More than half the meat budget at Gabe Garza’s barbecue restaurant in Chicago normally goes to pork. This year, he’s buying even more.
With pork production in the U.S. heading for an all-time high, wholesale prices have fallen about 40 percent since last July. As a result, Garza’s Chicago Q restaurant will buy 113,550 pounds (51.5 metric tons) in 2015, 14 percent more than last year. A half-dozen new items are also on the menu, including pork-belly corn dogs and pulled-pork macaroni and cheese.
“Before, we would use bacon sparingly,” said Garza, 43, who owns two other eateries and a cigar bar in the city. “Now, we’re playing bacon with different seasonings and toppings. We absolutely started experimenting and playing, and the chefs really had fun.”
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