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Chain restaurants feeling the strain too

The Capital Times  —  5/15/2008 7:45 am

As costs escalate, big-box and chain restaurants are not immune from the pinch of recession either.

In March, Romano's Macaroni Grill, a cornerstone of Middleton's Greenway Station since 2003, closed. Its parent company, Brinker International Inc., lost $38.8 million, or 38 cents a share, in its most recent quarter. According to several news reports, Brinker is planning to sell the Macaroni Grill chain. The company also owns Chili's.

Meanwhile, high-end national chain Ruth's Chris Steak House Inc. reported a 33 percent drop in profit over the same quarter last year. The company opened its first Wisconsin location in Middleton last fall.

In April, the National Restaurant Association released figures that showed that first-quarter wholesale food prices continued to rise sharply. Individual commodities increasing most dramatically since January include flour (up 87 percent), eggs (73 percent), fats and oils (49 percent), cheese (27 percent) and milk (20 percent).

The Capital Times  —  5/15/2008 7:45 am