$10 used to be the magic number.
A decade ago, that was a typical price for a craft cocktail. Since then, that number has climbed and climbed — $14 to $16 is normal now, and in cities like New York and Los Angeles, no one blinks at $20.
Why have cocktails gotten so expensive? Restaurant operators cite several reasons: rising rents, the increased demand for quality ingredients, and most importantly, the cost of labor, which includes hiring skilled bartenders and paying for the time required to make elegant, complicated concoctions.
Serving high-end cocktails can do wonders for a restaurant’s bottom line, bringing in a 15-25 percent profit (compared to the 4-6 percent margin most operators see overall). But what if customers start to feel cocktail price fatigue?
