Restaurants coping with higher prices

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., July 2 (UPI) -- U.S. restaurants, caught between rising food prices and customers feeling the economic pinch, are holding the line on prices and charging for extras.

The Hurricane Seafoood Restaurant in Pass-a-Grille, Fla., no longer supplies extras like French fries and lettuce and tomato with sandwiches, the St. Petersburg Times reports. The fries are 50 cents and the toppings a dime each.

The Red Mesa in St. Petersburg charges customers who want extra sauce or sour cream.

Other restaurants are controlling portion sizes and, providing bread and lemon slices only for customers who ask for them.

Eateries are also trying to get people in the door by switching to less expensive menus, both for the restaurants and for the customers.

"Our hope is instead of them coming in and only having an appetizer they will have a full meal," Debbie Feimster, office manager at the Lobster Pot in Redington Shores, Fla., said.