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Pittsburgh Restaurant Week kicks off Monday amid inflation impacts

PITTSBURGH — Several restaurants are celebrating Pittsburgh Restaurant Week this week. However, inflation is still really impacting business.

Many restaurants are hoping to attract more customers by holding special deals from Aug. 8-14.

About 45 restaurants in and around the city are participating.

But before the pandemic, the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association said about 80 actually participated.

“I think a lot of that has to do with the financial loss so many restaurants took in the past two years They can’t afford to discount their prices right now,” said Ben Fileccia with the Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association.

Another factor, many restaurants have shut down during Covid and inflation is a big issue too.

“Restaurants have been struggling because of the cost of goods and labor going up. It seems everything is going up and restaurants are very hesitant to raise their prices too much because the guests may choose another restaurant because someone raised their burger prices a dollar,” said Fileccia.

The association also wants to remind people that even though restaurants are busy again, it doesn’t mean they have recovered from Covid so supporting local restaurants will help them get back on their feet.

Many restaurants have extended restaurant week to August 21. The full list of restaurants: https://pittsburghrestaurantweek.com/restaurants/summer-2022-restaurants/

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