Price Gouging laws for Restaurants?

Question

A couple of months ago a hurricane passed through Texas and wiped out the neighborhood's power supply for a couple days. There was an Restaurant opened serving hot food and they sold rice, chicken wings, and other hot foods double their menu prices!!!!!! There prices were so high i couldn't afford it. Can i sue them for price gouging for making me not being able to purchase the food?

Answer 1

No you can't sue them. They are being opportunists.

Answer 2

You can always sue anyone for anything. However your odds of getting through your opening argument before the judge dismisses your case and sends you a bill for court fees are very slim.  

Answer 3

I'm getting rather tired of all the folks in this category who can only think of suing someone when something happens they don't like!  So the restaurant charged higher prices ... big deal.  It's a free country and they can charge whatever price they want.  It may be immoral and just plain 'not nice', and they may be c**p*y neighbours, but illegal?  Not in the least.  If I decided to sue everyone who charged an amount I couldn't afford for something I wanted, I'd be a busy person keeping lawyers in business.  You must have gotten food somewhere because you're still around.  I'm not knocking you as a person because you are probably a very nice guy, but let's all get off that 'suing' kick people!!

Answer 4

I am not aware of any place that regulates the prices of restaurant foods. These are not a necessity. Think about it this way...a McD's burger is $1.00 but one made by Wolfgang is probably like $100.00...no one is stopping this.

Don't like what they are charging, eat somewhere else. If everyone does the same, they will lower their prices soon enough.

NOW it would be different if a grocery store tried to recoup losses by charging 10x for milk.  

Answer 5

Unlikely,

are there any churches around they will feed you.

Answer 6

You can sue for just about anything these days. Winning the lawsuit is a different story. You probably would not have much of a chance of winning this. Eating at a restaurant is not considered a "necessity", so you if you can not afford, you don't have to eat there.

If it was a gas station gouging the price of gas, that is a different story. Gasoline is an item that is considered a necessity because most people need it to get around (to work, to the store, etc.).