(WHAS11) - "For sale" signs are not only going up in front of homes, they are now popping up in front of former restaurants.
Several local restaurants have had to shut their doors because there just isn't enough business.
Restaurants already have a thin profit margin - just 2 to 3 percent.
But-the Kentucky Restaurant Association says in the past year the cost for basic supplies has taken the biggest jump in 29 years.
Now more than ever - restaurateurs say if you have a favorite spot you like to eat, support it now before it's too late.
They were hauling away the beer at Browning's this morning.
Not only have Browning's and Park Place closed at Slugger Field, but also Primo's one block away and its neighboring grocery, Market on Market.
The boom in foot traffic predicted for this part of downtown didn't happen soon enough.
But restaurants everywhere are feeling the pinch. At the Kentucky Bar-B-Q Co. on Frankfort Avenue, the owners have not paid themselves for a month.
And diners today tell me it's not just a product of the media scaring people away from dining out. Pocketbooks are shrinking in a struggling economy.
Also closing in the past month, the Rocky's Italian grill on Westport Road soon to be a Buckhead's, and the upscale Caf Perusa in Jeffersontown.
Despite getting slapped with fuel surcharges by vendors, restaurants have to eat that cost, so as not to drive away customers.
I also spoke by phone today with Papa John's founder John Schnatter who is bucking the trend with his developing of a new sandwich soup and salad chain-Calistoga's.
Schnatter's advice to restaurants is to never sacrifice the quality of your product.
But Schnatter also points out that in tough times, companies like Papa John's can cut fees and royalties charges for their franchisees. But area mom and pop's are on their own.
