Compared to 2024 : What’s the Cost of Dining Out in Louisiana?

You could be asking for a link of boudin at your favorite boudin proprietor in Scott, Louisiana and you'll notice it. You might be opting for a complete steak dinner at a casino in Shreveport, Baton Rouge, or Lake Charles, you'll notice it there too. You might open your bag of burgers in Crowley and Lafayette, and you are certain to notice it there too.

If you haven't figured out the "thing that you're noticing" is just how much food prices have gone up over the past few months. Many of us are familiar with the adjustments restaurants have made in the face of outrageous egg prices. But eggs aren't the only item on the menu that is fanning the flames of inflation across America.

Your Louisiana grocery bill from January to April of this year has risen by about .1%. That's just in the first three months of this year. Compared to one year ago those prices are 1.9% higher. Please remember these numbers reflect price increases for "Food at Home".

Food-at-home is a specific economic category used by the Consumer Price Index report to spotlight a specific area of concern for American shoppers. Based on CPI figures you're paying at least a dollar more per hundred dollars you spend at the grocery store. But remember, many manufacturers have "shrunk" their products so they can maintain a stable price even if they are actually selling you a smaller quantity.

For those who like to "dine out" the effects of inflation are even more telling. By the way, for "dining out" we are also including price figures for pick-up meals and meals that are delivered. Chances are if you've done either of those over the past three months you've noticed some serious price increases there too.

In the first three months of this year the cost of food away from home, namely restaurants increased by .4%. If you compare that figure to this same time last year the cost of dining out has jumped by 3.7% according to the Consumer Price Index.

Of course that is a general figure, specialty restaurants may have even higher prices as the cost of specific ingredients has continued to rise. There are also concerns that the implementation of tariffs on certain products could result in even higher food costs in some categories.

To be honest most of us wouldn't notice an extra three or four cents tagged onto every ten bucks we spend on a meal if we dined out frequently. Since most of us don't dine out that often when we do go out, that's when we notice the "jumps" in so many of the items we used to afford.

Based on figures from NerdWallet you and I are paying about one-third more for food at home and food in restaurants than we were paying just six years ago. Maybe that explains why a Big Mac in 2019 cost on average, $4.39, and today that same sandwich will set you back $5.29.

The bad news? Prices are expected to continue to rise which means it will become tougher and tougher for restaurants to stay in business. And it also means consumers will have to make some hard choices on how they spend their money. Especially when you consider the average cost of eating at home is $4.31 per person and the average cost for feeding that same person at a restaurant is figured at $20.37.

I guess your mom was right, we do have food at home.