How Restaurant Menu Prices Have Changed In 2025

After months of sharp increases, inflation of menu prices appears to be steadyingbut that stability doesn’t hold true for every single item you might want to order. A closer look at restaurant offerings shows that the slowdown isn’t uniform, with several popular dishes and drinks continuing to gradually climb in cost.

The median price of restaurant burgers hit $14.53 in October, an increase of 3.2% compared to last year, according to the menu price monitor from restaurant software management platform Toast. That modest increase hides a steeper climb in beef pricesdriven by smaller cattle herds, higher production costs like grain prices, and a growing demand for the protein.

It’s not just burger prices that are on the rise. Extreme weather continues to shape the cost of a cup of coffee, something many of us may have taken for granted. Cold brew currently has a median cost of $5.53 per serving at restaurants, while regular coffee sits at $3.57 — both higher median prices than at the same time last year.

Drought and flooding in Brazil’s “bean belt” have made coffee cultivation much challenging in recent years, driving up costs for consumers. Unfortunately, after several months of stability, Toast reports that coffee prices rose again this summer as harvest fears tightened supply. Cold brew, which uses beans and requires a longer prep time, has outpaced regular coffee in price growth throughout the year.

Despite avian flu outbreaks that sent egg prices soaring in early 2025, chicken wing prices have stayed surprisingly steady. Broiler chickens, which are the source of wingswere largely unaffected by the illness, and their short production cycle kept supply strong. The median cost of an order of wings held steady at $13.78 in September, helping restaurants keep some prices stable even as other proteins became expensive.

Beyond individual menu items, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) summary for September from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that the “food away from home” category rose by 0.1% during the month and 3.7% year over year. In comparison, the index for “food at home” rose by 2.7% over the past year, indicating that while food costs are generally rising, they’re increasing even quickly in the restaurant industry.

Factors that may not appear to directly impact food also contribute to what you pay at restaurants. Energy costs, for example, grew by 1.5% in September, and gasoline increased by 4.1%. These are both real-world costs that impact operations like refrigerating meat and getting ingredients to restaurants.

Price pressures haven’t gone unnoticed by customers either. In YouGov’s U.S. Dining Out Report for 2025, 82% of Americans said that restaurant prices have climbed noticeably in the past year. For many customers, this results in placing smaller orders and planning fewer nights out.

Sticker shock continues to be real, with only 28% of respondents saying that they think restaurants are fairly pricing meals. That perception shapes behavior, as 37% of diners said they’ve eaten out less this year, a number that climbs to 44% among lower-income diners.

As menu costs level off, diners are adjusting, not by staying home, but by rethinking how and where they eat out. Fine dining restaurants have seen the biggest dip in interest, with 46% of YouGov’s respondents saying that they’re eating at these pricier establishments less often now. However, even fast casual and fast food restaurants have seen decreases in attendance.

On the other hand, value-driven promotions such as loyalty perks and buy-one-get-one (BOGO) deals serve as major draws for customers. Restaurant pricing continues to be a pressure point for both operators and diners, and understandably, opportunities to make your money go further are than welcome right now.