Nationwide romaine lettuce shortage temporarily nixes Caesar salad at Montgomery Mall's Frank Pepe Pizzeria

A nationwide romaine lettuce shortage discussed in the media since November is now hitting home at Frank Pepe Pizzeria at Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda. The pizza parlor is unable to offer its Caesar salad at this time, due to the shortage, a sign at the business says. Romaine lettuce prices have doubled due to the shortage, which has been blamed on a insect-spread virus that killed off 70-80% of some farmers' lettuce crops this year. 

A massive fire destroyed a major produce packing plant in Salinas, California earlier this year, knocking out a facility that "provides a majority of west coast food service customers with fresh lettuce and vegetables" until 2023. Months later, no cause for the fire has been positively identified. Investigators noted that maintenance workers were performing welding work at the facility the day the fire started. It was one of several major food processing plants destroyed by fire earlier this year across the country, which has contributed to pandemic-related supply chain issues.