Connecticut restaurant owners say they are taking the brunt of the high costs of supplies because of inflation and the rise of minimum wage.

Restaurant owner BJ Lawless of BJ Ryan's East in Norwalk say with the rising increase in minimum wage, combined with all the supplies for restaurants, it has been a challenege.

"Be it dry goods or seafood, everything has all gone up and there's no sign of prices coming back down. When you add inflation, it's a challenge for all restaurants," Lawless says.

Higher costs have BJ's feeling the heat, but so does the new increase in employee minimum wage, which is set to take effect on July 1.

Minimum wage will increase to $14 per hour for non-tip employees.

Lawless says there's only so much he can do to stay in business.  

"There's a ceiling for how much you can charge for a hamburger. unfortunately, we're starting to take the brunt of these price increases.  You really can't charge more than what we're charging," he says.

Lawless says he is grateful for his loyal customers who have been returning in droves.