Launch HN: MAC'D (YC S18) – Fast-Casual, Build-Your-own Mac and Cheese • Hacker News Board

Post by samstave » Fri, Aug 10, 2018, 4:24 PM UTC

While I love Mac n cheese, and your menu sounds delicious - I'll tell you why I will most likely never eat at your place: price.

While there are plenty of people who will, and you will certainly be successful - I just have "price fatigue" where one can't seemingly even feed themselves for an affordable rate.

The cost of food is too high.

Let's assume the average cost of a meal from your place is $15 as is generally what appears to be the average cost of a meal anywhere, eating anywhere is just so expensive.

Even a "meal" from McDonald's in a really crappy location such as 24th and mission in SF is $11.

I'm sure people will always pay for the convenience, I just can't justify paying premium prices like $15 for Mac n cheese.

I have three kids.

Now imagine a family where each in the family can't be together for, say, lunch.

Each parent needs to eat, and each child needs to eat.

If all members of the family were to go out and need to buy lunch - even if it were $10 per lunch and the family had to buy 4 lunches twice a week....

So, I just think pricing for food these days, across the board, is unsustainable.

Post by kilbuz » Wed, Aug 22, 2018, 1:09 AM UTC

chenchenhuo wrote: post #11

crsv wrote: post #10

How do you guys plan to strategically and operationally adjust as you expand in to markets that far removed from economics and social drivers of SF?

We can't wait to be in markets removed from the economics of SF! San Francisco has the highest costs of running a restaurant (labor, rent, food) and consequently, hurts our margins. In other areas removed from social drivers, we'll spend less time on our viral social media presence and more on grassroots marketing and community engagement. It's our thought that if we can make it (twice) in SF, we can make it in other…

The tradeoff is that many folks in SF who would eat at places like this are fairly inelastic (if not completely ignorant) to pricing of meals. So while your costs are high here, you have a population that can order an $X dollar bowl of mac and cheese without thinking twice. Places like that are few and far between in the US.

Launch HN: MAC'D (YC S18) – Fast-Casual, Build-Your-own Mac and Cheese

Re: Launch HN: MAC'D (YC S18) – Fast-Casual, Build-Your-own Mac and Cheese

Re: Launch HN: MAC'D (YC S18) – Fast-Casual, Build-Your-own Mac and Cheese