The US restaurant industry finds itself on the menu.

Seemingly every day, there’s a headline announcing a bankruptcy, layoff or store closure impacting one of the country’s most beloved brands.

Last month, Red Lobster filed for Chapter 11 after closing nearly 100 stores. Cracker Barrel – with restaurants in 45 states – has seen its share value plummet over the last year. The once-booming chain Boston Market, which boasted 1,200 locations in the 1990s, is now reportedly down to two dozen.

So, what’s behind this fast-casual reckoning?

It’s proof the inflation virus is still infecting America’s post-pandemic economy.

Supply chains crippled by the COVID pandemic lockdown haven’t recovered. Food costs – especially for proteins like chicken, beef and seafood – are up 30 to 40 percent over the last 36 months. Worst of all for the restaurant industry – customers haven’t returned from the shutdowns.

Business closures and social-distancing mandates forced people to change the way they eat. Sixty million Americans – a massive chuck of the population that is aged 60 years and above – were forced to use their smartphones to order a ‘treat’ dinner for the very first time in 2020.

But now, these consumers are comfortable requesting Chinese from their living room couches.

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So, what’s behind this fast-casual reckoning? It’s proof the inflation virus is still inflecting America’s post-pandemic economy.

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Seemingly every day, there’s a headline announcing a bankruptcy, layoff or store closure impacting one of the country’s most beloved brands. Last month, Red Lobster filed for Chapter 11 after closing nearly 100 stores.

And while Americans rarely worked from their home prior to the pandemic, an estimated 22 millions employed adults (about 14 percent of the workforce) haven’t returned to the office, according to Pew Research Center.

That means fewer people are going out to lunch or meeting colleagues for dinner after work.

This has been devastating to businesses that invested in brick-and-mortar locations. Eateries in urban locations have been hit especially hard as their expensive locations are no longer receiving the footfall they need to meet rent.

In order to survive, many have had to transform themselves into commercial kitchens specializing solely in takeout.

Some businesses will have to go bankrupt, reorganize themselves entirely and move to less expensive areas.

However, there’s nothing to be done when consumers simply refuse to spend.

In general, wages haven’t kept pace with inflation and Americans are seeking out cheaper alternatives.

Even high-end casual burger chain BurgerFi is now fighting for survival and considering bankruptcy options amid a punishing sales slump.

In this economy, an ‘upscale McDonald’s’ is a luxury that many can’t afford.

Inflation is devastating for average-income earners (making $68,000 a year) with budgets already tight and hikes in transportation, housing and energy costs.

Unfortunately, there’s no telling when – if ever – these prices will come back down to Earth.

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The once-booming chain Boston Market, which boasted 1,200 locations in the 1990s, is now reportedly down to two dozen.

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Cracker Barrel – with restaurants in 45 states – has seen its share value plummet over the last year.

Red Lobster has suffered a business-busting triple-whammy. Volatile seafood prices and costly real estate were likely bad enough. But California’s calamitous new regulations may have proven to be too much for the chain that has multiple West Coast locations.

Indeed, the restaurant industry’s struggles are most pronounced in deep-blue California – where Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has turned the not-so-Golden State into the closest American facsimile to Venezuela.

Newsom signed a law in September jacking up the minimum wage for fast-food workers from $16-per-hour to $20 – making decades-old businesses unprofitable overnight.

One California trade group estimated the Maduro-style edict led to the firing of nearly 10,000 workers even before the law went into effect on April 1.

A West Coast Burger King franchisee with 140 restaurants announced he’d replace workers with digital order-taking kiosks. A major Pizza Hut operator eliminated delivery services and laid off thousands of drivers.

Now, just 90 days into the new regime, businesses are dropping like flies.

Earlier this month, beloved Mexican chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill announced it was shutting 48 restaurants in the state because of the ‘rising cost of doing business.’

Blaze Pizza is closing its California locations and relocating its headquarters from Pasadena to Atlanta to reduce its state corporate tax rate by more than a third.

Newsom’s far-left government is completely disconnected from the reality of inflation – and the Governor has the blood of these failed businesses on his hands.

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Earlier this month, beloved Mexican chain Rubio’s Coastal Grill announced it was shutting 48 restaurants in the state because of the ‘rising cost of doing business.’

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Even high-end casual burger chain BurgerFi is now fighting for survival and considering bankruptcy options amid a punishing sales slump.

It all adds up to terrible news for the US economy.

While major chains Red Lobster and Burger Fi make headlines, mom-and-pop restaurants across the country are facing these same struggles.

A staggering 62 percent of jobs in this country are created by companies with between five and 500 employees. But during the pandemic, President Biden only focused on propping up the S&P 500 companies with hulking stimulus packages.

Take a look at the Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips and Science Act, which have been estimated to cost as much as $1 trillion and $80 billion respectively. Neither bill included a dime for small businesses.

As much as President Biden is desperate to convince the American people that ‘Bidenomics is working.’

It’s not.

Perched on his wobbling podium, Biden expounds that he is rebuilding the economy from the bottom up.

This evidence suggests otherwise.