Restaurants that had been eating the cost are now changing menus and raising prices. Jack Schulte, manager of Sweetwaters Restaurant in Eau Claire, said that food prices are very unstable in a (similarly unstable) economy. According to him a few of the reasons for this unstable market are the value of the American dollars is very soft in the global fish market; and second, the demand for high-quality fish products is at an all-time high level – countries that once could not afford them are now able to.
Milwaukee’s popular American Serb Hall raised the price of its unlimited cod dinner by nearly 60 percent. Other restaurants, fearing a backlash from customers, are offering less expensive types of fish, such as haddock, or smaller portions of cod. John Cwiklik, general manager Serb Hall, said that the restaurant introduced a new menu last month, telling customers the wholesale fish market had forced the changes.
Victor Cerda, general manager of the Bavarian Inn in Milwaukee, opined that Alaskan cod is its most popular choice for Friday fish frys, and its cost has gone up about 50 percent. According to Cerda the rise may be the effect of sudden rise in the fuel prices that forces the dealers to increase the prices of fish in the markets.
