Is this not obvious? Seriously, this question always comes up in these discussions. The answer is it’s a macroeconomic problem: SF restaurants have already increased prices to $34 for a pork chop and $13 for a cocktail (Nopa.. which I attest is a very good value by SF standards). Restaurant margins are low. If they triple their cook salaries it will result in a net decline and they’ll close.

What we’re seeing is a shift towards “fine casual” formats like Souvla that have lower labor costs. But there are just fewer midrange restaurants opening due to labor and rent and the ceiling on what they can sustainably charge. The high end and low end / fine causal are doing ok.