JARED SOARES The Roanoke Times

A bowl of chili at Texas Tavern now is $1.60, up from $1.50. But the restaurant's higher menu prices and a slowing economy haven't eaten into its business, mainly because the food items "already are pretty inexpensive anyway," says the owner.

In December, a 20-pound box of string green beans cost $14.95. Last month, it was $34.95.

Forty pounds of chicken used to be $50. Now it's $63.60.

These are some of the rising costs for the foods that fill owner Alex Choice's lunchtime buffet of lo mein, fried rice, seaweed salad and other Asian and Italian offerings in downtown Roanoke.

When he opened City Corner Fresh Foods last summer, Choice charged patrons $4.99 for a pound of food, which they load up in white styrofoam containers. Earlier this month, Choice raised the price to $5.59 for the same amount.

"I was losing money," he said.

Food costs are escalating, and restaurants are feeling the heat. Do they increase menu prices and risk having customers not come back?

In the same breath, some eateries are floating coupons and advertisements for meal deals as ways to make dining out less expensive for a growing number of people strapped by hefty gasoline prices and higher grocery bills.

Grocery prices are all up

The U.S. Labor Department reported last week that grocery costs have risen 5.1 percent this year, compared with last year. Prices for milk, cheese and other dairy products experienced the highest jump, up 13.3 percent from last year.

Industry experts name a host of reasons that are driving up food prices, from higher fuel costs to production of ethanol.

Corn and soybeans are used to make ethanol. With higher demand for this alternative energy source, prices for corn and livestock feed are shooting up. The increased costs are slapped onto eggs, meat and poultry.

In February, the retail price for a dozen Grade A eggs was $2.16, down slightly from $2.17 in January, but up from $2.09 in December, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

At the Texas Tavern, a small restaurant on Church Avenue in downtown Roanoke, the cost of a dozen eggs has doubled, said Matt Bullington, who owns and operates the eatery. The restaurant, which is open 24 hours, uses about 150 dozen eggs a week, he said.

To offset both egg and milk costs, Bullington recently tacked 5-cent and 10-cent price increases on certain menu items. A bowl of chili now is $1.60, up from $1.50. Hot dogs and hamburgers are up to $1.25 from $1.20.

Bullington raises prices every several years to keep up with inflation, but the latest round of food costs have reached extreme levels.

But Texas Tavern's higher menu prices and a slowing economy haven't eaten into its business, mainly because the food items "already are pretty inexpensive anyway," Bullington said.

"People are less likely to splurge" on a $40 steak, he said.

One Texas Tavern customer didn't even notice the recent price increases for hot dogs.

"I love their hot dogs, so I don't pay any attention to the prices," said Melissa Wilson, as she walked out of the Texas Tavern on a recent lunch hour, toting a white bag with two hot dogs.

Restaurants add specials

While retail prices of certain foods are rising, some restaurants are turning to other cost-saving tactics aimed at enticing people to dine out.

"Two days, two dinners, two drinks for only $20," states a tan banner in front of O'Charley's restaurant on Valley View Boulevard in Roanoke.

Deals such as this appear more often at some area restaurants.

It's a way for restaurants to lure people who might bypass dining out altogether as they try to save money during challenging economic times.

In the past several months, the savings have included free appetizers at Ruby Tuesday restaurants and special bonus gift cards at T.G.I. Friday's.

"We are very aware that people are watching their budgets and conscious of expenses," said Rick Johnson, a spokesman for Ruby Tuesday, based in Tennessee.

The chain recognizes that some people are spending less while dining out. Half of its sales last year were in entrees that cost $10 or less, Johnson said.

The latest change showing up on some Ruby Tuesday menus is a temporary dip in the price of a regular hamburger.

For now, the price is $6.99, compared with the regular $7.49 price tag, said Bob Baldini, a vice president at Ruby Tuesday who oversees its restaurants in Virginia and some surrounding states.

For about a year and a half, Marty Montano, who runs Montano's International Restaurant, has tweaked meal combinations and shopped around for better prices for meat and other foods as a way of cutting costs and offering more value at the Roanoke eatery.

He said he has anticipated coming food increases and tried to plan ahead of time.

"When things get bad, they [customers] don't feel like you're having this knee jerk reaction," Montano said.

Tweaking prices and meal assortments is easier for smaller restaurants because change happens faster.

It might take a chain restaurant six to eight months to make menu changes and devise new specials, said Darren Tristano, vice president with Technomic, a food industry consulting firm in Chicago.

Perhaps there is a segment of customers who may not be watching what they spend when they dine out.

Jason and Amy Spangler of Roanoke chose Ruby Tuesday on a recent Friday evening, not for what they perceive to be inexpensive food prices, but "it's the least busy" restaurant, Amy Spangler said.

They had their two children, ages 1 and 7 months, in tow. . The family eats out often on week nights, and they said they haven't noticeably cut back on what they spend in restaurants.

Eating out is a convenience because the Spanglers both work.

"We're too tired to cook," Amy Spangler said.