Bradenton business owner makes changes to accommodate meat price increase

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — As the prices of meat continue to rise, the community in Manatee County has felt the impact, from ranchers to businesses.

Flipping one patty to the next, Five Nine Grill & Tavern co-owner and chef Mike DeGirolamo is pretty handy when it comes to the kitchen.

“It’s pretty much all I know. I’ve been doing it for 25 years or more,” he said.

“Main satisfaction is like, people like what you do. They enjoy eating. It’s always given me satisfaction. The job changes every day,” he said.

The restaurant opened two years ago.

“In the last three, four or five months, ground beef has gone up a couple dollars a pound,” he said.

The price of ground beef is at an all-time high, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average price per pound in August was $6.63.

“Today I saw it for about $5.04 a pound, which is going to end up making us have to increase what our burgers are going to cost. This is an 80/20 ground beef, fresh, eight-ounce patty,” he said.

DeGirolamo says their top-selling item is the burger, but the rising price of ground beef means they’ll have to increase their menu prices. And he’s planning to get creative to try to offset other costs.

“Possibly going to a frozen ground beef patty, getting a different kind of blend of meats, maybe not selling eight-ounce burgers. Selling seven or six,” he said.

He worries about what these decisions could lead to.

“Right now we do something like a Burger Tuesday for $8 — you get a cheeseburger and fries. And if we take that up to $10, will it hurt our business?” he said.

Right now, DeGirolamo says business is OK, but the increase makes him nervous.

“Obviously it’s something I’d like to leave to our children. They both work — actually, all three of them work — in the restaurant industry,” he said.

He says his restaurant’s prices reflect the mission of the restaurant.

“We try to be a family comfort food restaurant, and we try to be value-based. So the increases in the prices, we do our best to keep everything affordable,” he said.

Despite the price increases, DeGirolamo is staying focused on keeping his food affordable.

DeGirolamo says he plans to increase prices next month.