's added moderate-priced wines to its list. Per-person tabs at Del Frisco's average $90 to $120 nationally.

Skipper, who said his restaurant's fortunes would hinge on service, said: "You have to be better than you've ever been, day after day. The cream will truly rise to the top."