Wholesale prices are up nearly five times over last year. That means you can say goodbye to the beefsteaks on that burger and prepare to pay more than usual for the succulent wedges in your salad.
At Costello Sandwich and Sides in Chicago, which uses 10 to 15 cases of tomatoes a week and is now paying $25 a case instead of $15, customers can expect to get a bit less tomato on their sandwiches. The shop hasnt raised prices or stopped serving tomatoes altogether, but manager Matthew Villareal says he can see the tomatoes are soft when the prep cooks - - - - >

Mittal, 19, sits beneath the golden arches at a McDonalds in Ambala, a small town 125 miles north of New Delhi. He is eating the vegetarian McAloo Tikki sandwich, with french fries and a Coke, before seeing the new Bollywood movie, “Wake Up Sid.”
“Its a change from the food that we eat everyday at home and inexpensive,” said Mittal, a student at Mukand Lal National College in neighboring Yamunanagar. “It tastes good.”
McDonalds, - - - - >

The company that owns Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut also raised its forecast for its annual earnings per share on Tuesday.
Lower commodity expenses and general cost-cutting helped offset a 5 percent sales drop in the United States, where operating profit still grew at a strong clip for the three months.
Yums net income for the quarter ending Sept. 5 rose to $334 million, or 69 cents per share, compared with $282 million, or 58 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, it earned 70 cents per share.
Revenue for the quarter fell 2 percent to $2.78 billion from $2.84 - - - - >

But the 26-year-old computer consultant is more apt to enjoy it at his condo with friends than in a bar these days. Going out, he pays $10 to $18 for a glass of scotch. At home? He can buy a bottle for $35 to $50.
“Youre not really giving anything up,” he said. “Youre just cutting out the markup, essentially.”
A growing number of consumers are spurning drinking in restaurants and bars to save money. Theyre also choosing less expensive beer, wine and liquor to take home. Some are even trading down from wine and spirits to beer, which typically costs less.
Stogsdill - - - - >

“Even with two seatings a day, lunch and dinner, the restaurant will be very profitable,” Nobus local partner, millionaire developer Aras Agalarov, told Bloomberg Television as the restaurant opened its doors today following three years of planning. Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, the restaurants namesake and executive chef, said he was looking forward to creating Russian dishes featuring local caviar and king crab.
Nobu Moscow, fitted with dark wood and burnished gold light fixtures, is on the top floor of Agalarovs four-story Crocus luxury retail building, situated on the corner - - - - >

Net income fell to $985.3 million, or 87 cents a share, from $1.27 billion, or $1.06, a year earlier, the Oak Brook, Illinois- based company said today in a statement. A 33-cent tax gain had lifted profit in the year-earlier period. Sales climbed 3.3 percent to $5.57 billion, missing analysts estimates.
Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year gained 5 percent on breakfast orders and the addition of the Southern Style Chicken sandwich. An increase in customers in Russia, France and the U.K. lifted sales in Europe, as revenue in Australia and China drove growth in the Asia-Pacific region, - - - - >

The management realized standards of proper dress have changed, and the economic downturn has made the 79-year-old establishment more conscious of encouraging business, she said.
Neckwear became optional at lunch years ago. “Why should we say no to somebody who wants to have dinner with us (for lack of a tie)?” Biederman asked. “Times change. … We have to move forward.”
The past has always been prized at the former speakeasy off Fifth Avenue, at 21 W. 52nd St., owned by Bermuda-based Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. A row of 1930s cast-iron jockey statues - originally symbols of patrons private stables - flanks the - - - - >

U.S. beef has been available in small butcher shops and some restaurants, but major supermarkets and larger restaurants have been shying away from offering U.S. beef out of concerns of possible public backlash.
On Thursday, however, large discount department stores including E-mart, Home Plus and Lotte Mart began selling U.S. beef at 250 local branches, saying customers are demanding cheaper meat, according to the Korea Chainstores Association.
Small supermarkets and restaurants also are expected to resume selling U.S. beef soon, spokesman Ko Sang-bum said.
About 20 activists staged a rally in front of a Seoul E-mart store, chanting anti-U.S. beef slogans voicing their - - - - >

Seattle-based Starbucks said profit in the quarter fell 97 percent to $5.4 million, or a penny a share, from $158.5 million, or 21 cents per share. The coffee retailer earned 10 cents per share when the costs from closing about 600 stores in the U.S. and 61 locations in Australia are excluded.
Analysts expected profit of 13 cents per share, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.
Starbucks began shutting the U.S. and Australian stores this summer as part of its nearly yearlong campaign to reverse slowing sales and falling profits at the company. Besides closing the stores, Starbucks has cut more - - - - >