Restaurant Prices Rise Slowest in the South, a Small Break for South Carolinians

Dinner out costs more than it did a year ago.

Across the South, though, the climb has been slower than in other regions.

Here’s what that may mean for your tab in South Carolina.

Who Ran the Numbers and How

The National Restaurant Association is a restaurant industry group. It follows menu prices in its menu price report.

Its numbers rest on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The CPI is a Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) measure of how fast prices rise.

That includes food away from home.

So the percentages show how fast prices rose over a year. They don’t show what a meal costs where you eat.

The association’s report for August 2026 came out September 11. It compares year-over-year price growth in four regions.

Year-over-year means this month against the same month a year earlier.

Want updated numbers?

BLS is scheduled to release the September report on October 14.

Here are the regional price increases, slowest first.

The Slowest of Four Regions

The BLS South region report found that prices for food away from home rose 2.9% over the year ending in August 2026.

The National Restaurant Association reports the same 2.9% for menu prices in the South.

That was the slowest of the four regions in the association’s report.

The West came next at 3.2%, followed by the Northeast at 3.5%.

The Midwest ran fastest at 4.1%. That sits 1.2 percentage points above the South’s 2.9%.

These figures describe the South as one region. They can’t tell you what any single state or city paid.

The BLS draws the South to include South Carolina, 15 other states and the District of Columbia.

You, like many diners in the South, could notice the smaller increase when the check arrives.

It’s still an increase, though.

The Math on Your Check

A 2.9% rise in menu prices sounds small until you put it on a check.

Here’s the arithmetic, not data.

A $20 meal at last year’s menu prices would cost $20.58 after a 2.9% increase.

At the Midwest’s 4.1%, that same meal would cost $20.82.

That’s 24 cents more.

Now say you spend $100 a week eating out.

A 2.9% increase means about $2.90 more a week, roughly $151 over 52 weeks.

At the Midwest’s 4.1%, the same habit means about $4.10 more a week, or roughly $213 over 52 weeks.

That’s about $62 more a year than the South’s $151.

The percentages also skip part of what you pay at a restaurant.

Dining Out Versus Groceries

Restaurant menu prices in the South rose 2.9%.

Prices overall in the region rose 3.1% over the same 12 months, according to the BLS.

So menus rose a little slower than everything else.

Groceries in the South rose 1.9% over those 12 months.

So if you split your food budget between restaurants and groceries, the restaurant side rose faster.

The gap is one percentage point, or $1 on every $100 you spend.

Nationwide, groceries rose 2.2% over the same stretch. So the South’s grocery increase was smaller than the nation’s, too.

The National Number

Prices for food away from home nationwide rose 3.4% over the year ending in August 2026, according to the BLS.

The National Restaurant Association's report found the same 3.4%. That's the same pace as in the prior two months.

It's also the slowest since January 2025.

That puts the South's 2.9% half a percentage point under the nation's 3.4%.

On a $20 meal, that works out to 10 cents.

Whichever region you eat in, you can hold its number up against the national one.

Full-Service and Limited-Service Meals

A U.S. Department of Agriculture group, the Economic Research Service, sorts restaurants into two kinds.

At limited-service places, customers generally order and pay before eating.

At full-service places, you typically order, eat while seated, and pay afterward.

Full-service meals rose 3.5% nationwide over the 12 months ending in August 2026, the BLS reported.

Limited-service meals rose 3.2% over the same stretch.

So full-service ran higher.

Even the lower figure, 3.2% for limited-service, is above the South's 2.9% for all restaurants.