Toronto restaurant locking prices at $13 because nobody can afford to eat out anymore
As people tighten their budgets to adjust to Toronto's ongoing affordability crisis, things like the city's drastically overpriced rent and groceries are pushing people to cut back on other costs, like dining out.
But, one restaurant in the city is trying to make its offerings a little easier on customers' wallets, and hopefully drum up some more business in the process.
The Fox & Fiddle Cityplace has just launched a prix fixe menu for $13, which is far less than what you'd pay for a meal at most other places in the area right now, and perhaps even at the grocery store.
The establishment is billing the new menu as one small solution to the current cost of living crisis, calling the price "approachable" and more "budget-friendly" than what people have become used to in this economy.
As owner Adam Brown explains in a release about the new initiative, the restaurant will adopt a simplified service model in which diners order at the bar, inspired by pubs in places like the U.K. and Australia, where table service is rare.
"In these challenging economic times, we all share the struggle that we are working hard to afford basic needs and have little left over to go out and enjoy ourselves," he says.
The new, cheaper menu mainly comprises a curated selection of Fox & Fiddle's current items, such as their fish & chips and smash burger, with new inclusions like a Guinness pot pie, sliders and pierogies.
Brown adds that he hopes the move will reconnect his team with the neighbourhood and make dining out these days less of a luxury and more of a simple pleasure, as $13 is indeed a great price for a restaurant meal.
While it's appreciated that a large company with multiple locations like Fox & Fiddle is extending any savings to customers, it is unfortunate that bigger players like the government and Canada's grocery giants aren't doing their part.
Meanwhile, as the cost of living soars, more people are turning to food banks and trading in apartments for shared bedrooms or cheap hotels.
