Your Bay Area favorites have gotten much more expensive. How much higher can prices go?

Your favorite Bay Area treat has likely doubled in price since and while inflation is slowing price increases will certainly be on the menu again in the near future as the region braces for the impact of President Donald Trump s widespread tariffs Inflation has risen nationally in the past decade and it is painfully obvious at your favorite local sandwich spot and coffee shops A large number of stores have had to update their prices so frequently that once-printed prices are covered up using paper markers and tape Using online reviews and photographs of menus from years past the Bay Area News Group tracked the price of several iconic Bay Area food items to see how inflation has affected your morning donut run your mid-week office lunch or that late-night burrito Right outside the gates of San Jose State University sits La Victoria a local fast casual burrito chain famous for its iconic orange sauce Based on photos of the menu from online reviews going back a decade a regular burrito was in February Since then the price has been raised at least eight times and as of May cost If you go back years burritos were still like remembers Nick Barrita the operations manager for La Victoria Everything was pretty steady We would raise prices by cents here and there but then when COVID hit everything just skyrocketed commented Barrita who has worked at La Vic as the restaurant is widely known for over two decades It s just mind boggling to think that everything has doubled in price including labor Barrita reported Rebecca Ham a San Jose native who used to go to La Victoria more frequently reported if she necessities a cheap meal now she finds herself next door at a national fast-food chain instead When you get low on money you might want a burrito but you can t afford a burrito Ham declared It s just crazy While long-time fans of the burritos and orange sauce might lament how their go-to meal has more than doubled in price the increase is similar around the Bay Area for countless local gems and big chains Looking at the details compiled by this news organization Sean Randolph senior director of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute a local think tank pointed to the period of upswings between and You can see the pandemic effect coming in he declared Since shortages due to supply chain disruptions combined with accelerated federal spending to drive consumer prices up he reported Randolph stated those factors are not unique to the region but are compounded by the fact that everything here is just more expensive anyway Even the the greater part affordable options have gotten much more expensive A double-double from In-N-Out specifically at the Alameda location was in June of A decade later the same burger costs a increase A dozen regular donuts at Colonial Donuts on Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland was an even in March but the price has been updated a handful of times since then and now those twelve donuts cost That s an increase of in years Census details shows income has also grown significantly in the past decade but not as briskly as bulk of the food items we tracked California s median household income grew from in to the preponderance newest year for which evidence is available The minimum wage in the state has grown from in to in While inflation ballooned in the first years of the decade the month-to-month increases in prices have slowed in modern months But not all prices follow the same trajectory and specific categories have grown even faster like groceries and eating out according to figures from the U S Bureau of Labor Statistics Food prices are considered to be volatile stated Randolph the economist It is just a little bit of a different category with different drivers than inflation broadly though he disclosed these prices certainly reflect people s experiences eating out Even Angie Marquez a freshman at San Jose State University has noted price changes at her favorite banh mi spot near campus I remember last semester you could add extra veggies no charge Now we have to pay for those veggies she explained I understand because I know things are getting expensive Marquez declared But I m a broke college trainee Related Articles Diaper bank expands in Alameda County for those in need Trump s tariffs may mean Walmart shoppers pay more his treasury chief acknowledges Is the Trump administration s plan to tax all Chinese-built ships a good idea Fact Check Trump blames other countries for high US drug prices Experts say it s not their fault Pleasanton City Council pushes ahead with higher water rates And prices are only expected to keep rising We re not really seeing anything close to the full effect yet Randolph reported as President Donald Trump has imposed new tariffs on foreign goods While the implementation has been chaotic and piecemeal it has sent specific prices soaring already with more price hikes on the horizon At La Victoria it is getting more expensive and harder to source various materials like their custom printed cups and other packaging from China The company tried to get ahead of it and put in a big order at the end of last year Barrita reported But now because of the chaos the new supplies are delayed and he is not sure when they will come in or what tariffs they will have to pay when they definitely ship Everybody is scrambling because they don t know what s going to happen next Barrita mentioned The Bay Area News Group will continue to track the prices of these items in the coming months Check back for more stories