Indiana restaurants struggles with food cost and weather

GEIST, Ind. - Some central Indiana restaurants have been seeing changes in business this year. Between rising food costs and unwelcoming weather, one restaurant group said 2025 has brought its fair share of struggles.




Alec Wolf is the district manager of Wolfpack Restaurant Group. His family started in the restaurant business decades ago. 




"In the 20 years we've been open, we've seen it all, we just haven't seen it all in just a singular year," Wolf said.




The family has several restaurants in Geist, Carmel and Noblesville, just to name a few. Along with five locations of Wolfies Northern Woods and Grill, the family operates fine-dining experiences and offers specialty cocktails at places like Italian House and The Broken Barrel.




Wolf said his family's businesses have kept their prices the same amid rising food costs, hoping customers are willing to pay what they're used to spending. 




"We have strategically looked at ways in which we talk to manufacturers to kind of drop that inflation to really work with them and say, 'Hey, you got to give us a good price," Wolf said. 




He said the restaurant group is lucky to have a core group of customers who return time after time. The one thing that can change that is the weather.




"As far as the winter started, it was so cold and that just keeps diners from coming out," Wolf said. "They just want to stay at home to hunker down."




Now well into the summer months, heat, rain and humidity have been steering customers away from patios and outdoor seating.




"We have tons of patios, we've got beer gardens, we have all this available space and when diners are only wanting to sit inside, you might lose business because of that," Wolf said.




Unpredictable storms and showers can also put a wrench into supporting the restaurant groups' hundreds of staff members. 




"You might schedule 15 [employees] on a weekday and you've got them [working] inside, outside sections, but with the weather, if it rains what happens is you have to call people off," Wolf said. "If it's too hot and people don't want to sit outside, you've got people working but they're not getting their revenue and the income."




Wolf recognizes he and his family are lucky to have a loyal following, but knows that may not be true for newer startups. He said while it's always best to eat local, it can make all the difference in times like these. 




"I think for a lot of people they're starting somewhere, so they're just trying to make ends meet," Wolf said. "... By dining out, you don't even know that you're supporting a family that has the potential to grow even at the smallest level."





via: https://fox59.com/news/in-restaurants-struggles-with-food-cost-and-weather/