> To the commenters saying Stanich should simply raise its prices: there's a price ceiling for that burger. It's not a fancy chef burger; it's a standard burger shop burger executed well.
That's incorrect. Chef driven burgers are no different from the other burgers - the prices are raised until the price no longer can be raised. As long as Suzi from Chicago is willing to make a trip to Portland and she does not balk at $14 burger, the burger should go up from $13 to $14.
It is discussed by people who believe the restaurant business is special, which is demonstrated time and time again not to be the case.
It is a standard supply and demand issue. It is studied ad nauseam in business schools. Raising prices is a standard way to drop the demand. It works for restaurants because they are one of the simplest businesses.
It's not complicated. The Stanich burger probably isn't even 50% better than locally available substitutes, let alone 500%. There's a bubble in interest in the restaurant due to the ranking. Most of the people willing to pay bubble premiums (in fact, probably all of them) have never used the product before, but have used substitutes. If you price to capture the premium from the bubble, you'll make more money in the short term, and alienate the customers that are going to keep you afloat after the bubble bursts.
That's incorrect. Chef driven burgers are no different from the other burgers - the prices are raised until the price no longer can be raised. As long as Suzi from Chicago is willing to make a trip to Portland and she does not balk at $14 burger, the burger should go up from $13 to $14.