Judging by the last time I went to Burger King that $30 probably paid for 2 people to eat. There are plenty of good restaurants I can go to and get an entree for $15 or possibly less.
No good restaurant has a $15 entree unless your idea of good is Chile’s. Which is fine, no judgment to those who enjoy Chile’s and such. But let’s be clear here.
That depends very much where you live. Around me, 8-15 is a pretty standard range for decent sit-down places. You can pay more, but most places hit that range pretty squarely. Depending where you go, you can get burgers and the like for under $4, much better quality than fast food, but not sit down places.
Wages here are pretty damned low, though, so they really can’t charge a lot and actually have business.
I agree depends very much on where you live but anywhere where Burger King costs over $30 is going to be more expensive than the kind of areas you are talking about. That seems to be the underlying assumption in this thread at least.
Dude a whopper meal doesn’t cost $17 anywhere. A cursory google search will show you that. The most expensive I see is $12 and that is 1 source. The rest run $6-$10 typically.
Dunno what to tell you man, that’s what comes up here on the bk website. There’s a whole 2 locations within an hour of me. I don’t eat fast food and I’m not about to install their app just for this conversation, so but hey, let’s even say the $16.70 is a whole 20% higher than the actual price.. that’s still like $14 for the large meal, which still puts it squarely within the $30/2 range.
But, that’s the point. Chile’s can be good food for $15 dollars for those families that it caters to. Hell, I’ll go to Ruby Tuesdays and get a double of their Cajun chicken pasta, and sit at the bar, when I’m away for work. And the place is rough… like the manager is racist as fuck and skips black couples, her teeth are black, and idk how she’s so big when I know she’s using meth… but, hey, I want my double Cajun chicken pasta and to fuck off because I’m away due to work and it’s cheap. Its rural, very BFE Georgia, too.
Point I’m making, though, for people who can say ‘$15 is good’, then for them it’s good. Your statement sort of feels like it takes away from that group’s struggle.
Yeah, the first time I went there when I got this location… a fat slob of a white dude was beached on the bar, like a walrus, listening to country music loudly on his cell phone… not even using a blue tooth speaker, just his shitty cell phone speaker. And the bartender and other waitresses didn’t say anything to him.
Then, on top of what felt like a long time waiting for my service, I saw two black couples waiting at the hostess station waiting to be seated, right? Then a party of 7 white guys walked in and THEN the lady I mentioned in the prior comment rushed over to the hostess station and immediately sat those guys, ignoring the couples that had been sitting there for like 10-15 minutes waiting to be seated. The white guys ASKED the black couples how long* they had been waiting, and then said they hoped they didn’t have to wait that long. It blows my mind.
Needless to say, when I was done and cashing out I told her what I saw, and then immediately sent a review or ticket to corporate about that place. 3-4 months later I went back, co-workers chose it, she was still working there but yeah that place was still rough.
Well yeah $15 is not going to get you haute cuisine prepared by Chef Ramsay himself, but there are tons of little local spots that fall in that range. Hell, I could get Chinese take out or a whole pizza and spend less than $30, and those are both better than Burger King lol
Where the hell do y’all live? Because round here plenty of places have good entrees for $15, sure it’s been creeping up to 18 lately but I’m pretty sure I can get a decent meal for that.
That's just it, though. A lot of fast food places have been pricing themselves up to the point where they're meeting the price of proper sit-down restaurants. The only thing they have to offer at this point is convenience. It's just not worth buying fast food any more.
Last time I went to Taco Bell, I paid $27 for two people, and was told to wait in a parking space. 25 minutes later, they brought out our cold stale food. I could phone in a takeout order from the fancy local Mexican restaurant up the road for almost the same price, same wait, and better food. So convenience is not even part of it, at least where I live.
This one was consistently decent until the last year or so. It’s one of the few places that’s still open past 9:00 since 2020, and the only place open after 11:00, so I was going about once a week on my late night. Lately it’s just not worth the time, money, health, or disappointment.
I’m sure it’s because they’re understaffed. The other two Taco Bells nearby have always been bad though.
Some people are picky eaters or have difficulty with a lot of foods due to neurodivergence, and fast food is often the lowest common denominator within a group of people.
Some people are on the go and fast food might be the quickest thing to get (not always the case, I know).
Some people don't live in a city or town or don't have access to transportation to a different place, or the time to go there. A fast food place might be the closest place to get food.
You might be in a new location and want to go with a chain so you know what you can expect.
It might just be the only place that's open on a Sunday or at night.
I personally never get fast food from these international chains anymore, but I realize that's because I have access to plenty of different options, and I actually like to cook (if I have the time).
This wasn't really a discussion about whether or not people need fast food. The main issue is that fast food places are selling low quality food options at high prices compared to restaurants that are selling higher quality foods with personal service.
I don't want to spend $15-20 on a meal that just tastes like different textures of salt. At that price, I expect some quality food, and fast food prices clearly don't match the quality they're providing.
Ignoring the fact that you also need the spare time and energy to prepare a fresh meal every day after potentially working 2 or 3 jobs and maybe taking care of a couple of kids. And never mind disabled people who can't cook for themselves...
It's interesting how people who make these judgments like you never seem to be this critical of the people who own the fast food chains and actively make the decision to sell shit food for obscene prices, or our economy forcing people in to corners where it's their only option (even if it isn't yours). I guess it's just so much easier punching down, eh?
So I have to use doordash to look at pricing cuz I'm not installing the McDonald's app.
The quarter pounder with cheese it is $10.59 for the combo meal. It used to be just over $2 when I was a teenager.
Using DoorDash still but for a local restaurant called muddy cow, the cheeseburger meal there is $13.
So I can go to McDonald's and will cost me $11 or I can go to the sit down restaurant and it'll cost me $13. And the sit down restaurant the burger was fresh cooked, I get way more fries (and frankly better fries), and I don't act like pickles are the most valuable thing on the planet.
I don't know just open up door dash and start looking at prices around you that's what I did.
So, to try and prove your point, you're looking at a third party delivery service, who is known to change prices to maximize said third parties bottom line? 🤔
Feel free to get in a car and go drive around tonight look at prices. You said you didn't see proof I provided proof and then you complaining cuz you don't like it cuz it's not in the context that you wanted. This is on you.
"go spend your time and money to prove me right because I wasn't able to prove myself right about a stranger spending 2 dollars more than I would" 🤦♀️🤦♀️
Hey, guess what - not everyone is able to go out to eat (not only due to physical disability, but lack of time and energy, and lets not forget a pandemic is still raging out there, and some people can't just ignore it like the rest of you).
The fact that you're getting all high and mighty over a poster whose life you know nothing about, for the sake of 2 dollars says a lot more about you than spending 30 bucks on fast food says about well, anyone.
I have two words of advice. One take your own advice, because everything you just yelled at me about applies to you.
Two context, I have no idea what you're talking about. The conversation was about is fast food price similar to sit down restaurant price. It was 11:00 p.m. so I used an app where I could see multiple restaurant pricings in one central location. You're over here getting on your goddamn high horse. You need to go reevaluate your priorities.
I need more context here. I know of talk about dynamic pricing, but heard they walked that back. I mean would you get the same notification if you like added bacon or a dessert on the final menus right before you hit total?
Don't know about US case law, but UK and NZ, the pricing when selecting is considered an "invitation to treat". When the product is actually brought to checkout an offer is made at the listed price on the checkout, which can then be either accepted or declined.
Was brought up after a business was done for selling switchblade knives that were only on display - as no offer was actually made and accepted they weren't "being sold".
To answer your question more directly, prices listed on advertising and boards are considered "invitation", not an offer and acceptance. It can change until the final offer and acceptance is made - bullshit but legal.
Do you know where this person lives and what food places are available near them? No, you don't, so how the fuck do you know? Food deserts exist, there are whole towns that depend on dollar stores for groceries. You having options doesn't mean everyone does.
(E: not that someone needs to be in that situation to justify to you or anyone else why they eat what they do, just pointing out how flawed your base assumptions are)
that's what they want. we're entering the "whale economy". why should they make and sell 10 burgers for $1 each when they could make and sell 1 burger for $10? they make the same revenue but more profit because their labor and materials could be cut by up to 90%. some idiot will keep paying because they're impulsive or desperate or have enough money to simply not care. if nine customers are alienated for the one that opens their wallet 10x wider than usual, the investors are happy and the MBAs give themselves bonuses and celebrate. it works for mobile/f2p games, it works for saas, it works for software, it'll work for this and it'll work for every other industry before long. get ready for surge pricing groceries and gas and internet and power - it's coming, under the false justification of "savings". the unprofitable non-whales can die for all they care.
This makes absolutely no fucking sense. Comparing a restaurants business model to f2p/saas is absurd.
Fast food restaurants have 2 main selling points, cheap and fast. If you take away the cheap all you're left with is people who don't have time to go anywhere else. People who are interested in spending a lot of money on food are not going to spend that money at McDonalds.
That may be because they don't check the tickets every minute. Once they check it, they get the current price. You should use the airline or hotel site anyway. It's usually cheaper.
A billion times to the quadrillionth power. Until the heat death of the universe, beyond the decay of protons and the evaporation of the last black hole in the degenerate era.
Burger King made a statement that they're not using surge pricing, rather they're reducing the cost during slow hours. Uh... That's surge pricing since they already raised the "regular" cost quite a lot.
One would think they could prevent price changes during the order process... This is just gouging for a little more money from the customer. I'd be surprised if they didn't do it systematically.
Bad business practice too. Are those few cents worth them considering not to choose BK next time? As well as everyone they show/post the picture they took to?
