cross-posted from: https://reddthat.com/post/70567049
The $20 burger was once very recently referred to as the $10 burger. Outrageous pricing reguardless
I make vegan burgers for like 6 bucks the price gouging is insane
freezer’s stocked with vegan meats, they’re ironically cheaper now than regular meat (on sale)
Burger parts cost ~$2 at the grocery store.
Don’t spend $25 for a burger.
I agree with you on that
This. I made us some chopped cheese sandwiches last night that were way cheaper than feeding everyone at a FF restaurant. And it was better tasting.
My salary minus rent and cost of living leaves me with about 5 eur/hour. Fast food that costs me 2+ hours? No thanks.
Yeah, fast food used to be fast and cheap, now it is neither. No reason to waste money there, so now 98% of my food comes from the grocery store. So. Much. Cheaper.
In the long-ago mists of the 00s, Hardee’s advertised a “Six Dollar Burger” that was actually only $3.95 because six dollars for a fast food burger was obviously silly.
After we were required to start working on office a couple years ago, I decided to explore the area for a while, trying new potential lunch places. I found this little out of the way craft burger place with something like “2023 best burger in the city award winner” painted on their fence.
I thought, “Sweet, this ought to be a pretty good burger”. I sat down, checked out the menu, ordered a burger that sounded good (something simple) along with some fries and a water. Didn’t look at the price while browsing the menu because… it’s a small burger place. Even if it won an award a few years ago, how much could it cost? By the time I even thought to consider it, I’d already ordered and the menu was gone, so I wouldn’t find out until the check came.
I figured 15 dollars for a nice craft burger wouldn’t be an unreasonable expectation. I could even see around 20, since we are in the burbs of a metro area, which tends to make things a bit more expensive, though this didn’t seem like an expensive joint… Turns out it was 28 dollars and change after tax. I about choked when I saw the total. And this was before beef prices went crazy the last year or so.
The burger was good. It was not 28 dollars good. I haven’t been back since. I’ve also heard similar stories from coworkers “Good, but not good enough for the price”. Whoever is keeping them in business is getting fleeced. There’s no way that that burger and fries cost them more than $5.00 in ingredients, tops. That’s a hefty ass margin.
Winning any sort of “best local food” award almost always means the price jumps immediately.
Not sure how one can care about the price if they don’t bother to read the price off the menu. Eating out regularly is stupid expensive regardless of fast food or proper sit down.
BOM isn’t the end of their costs and the rest will vary widely. You’re not just paying for a burger, but the service (wages) around it, the space and amenities averaged out including utils and rent, some profit likely for someone now quite removed from the business, etc… and you probably paid less of a margin% than a mcturd sandwich.
Most places around here are in the $10-20 range for a lunch, particularly causal places like a burger joint. I can even get a giant sushi bowl for like 15 near my office. Tacos, chicken, thai, indian…
There is even an awesome healthy food place called Brassica (highly recommend if there is one near you) that I can get a massive sandwich at for under $10 without meat, $12 with chicken, up to $14 with slow cooked brisket. And it is filled to the brim with awesome tasting yet still healthy stuff made in house (housemade wood fired pita bread, mixed greens with a lemon dressing, hummus/baba ganouche, pickled veggies, roasted veggies, garlic/pepper/herb sauces, feta, etc). And even if I get a big helping of Brisket, it comes in under half the price of that burger and fries. There is no excuse for ground beef, a slice of cheese, some condiments and raw veggies on bun to be more than double that price. These places are 4 minutes from each other.
Nothing really contradicts what I said… And as for the excuse? You paid for it. Was the restaurant empty? Sounds like it’s working.
I’m not fanning the $24 burger, but the cost of ingredients is only the starting point. Doesn’t just apply to burgers either… Look at apple products, beers, cars; it doesn’t have to be reasonable. Again… Sounds like it’s working.
It’s not working for me. I won’t be returning.
The local joints around me you can get a big burger, a big glass of beer, and a big side of fries for $15, maybe $20 tops. Whoever is buying just the burger for $25 is getting ripped off.
Just went to a place tonight where it was $26. $25 burger might not be the current mean, but it’s definitely not eye popping anymore at all.
I’m guessing in a big city, like NYC or LA.
I’m in nyc and 25 is not the norm for a regular burger
I’m about an hour out from the nearest city, in a suburban area. I’m closer to the boonies than anything like New York City or Chicago.
“1h from the nearest city”
“suburban area”
What? How? I has questions…
I feel like sub-urban has lost meaning.
If closer to the boonies than a city, you’re no longer sub-urban. Though does rural count as country town, or just farm, or both?
Wikipedia defines it as:
an area within a metropolitan area which is predominantly residential and within commuting distance of a large city.
I’d say it’s a very fit definition of where I’m at. Most people commute to the metropolitan areas which are mostly manufacturing, and can reliably commute to the nearest city by car (though it can be an hour drive at some places). It’s mostly residential here, some woodland between communities but sometimes little woodland within them.
I mean commuting could be anything between 5 minutes and 4 hours.
Like walking distance. What does it mean???
Exactly… and I’m definitely living in a higher than average cost of living area. What people seem to think is if you can find overpriced food (they don’t seem to particularly care for) then they have an excuse to seem madder about food (they don’t seem to particularly care for) prices.
I read this post after ordering my trusty $9.98 double burger with fries at In-N-Out. I pray for the survival of this franchise.
If it wasn’t for the price, In-n-Out wouldn’t be worth the hype. But for the price they are peerless, so worth the hype.
I think their consistency has gone down. If you get a top tier In-N-Out burger, where the cheese has just started to melt and the bun was toasted just right, they’re pretty damn good burgers, would still be worth it if it cost an extra $2-3. The mid to low tier In-N-Out burgers are about worth their current price.
They pray a lot too. Ever see the hidden Bible stuff?
And yet it’s still weirdly expensive at home. I remember when a pound of ground beef was a couple bucks, tops. Now I’ve seen it as high as $9, albeit the lean kind.
I go to Burger King on whopper Wednesday and get a burger, drink and some fries for <$10 CAD. On other days, this same meal is around $14.
Where the hell are you buying burgers?
This smacks of elitists who turn their nose up over joints like Burger King and only go to a fancy restaurant for a fucking hamburger. Then complain about how expensive it is.
Very “hello fellow working class” kinda vibes to this.
Places that actually have good burgers
This smacks of elitists who turn their nose up over joints like Burger King and only go to a fancy restaurant for a fucking hamburger.
Nah burger king is garbage unless you only want the calories. Fake broil ass taste is worse than any other burger option. Id sooner eat the cheapest microwave ready hamburgers.
I can make a much better burger at home, I don’t really understand why I would buy a garbage burger at all. Do you drink box of wine because real wine is elitist? There are levels of quality to things.
Idk about CA, but the burgers at BK, McD, Popeye’s fucking stink in India. Stale bread, a smudge of mustard, browning lettuce, limp patties etc. Granted, it costs ~150-200 INR (2.5 USD).
But there are muuuch better places that have juicy ingredients AND serve with fries on the side. Those cost around 300 bucks (3-3.5 USD)
Anyone buying burgers at BK just seems pound foolish out here.
Burger King is very inconsistent. Some locations are good, some are kinda bad. General rule, if it’s got some kind of play area for the kids, the burger’s are going to suck. The kids make their parents take them there, so they don’t have to care about making a decent burger. But if it’s a location on a city street and there’s a high volume, they tend to be better. But when you have a decent one nearby, it’s a decent burger.
Yup. I grab the $5 specials, little bit of everything, nugs, burger, fries and drink. Most places offer some variation and it’s small enough to not destroy your guts to finish the day after lunch.
