[HN Gopher] The High Cost of Eating Out in America
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       The High Cost of Eating Out in America
        
       Author : paulpauper
       Score  : 12 points
       Date   : 2024-02-23 21:07 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.bloomberg.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.bloomberg.com)
        
       | kjkjadksj wrote:
       | The big mac index seems a bit trickier to calculate now that
       | mcdonalds app users pay half price for one.
        
       | darth_avocado wrote:
       | Pre 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.
        
         | tmnvix wrote:
         | 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.
        
           | lurking_swe wrote:
           | no OP but likely does not include taxes or tip.
        
       | costanzaDynasty wrote:
       | I 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.
        
         | oven9342 wrote:
         | Drinking must be legal because it's so profitable, at your
         | expense and health.
         | 
         | I became a teetotaller and I only drink fizzy water instead
        
       | rhelz wrote:
       | Fast 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.
        
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       (page generated 2024-02-23 23:01 UTC)