Spike in lime prices squeezes SoCal restaurants and bars

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Limes are displayed at Cal-Mart Grocery on March 27, 2014 in San Francisco, California. Food prices are on the rise and expected to keep edging up throughout the year as the drought and other factors have impacted the availability and cost of groceries like coffee, milk, limes and pork.

The increasing cost of Mexican limes is putting the squeeze on bartenders to raise their prices. A case of the tiny green citrus fruit will now set you back a $100 a case, up from the average price of just $14 a case.

Bad news for margarita lovers:

The increasing cost of Mexican limes is putting the squeeze on bartenders to raise their prices. A case of the tiny green citrus fruit will now set you back $100 a case, up from the average price of just $14 a case.

Here with more is David Karp, he writes a farmers market column for the Los Angeles Times and is a citrus researcher with the University of California, Riverside. Then, we speak with Mario Marovic, who owns several bars and restaurants in Orange County and has come up with an innovative way to deal with the spike in lime prices.