Steak-hungry Americans are skipping the meat aisle — and heading to restaurants instead.
Why it matters: Sky-high grocery prices, especially for beef, are reshaping how people consume one of the most expensive proteins — and narrowing the gap between cooking at home and dining out.
- Steak has become one of the most expensive items at the grocery store.
- The average price for uncooked beef steaks is now about $12.74 per pound — a record high, federal data shows.
Driving the news: Darden Restaurants said Thursday its LongHorn Steakhouse chain posted 7.2% same-store sales growth, far outpacing other brands in its portfolio.
- At the same time, executives pointed to "double-digit demand destruction" for beef at retail — a sign consumers are pulling back at grocery stores.
Between the lines: Restaurants have raised prices more slowly than grocery stores in recent years — making steakhouse meals look like a better value than they used to.
- "We have given ourselves a lot of flexibility by underpricing inflation over several years," Darden CFO Raj Vennam said.
- At LongHorn, the company has "significantly underpriced beef costs versus the grocery store over time," helping drive traffic.
- The result: the price gap between a steak at home and at a restaurant has narrowed, shifting where consumers choose to splurge.
The intrigue: Steak has gotten so expensive that consumers are turning to restaurants for risk management, Darden CEO Rick Cardenas suggested.
- "When a consumer has to cook a very expensive steak at home and they mess it up, they still have to eat it," he said. "When a consumer goes to a restaurant … and we mess it up, we eat it — and they still eat a great steak."
Zoom out: Darden is serving both sides of the consumer — and leaning on wealthier diners.
- The company said its strongest growth is coming from households earning more than $150,000.
- Its steakhouses are capturing higher-income consumers willing to spend on premium meals.
- At Olive Garden, it's leaning into value — rolling out a "lighter portion" menu with dishes under $15 to boost frequency and affordability.
The bottom line: When steak becomes too expensive to risk at home, more Americans are deciding it's worth paying someone else to get it right.
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