By David Enna, Tipswatch.com
Ever since COVID isolation changed our lives, my wife and I rarely eat out anymore. That leaves a six-year gap in our “restaurant awareness” and now every time we go out for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, we suffer sticker shock. These prices are crazy!
Over the years, as part of my inflation-watching duties, I have been following prices at one of my favorite “comfort food” restaurants in Charlotte, The World Famous Open Kitchen, operating since 1952 at the same location about mile and half from our home.
The restaurant was founded by Steve Kokenes, who was Greek, not Italian. His menu of pizza, lasagna, spaghetti and other “international” cuisine was a rarity for Charlotte in those days. The city didn’t get an “authentic” Italian restaurant – run by actual Italians – until the late 1980s. But that didn’t matter, the Open Kitchen specialized in simple, tasty comfort food and it prospered.
Its location — once a dreary area of warehouses and factories — is now a booming area of modern apartments, art galleries, trendy breweries and “artisan” restaurants, very close to Bank of America Stadium. It’s now a very valuable piece of property.
The restaurant is still run by members of the Kokenes family, who wait tables and run the cash register. And they have a remarkable collection of Charlotte memorabilia displayed all over the walls.
What really caught my attention on a past visit was a 1963 menu posted by the entrance. It’s especially interesting since today’s menu contains many of the same items – with exactly the same names – 63 years later. Aha! This offers a unique look into inflation over the last 63 years, and … what could be in store for our future.
Inflation is a thing
Back in 1963, $1 was worth one dollar. And that is still true today. But adjusted for inflation (based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Inflation Calculator) it takes $10.99 in today’s dollars to equal the buying power of $1 in May 1963. That is an increase of 999%, and it is my baseline for comparisons of price changes from 1963 to today.
In this chart I have included data on important areas of the U.S. economy in the last 63 years. Gas prices, for example, have increased 1,420%, higher than inflation. Median home prices are up 2,140%, double the rate of U.S. inflation — which explains a lot about why housing is unaffordable.
If you were invested in the U.S. stock market, however, you did extremely well. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased at a rate 7 times the rate of inflation. Again, this tells you something about our long-running and seemingly never-ending bull market.
At the same time, the U.S. minimum wage at $7.25 has lagged well behind inflation. It is more or less meaningless today .
The Open Kitchen: Then, and now
Let’s look at Food Away From Home, a U.S. price index that has increased 1,345.9% over the last 63 years. Since my last price check in 2021, it is up 29.2%. This is a key variable for judging restaurant prices.
Today’s Open Kitchen menu prices are mostly higher than overall inflation (999%) but pretty much in line – with some variations – with food-away-from-home inflation (1,346%) over the last 63 years.
For example, Spaghetti with Meat Balls and Mushrooms (one of my favorite Open Kitchen offerings) costs $19.75 today versus $1.50 in 1963, a 1,217% increase — higher than overall inflation but lower than the food-away-from-home index.
Spaghetti with Chicken Livers is a fantastic bargain at $16.75, but … er … who is ordering that?
My pre-COVID memories of Open Kitchen prices generally fall around $10 to $13 for the pasta dishes (which are very good). That was the range still found in 2021. Five years later, prices are up about 40% for most items, higher than food-away-from-home inflation during that time.
A key thing to note is that Open Kitchen’s higher prices generally involve dishes with meat or sausage, where prices have skyrocketed in recent years, up about 55% during that time — well above general food-away-from-home inflation at 29.2%. (Don’t order that extra meatball!).
When my wife and I go to Open Kitchen, we generally order a large Greek salad ($12.75) and a pasta dish with either meatball or sausage ($15.50) and then we split both items. A half-liter carafe of Chianti goes for $9, a very good deal. Overall, this is comfort food at a reasonable price.
Inflation is a real danger
Yes, I was alive in 1963 but I wasn’t driving or paying for meals. My biggest expense might have been 25-cent Saturday movie matinees. I saw “Jason and the Argonauts” at least five times. Today’s price: About $12 for kids, up 4,700%. (Are today’s movies better?)
Inflation is an unrelenting force. When you take a very long view of prices, you can see how even moderate inflation is devastating to purchasing power. Inflation rose 999% over the last 63 years, and 24.5% over the last five years (an annual rate of 4.5%). It stands today at 4.2%.
Think about it: Our dollars have lost at least one-fifth of their buying power in just five years.
Even a very reasonably priced restaurant like the Open Kitchen is starting to look pricey, at least by its past standards. And then add in the expected 20% tip, up from 15% in the past, and Charlotte’s 9.25% sales tax on prepared meals (up from 3% in 1963).
Is it worth it? Yes, at least for the comfort and tradition of a restaurant like the Open Kitchen. Here’s a 2025 video history of the restaurant, where you can easily see the appeal:
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Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities 
You brought back good memories, David. I rewatched Jason and the Argonauts many times, as well as a fun sci-fi fantasy predecessor from a few years earlier, Journey to the Center of the Earth. Now that I think about it, TIPS are like the disc taking you safely from the past, all the way up the bowels of the earth, to the present day.
When we were in Charlotte we went to The Mad Greek restaurant.
The plurality of restaurants in the Boston area are probably Greek owned as well Also many serving Italian-American food. And nearly all take out sub shops are Greek owned. They also developed their own style of pizza. The sub shops will often have a tray of baklava on the counter, usually at a reasonable price for baklava $4 dollars or so for a triangle.
Open Kitchen, an example of the insidious nature of inflation, the staying power of a family-owned business, and the connection between a community and a beloved restaurant. That’s a trio of Americana right there, I enjoyed the article and the video very much. Thank you. When I woke up this morning, I never expected to wonder if I Bonds had been around since 1963, how much they would’ve kept up with the price of a meatball. But here we are.
I am of Greek heritage and the Greeks have always been big in the restaurant business. Does anyone know of a diner not owned and operated by Greeks? Those prices are cheap! I’m moving to Charlotte. If you want sticker shock try Manhattan. I routinely pay $150 to go out to dinner. If taking out the boyfriend it’s $250-$300. Hang on to those I-bonds. And I doubt the new fed chair is keen to raise interest rates. He wants to placate the president. So he’s forming committees to study the issue(s), a time honored method in politics of delay and waffle.
Charlotte has a large Greek community and a lot of people work in restaurants. When I moved here in 1982, nearly every restaurant was operated by Greeks, no matter the cuisine. If you are here in September check out the Yiasou Greek Festival, Sept 11-13. It is a BIG event.
Re: the Greek connection, another well-known example is Cincinnati chili:
https://nkytribune.com/2024/04/our-rich-history-cincinnati-chili-a-greek-immigrant-tradition-a-fun-food-that-really-caught-on/
(In good humor . . .)
I wonder if some of the price increases at Open Kitchen are attributable to its being featured more than once on Tipswatch.com, home of the famous world traveler David Enna, so that it has become a Destination, a place for the in-the-know and oh-so-chic TIPS and I Bond crowd to “see and be seen,” with interviews and fashionably posed photographs on the red carpet.
Someone needs to create a line chart of the above table and add another data point: Every mention of the restaurant by David. 😉
My first article on the Open Kitchen was in 2017, then I updated it in 2021 and now 2026. I am SO HAPPY they remain in operation. Years ago, when business was slower, I was paying my bill and talking to the owner. “How’s business?” Answer: “Not so good, everyone is using those Groupon discounts.” … And then I handed him my Groupon discount. Ouch.
They don’t do Groupon discounts anymore.