Toast, the all-in-one digital technology platform for restaurants, recently released its August Menu Price Monitor, which shows prices rose across the board on a number of goods in August. The report features median pricing data and year-over-year trends from Toast's network of 148,000+ restaurant locations.
Burger Pricing
As the price of beef continues to rise, menu items are being affected, including burgers. The median monthly price of burgers on restaurant menus in August 2025 was $14.47, up 3.4% compared to August last year.
The recent rise in price suggests that restaurants may be finally raising menu prices to offset some of the rising beef costs. More desirable cuts of meat other than ground beef--such as brisket and Kobe--could also be leading to an increase.
Other reasons for soaring beef prices include a decreasing herd size while demand has stayed high, as well as lingering supply chain issues from the COVID-19 pandemic. Labor shortages, production costs at meatpacking plants, export demands, and droughts have pushed meat prices higher in recent years as well.
Beer Pricing
The median monthly price of beer on restaurant menus in August was $6.47, up two cents and .3% from July and up 2.4% when compared to August of last year.
The price of beer has steadily risen since February 2023, and this could be due to a number of factors, including the cost of raw ingredients like water, hops, yeast, and grains. It could also be from rising distribution, packaging, and production costs, which go up for imported beers thanks to tariffs.
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