I got a medium size Primo hoagie yesterday, I haven’t eaten there in years.

I recall it maybe being 8 dollars? It was $14.95

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
$55 for two hamburgers and two iced teas at Fords Garage yesterday. Never again.

Sounds about right. Around here, burgers in a restaurant (not fast food) are about $19-22 for a basic burger with standard condiments. A few bucks more for bacon and other fixings. Ice tea about $4 each. So yea, about $50 + tax for 2 burgers....

Prices have about doubled since 5 years ago....

Well, tbh, we don’t have ribeye on the regular here anymore… used to be at least once every couple weeks…now, once a quarter maybe.
It’s just gotten out of control.
I buy a quarter to a half of pork every year because I know where it comes from and how it’s grown- I might have to start doing that with our beef, too.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I got a medium size Primo hoagie yesterday, I haven’t eaten there in years.

I recall it maybe being 8 dollars? It was $14.95

Good lunch meat has gotten to be ridiculously expensive. Here Boars Head at Publix is $14-18 a pound at the grocery store and subs are in that price range.

Meanwhile I ate at a really good local mom and pop Italian Restaurant. Fried chicken cutlet sub that was 12" must've had over 10 ounces of chicken on it or more with toppings and a soda $11.34 with tax. Some local places seem to have really good lunch deals Flanigans has 8 menu items to choose from all $7.99 with a side and a terrific 10 ounce burger with a side is $7.99 or 10 wings and side, and must buy a drink (soda etc) but you're at $12 plus tip, which is as cheap as eating at a lot of crappy fast food restaurants these days......

Look at the pics of the food portions

https://www.yelp.com/biz/zucca...ach-5?osq=zuccarelli

https://www.yelp.com/biz/flani...eafood+Bar+%26+Grill

Jersey Mike's , I used to love"em.
3 times a month.

Had to walk out after not eating there for two years.
$16.00 for a short sandwich .

Don't get me wrong, they might be delicious.
But
I can get a very good 12" sub
Elsewhere .

Wife and I eat at home most of the time. A new locally-owned burger place opened nearby, had 'A' rating on LifeKitchen (an app that pulls inspection reports from the Health Department), and rave reviews from customers, so we decided to try the place.

Forty-six bucks and change (including an itemized 3% credit card charge) for burger, fries, and beverage (non-alcoholic) for each of us.

My burger was mediocre at best, onion rings were really greasy, no refills on soft drinks (buy another one if you want more), had to ask the server for everything needed (utensils, salt, etc.).

But the best part? After one moderate session last night, and one fairly violent one this morning, I am convinced that I will not have a constipation problem for the next several years.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Jersey Mike's , I used to love"em.
3 times a month.

Had to walk out after not eating there for two years.
$16.00 for a short sandwich .

Don't get me wrong, they might be delicious.
But
I can get a very good 12" sub
Elsewhere .

Haven’t had Jersey Mike’s in a long time, tried them while on vacation down in Virginia Beach.

We had a similar experience, $16 for a barely 10 to 11 inch Italian sub

The salami and cheese was tissue paper thin and like two measly slices of each. The rest was cheap boiled ham filler.

I think a lot of these chains have been completely ruined by private equity.

I took my son to a local burger chain last night. Got him 9 buffalo wings, an order of fries, and a small peanut butter shake. Wanna guess the total?



$30.

quote:

Prices have about doubled since 5 years ago.

Local fast food place closed recently. $15,000 a month rent, $5,000 a month in utilities, $20 an hour employees and couldn't find enough to run the place.

I think some of them are losing money even with doubled pricing.

I’m too lazy to learn how to cook so I just shut my mouth and pay, or I don’t go out. It was part of the deal when I got married. But yeah, it’s expensive.

Credit card fees - not just restaurants. The processing fees charged to merchants are tax deductible business expenses, so why are the fees passed to customers. I know - because they can. If businesses are collecting from us and writing off the expense, I hope they get caught.

quote:

The processing fees charged to merchants are tax deductible business expenses, so why are the fees passed to customers

The same reason that all of the other tax deductible business expenses are also paid for by the customer.

Business owners pay their taxes on the profit which remains after all of the expenses are paid.

^^^

What I mean is they are deducting an expense they are not incurring. Tax fraud?

quote:

What I mean is they are deducting an expense they are not incurring. Tax fraud?

No. The expense is still the expense and is deducted. The fee would be considered income and reported.

If you have $100 in fees, and $100 from customers, you have zeroed it out. Previously, if you had $100 in fees and $0 from customers, you made $100 less as a business owner.

Here’s how you eat on a budget.

Check the Walmart deli, discount food. Not 10%, but 40% or more. Depending on what it is, ‘enhance’ it when home, add beans, rice, pasta, whatever.

Then swing through the liquor isle, check clearance items. You may like the rum marked down to $7.

Remember, if we ever get to hard times, may have to relax the usual choices and routines.

Then there are the salads.

$13.00 for a salad.
So I said , I'll show you.

I went and purchased 8 things to make my own salad,


Thinking that I would save money.
Turns out that I make a great salad.

But I spent $17.00 and half the stuff went bad before I made another salad.

So.

Good thing I'm not into salads. $17 is enough for me to make a good steak dinner for two including sides.

A few days ago I watched a c. 1962 episode of Leave It To Beaver. Wally took his new girl to a new fancy French restaurant. Both of them looked visibly uncomfortable at the menu prices. Eventually they - at the waiter's suggestion - settled on the filet of sole, the cheapest item. The price? $6.50.

egregore's post just above, reminded me of a Thanksgiving, must have been right around 1970. I took some guests to Ireland's, one of the top seafood restaurants in Chicago at the time.

Dinner for five: $127.00

I wouldn't want to be a restaurant owner. Rent is ridiculous, food costs are ridiculous, insurance costs, employee costs, then you have all of the red tape to weed through.

It seems like the $20 lunch is about what any lunch costs out.

I mostly eat meal kits, fresh ingredients delivered to my front door that I cook......Hello Fresh or Marley Spoon. They come out to be about $12 a serving for a good 3 course dinner. The meals are excellent, fresh ingredients, and they're actually a deal for what you get when you add up all of the ingredients. But sometimes I cook my own dinner from the grocery store.

I decided I was going to do taco's......regular ground chuck was $7 for a pound (for ground beef???), the taco kit, lettuce, 2 tomatoes, cheese.......I couldn't believe how expensive it was just to make regular ground beef tacos that I got 2 meals out of. So I can see how restaurants have to charge.