The $75 PF Changs thread shows how crazy things are getting. What have you seen lately that made you go wow!

Last night I met the wife out for dinner at a local place before we saw the movie Wonka (which turned out to be surprisingly good BTW). It’s a burger/pizza/hoagies/cheesesteaks kind of place, not high end anything but really good food.

I started looking at hoagies on the menu and they have a small 8”, medium 12” (which is the one I usually get) and a large 20”

The medium (12”) hoagie was 16 DOLLARS

I used to live near this place and ate there quite regularly so I remember the prices. This hoagie was $8–$9 before.

I may have to just start making them at home.

Single Whataburger combo medium sized = $11.25

I'm going to buy a big freezer and a side of beef from a guy I know.

Got 2 6" subs w/ chips and a drink at Subway for $26 bucks last week. That's alot of money for food best described as "edible".


My wife and I went to a lobster roll place last weeked and dropped $51 on two lobster rolls, no chips, no drinks. They were good, but should have been half that price.

I don't eat fast food, so I don't keep up with the prices. But I glanced at a buddy's fast food receipt last year, and remember being blown away at the fact that he just spend nearly $15 on a fast food combo meal. It was closer to $5 the last time I ate fast food in the mid-2000s.

L&L Hawaiian BBQ opened up here in Anchorage and I was all excited. Ordered a BBQ combo plate and a Coke, &45, it's good it ain't that good.

Getting hard to find decent burger
for under $10 in my area. Pleased to discover
decent Italian restaurant lunch for 2 with tip
barely $40.

I am in the middle of analyzing my cash flow and part of that is reviewing last year.

I've always allocated $300 for eating out every month. I was expecting $500 to $600 tops. Was I surprised I was averaging $800 a month with some months going north of $900.

Sandwich, side, and a drink at a local BBQ place $21 - no tip as they don't accept them - that might be figured into the price, but still - seems like last year the same thing was $10

We have a greek gyro place near us that we frequent. Since Covid and Bidenflation they have raised their prices probably 20-25% but not outrageously like some. We don't go as often as we used to but the guy who runs it is always happy to see us when we do go there.

Why you guys are still doing this is beyond me. Just stop eating out.

If you post here and tell me you had an outrageous bill from some restaurant or fast food place, you'll get no sympathy from me.

"Hey, I picked up a hammer and hit my hand with it, and I am shocked! IT HURT!!"

No shit

You're away from home? Pack a lunch.

You have a "business lunch"? Let your employer pay for it.

It's gotten old- these posts about how expensive restaurants have gotten. Old.

Everyone knows it. Everyone knows that they need to either stop eating out, or just accept the prices without complaining.

Remember Biden administration has many times announced that inflation is under control.

A 4 family meal at Chicfila is $35 now. There is a reason why I smoke meats weekly and almost always eat at home.

The prices are crazy for eating in...I really can't afford to eat out! Prior to COVID we used to spend $1000/month on groceries for our family of three. Now it costs $1400-$1500 to feed our family every month!

Honestly, we can't afford to go to the movies either! We'll wait till it's FREE, available either streamed, or from the Library. And we can make our own popcorn at a SUBSTANTIAL savings, and not have to deal with lines or inconsiderate people either! There really hasn't be much that would be worth paying for 'in the movies' for quite a while now, and I don't like paying good money only to be disappointed.

My idea of eating out is $1.50 for a hotdog & drink at Costco or their XL slice of pizza for $1.99.

When people tell me about how they routinely spend $20-40 when they eat out, I think about how I can easily cover a week's worth of groceries for myself with that amount.

Rule of thumb for a restaurant to be profitible is they have to divide food cost (i.e. actual per hoagie food cost) by 0.32. This covers taxes, rent, wages, utilities, modest profit, etc. Nominally, this means a $16 hoagie cost them $5.12.

The 0.32 is an older rule of thumb and I'm not sure if the Bidenomics has ruined it. For instance, I recently priced Starbucks beans at the grocery store, compared to a Venti Starbucks black coffee, and it came out to be 0.19.

Another restaurant cost that shocked me recently was a franchise fast food restaurant went out during COVID, and they were in a 2-year old building. The normal fast food size restaurant with both seating and a drive thru went back up for rent at $30k per month. If it were a hoagie restaurant, that's 2757 sixteen dollar hoagies just to pay food cost and rent, but you'd have to sell more to cover wages, utilities, and taxes.

quote:

The normal fast food size restaurant with both seating and a drive thru went back up for rent at $30k per month.

That's got to change...
Commercial real estate is starting to collapse. There are going to be a lot of vacancies.

Heck - eating IN is much more expensive than it used to be. If we cook (for three) with fresh ingredients we're looking at $40 on average per meal. If it's beef - it'll be nearly 2x that (and that's with choice ribeyes at $17/lb). A lb of 80/20 ground beef is pushing $7/lb at the local grocery store ($5-$6 at walmart). $100 worth of groceries can now be carried with on hand and we're not buying premium brands. It's ridiculous.

quote:

Originally posted by iron chef:
I think about how I can easily cover a week's worth of groceries for myself with that amount.

You must be eatinga lot of oatmeal if you can get a week's worth of groceries for $20!

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
Why you guys are still doing this is beyond me. Just stop eating out.

If you post here and tell me you had an outrageous bill from some restaurant or fast food place, you'll get no sympathy from me.

"Hey, I picked up a hammer and hit my hand with it, and I am shocked! IT HURT!!"

No shit

You're away from home? Pack a lunch.

You have a "business lunch"? Let your employer pay for it.

It's gotten old- these posts about how expensive restaurants have gotten. Old.

Everyone knows it. Everyone knows that they need to either stop eating out, or just accept the prices without complaining.

That's it, just stay home, the plan is working, My neighbors will be on the unemployment line and local small business will close leaving it to the large corporations selling beyond meat food like objects.
I am a tightwad too, but just go out less and suck it up.

We NEVER went out as a kid. Perhaps once on my birthday. I do not eat fast food. We went out for our respective birthdays and our anniversary. Oh, and once when my sister came to visit. I just do not enjoy it like I used to. COVID had something to do with it I guess. Just was not enjoyable any more. Same with the movies. Last one I saw was the Revenant.