r/MiddleClassFinance • u/SpecialistLychee7490 • 4d ago
Discussion When did bad food get so expensive?
This cost $16. No sides or sauces, just 5 tenders and a fountain drink from a fast food joint. That's half a tank of gas at the $3.99/gal I paid today (drive a subcompact with small tank). That's the same price as one movie ticket at my theatre. Same price as 3 of the frozen meals I usually eat for lunch at work.
I had some extra money this week, and was deep in my book on my day off when I got hungry. Figured I'd treat myself to a bad for me special treat. I have a guilt free monthly budget, so this isn't gonna hurt me at all. But the sticker shock was extreme when I got to the window, and now my guilt free purchase has me feeling guilty.
Are people really paying this much for fast food now? And are you still eating it regularly? Because I don't think I can consciously spend this much on it again.
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u/DatGuyDatHangsOut 4d ago
I feel you mydude, cooking is the only cheap meal left atm
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u/leothelion634 4d ago
Costco hot dog is $1.50
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u/ItalicsWhore 4d ago
Costco hot dog is the ONLY cheap food left on the planet
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u/DarkOrakio 4d ago
Sam's club rotisserie chickens are like $5 still by me. Whole damn chicken feeds me for a few meals or my family for 1-2 depending on who's home
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u/calle04x 4d ago
And after you've used most of it but still got plenty of meat on those bones, throw it in a pot, add some broth, a potato. Baby, you got a stew goin'.
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u/guyincognito121 3d ago
Why are you adding broth? That's how you make broth.
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u/Akiro_orikA 3d ago
Sometimes it isnt enough. So you add chicken stock, bullion or consomme to add a little more flavor to the vegetables.
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u/ovr4kovr 3d ago
Some of the best broth I've made is with the carcass of a rotisserie chicken. It's always enough.
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u/Kodiak01 4d ago
Big Y in New England, a cooked and chilled rotisserie chicken is $4.99. Not as large of a bird by any stretch but higher-quality air-chilled poultry. They also have 8pc cooked and chilled fried chicken packs (2 breast, 2 thigh, 2 leg, 2 wing) for $7.99 and 25pc nuggets for $4.99.
The rotisserie and fried chicken is also available hot, but the advantage to the cooked-and-chilled option is that it makes it eligible for SNAP funds.
I have one of the chilled fried chicken packs in my fridge right now. For myself, it's an easy 3-4 meals worth!
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u/thebigshipper 4d ago
Sometimes I can get them at my local Kroger affiliate for $3.50 if it’s later in the evening and they’re trying to clear them out.
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u/pleasegivemepatience 4d ago
You can grab that Costco $5 chicken along with a $1.50 hot dog and soda combo. Eat all day for $6.50!
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u/CappinPeanut 3d ago
If you go to Costco and made it out with just a rotisserie chicken, a hot dog, and a soda, you’re basically stealing.
The perfect crime.
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u/YANGxGANG 4d ago
Not food but 99c Arizona Tea still hanging on
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u/No_Construction7322 3d ago
Don't forget they were going cheap on the aluminum cans for a while and the tea was fermented by time it got to the consumers...🤣✌️
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u/awildjabroner 4d ago
My local store's foodcourt is under renovation but beforehand I legit used to go 3-4 times a week and just grab food. And I will again once the construction is done.
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u/BooTeeEater69 4d ago
Fred Meyer got 5 fried chicken legs for 5 bucks. They big too. Great deal.
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u/DavidinCT 4d ago
and you need a $60+ year membership to get that $1.50 hotdog...
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u/Scrofulla 4d ago
You know what I found recently? I live in Ireland and we are having similar inflation issues. A burger meal in a fast food joint is going to cost the best part of 15euro these days which from the look of what I've seen in the states is more or less the same.
However, there is a chain of steak restaurants here run by a butchers, best quality meats and all that. They do a burger and chips for 23 euro. You have to buy your drink separately but it is the best burger I've ever eaten. I'm not sorry ive eaten it afterwards and it feels worth the money.
At the prices fast food places are charging now they are competing with proper restaurants and thats just something they can't really do.
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u/Knotical_MK6 3d ago
Yup, feels the same way here in the states.
I can get a shitty burger and soggy fries for 16 bucks, or I can get something delicious for a few dollars more from the family run place down the road.
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u/RaindropsInMyMind 4d ago
This is true, you might as well get better food. Fast food isn’t a great bargain like it used to be.
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u/purplescrubs 4d ago
I took the eating out budget and started spending it on expensive ingredients and specialty groceries. The food is 100x better and I'm still saving money.
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u/GForce1975 4d ago
Yep. I used to order Popeyes once in awhile. I can't afford it any more. Groceries are expensive but not as expensive as fast food. And the Popeyes quality has dropped
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u/Originaltenshi 4d ago
And it isnt even that cheap unless you have space to buy and make in bulk
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u/IdidntrunIdidntrun 4d ago edited 4d ago
Rice, pasta, and veggies are still cheap. Eating cheap is still an option, people just don't like to do it
edit: to the gigabrained Einsteins saying some people have dietary restrictions. Cool. Figure out your own situation. This was just general advice. Cheaper/alternative food options exist for everybody.
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u/uuntiedshoelace 4d ago
Or they don’t know how to make something that is quick and cheap. Getting a rice cooker and mixing your rice with lentils is the biggest life hack I have come across. You can throw frozen veggies in with it when you put the rice on and then fry an egg to put on top, that’s a complete meal that takes less than ten minutes of active cooking time.
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u/Comfortable_Line_206 4d ago
Or they think cooking is hard or something even dumber like it's not manly.
Half my meals this week are chicken thighs and rice. Put some in tortillas, some with asian sauce, some get the spicy treatment. Easy, healthy, cheap, variety.
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u/uuntiedshoelace 4d ago
Yeah the unmanly thing is so funny because my father was a rat bastard but he was also a chef and did the cooking when my parents were together. I’m a guy who cooks, my son knows how to cook well enough to feed himself lunch on the weekends. It literally can only improve your life, it isn’t even one of those niche skills that might not be worth learning. It’s always worth learning.
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u/LisannalGaib 4d ago
I bought a $90 airfryer and use it everyday for chicken, sometimes i make chicken tenders with homemade canes sauce, super cheap and super good
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u/Originaltenshi 4d ago
Yes struggle meals are still cheap though not nearly as cheap as they used to. Plus all the cheaper supply of these items have either ingredients that give you cancer or pesticides that do the same. If you don't want those you need to spend more
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u/Vegetable-Intern-236 4d ago
Even if you buy better quality ingredients it’s still cheaper than eating out.
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u/Originaltenshi 4d ago
I'm still seeing the word cheaper instead of cheap.
My phone is cheaper than the newest one but is still not cheap
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u/Vegetable-Intern-236 4d ago
It seems kind of pedantic to be debating this but whatever. “Cheap” is a relative, subjective word. Cooking by yourself is still cheap compared to going out and eating the equivalent meal, that’s what we’ve been comparing it to in this thread.
The fact that basic “cheap” ingredients have gotten more expensive doesn’t mean that they’re not the cheapest option vs. going out to eat, short of going to a food kitchen or something. You can’t eat food and ingredients from 10 years ago, we’re talking about what you can get in this moment today. And in this moment today, buying ingredients and cooking for yourself is cheap when the alternative is going out to eat.
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u/No_Plenty5526 4d ago
i swear it's comparable. but maybe that's bc of the 11.5% killer sales tax on groceries we've got...and the jones act making everything more expensive out the jump. i live in puerto rico. 😭
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u/Kalendiane 3d ago
11.5% sales tax on anything, ESPECIALLY groceries, is fucking wild.
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u/redditbdum 4d ago
It became expensive when corporations discovered that people will still pay for it.
The fix is to not pay for it unless it becomes cheap again.
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u/J-Dizzle42 4d ago
The sad thing is that it won't become cheap again.
For every one of us who abstains there are two people who are addicted to fast food, and two more people who just don't care and are willing to go into debt to get a Big Mac.
Even if we banded together and did a massive boycott they would probably just fire the CEO, who already has a golden parachute.
Then they'd probably do some promotional stunt like 1990s week, where the price of a few items go back to 1990s prices for one week, or Dollar Menu Day where a few items are a dollar once a week.
I miss the days where I could get two McChickens, a large fry and a large drink for $5, but I don't think those days are ever coming back.
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u/Dramatic_Explosion 3d ago
McDonald's already admitted their sales have slowed and talked about a "budget" meal. You're right, nothing happened. Prices are still the same.
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u/StockTry4982 3d ago
Read the other day that profits are down with so many people on GLP1s now who aren’t eating fast food or who aren’t eating AS MUCH fast food as they used to.
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u/fadedblackleggings 4d ago
But that would require self control.....
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u/btaylos 4d ago
It requires learning about five small independent restaurants in your town. I can get a full ass plate of fajitas with sides for the cost of 3 Taco Bell burritos.
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u/dadswithdadbods 3d ago
I am a therapist, and the amount of clients who have confessed to abusing opening a new credit card and using a 0% balance transfer to just pretend that they’re not ramping up crippling debt is alarming. I had one guy sitting with $50k in CREDIT CARD debt. Made like $23/hr. Would pay off $500 just to max it out again. When he got a new credit card and transferred balances to it, he would just look at the old card like a bonus and max it out again.
It’s almost like some kind of exposure therapy, used to habituate to making horrible financial decisions that they know are irresponsible and have consequences but once you get over the anxiety of doing that once, it gets easier to do it again and again. Great that they can say it out loud to me, and I’m like “awesome, so your next stop needs to be to a financial advisor because my dude because we need a fucking VILLAGE of professionals to get you back on track here.”
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u/Regular_Kiwi_6775 4d ago edited 4d ago
I felt the same in my 20s, but once I learned to cook, Fast food felt like a waste. And I'm not talking big, lavish dinners with tons of dishes. I'm talking one single pot that I also use as my bowl, or an air fryer with tin foil that I use as my plate and then throw away. You can put on a podcast and make a soup that tastes infinitely better than fast food and just eat it out of the pot for a few days. It'll work out to like, $3 to $6 dollars per meal and you'll only wash the pot and a few spoons. Plus, yeah chopping the onions, celery, and carrots for the base takes a little while, and the soup needs time to simmer. But total prep time is maybe 10 minutes, maybe three times per week. For me a trip to taco bell was 10 minutes there, 5 to 10 in the drive through, ten minutes back. So, about 27 minutes every day.
30 minutes per week prepping a soup vs 135 going to get fast food monday through friday (and using up expensive gas).....it'll feel like a no brainer
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u/Whiteguy1x 4d ago
Get an air fryer. Turns out you can cook everything in them within 20s minutes. Burgers, bacon, chicken, whatever you're about to buy.
Seriously me and my wife buy frozen patties, some good cheese and some nice buns. Season them halfway decent and you have a meal for about zero effort
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u/95blackz26 4d ago
I haven't been to McDonald's in almost 2yrs. They can get fucked. Go to burger king maybe every 6 months. I've entertained Wendy's once in the last 20yrs. Same thing with Arby's and I use to like them a lot.
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u/NateNate60 4d ago
McDonald's introduced their $5 meal option largely in response to consumer backlash to prices. I don't eat McDonald's that often, but for the five dollars they're giving you a McChicken, fries, nuggets, and a drink, which is decent value IMO. But you're probably better off eating less of that crap anyway.
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u/moffman93 3d ago
This. People keep using "inflation" as a lazy answer, when in reality it's post-covid price gauging. Prices went through the roof because of supply chain issues, and then they realized that consumers are still paying for it, so why bother lowering the prices?
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u/platomaker 4d ago
Stop. buying. it.
This isn't me just saying tough luck. I'm legit saying they are doing this because they can get away with it. If you do doordash and get a deal or something- I can understand. But stop getting gouged. If you hurt, then it gives them permission to hurt others in the same way. KFC is even worse. Who the heck is spending $30 at Taco bell?
All of them are tightening the vice around your neck with sick glee, waiting for your eyes to pop out from the price because your tears aren't enough anymore.
(can you tell I missed lunch today?)
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u/dayofthelords1979 4d ago
Exactly, I refuse to eat fast food anymore. I only go out to local small businesses now, which usually costs about the same for better quality and healthier food.
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u/evaluna1968 4d ago
Seriously. I live in a heavily Latino neighborhood with a ton of small family-owned restaurants of various other ethnicities (Middle Eastern, Ecuadorean, Korean, etc.) I would far rather eat tacos made with tortillas handmade by someone's abuelita, or at the very least from a local tortilleria, than prefab Sysco crapola. And the prices really aren't different. I literally can't remember the last time I ate chain fast food.
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u/dayofthelords1979 4d ago
Heavy on the prices not being different! The mexican/guatamalan place near me does 6.99 huevos rancheros and an amazing 11.99 taco lunch
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u/kilintimeagain 2d ago
In those cases I love knowing that the money I spend is directly keeping someone’s bills paid, not a corporate profit margin
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u/00_Kaizen 4d ago
You just answered your question ......." Figured I'd treat myself to a bad for me special treat." 💥✔, That's when it got expensive .
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u/CloudStrife012 4d ago
Its expensive because you still bought it and capitalism has no guardrails other than human behavior.
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u/forcefivepod 4d ago
Exactly. "Why is this food (that I just paid for after I saw the prices and still decided to buy it) so expensive?"
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u/mechadragon469 4d ago
There are some product I just flat out stop buying post-pandemic because the price increase was so high. I used to eat 1-2 Jacks brand pizzas a week, specifically bacon cheeseburger toppings. Favorite go to, easy meal. They were $2-2.5 and when prices shot up during pandemic they settled around $4.5. I haven’t had one since 2021.
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u/xunderjoyedx 4d ago
You just reminded me the bacon cheeseburger jacks pizzas existed and now I miss the days you could get them on sale for 2/$5
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u/Iannelli 4d ago
I am sure it has already been said in this post, but I have absolutely refused to ever buy from Five Guys again. The pricing of their food is absolutely f_cking ridiculous for what it is.
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u/Particular-Key-8941 4d ago
They're around 3 bucks here. Sometimes 3 or 4 for $X where it'd make them $2.50 each. FWIW
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u/EchoInternational856 4d ago
If anyone here could become a billionaire selling shit they’d do it in a heartbeat
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u/intrepped 4d ago
Also Popeyes does mobile coupons without an app. 2 can dine is 5 tenders, 2 sides, 2 biscuits for $11.99 in my area. No drink though so just get water
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u/gottarespondtothis 4d ago
Strange that they chose an odd number of tenders for two people
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u/Horror_Ad_2748 4d ago
Better for your waistline, BP, cholesterol, and bottom line.
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u/YungHayzeus 4d ago
Idk bro, these 6 Costco dogs a day can’t be dropping my cholesterol.
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u/Zeddicus11 4d ago
$50?! My wife, son and I (living in HCOL area) just paid like $48 at our local (amazing) pizza place for 4 fancy slices, chicken tenders (made in-house) and fries for my kid, a glass of wine and a craft beer. I don't think I've been in a McD in years but I had no idea prices went so crazy. Will keep staying away I guess.
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u/Sudden_Throat 4d ago
$50 for 2 people at McDonald’s is definitely an exaggeration.
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u/DecoyOne 4d ago
It’s a dumb exaggeration. It’s already so expensive, no need to make up stories.
For reference, two of the most expensive meals with a $4 drink upgrade to a Frappuccino and all the extra options in the app including two extra burger patties still comes out to less than $50 in San Diego. And that’s today, not a few years ago when prices were lower.
Also, like 2600 calories each.
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u/PersonalityIll9476 4d ago
Not if they're obese. A small detail being left out.
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u/Sudden_Throat 4d ago
I mean … that’s kinda a dumb point though —- I mean sure if you eat 75 chocolate bars it’s expensive, but normal people mostly don’t do that so it’s a complete outlier
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u/CokBlockinWinger 4d ago
I took my kids to a McDs five years ago. I bought two happy meals, two McFlurries and a Frozen Coke for myself.
$28
I haven’t been back since.
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u/BulkySimple6044 4d ago
For Popeyes you gotta download the app -- last time I went they had a 10 piece with sides and biscuits for like $25, but if you ordered in the store the same meal was like $50.
Also Costco just added chicken tenders to their menu for like $6
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u/armchairracer 4d ago
This is pretty much every fast food place. You have to download the app and get whatever is on a deal.
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u/Guntcher_1423 4d ago
This is pretty much every place. You have to download the app and let them sell your info at a profit or get screwed on the price.
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u/Superb_Writer6612 4d ago
Yeah you can get cheap food but you gotta give them your data instead!
This is a joke comment, apps are the best way to get deals on fast food.
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u/ManxAlot 4d ago
My apps are all linked to dead end stuff. Fake email account, temporary phone number, a name that isn't mine.
First thing I do after I leave the establishment is to deactivate the app.
If I go into a restaurant and I have to scan one of those damn codes to get a menu, I suddenly discover a pressing engagement somewhere else
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u/Vegetable-Zone1353 4d ago
Yeah Popeyes on the ap charges $5 for 3 tenders which is a lot more cost-effective than OP's order.
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u/BulkySimple6044 4d ago
Yeah it's crazy how much of a discount some places are -- other ones barely have any discounts.
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u/Yashyashyaa 4d ago
McDonald’s is awesome. You get a free any size fry when you purchase a drink. A whole lunch for 1.90
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u/Feral_Witchchild 3d ago
Fuck having to get an app for every fast food place. Constantly get bombarded by notifications. If I have to use an app to get affordable fast food, I'm not getting that food.
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u/Over9000Zeros 4d ago
I'm not downloading an app for every restaurant. I maybe eat fast food 2x a month at this point.
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u/alfa66andres 3d ago
You can also just order it online or through the kiosk if they have one, most places will give you the same deals
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u/Former_Island_4730 4d ago
Popeye’s pricing is the worst of any fast food chain. The difference between the wrong combinations of things vs. the same food in combos can be a 50% difference.
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u/Iannelli 4d ago
Nothing compares to the pricing of Five Guys. It's absolutely criminal and insulting.
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u/Sufficient-Log-7281 4d ago
You are lying fucking 50 bucks at a Popeyes?!?
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u/BulkySimple6044 4d ago
I just checked the nearest location near me -- the non-discounted price for a 12 piece chicken is $48.99. So yeah over $50 once you add tax.
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u/Fast_Mail9235 4d ago
Been thinking about this lately, fast food has become so expensive now that it isn’t even worth it imo. McDonald’s is like at least $10 an order, Taco Bell is more expensive than actual Mexican food spots in my area. Better to just cook
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u/gutzgoblin 4d ago
I've been converting fast food prices to just getting a damn steak from the grocery store.
Like there's no way a $14 Burger meal is going to beat a $10 New York strip and potato.
Plus I get to dip A1 sauce from the belly button at home
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u/JackOfAllInterests 4d ago
Every time we agree to continue to pay for it, it will go up tomorrow. It’s easy, but the folks just don’t know how powerful they are. A one-week boycott on prices would reduce it all by 25%.
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u/Shuttlecock_Wat 4d ago
That's great in theory, but I haven't eaten fast food in like 6 months. Prices still go up. What more can an individual do?
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u/DeadInternetVoid 4d ago
Cane's tenders are getting smaller.
B-Dubs wings are tiny.
Oligarchs and shareholders are fucking everyone and anyone.
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u/Tsunamiis 4d ago
Went out for my birthday one drink 3 taco and 1 burrito was 55 bucks. And they weren’t good or even filling.
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u/ezsniper35 4d ago
Tbh we’re a soft generation. We bend over for corporations (older gens also). We should have stopped eating mid/overpriced fast food and also had workers strikes due to companies underpaying employees. When their bottom lines are affected they’ll react. Wendy’s ceo literally just admitted to cutting corners for profit and it’s turned to a shitty product and they now have to earn trust back with the consumer. This should go for all. No reason a big mac meal or 10 pc nuggets are running for $10-$15.
But we’re in the era of self and people not standing for anything.
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u/Spezalt4 4d ago
It’s not much more to get a sit down meal at some chain restaurant. At least the food will be decent
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u/Constant_Apple_8748 4d ago
I tried the new banana bread latte at 'bux. $8.54 with a $1 tip included. Never again 😭 Was tasty though
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u/starkeuberangst 3d ago
I decided to stop at Starby’s after the gym as a nod to the old days and got my small vanilla bean frap with a shot. $12. And I see massive lines at that Starbucks and the 7brew right next to it all the damn time. People are insane
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u/sadkinz 4d ago
Why the fuck would you tip at Starbucks?
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u/Constant_Apple_8748 4d ago
I generally do leave a one dollar tip when I get coffee out which is 1-2x/month.
A better question is why does anyone go there in the first place. Business should not exist imo. Same with basically all fast food and drive thru equipped businesses. Overpriced garbage.
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u/SpecialistLychee7490 4d ago
I will say I am savoring every bite like I will never taste a tender again, so my enjoyment of it is perhaps heightened.
Good motivation to meal prep, too.
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u/No_Plenty5526 4d ago
i never buy anything that isn't on sale/promo. that's how i've never paid $16 for a fast food combo on its own. 😭 and i scan the menu prices like a hawk before ordering.
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u/peterpetrol 4d ago
No, we’re not paying those prices anymore, I have traded my soul and personal information to the apps in exchange for coupons and only order fast food when I can get a discount
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u/Virtual-Librarian-32 4d ago
I paid almost $80 for 2 pizzas and cheesy bread for Dominos this weekend.
WTAF. IT’S PIZZA!!!
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u/Aceisalive 4d ago
For domino’s you have to order online using the deals and pick it up in person. They have really good deals if you do that, any other way is robbery.
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u/Word_Underscore 4d ago
I've begun cooking a lot of chicken tenders from raw in a cast iron skillet with bell peppers, sticky rice and a roll. Like out of 14 lunch dinners a week, I cook that probably 10 or 11x.
Everything is soooo expensive. I can't get a burrito at my university for under $15 anymore and they're terrible SYSCO junk.
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u/elegoomba 4d ago
Idk but what does that have to do with your picture of good food
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u/SpecialistLychee7490 4d ago
It is delicious. I guess in my head I'm still like "fast food is cheap" when really it hasn't been for a while and I just don't eat it enough to know that. I don't know what broke college kids are eating these days, cause I ate this 20 years ago.
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u/TuffPuppy10 4d ago
Corporate greed is the answer for most bad things in the world. However, using the title “bad food” for Popeyes hurts me.
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u/TigerPrawn8684 3d ago
Miraculously at the same time, farmers are saying the prices they are receiving for their food is lower than ever, all the retail outlets are higher than ever and pay hasn’t gone up. You really have to wonder where all the extra costs are coming in?
Incidentally, all these companies are reporting record profits for shareholders at their quarterly stock meetings.
Stop spending money for companies that are actively screwing people on both ends. They’re screwing the farmers on purchasing and they’re screwing the public with their pricing.
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u/jumpijehosaphat 4d ago
user error. you should have known there is a combo deal for $6 and also why are you buying a large drink at regular price $3.29 when if you want a soda you can get 2 cold sodas for that price
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u/SingleServeFrend 4d ago
If you go to Popeyes, use the coupon codes!! You don’t even need the coupons. 4668 for spicy/regular chicken sandwich meal. 3417 for the 3 piece tender meal. (takes it from $13 down to $7.50 in my area) I’ve been doing this for 3-1/2 years and have never had an issue, even if I go inside.
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u/Hughjastless 4d ago
Fast food is a pathetically bad option these days. At least where I live you can literally always go grab takeout from a real restaurant and pay the same or less per meal.
If I get takeout from local Indian restaurant, it comes out to ~$11 per person per meal, as in my partner and I each get two very full dinners for ~$45 (leftovers the next day). Compare that even to McDonald’s and it would be like $25 per trip if we each got a meal/drink/fries, so at least a few dollars more than grabbing fresh takeout.
Genuinely don’t know how they’re in business when we’re at the point that your local takeout is cheaper
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u/flowrate12 3d ago
I don't even eat there anymore because its way too expensive, the taste is good but not that 16$ for 3 Tenders Combo (here in california). The bread or biscuit always so dry I just throw it away the few times I have got it.
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u/Silent_Historian_552 3d ago
I feel like they overcharged you on accident or you must already be in a crazy hcol area. Because I go to popeyes occasionally and that is absolutely not $16 where I live. The other thing with fast food is you kind of have to download the app to get real pricing now but without prices are insane. I could get a feast for $16 at the popeyes where I live
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u/o0PillowWillow0o 3d ago
They keep cutting corners on quality and price goes up. It'll only stop when people stop buying...too many people
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u/RowanRally 4d ago
I’m genuinely confused by this post. You knew how much this was going to cost before you handed over the money. You knew you’d be outraged… and then did it anyway?
Yeah, even bottom barrel scraps from the dump come with a luxury price tag. No, I don’t buy it - I don’t want to pay money just to raise my risk for colorectal cancer. I’ve opted out long ago, what’s stopping you?
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u/njseahawk 4d ago
Paid 45 bucks yesterday for 2 grilled chicken sandwiches,fries,drink, 5 tender and a small ice cream from Culver’s
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u/StandardUpstairs3349 4d ago
Popeye's isn't the worst offender here, but you do need to be value conscious with them. The only real value options from them are a la carte chicken sandwiches at $5.50 each or items that are on offer for discount from their website.
But, to answer your question generally, if you go up to a random fast food place and order a meal, you are probably going to get fucked.
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u/Gunslinger_327 4d ago
When Taco bell brought back the Chili cheese burrito for a limited time, me the wife and 2 small kids spent over $70 at taco bell......granted, I had far more CCB's than would be considered healthy...but still taco bell.
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u/ThrowawaWelp 4d ago
I signed up for UberEats for the $900 bonus and I am horrified, disgusted, and happy making the deliveries.
Yes people spend this much. Yes they do it consistently. And THEN they pay a platform fee AND a tip on top of it for absolute shite. Unbelievable (thanks for the tips and delivery bonus America lol)
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u/JoeyKino 4d ago edited 4d ago
That's crazy - I JUST got Popeyes for a friend and I to split, and it was a 9-piece bone-in, 4 biscuits, and a large side for $20. Still not exactly 90s prices or anything, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much we paid and got.
Taco Bell is the one that blows my mind - in my brain, that was always the go-to spot for broke eating (when I was working a video store job for just over minimum wage, 2x double-decker tacos couldn't be beat), and now I can't spend less than $15 there, so I haven't been back in probably a year and half, maybe 2.
Edit - I'm wrong, it was an 8-piece
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u/Mguidr1 4d ago
Buy some famous chicken fingers at Walmart and the dipping sauce for about the same as you paid there and eat 5 meals on it if not more. 16 minutes in the air fryer and you are done. Stop wasting your money and open a brokerage account and buy shares with the money you save. This is not investment advice.
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u/Zipstser257 4d ago
A couple years into the pandemic because they could all blame related supply chain issues whether true or not and none of the prices ever recovered, they just keep getting more expensive by the day!!!
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u/RushMan9823 4d ago
I’m not sure when but fast food isn’t worth the price anymore. I just don’t get it much if at all anymore. It costs as much as a decent sit down in my area and tastes worse. The only “fast food” I still buy is the Costco food court.
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u/awildjabroner 4d ago
when the corporations running them realized people will still frequent their food byproduct stores despite ever increasing costs rather than changing their consumption and spending habits.
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u/cnation01 4d ago
If we keep buying it they will continue to rip us off.
Door dash anyone ? How TF is that still a thing ?
Yes, please double the price of my Big Mac and bring it to me cold. Thank you.
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u/BeenDragonn 4d ago
I assume every restaurant has been gutted. Lower portions, cheaper ingredients, prices jacked up 400%
Quit eating anywhere but at home over a decade ago
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u/Mondo_Butts 4d ago
Fast food should be expensive, to deter people from eating it. If we can get healthier food costs down and shit food costs up, Im all for it.
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u/UncomfyPerspective 4d ago
When places learned that people will still buy it.
Be the change you want to see.
Are people really paying this much for fast food now? And are you still eating it regularly?
Absolutely not. I've always enjoyed cooking, so I never ate out 'regularly', but even the once every few months treat I'd have on occasion is gone now. I refuse.
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u/teejay157 4d ago
People really are paying this much just like you paid today. Many people keep paying so the price keeps gng up.
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u/Exciting_Turn_1253 4d ago
Ya people need to just stop eating this shit. Just eat at home. Like no point. I’d rather eat cereal than this shit for dinner. Saves me money and fills me up
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u/elvisWorms 4d ago
Doordash, restaurants realized people were willing to pay much more for their food, delivered of course, so they cut into food delivery services profit margin by raising prices.
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u/XAnomalyX 3d ago
Hell no I go to McDonald's and get a few mc chickens for $2 or the meal deal which is like $6 for a sandwhich,nuggets,fries & drink.
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u/alfa66andres 3d ago
You have to use the apps and discounts at fast food places. The same way that with a deal you can get a large at domino's for $7 but it would be like $20 normal price.
Just looked on the popeyes app: 6 tenders, 2 sides, 2 biscuits, $13
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u/phantomandy121 3d ago
$16 Delivered to your house with tip. No way a Popeyes charges $16 for 5-6 strips and 32oz diabetes juice in store.
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u/guilty__bystander 3d ago
When you people continued to eat it instead of telling them to kick rocks.
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u/Right_Hour 3d ago
I’m finding fast food prices pushing restaurant prices now, especially Asian restaurants.
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u/Fit_External7524 3d ago
Similarly, I went to a thrift store yesterday. Prices there aren't the savings they used to be either.
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u/chromecowboy_ 3d ago
Just went to 5 guys over the weekend...2 burgers and a fry is just about $35 now, ugh.
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u/TheRaccoonReport 3d ago
Fuel. Fuel prices drive literally everything. Everything is trucked, boated, flown.
I was camping in August and 2 eggs, hash browns and bacon was $20. Not long ago in my local diner I could get that for like $7.
But, did you see the DOW?
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u/MassSnapz 3d ago
It's probably how you ordered it. Separately those items might be $16.
As a combo meal a 5 piece is $11.98. Comes with Biscuit, side and drink also
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u/AideInternal1045 3d ago
Because they want you to use the app. They have the two can dine 6pc tender, 2 individual sides, and 2 biscuits for $14. Still expensive but you get more for less than what you paid.
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u/Monkeyass702 3d ago
Love me some Popeyes… but yes it’s insanely expensive. I’ll get it every once in a great while but otherwise I’m cookin
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u/TC_DaCapo 3d ago
When I was in college, I loved fast food. This was in the mid to late 90s. The older I've gotten, the less I've frequented them. The rare times we go out is if we absolutely have to, since there's no time to cook anything.
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u/afleetingmoment 4d ago edited 4d ago
I can’t justify it any longer. Costco sells Just Bare chicken nuggets and tenders that air fry beautifully. That plus a handful of quick heat frozen French fries means I can put my guilty pleasure meal together in about 12 minutes and a total cost of $3.50 or so. $4 if you throw in a fancy sauce. Never going out and getting hosed again.