D.C. foodies out there may notice that there's something missing from their dishes. Restaurants are cutting back on the use of tomatoes because of rising food costs -- a bad combination of flooding in California, all those hurricanes in Florida and insects coming across the border from Mexico is to blame.

Though its doubtful Pizza Mart will start serving sauceless slices, suburbanites may notice that the Olive Garden and Red Lobster have done away with the Roma tomato, replacing it with a different kind of tomato, which Darden Restaurants Inc. refuses to name because of competitive reasons. A Darden spokesman tells the Post that "[m]ost guests in our restaurants around the country won't notice the change."

The Post also notes that Wendy's has also halted a marketing campaign that is pushing its Chicken Temptation sandwich, which boasts a giant tomato slice.

Has anyone noticed jacked up prices at your neighborhood market?