About half of the restaurant owners surveyed plan to increase menu prices again next year due to increasing financial strain caused by economic uncertainty, labour shortages or rising wages, declining consumer spending and tariff or supply chain disruptions.<\/p>\n
Montrealers told CityNews that they were concerned about prices going up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do hear my friends, or I hear people around me say that it\u2019s tough to always go out and spend money on food all the time and it\u2019s not convenient anymore,\u201d said one Montrealer.<\/p>\n
\u201cFood is a huge thing in Montreal, I feel like it\u2019s such a huge cultural thing for us and anyone who visits always says we have such good food, such good places to go eat and I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to stay the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf ever I would want a drink I would tell myself yes today the next time no, just to make sure I\u2019m not always spending just to spend and just watch my budget and everything,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260925_170500950_iOS-1024x768.jpg\")
Alain Creton\u2019s new \u2018Menu Bouillon\u2019, the cheaper alternative he created for clients at his restaurant Chez Alexandre. (Corinne Boyer, CityNews) <\/p>\n
Some said they have already started to change their dining habits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really sad, but I don\u2019t mind the increase in price if the quality is there,\u201d said another Montrealer. \u201cBut unfortunately the quality is not adjusting to the increase of the price.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPersonally, I just started going less to restaurants and I had this mindset where I would rather spend a good amount at one good restaurant instead of going to multiple restaurants a month. I guess it\u2019s just my way of managing the money thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Restaurant owners say they\u2019re trying not to pawn off the costs on consumers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just a certain maximum price that you can increase before people stop coming,\u201d says Jean-Daniel Nadeau, owner of Brigade Pizzeria.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been increasing for a few years we\u2019ve been trying to make it happen and what happened is a backlash and if people stopped going to the restaurants, we\u2019re not better off,\u201d Nadeau said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/20260925_172239824_iOS-1024x768.jpg\")
The exteriour of Brigade Pizzeria, located on Stanley Street in downtown Montreal on Friday September 25, 2026. (Corinne Boyer, CityNews)<\/p>\n
Some restaurants are adopting different ways to help make it easier on their clients\u2019 wallets and make ends meet.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe create what we call the menu bouillon, which actually the portions are smaller but very tasteful and we charge them for the main course less than $20 and for the appetizer just less than $10,\u201d says Alain Creton, a veteran owner of Chez Alexandre with five decades of experience in the business.<\/p>\n
Creton says his menu is working quite well, with 50 per cent having turned to his new menu.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we pass one or two years having less profit, so what? I still enjoy the customers and I want to have them all the time,\u201d Creton said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to keep them away because the price is too high.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Nadeau says he has shifted to a more take-out style of restaurant and has gotten rid of table service altogether.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re focusing on something that\u2019s a little faster, trying to get more rhythm, trying to get more people through the door instead of counting on a few people and raising the check. So, we believe that reducing the price is actually going to help us bring more people in, therefore balancing things out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the ever-increasing pressure of owning a restaurant nowadays, the report shows 83 per cent of Canadian operators still feel optimistic about the year ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a nightmare since 2023, for us it\u2019s been a rollercoaster of things that happened, especially in this location, so am I optimistic? I wouldn\u2019t be here if I wasn\u2019t,\u201d Nadeau said.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Montreal-Restaurants-High-Costs-story-1024x538.png\")
\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tMontrealers dining at Chez Alexandre, located on Peel Street downtown, on Friday September 27, 2026. (Corinne Boyer, CityNews) <\/p>\n
\t\tKeep it Factual<\/p>\n
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