---
title: "CNBC: Restaurants Are Getting Creative with Menus to Counter Soaring Food Costs"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/fb19a9b0-5369-4cc6-90fd-9df47adec0db
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/shuckinshack/cnbc-restaurants-are-getting-creative-with-menus-to-counter-soaring-food-costs-2718702
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
published: 2022-05-13T13:08:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T02:11:54.682Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/05cfc4f41bbf8acfa04a4db1cee85c6a1346.jpg
---

# CNBC: Restaurants Are Getting Creative with Menus to Counter Soaring Food Costs

**TL;DR:** Restaurants like Shuckin' Shack Oyster Bar are adapting to soaring food costs by listing seafood at market price and using menu items as loss leaders. Shuckin' Shack Co-founder Matt Piccinin discusses changes to their menu to practice better inventory control due to rising food costs.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2022-05-13. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/shuckinshack/cnbc-restaurants-are-getting-creative-with-menus-to-counter-soaring-food-costs-2718702).*

## Story

In a recent article with CNBC, Matt Piccinin, Co-founder of the 16-location chain Shuckin’ Shack Oyster Bar, discusses changes to their menu to practice better inventory control due to rising food costs.

With restaurants along the East Coast from Maryland to Florida, Piccinin said he now lists all of his seafood offerings at market price. Seafood makes up about half of Shuckin’ Shack’s menu.

Some of Shuckin’ Shack’s menu items are loss leaders, like its crab balls, according to Piccinin. The price of crab has soared, and the chain doesn’t want to pass all of the cost along to customers. Instead, it hopes the popular appetizer will attract customers to return and buy other menu items that are more profitable.

Bank of America Securities Analyst Sara Senatore wrote in a note to clients last week that food inflation is the macroeconomic factor most closely tied to industry same-store sales growth.

“Food prices increase immediately in grocery stores and lagging, smaller price increases in restaurants are less onerous by comparison,” Senatore said. “As a result, we believe that companies that price at inflation should be able to pass through cost increases effectively, while those that price below can gain traffic share.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- menu pricing (topic)
- Shuckin' Shack Oyster Bar (company)
- food costs (topic)
- Matt Piccinin (person)
- loss leaders (topic)
- seafood pricing (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/shuckinshack/cnbc-restaurants-are-getting-creative-with-menus-to-counter-soaring-food-costs-2718702). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/fb19a9b0-5369-4cc6-90fd-9df47adec0db).