Inflation has slammed Americans’ wallets at the grocery store — but restaurants could be a surprising winner US consumers are experiencing the steepest food inflation in more than 40 years . The inflationary gap between restaurants and grocery stores hasn''t been this large since the 1970s. Restaurant chains are betting that this will drive Americans to eat out, rather than cook at home. The conventional wisdom is that avoiding take out saves you money — but with inflation raging, the easier dining option can also be the cheaper one. That''s because consumer prices are increasing at grocery stores faster than at restaurants. They increased 13.1% year-over-year in July at stores, and only 7.6% at restaurants, according to the Labor Department. It''s the biggest inflationary gap between restaurants and grocery stores since the 1970s. !function(){"use strict"