The High Cost of Eating Out in America
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The High Cost of Eating Out in America
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Re: The High Cost of Eating Out in America
#2The big mac index seems a bit trickier to calculate now that mcdonalds app users pay half price for one.
Re: The High Cost of Eating Out in America
#3Pre pandemic, sit down prices were $16-22 for mains and $28-30 if you're ordering something really fancy like fresh fish or a steak (non steakhouse). If you go out now, a simple pasta will cost you 20+ and the fancier ones go north of $40. Eating out is now a luxury.
But at the same time, fast food is also not cheap. Ordering for two from Burger King or Wendy's or Chipotle can easily cross $40 if you're not careful.
Re: The High Cost of Eating Out in America
#4I don't eat out because I'm chronically cheap. But after I stopped drinking magically the cost of eating out came down to Earth. But post Pandy, it's not just the cost of eating out. It's also the service, if you can find any. Most restaurants are wildly understaffed and the staff is terrible. I've worked service jobs most of my life before switching to tech so I understand more than most how rude customers are and how terrible these jobs are. This is something different. This is a pre-primed anger toward the customer.
Re: The High Cost of Eating Out in America
#5Pre pandemic, sit down prices were $16-22 for mains and $28-30 if you're ordering something really fancy like fresh fish or a steak (non steakhouse). If you go out now, a simple pasta will cost you 20+ and the fancier ones go north of $40. Eating out is now a luxury. But at the same time, fast food is also not cheap. Ordering for two from Burger King or Wendy's or Chipotle can easily cross $40 if you're not careful.
Not being from the US, it would be helpful if you could include some extra context here. Do these prices include taxes and expected tips?
Edit to add: Those prices do sound expensive compared with here in NZ. I would currently expect to pay all up about 20-30nzd and maybe 25-40nzd for fish or steak. Fast food has also become similarly expensive here relative to other options. This is after some pretty steep inflation over the past couple of years.
Re: The High Cost of Eating Out in America
#6Pre pandemic, sit down prices were $16-22 for mains and $28-30 if you're ordering something really fancy like fresh fish or a steak (non steakhouse). If you go out now, a simple pasta will cost you 20+ and the fancier ones go north of $40. Eating out is now a luxury. But at the same time, fast food is also not cheap. Ordering for two from Burger King or Wendy's or Chipotle can easily cross $40 if you're not careful.
Not being from the US, it would be helpful if you could include some extra context here. Do these prices include taxes and expected tips? Edit to add: Those prices do sound expensive compared with here in NZ. I would currently expect to pay all up about 20-30nzd and maybe 25-40nzd for fish or steak. Fast food has also become similarly expensive here relative to other options. This is after some pretty steep inflation…
no OP but likely does not include taxes or tip.
Re: The High Cost of Eating Out in America
#7I don't eat out because I'm chronically cheap. But after I stopped drinking magically the cost of eating out came down to Earth. But post Pandy, it's not just the cost of eating out. It's also the service, if you can find any. Most restaurants are wildly understaffed and the staff is terrible. I've worked service jobs most of my life before switching to tech so I understand more than most how rude customers are and h…
Drinking must be legal because it’s so profitable, at your expense and health.
Re: The High Cost of Eating Out in America
#8Fast food prices have been unhistorically low for a few decades, due to a combination of increasing worker productivity and suppressed demand due to the great recession.
Three bean burritos at Taco bell costs $1.89 where I lived from 1992 through about 2011. Far, far cheaper than I could make bean burritos myself, especially as a single man cooking for one. It was a godsend while I was a starving grad student, but lets face it, that can only go on so long.
When I was growing up, going to McDonalds was a rare treat. Now it is once again.
Re: The High Cost of Eating Out in America
#9Pre pandemic, sit down prices were $16-22 for mains and $28-30 if you're ordering something really fancy like fresh fish or a steak (non steakhouse). If you go out now, a simple pasta will cost you 20+ and the fancier ones go north of $40. Eating out is now a luxury. But at the same time, fast food is also not cheap. Ordering for two from Burger King or Wendy's or Chipotle can easily cross $40 if you're not careful.
Not being from the US, it would be helpful if you could include some extra context here. Do these prices include taxes and expected tips? Edit to add: Those prices do sound expensive compared with here in NZ. I would currently expect to pay all up about 20-30nzd and maybe 25-40nzd for fish or steak. Fast food has also become similarly expensive here relative to other options. This is after some pretty steep inflation…
FYI, 20 NZD is 12 USD.
Re: The High Cost of Eating Out in America
#10I don't eat out because I'm chronically cheap. But after I stopped drinking magically the cost of eating out came down to Earth. But post Pandy, it's not just the cost of eating out. It's also the service, if you can find any. Most restaurants are wildly understaffed and the staff is terrible. I've worked service jobs most of my life before switching to tech so I understand more than most how rude customers are and h…
>This is a pre-primed anger toward the customer.
It is just supply and demand. The price for evening/weekend/overnight labor was only low due to do high supply of labor relative to demand.