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How economical is your local Taco Bell?

taconomical.com

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Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#331

Post by lotsofpulp »

komali2 wrote: post #328
lotsofpulp wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not arguing that. komali2 wrote: > Not sure if you've been to the USA but it's not like many Americans have a choice. A small portion of Americans, such as itinerant construction workers or people with 90 minute one way commutes, might not have a choice, but to say “many Americans” don’t have the option to make simple lentil/rice/vegetable/etc meals is not correct in the sense that much of the restaurant business…

> with 90 minute one way commutes This is most every Houstonian I know, including previously me. Maybe that's unique to oil and gas where you live in Pasadena and then do jobs all over. Then again on a bad day Pasadena to the energy corridor could take an hour and a half... IDK I guess this just reminds me of the time I had a conversation with this startup guy that was totally convinced that single moms working two j…

You should re-read your comments. You made falsifiable claims, which were shown to be false. Has nothing to do with empathy or other feelings nonsense.

The small proportion of Americans for whom it is unfeasible to cook were already addressed, specifically that they are a small proportion based on data regarding how far most people commute and how close they live to a proper grocery store.

https://www.census.gov/topics/employment/commuting/guidance/...

> The mean one-way travel time in 2022 was 26.4 minutes, higher than 25.6 minutes in 2021.

> The percentage of workers with a one-way travel time of 60 minutes or more in 2022 was 8.5 percent, higher than 7.7 percent in 2021.

Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#332

Post by aagha »

arrobbiato wrote: post #79

Surprising that the legendary Taco Bell in Pacifica isn’t the most expensive one, though it is close. It has a fireplace, it serves margaritas, and it has a walk-up window for hungry surfers. https://californiaisforadventure.com/pacifica-taco-bell/

Taco Bell by the Sea!

Maybe not the most expensive, but the most beautiful?

Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#333

Post by jldugger »

SllX wrote: post #257
jdminhbg wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most investigations of operators on that level are done by state attorneys general.

They can be, but based off the description of events higher up the thread, I could see the Feds getting involved if this is accurate.

If you buy up all the retail space in one airport, I don't imagine that triggers interstate commerce law that would allow the feds to step in.

Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#334

Post by jldugger »

Loughla wrote: post #91
camkego wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently the prices are scraped from the mobile app. I installed the mobile app and for some reason, and that location can’t be found inside the mobile app. Actually, you cannot (I can’t anyway) order from that location from the website either. It just goes to show data cleaning is hard. It’s true for statistics and it’s probably just as true for LLMs.

Why does Taco Bell have an app? What is its purpose?

Just to add more comments to this:

0. You can set up favorite orders, and get all the nutrition info you care to. And make fiddly custom orders without worrying someone will screw up typing it in.

1. They don't have to pay a cashier to type in your order if you do it for them. And it's more likely to be correct, and more likely to make upsells (would you like to add a drink to your order?). More cynically, you can't complain that their cashier doesn't understand English since you are now the cashier.

2. Price discrimination. Fast food is an unusual mix of fast and cheap, and not everyone values those two equally. Cheap customers can spend time clipping coupons and browsing app deals while fast customers can make their order via drive through without having to futz around while driving. The app replaces newspaper circulars and mailers, esp now that nobody subscribes to local news anymore.

3. You can order ahead, increasing table turn time, spending less time at their limited seating and limited parking. And you spend less time waiting in line to order, waiting for your order to be prepared.

4. It functions as a loyalty program, buy 10 get one free style (but a bit more complicated).

5. Less fighting over coupons at the counter for the franchisees that don't want to accept them - the app just refuses them. And frankly, some of the penny pincher franchisees may not be savvy enough to set up refusals.

6. If a location runs out of something they can flag it and you won't show up disappointed they can't fill your order. Or they can advertise a per-store menu.

Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#335

Post by throw10920 »

bregma wrote: post #138
Loughla wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why does Taco Bell have an app? What is its purpose?

(1) Studies have shown that patron will make larger and more frequent orders when placed through an app rather than in person. This increases revenues. (2) The app gathers statistics. Marketing and sales are so addicted to massive amounts of all kinds of information they have trouble finding veins that are not collapsed and their coworkers all carry naloxone. In most organizations, the marketing and sales people make…

I absolutely believe that these per-chain apps collect gobs of data, but I'm curious as to how valuable that actually is for them.

Any idea what the going rate is for the kind of data that could feasibly be collected from restaurant apps?

Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#336

Post by fragmede »

jldugger wrote: post #333
SllX wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can be, but based off the description of events higher up the thread, I could see the Feds getting involved if this is accurate.

If you buy up all the retail space in one airport, I don't imagine that triggers interstate commerce law that would allow the feds to step in.

Why wouldn't it? All but the smallest airports have an effect on interstate commerce 6 virtue of flights going to other states.

Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#337

Post by komali2 »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #331
komali2 wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> with 90 minute one way commutes This is most every Houstonian I know, including previously me. Maybe that's unique to oil and gas where you live in Pasadena and then do jobs all over. Then again on a bad day Pasadena to the energy corridor could take an hour and a half... IDK I guess this just reminds me of the time I had a conversation with this startup guy that was totally convinced that single moms working two j…

You should re-read your comments. You made falsifiable claims, which were shown to be false. Has nothing to do with empathy or other feelings nonsense. The small proportion of Americans for whom it is unfeasible to cook were already addressed, specifically that they are a small proportion based on data regarding how far most people commute and how close they live to a proper grocery store. https://www.census.gov/topi…

> Has nothing to do with empathy or other feelings nonsense

Nonsense? Are you Spock? The way you write makes me feel you're a participant of the LessWrong community or idealogically aligned, maybe you'll appreciate this article: https://www.lesswrong.com/s/5g5TkQTe9rmPS5vvM/p/SqF8cHjJv43m...

> So is rationality orthogonal to feeling? No; our emotions arise from our models of reality.

> Becoming more rational—arriving at better estimates of how-the-world-is—can diminish feelings or intensify them. Sometimes we run away from strong feelings by denying the facts, by flinching away from the view of the world that gave rise to the powerful emotion. If so, then as you study the skills of rationality and train yourself not to deny facts, your feelings will become stronger.

8.5% of the working population of Americans is a lot of people. Driving a long time isn't the only obstacle people might face. I don't disagree that there's some mechanism by which the vast majority of Americans can cook every meal, or plant gardens, or do pullups every day, I'm disagreeing that it's a reasonable expectation given the environment. We should work to improve the environment.

I think you're trying to shoehorn a human situation into some pure thought experiment territory. When I say "don't have a choice" and you take me to mean "it's literally impossible," I feel like that's a bad faith interpretation. Would it be falsifiable for me to claim most Americans don't have the ability to do pullups every day? Yes of course. Negating it though is loaded because the topic isn't, "is there a mechanism by which Americans can do pullups every day," it's "is it reasonable to expect the majority of Americans to do pullups every day?"

What do you think? Is it reasonable to expect the majority of Americans to maintain 12% bodyfat while raising their 2.5 children to rational, well-studied standards, while meditating daily, while being 10 minutes early to work every day and staying 10 minutes later than their boss to ensure maximized potential for career success, while also learning to code to improve their job prospects, while supplementing their income by starting a drop shipping company, while ensuring the future of their liberal democracy by participating in local politics, while ensuring the future of their planet by engaging in climate activism, while reading at least one book per month? Which of the things on the list aren't you doing, and why "can't" you do them?

Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#338

Post by varjag »

wkat4242 wrote: post #233
varjag wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW Taco Bell places I tried in CA were poor quality as well. Guess it's one of the things you have to grow up with to enjoy.

Ah ok I never visited the US. I just couldn't imagine people would like this quality so I assumed it was better over there

You just wait until you try Hershey's chocolade…

Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#339

Post by astrange »

GuinansEyebrows wrote: post #329
astrange wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fast food workers are not minimum wage. I don't know about Taco Bell, but McDonald's has had signs up offering $18/hr in the Bay Area for a while which is like $3 more. Well, they might be now since California passed a higher minimum wage for fast food workers. > afford not to replace human jobs There's practically no such thing as replacing human jobs; having a machine replace some of your /tasks/ (taking orders) le…

Higher productivity in this environment pretty much universally translates to fewer staff on shift. It’s just another way to lower costs at the expense of non wealthy people. Why do you think it’s so hard to find help in any big box store nowadays? Or why most of them only have one or two cashiers working when lines get longer and longer? PS: $18 an hour in the bay in 2024 might as well be under minimum wage. It’s un…

> Higher productivity in this environment pretty much universally translates to fewer staff on shift.

Depends on demand.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox

> PS: $18 an hour in the bay in 2024 might as well be under minimum wage. It’s unconscionably low if one wants to maintain any standard of living.

That wasn't in 2024. It's $20 now.

https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Fast-Food-Minimum-Wage-FAQ.htm

Re: How economical is your local Taco Bell?

#340

Post by im3w1l »

hunter2_ wrote: post #299
_DeadFred_ wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've come to realize I don't want to put that kind of brain energy into ordering fast food. So I just stopped going. I make up some refried beans and some meat (normally chili verde) and freeze them (separately) for when I want 'fast food'. If I have to play (and learn how to maximize) some corporate dark pattern games then nah, I'm good bro.

The friction of playing the game is how price discrimination has always worked, whether clipping coupons or fiddling with apps. You either spend time to pay less (and perhaps brag about it to make smalltalk just like this, which is like volunteer advertising) or you spend more to save time. It's weird, but it's actually an incredible way for the more well-off to subsidize the less well-off (at the risk of enticing so…

> at the risk of enticing some folks, who have the means but love a deal, to be penny-wise pound-foolish at everyone's expense including their own

If no one did this, wouldn't that just mean that the price discrepancy kept rising and rising?

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