Is a "temporary inflation fee" not the same as a "price hike"?

No, an who cares what they call it. It is reality of the cost of food. Have you gone grocery shopping in the past two years?
It is trying to offset what they hope is a “temporary” increase in prices without insulting you with increased menu prices.
There has not been stability in product pricing since the beginning of Covid.
Eat at home.

I understand what it is & I don’t begrudge them increasing their prices. For some reason it just hit me wrong that they are calling it a “temporary fee” when I know that it will NEVER fall off until they raise their menu prices!!! I didn’t like their prices even before the added fee. This will for sure mean that I’ll be eating at home!!! I also realize that although they may be the first adding this fee, I’m positive that they WON’T be the last…it’s going to be a new norm!!!

They can call a price hike anything they want, it’s still a price hike. If they had just quietly raised prices like everyone else most would hardly notice. Now that they have made a big deal about it everyone will notice.

Macaroni Grill doesn’t have the best Italian food and they’re not located anywhere near me.

Some local places near me now charge for credit card fees. I try to pay cash when possible.

Just the term sounds like a terrible excuse a teenage boy will give a teenage girl.

“Temporary fee” is code for “permanent price increase”.

Temporary long enough for you to forget to ask about setting it back.

Some car wash places have these machines that fill your tires.
You put money in a slot called ‘temporary inflation fee.’