Minneapolis restaurant tests cheaper menu, smaller plates as diners cut back on spending

A Minneapolis restaurant in the North Loop is testing smaller plates and lower prices as it looks for a way to bring more diners back.

Salt and Flour started testing the new menu this week. The full menu, with prices capped at $15 and many items in the $10 range, goes into effect next week.

The summer menu includes fire-kissed pizza and grilled octopus. Owner Brian Ingram said the lower prices are meant to attract bigger crowds as consumers cut back due to rising unemployment and inflation.

“We need people to start dining out more often,” said Brian Ingram.

“As we did our market research and looked at what could make you dine out more often, we thought the $15-$20 mark, maybe that is the sweet spot,” said Ingram.

Ingram said he needs customers to start eating out again if he is going to stay open. He said the restaurant has 50 employees and empty tables.

“We’ve got 50 employees and an empty restaurant. How do you bring people back and make them feel comfortable about coming back?” said Ingram.

John Spry, a finance and economics expert at the University of St. Thomas’s Opus College of Business, said the move is one way restaurants can stand out in this economy. He said more businesses are being forced to get creative and aggressive, and that can benefit customers.

“This is a form of differentiation. This is a common business strategy,” said John Spry.

“You are getting the quality of their chef, but smaller plates at a smaller price point,” said Spry.

Ingram said other restaurants are also trying to figure out how to adjust to current conditions. He said Salt and Flour plans to keep the pricing strategy through the summer.

“We have to figure out how to exist in this place, and that goes for every restaurant out there. How do you live in this new world?” said Ingram.