RI Shrinkflation List

Submitted by claw046 t3_106kjy5 in RhodeIsland

Have you noticed Shrinkflation around Rhode Island? I LOVE a regular combination from Italian Corner and I usually pick one up whenever I'm close by. I always eat half of a regular and save the rest for later, but last week I was easily able to eat the entire sub because it had less than half the meat it used to. I'm curious if anyone else has noticed this at other restaurants or places?

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bigparkfan t1_j3h99me wrote

TSK in Newport. They started serving their entrees a la carte and there is also a note on the menu that they're charging a 3% service fee on every check which goes directly to the kitchen staff.

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Stoicdadman t1_j3h9vew wrote

Frank and John's of Italy in EG, who has my favorite Chx Parm, no longer serves a salad with it.

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boulevardofdef t1_j3hdgmz wrote

Huh, I actually got a bresaola from Italian Corner yesterday (my favorite sandwich in RI, by the way) and I was thinking that it was loaded with way more meat than it usually is.

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waninggib t1_j3hdhqi wrote

Pianta in Providence. Since they opened, the portions are medicore, and the prices are genuinely astronomical. I’m vegan and never go there because it’s so expensive. They just updated their winter menu and are selling vegan mac and cheese for $23. I just can’t support that. Add Plant City’s $15+ vegan sushi rolls to that list too.

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Lucky7Ac t1_j3ho1ju wrote

T's recently gave me half the amount of French toast with the retweet platter. I was sad about that.

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ynwp t1_j3hsec6 wrote

My local sub shop doesn’t use whole meatballs in their grinders anymore.

They slice them up.

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pinkerton99 t1_j3hsvqc wrote

I've never found the portions at Italian Corner to be very big. It's still delicious and I go there all the time, but not the kind of place that piles their sandwiches high in my memory.

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shortys7777 t1_j3huktm wrote

Got Js deli last night. Still about the same but $13 for a sub Holy smokes.

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corey389 t1_j3i1ngc wrote

Cumberland Farms Nachos have much less chips now.

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corey389 t1_j3i1vbj wrote

Luke's Chinese food in Bristol much smaller portions now.

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Frosty-Vegetable-385 t1_j3i3ry9 wrote

I swear a platter from Xaco Taco used to be three tacos, but now it’s only 2. Can anyone confirm?

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Loveroffinerthings t1_j3i5qd0 wrote

Chipotle, screw that place. Used to be like $6.85 for a bowl that could’ve been 2 meals. Went yesterday, it’s now $10 for sofritos, and the lady is counting the grains of rice, and not filling the guac that’s like $4. Baja’s still hooks me up.

I see it at a lot of other places, but I understand that most places are just passing on costs that their distributor give them, that the broker gives them, that the mega corporations give them.

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waninggib t1_j3i6jdn wrote

Replying to doctorbear214 (#1,310,324)

I ordered from them when they were a start up as well. I forget the exact price, but I got the Italian sub which I think was $12-14 and it genuinely was mostly bread, and a small sub roll at that. I ordered one meal for delivery once since they opened their brick & mortar, their Southern Chikn and Cornbread, and it literally cost over $50 including the delivery fees and tip. I want to love it, but it’s just wildly inaccessible and makes vegan food seem really pretentious, which I think can give non-vegans the wrong impression and deter them from trying it.

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WrathWise t1_j3i6prm wrote

Replying to Lucky7Ac (#1,310,020)

T’s is delicious sure, but literally priced TO BE the most expensive restaurant around. If they see someone offers something for more, they will raise their prices. Source : a former business associate informed me.

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waninggib t1_j3i77ew wrote

Replying to waninggib (#1,310,613)

Also, can I just add, they were serving tiny squares of underbaked cornbread at Veg Fest this summer. People literally pay for tickets to go around and eat samples, yet all of the actual food they brought was for sale at their normal menu prices.

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SusieRI t1_j3ibx7h wrote

EP best sandwich place is fork'n sammich on south Broadway...hands down!!

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abraves528 t1_j3icw54 wrote

Replying to shortys7777 (#1,310,243)

Js got crazy. Still the best sandwiches around imo, but they’ve climbed from ~$10/sub to $13-$15 and it’s just not worth it to go often anymore.

I do have enough points on my Js card, so I guess I’ll go ONE more time.

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JimStinkwater t1_j3igl01 wrote

Uncle Tony’s my favorite chicken parm w ziti is now 19.95

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enamore22 t1_j3iqemn wrote

Beef Barn stopped doing their sandwich, salad and fries special combo. Now everything is sold separately and more expensive.

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kylejay915 t1_j3ivc98 wrote

Products don’t get more expensive the value of the dollar is decreasing.

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SuddenlySimple t1_j3j63ab wrote

Its not just Rhode Island, Industry is crushed due to the inflation.

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PalpitationNo t1_j3j7pua wrote

Replying to Loveroffinerthings (#1,310,579)

I see a lot of shrinkflation..

However I dont buy the "passing it onto the customer excuse". There is a shop restraunt depot which you have to have a food related business license to be a member. If you dont have a business license they'll call the cops and have you trespassed.

.89 cents per pound for jumbo party wings. You buy them by the 40 pound case....other places if you were to buy them its between 2.99 to 3.99 a pound.

6 5 pound bags french fries 25.99...

So yeah I'm not buying the "distributor, broker, mega corps" excuse.

The local wing joint buys the wings from restraunt depot. They charge 7.99 for a half pound of wings. Do the math its greed.

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PalpitationNo t1_j3joy57 wrote

Replying to Chefobrien79 (#1,312,372)

Honestly that just doesnt bode well when its inconsistent. Means the cleaning is probably also inconsistent imho.

I will never forget that pizza....it was wetter then mama June's spanx after hot yoga....

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Loveroffinerthings t1_j3jr1k3 wrote

Replying to PalpitationNo (#1,311,744)

I go to restaurant depot, and they don’t call the cops on you, you do need a membership though. I’ve been in food service as a chef/buyer for 25+ years, the prices have gone up drastically. The low price for chicken now, was 3x that a year ago. French fries used to be $17/cs. Overhead costs have skyrocketed too, my software costs have gone up 20%. Luckily I have t had to pass much cost on because my food cost has only gone up 3 points, but if your business sells chicken wings, fries and bar foods, those costs have gone way up from pre-pandemic.

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Loveroffinerthings t1_j3js808 wrote

Replying to waninggib (#1,310,641)

My friends were so happy to see pianta at veg fest because they had a huge line and everyone was walking out with big items. They got to the front to find out it was a 1.5” squared corn bread. They felt obliged to buy something so they spent like $18 on a Crunchwrap like taco bell style.

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waninggib t1_j3ju2hm wrote

Replying to Loveroffinerthings (#1,312,571)

That is LITERALLY what happened to me! Huge line, saw people walking away and assumed we were gonna get an egg roll or something, 20+ minutes I get to the table and they were waiting for me to place an order. I had to ask where the samples were, and I definitely wasn’t buying anything. Other places had awesome offerings, so it was just so strange.

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PalpitationNo t1_j3ju68z wrote

Replying to Loveroffinerthings (#1,312,489)

They tresspassed me, but they were on the app flipp advertising...moment I told them that I didnt have a business license the cranston pd was called. I was told dont come back or your going to jail.

I can see overhead and such going up since there's prices going up across the board. Like I said though local wing joint uses them and still charges 8 bucks for a half pound. They did triple last year for the same half pound portion. Think 35% is the typical overhead bracket for most restraunts. Figure 4 dollars a pound, they were charging 48 dollars per pound roughly last year. 15.40 cents should of gone to overhead 4 for the pound of wings, 19.40 would of been their cost. Leaving 28.60 roughly in profit per pound.

The overhead for this particular wing joint last year according to the manager was actually lower during the pandemic cause they reduced a lot of dogs from the menu, and cut back on staff....such as firing almost all of their servers. Allegedly after the staff reduction and dogs they allegedly had a 17% overhead.

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of_patrol_bot t1_j3ju7av wrote

Replying to PalpitationNo (#1,312,661)

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Loveroffinerthings t1_j3jxy52 wrote

Replying to PalpitationNo (#1,312,661)

I will say, RD is always a bit um, rude, depending on who’s there, but the lady at the reception has always been great. I totally agree about some places taking advantage. When I saw wings on sale, I said to my wife”wonder if (name of place we get wings from) will lower their insanely high prices for wings. The thing that usually happens though is cost of chicken will go down, but pork will go up, or avocados will be $96/cs or some other shit that always seems to pop up in the industry. I usually think, if the owner is driving a sensible car, they’re probably not bilking their customers, if they’re flashy, they’re prob taking advantage of customers.

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Dry_Sheepherder_2399 t1_j3jypis wrote

Sandwiches here in Providence are the worst. Italian Corner has one of the Better ones but horrendous Bread. If you are looking for value, Market Basket makes better Sandwiches for half the Cost..:

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drunk_vador t1_j3lgnh5 wrote

Do you have any idea what it costs to keep a restaurant open? I was manager and part owner of Umelt and just look what happened to us. It costs 5k a month just to keep the doors open never mind food costs and labor, if you can’t afford to eat out eat at home folks sorry this is the world we live in

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Major_Halfsack t1_j3lqnbj wrote

Just the other day I was at NY System and ordered 3 all the way. They only went half-way.

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Alternative-Bat-8453 t1_j3lwevm wrote

Replying to drunk_vador (#1,315,049)

That mentality is also not great… can’t afford to eat out, eat at home, then restaurants will still close because the majority of working class people are the ones frequenting these places. We don’t eat out and support you, then you still close. Also restaurants got so much help from Covid relief that other small businesses in the state didn’t get! I also remember all of us ordering take out and tipping 20% to keep our favorite places going during the pandemic! Now you tell us if we can’t afford it stay home during a brutal inflation period we’re all suffering through. Not the best mentality.

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RivalSFx t1_j3lxjo1 wrote

I noticed strippers breasts are getting smaller :¶

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Previous_Floor t1_j3my7t4 wrote

I'd prefer they raise prices rather than giving you less. The latter is a really sleazy move.

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[deleted] t1_j3rny6e wrote

From time to time I order the cheap pasta bowl from Dominos. It used to be insanely filling but now the quantity appears to be half as much, and with much less meat too.

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