The places that still deliver great food are expensive, because they are not cutting quality. This thread is evidence that people won't pay what it costs, hence previously good places serving less good food as they are in desperation going for cheaper suppliers. The price hikes reflect the soaring input costs not profiteering, it isn't just the VAT/NIC, it is everything. Think how much your energy costs would be now v 5 years ago if you ran several ovens for half the day. I've just had a letter from our fish supplier saying they can no longer supply cod at due to reduced quotas and overseas military activity in their fishing zones. Fish prices are sky rocketing. Starmer hasn't helped with his activities. Literally every input cost is unaffordable now.
We serve great food, people complain we are expensive but we are currently running at a loss.
The chains are cheap because everything is mass produced with the lowest cost ingredients in a factory, frozen or vac packed and microwaved or deep fried on site. That costs far less than employing a highly qualified chef to prep and cook fresh local ingredients from scratch.
If customers can't or won't pay what it actually costs a business to produce a high quality meal then the only option they will be left with will be a budget chain as everywhere else will go bust.
The cheapest food you will find will most likely be in small family run restaurants. They don't pay themselves salaries, hence avoid all the payroll taxes. They take money out of the business other ways. Given the biggest input cost for most restaurants is staff they have a big competitive advantage and can under cut.
I'd love for some of the people on this thread who think they know everything about running a restaurant to actually have to for a month.