Affordability is written into the business plans of these independent restaurants

Shareables make brunch affordable and fun at Milk & Honey. | Photo courtesy of Thompson Restaurant Group

Go into a chef-driven independent restaurant in a big city and it’s tough to find an entrée for under $30. Even tougher if you’re craving seafood or beef. Since the pandemic, the cost of doing business increases every year, and so do menu prices. 

According to data from the National Restaurant Association, menu prices jumped 0.7% in December, the fastest monthly growth since October 2022, with full-service menu prices increasing 4.9%. On a year-over-year basis, menu prices have risen 4.1% since December 2024, the highest year-over-year growth rate since July 2024. 

But there are innovative neighborhood restaurants that are bucking the trend. “Affordability” is their mantra, coupled with a varied menu of interesting food, well-crafted cocktails, great service and personalized hospitality. They are rethinking what “value” can look like without defaulting to discounts and deals. 

Affordability also happens to be consumers’ mantra these days, so these neighborhood restaurants are building traffic and cultivating regulars, with some seeing diners coming in several times a month or more.

At $29, Short Rib is a best seller at Willet’s Corner, a neighborhood indie in NYC. | Photo by Patrick Dolande

Willett’s Corner opened in New York City’s Upper West Side neighborhood just three months ago, but affordability was written into the business plan from the beginning, said Ken Halberg, an owner and managing partner. “We’re in a residential area and just can’t charge that much,” he said.

It’s one of the few polished Manhattan restaurants where branzino is under $30. Here, the Pan Roasted Branzino is prepared with lemon, olive oil, wild long rice and sauteed spinach and at $29, it’s one of two most expensive entrées. The other is Short Ribs, slow-braised with cabernet wine and served with potato-celery root purée.

Both have become customer favorites, along with the French Dip ($22). 

“We offer an even menu mix so we’re not taking a hit on any one item,” said Halberg. “We don’t focus on food cost percentages as much as margins. Food costs may be higher on the branzino, but lower on shareables, veggies and house-made fresh pastas. In the end, we make a $19 margin on the branzino and it’s one of our top sellers.” 

People are habitual when they eat at neighborhood restaurants, he added. “Regulars tend to order the same thing, even when they come in once a week.” The average dinner check at Willett’s Corner is $51. 

Upselling with ‘table touching’ and teamwork

Halberg would like to push up that average check by 10%, and he’s working on that through staff training. 

“When people feel they’re getting a good value, staff suggestions can convince them to order a bit more … a flatbread or roasted beet tartare to share, a dessert or a second drink,” he said. Willett’s Corner prices its craft cocktails at $16, a price that makes a guest more likely to order another. “Not so if you price that drink at $22,” Halberg said.

At Willet’s Corner, reasonably priced appetizers to share are an easy upsell. | Photo by Patrick Dolande

A longtime restaurant operator, Halberg knows the importance of being onsite, so although he’s the owner/managing partner, he took on the dual role of GM. “This cuts out some layers of management and is more cost efficient, and with the owner on the premises, more ‘table touching’ is possible,” he said. 

Halberg is a firm believer in the power of hospitality in building a loyal customer base, and during dinner service, he goes around to each table and talks to guests. He remembers names, welcomes people back and even knows their favorite order. 

Another key to steady traffic is the restaurant team. “The biggest thing is having good people,” said Halberg. “Find a good group of people that work well together, just like you would to build a winning sports team,” he said. Most employees at Willet’s Corner have worked for him anywhere from five to 22 years.

Fred Beebe, owner and beverage director of Post Haste in Philadelphia, echoed that belief. “I know the importance of keeping a tight team of passionate people who are interested in the stories you’re telling,” he said.

Affordability a goal from the start

At Post Haste, the story sells the menu. “Our food is driven by local sourcing and local farms and everything on the beverage side [spirits, beer, wine] is sourced east of the Mississippi,” said Beebe. The big national brands have huge marketing budgets, so this sourcing strategy saves money and turns customers on to alternative brands, he added.

Locally sourced spirits help keep cocktail prices down at Post Haste. | Photo courtesy of Post Haste

“Local and sustainable has always been synonymous with higher prices, but we make it affordable for our neighbors. They can come in for a snack or a full meal; a cocktail with a nibble or a family dinner or date,” Beebe said.

Innovative use and reuse of ingredients and zero waste practices also help keep menu prices down at the 75-seat restaurant. Stalks from fresh herbs are turned into cocktail syrups or stocks, and dehydration, preserving and infusing are routine techniques. These preps are often used on the “Free Spirit” cocktail list—a selection Post Haste takes great pride in, he said, with selections like the Peachy Keen made with smoked peach syrup, basil syrup, kumquat juice and zero-proof gin.

There’s a whole section on the food menu called “Pasta Haste” with four chef-inspired dishes such as Mushroom Gnocchi with local mushrooms and Linguini & Mussels made with turmeric and black pepper noodles; all are $18. Snacks & Small plates like Billion-Layer Fried Lasagna, Fried Pickle Plate, East Coast Oysters and house-made Spicy Pork Rinds start at $2 and top out at $7.50. Only one menu item is over $20—the Goose & Foie Gras Sausage Plate—and the cocktails average $15. 

Pasta is a high-margin item but Post Haste’s house-made preps offer diners high value.  | Photo: Post Haste

To make Post Haste’s concept more visible, Beebe borrowed a marketing idea from Hags, a tasting menu restaurant in New York City that holds a “Pay What You Can Sunday” every week. In December, “we invited the chef to do a pop-up to test out the idea,” said Beebe. 

Guests were presented with the regular food menu and were invited to pay more or less. “Some thought a $16 burger was worth $30 and paid that, while others paid more just because they had a good time,” said Beebe. Drinks were not included.

Even though some customers paid below the menu prices, the evening turned out well financially, with traffic driving volume and boosting business. “It lowered the barrier of entry for people and got us exposed to more guests who hadn’t come through the door before. Some enjoyed a great night out at a price they could afford, while regulars came in to support the idea,” said Beebe. 

Post Haste is open Wednesday through Sunday, with the kitchen serving food until 11:45 p.m. most nights and 9 p.m. on Sundays. Those hours are another draw for regulars. Willet’s Corner is not currently open for late-night dining, but is considering reverse happy hours as a draw. Halberg believes neighborhood people sometimes look for a welcoming place to have drink and a snack later in the evening, say between 8 or 9 p.m. and 11, depending on the day. 

Creating the ‘perfect check’

Thompson Restaurants, which operates 15 independent brands primarily in the metro Washingon, D.C. area, makes its decisions very hyper-locally, said COO Alex Berentzen. “We have core menus at each of our concepts and get a lot of feedback from our guests, but our strategy is very data-driven. We analyze neighborhoods, demographic and behavioral data.” 

What he has found is that customers want an experience along with affordability. So while menu prices have increased moderately over the last couple of years, Thompson introduced experiences that build traffic and profitability.

A tequila tower turns brunch into an experience at Matchbox. | Photo courtesy of Thompson Restaurants

At full-service Matchbox, whose tagline is “where real food meets great fun,” there’s an unlimited $42 weekend brunch with a limited two-hour time span. “Within that time, guests sit down and the plates keep coming,” said Berentzen. Matchbox also offers bottomless drink packages like mimosa towers [about $25 extra] and Patron tequila towers [$50], both of which boost checks. The menu includes mini burgers, stuffed French toast, pancakes, shrimp and grits, a taco bar and pizzas. Kids’ brunch is $14 and comes with popcorn and cotton candy machines.

At Milk & Honey, another full-service restaurant in the Thompson portfolio, brunch is served every day. “The Milk & Honey branch in Camp Springs, Maryland, is so busy, we nicknamed the restaurant ‘Club Springs’ because at 10 a.m. the bar is full,” said Berentzen. And the new Express Lunch at Matchbox is boosting traffic during that daypart. For $14.99, guests can choose an artisan personal pizza and soup or salad and it’s guaranteed to be on the table in 10 minutes—a competitive move to steal fast-casual business.

As at Willet’s Corner, Thompson’s servers are trained in “suggestive selling,” to inspire guests to add on a dessert or upgrade a drink. The company has built more flexibility into the menus to make this happen. Matchbox has more shareables, including a new $5 Table Bread item, and Austin Grill—a new brand debuting later this month—will serve both 6- and 9-ounce glasses of wine. The goal is to have that “perfect check” for both the guest and the restaurant.

The company has also worked on the operations side to keep a lid on menu prices. They purchased a new software called Craftable that performs menu analysis, inventory control, food and labor cost management and more. “We’ve created more efficient menus; slightly smaller with easier prep and cross-trained our team members, so line cooks now assume some prep duties,” Berentzen explained. “We also joined a group purchasing organization that allows us to lock in pricing on supplies, as well as some food products and nonalcoholic beverages.”

Springtime pea soup is served tableside at Trestle as the first course in a $52 prix fixe menu. | Photo courtesy of Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group. 

Prix fixe menus are another way to achieve that “perfect check,” a model that has worked for Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group before affordability became the obsession it is today. 

The Group opened Trestle in San Francisco 10 years ago, serving a four-course prix fixe dinner for $35. The price has since risen to $52, “but that’s the cost of a single entrée at a lot of San Franciso restaurants,” said Tai Ricci, partner in Hi Neighbor. For that fixed price, guests get a starter of something like Roasted Beet Carpaccio or Honeynut Squash Soup, a pasta such as Tagliatini Carbonara or Porcini Risotto, a salmon or steak entrée, and a choice of dessert; Vanilla Panna Cotta and Chocolate Opera Cake are currently on offer.

The menu rotates seasonally and table turns are quick. “You sit down, order and your food comes out,” said Ricci. “Sometimes two people can be in and out in an hour.” That means up to three seatings a night.

Trestle’s four-course menu concludes with an elegant house-made dessert. | Photo courtesy of Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group.

Hi Neighbor has now applied the same model at its newer restaurants. MAMA Oakland offers a three-course menu for $42.95 per person, with a starter, pasta and dessert. Chef-driven preps include Roasted Cauliflower Soup, Paccheri Carbonara and house-made Devil’s Food Cake. Options like MAMA’s Beef & Pork Meatballs ($10 extra) and a shareable Chicken Milanese ($34) or Prawns ($39) serving two or more can boost the check. 

And the Group’s Michelin-starred 7 Adams does a five-course Tasting Menu for $87 per person—an affordable indulgence presented by an award-winning restaurant.

Affordability may mean something different to different guests, depending on the state of their wallet and credit card bills. But it’s top of mind for diners, and these independent operators are finding strategies that make it possible to win on affordability and profitability. 

Pat plans and executes menu, food and drink stories for Restaurant Business and hosts the weekly Menu Talk podcast. She provides in-depth coverage of chefs, trends and menu innovation.

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