Edmond Restaurant Owners Speak Up on Their Struggles

Local Edmond restaurants speak up about the challenges of owning a local business compared to chain companies, as local businesses begin to struggle with tariffs, which are raising costs.

The Vista spoke to a few Edmond restaurant owners. The owners said that chain restaurants make it difficult for residents in Edmond to be noticed because they often forget they can get similar items at smaller restaurants, or think the quality will not be as good.

Jim Lau, owner of Noodle-Ology, said, “Noodle-Ology is not a well-known place; it’s not Taco Bell or McDonald’s, so people don’t typically think about coming to Noodle-Ology at first.”

Hayley Schmitz, owner of Milk and Honey, said, “Getting out there, finding customers, and marketing is hard. There’s a lot of competition, especially in the coffee world.”

Nicole Hanson, owner of Sweet Friends Bakery, said, “It’s always hard for me to see slow days here at Sweet Friends, but I see a line around Starbucks. While there is that line at chain restaurants, I’m wondering if we’re going to make payroll some weeks.”

Not only have big franchises made it difficult for smaller restaurants to be seen, but tariffs have also made it difficult for these restaurants to maintain consistent menu prices and, at times, to keep items on the menu.

According to CNN News, the US-Israeli war with Iran is pushing up transportation costs, leaving American businesses with even less of a buffer to absorb additional costs without passing them to consumers.

Because of items being taken off the menu or prices being raised, customers have been coming to these Edmond restaurants less and going to bigger franchises where the prices of items stay the same. 

Not only do business owners struggle, but at times, their employees struggle as well because business owners want to continue maintaining the quality of their items on the menu.

Hanson continued, “The rising food costs have been a challenge; for example, there are days I don’t pay myself so I can combat the rising cost of food.”

Jimin Han, May Picnic Table manager, said, “We did not want to buy lower quality items, especially when it came to our matcha, so we had to continue buying high quality matcha even when prices for the ingredients we use continue to rise, so we’re unable to give our employees raises.”

“The cost of the food is always rising because of tariffs, which can negatively affect Noodle-Ology,” Lau shared.

Lucy Kim, owner of May Picnic Table, stated, “Due to the tariffs and how much it fluctuates, it is really difficult because all our ingredients are from Korea, and we can’t really get them from anywhere else. We wanted to maintain the quality and not compromise, so we continued to buy overpriced things for months, which set us back a lot. For example, the price of the matcha we get from Japan has gone up three hundred percent.”

“Besides the tariffs, prices of ingredients are constantly rising, which is overall very challenging for many small businesses in this economy,” Han continued.

Hanson shared, “There are days when I want to advocate for small businesses and to tell people to support local businesses. At the end of the day, supporting small businesses gives back to your community.”