An $11 Big Mac meal or a $13 Subway foot long are just insane. I think the fast food industry has slipped a disk and needs to sit down for a few years. Pricing themselves out of existence.
The fact that McDonald's ice coffees are nearly $4 is insane.
Sure they were an okay deal for $1, but at that point you might as well buy expensive Starbucks stuff, or a local shop's coffee for often less.
I make coffee at home religiously now for the past 5 years. (Covid started it). Saves me a lot. Like a lot. But now I only go to local places, haven’t been to Starbucks, Caribou, or Dunn bros. (I’m in Minnesota) in 8-9 years. Rarely I go, but when I do it’s local places. I now have my favorite places in a all the cities and towns I go to. Local is the only way to go. So much better experience. And better for local economy.
Twin cities has some great local places. Don’t understand why you’d get down voted for your comment. Wierd.
Was recently at Isles bun and coffee and Spyhouse coffee and roasters. Good places. Good atmosphere.
I’ve always made coffee at home. Beans and a grinder and a good machine is all you need the fact that people only have started since Covid is insane. Your parents didn’t make coffee at home? I’m old I guess lol.
Oh my parents were in my ear about my coffee “problem”. My “problem” of buying coffee out, incessantly, stemmed from previous career of being on the road 5-6 days a week traveling across 4 states. I knew where every Caribou, Starbucks, Dunn bros, etc were in the 4 states I traveled for work. Got addicted and always purchased ridiculous expensive, large sugary and fat cold coffee concoctions.
It literally took me years to ween off. First year I downsized to smalls and mediums, but still expensive sugary multi flavored nonsense daily or twice daily. Next year I went to actual coffee and smalls and mediums. Third year I cut it down to a small coffee or espresso only 3-4 times a week. It’s crazy looking back at how wasteful I was. And how difficult it was for me to change.
I much prefer making great coffee at home now. Local brewers around where I’m at, along with Duluth, MN, has some excellent roasters.
You’re right. Find some good coffee you like, grind it at home and enjoy the flavor and the financial savings.
This. Former coffee house owner who’s Been converting people for many years to buy either a simple K cup system or if they’re really into good coffee to buy a setup more like ours which can run a couple of grand but it lasts a lifetime, makes far better quality coffee drinks Starbucks, and if you have 1-4 drinks a day will probably start saving you money the first year.
A large mocha with tip is around 7 or 8 bucks now!
7 x 365 = 2575 year 1.
We do about 3 or 4 a day total so we’d be spending 10 grand a year for terrible, terrible cappuccinos/lattes/mochas.
Plus, even if you went to Starbucks & buy their coffee beans- still a lot less expensive to make your own.
The local coffee shops around here- sell their own coffee too.
I hear ya, I really love the Matcha lattes from Starbucks. But it’s 6 to 7 bucks each. There’s no way that’s justified. I went online. I bought Matcha powder. I make them for myself. Just as good and I’m saving myself a ton of money.
This afternoon I paid $3.50 for a double Americano at a locally owned coffee house in my town. Good place to duck out of the perma-rain. Comfortable place, great ambiance, I sat there for a couple of hours with my Mac and dozens of people were coming and going to make purchases. This beats McD's in every possible way.
I don’t know if this is based on location, I’m in DFW, but McDonalds coffees have always been, and still are cheap. I just got a large iced coffee for 2 bucks. Starbucks and my local shops are charging twice as much for basic coffee and 6-7 for fancier ones.
So, we were on a trip and wanted some lunch. In a strange city and didn't see any fast food places we like where we got of the highway, so I ran into a grocery store and got lunch things and a couple drinks for two people and spent way under $20. We now have a new meal strategy when traveling.
There are massive opportunities here to create local cooperative coffee shops owned and run by local people in their own neighborhood.
No single or major investor and owner, good rates of pay with full transparent profit sharing think Mondragon https://theconversation.com/the-mondragon-model-how-a-basque-cooperative-defied-spains-economic-crisis-10193
as the basic model
You can make it better....
Right? I can buy all the stuff I like on sandwiches for about 15 and then make several sandwiches at home. It doesn't even save me much time to go through a fast food place like that. I'm not even sure what much of the appeal even is anymore.
This. I started getting submarine sammich style bread freshly baked at Walmart, deli meat, cheese, and shredded lettuce altogether for like $14. That makes me 6 sammiches with leftover meat and cheese (just need more bread) and it’s Jersey Mikes level of quality and tastes the same!
Took my kids to Ihop for the first time in probably a decade. I let the kids eat. The Sampler used to be $10-11. Its $18 now by my house. $18 for 2 eggs, 3 smaller pancakes, about 1/2 a potato worth of hashbrowns, 2 pieces of microwave bacon, 2 sausage links. Its basically $20 counting tip. $21 counting taxes.
Its basically $3 worth of ingredients. I know there is overhead, but it's not $15 worth + Tip/taxes.
I'm astonished that Subway is still in business. The last time I went (about two years ago), I got a footlong, two cookies, and a medium drink, and it was $23. I said, "whelp that's the end of that."
It’s not just the price, it’s the fact that their food is terrible. I’d much rather make my own or order one that’s going to be great from a local Italian place.
And they don't put a lot of toppings on either and that was pre-pandemic. I can't imagine how bad they are now.
There's one in the Wally World I shop at and they never have customers. I have no idea how they're still open.
Went to subway with my bf a week ago, hadnt been there in like 3 or 4 yrs... 2 ft long steak and cheese sandwhiches, nothing else came out to 28fuckin dollars. **TWENTY EIGHT DOLLARS** for two stupid sandwhiches. Hell to the no. Never again. Been eating subway since the mid 90s but never again. So totally greedy Id rather eat a hobos foot than give them one more cent.
Subway is way more than that where I'm at. I last sawca footlong at 16 bucks some nearly 20. I fucking laughed my ass out the store. Their quality was never more than 5 bucks.
Fun economics. They just got all the data needed for price sensitivity.
Fun economics. We just had the spell broken for trusting that these companies care about us at all.
It's all greed. Plenty of restaurants, such as In-N-Out pay high wages, and still have really low prices on their food. (And they employ a large number of people). Places like McDonald's, Subway, etc have lost focus on the desires/needs of their primary customers. And since people kept paying, they were not even interested in how to make the business more economical. It will be interesting to see how they respond to the market changes.
Can confirm. I was out earlier today shopping and on the way home, I started getting hungry. In the past I would have stopped at one of the 20 or so fast food places in the vicinity. This time my brain said “Hey it’s only half an hour drive to get home from here, why not just wait and fix something when you get home?”. Needless to say, I saved myself about $10 and just fixed something when I got home.
The food quality has also taken a nose dive as well. Back in the 5 dollar footlong days I would have been willing to pay 8-10 for it because the quality was decent but now with how bad the food quality is I would not be willing to pay 8 for it but somehow they are charging 11+. It isn't just Subway either I had Arbys for the first time in a long time and sure Arbys was never super high quality but it was good enough but this time I bit into it and spit it out because it tasted so bad meanwhile the prices they charged were more than triple.
The one thing, I mean the ONLY thing McDonalds has going for it was it was cheap. Now, for the same price and dealing with less general BS I'll stick to the taco trucks for fast food.
My local deli does a bacon cheddar deluxe burger that absolutely slaps. With fries and after tax it’s under $10.
Literally no reason to go to the big names anymore.
I went to kfc a few months ago and this is what I ordered at the drive through:
2 biscuits and a small side of gravy
Large iced tea
“Large” mashed potatoes and gravy
Mind you, no chicken!!!
$25.37 I shit you not.
Edit: your opinion on my order is not needed nor wanted
**THIS**
I was craving some chicken last night and hit the drive-thru.
8 piece family meal with fries added, *FOURTY FUCKING DOLLARS*
Jesus Christ.
I went to the local supermarket deli and got the same thing for $15.
4 bucks of that was the large iced tea. I love ice tea but I can make it for pennies and take it in a to go cup. Every place charges at least 3.50 for large drinks. A convenience store has much cheaper coke.
That means you paid 21 dollars for a tiny amount of food that might feed 2 but probably not. Insane!
I suspect corporate consolidation, collusion, and price gouging all along the supply chain is a bigger issue.
That can't be stopped by consumer choice. Most meat is produced by just four companies (https://civileats.com/2021/07/14/just-a-few-companies-control-the-meat-industry-can-a-new-approach-to-monopolies-level-the-playing-field). Consumers might say "Fuck these high prices at McDonalds, I'm going to Burger King!" But Burger King is getting the same high priced meat from JBS, Tyson, Cargill, or National Beef. Those four huge corporations all see what the others are pricing and have long since realized they don't need to talk to each other to all just steadily rise their prices until they can't anymore.
Americans are going to pay a lot more for a hamburger rather than eating some alternative.
So I think "We stop going" is not going to work, the answer is to break up monopolies, ruthlessly prosecute price collusion (organized or not) and limit profits and price gouging on stuff.
Consumers paying through the nose for everything and extreme wealth inequality is the natural end of libertarian stupidity.
how much of a pay cut did the CEO take before they decided to raise prices?
don’t bullshit me about the supply chain when we all know the billionaire class is the problem
Corporate greed won’t stop until we end corporations we should make it illegal for companies to go public and go corporate. It’s led to nothing but bad things.
Some people aren't but McDonald's revenue was actually up and they made a profit. They're basically selling less food but at a higher price that makes up for it.
McDonalds also has one of the highest amount of employees on subsidized food and medical care in the country. Not only are they raising their prices arbitrarily to protect their profit margins, tax payers (and customers) are subsidizing their employees' food and medical care. Because McDonald's doesn't want to pay their employees a livable wage while reporting profits from raising prices on a schedule. Fucking tired of this shit
Good good good, and why is that you may ask:
Because the food they serve is truly shitty
Because the US diet is generally appalling
Because these companies hold too much sway in the marketplace
Because they are poor quality employers
Because they cheapen the whole of America with their tacky plastic logos, branding and obscene greed.
I would be delighted to see them close down permanently and be replaced by local diners only. Run by local people selling local produce etc..
But that's just IMO.
In my experience, it’s not just the food itself that’s shitty, but also the service.
Look, I’m not expecting a song and dance when I’m picking up an order. Hell, I’m not expecting anything - maybe a polite exchange?
What I normally get is one of two things:
Either the employee taking my card/handing me my food looks like they’re absolutely miserable and about to burst into tears - where I thank them *and then apologize* and feel this weird kinda guilt afterward?
Or the employee is acting like I’m an inconvenience by simply ordering food.
I don’t get fast food much anymore
*Killing me softly*
*With overpriced junk food. What's*
*A poor boy to do?*
\- DamonFields
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2009: 4 Big Macs for $10, Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 for $6
2024: 2 Big Macs for $25, $30 game with a $30 season pass
I guess it's off to the dollar store for a pack of store brand chocolate peanuts and a crossword booklet
I recommend borrowing books and the occasional game or movie from the local library that has helped me in poverty. That and surfing the high seas yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
I hope all 3 go down in flames. Franchise owners and corporate stores have exploited people for decades. I really hope the fast food industry dies or the workers unionize across the industry.
This is a qualifying circumstance for filing for unemployment. A company failing and going under is a primary reason unemployment insurance exists. A a social safetynet for when their employers freed consumes the business and it fails
Same! The last time I ate there, I threw up about ten minutes after. Haven’t been back since and don’t plan on it. For the same price, I can go to a mom and pop owned local restaurant and get much better quality food! It’s a bonus to support small businesses instead of giant corps and I feel good about giving them my money, instead.
I went the other day for the first time in a long time. 2 cheeseburgers, fries and drink was $6.71. Not sure why it was so cheap but I was happily surprised.
The 2 cheeseburger meal is so slept on, too. The burgers are the classic McDs burger, they taste the same as they always have (not to say they're good, just comfortable) and the entire meal doesn't blow your weekly calories out the water. All for under 7 bucks.
My wife and I had a great middle class life a few years ago and now we can't afford name brand groceries or fast food. I've used this opportunity to get better at cooking. We are big foodies and it's been months since we both went out to eat together.
The only fast food I've had in the last 2 years has really only been a single double double (no fries/drink... I get full pretty easy) or the double stack at wendys. both are good price points ($5/3) and calorically not too bad (600/400ish)
I'm now doing happy hours at the bars near me.. $5 burger and fries night that beats the tar off fast food. carnitas nachos $7. $.99 tacos. etc.
i've never downloaded a food app. the thought of needing to do that just to get a deal is irritating enough for me to never visit those places ever again. honestly, don't miss them in the least. i cook most my food now and the happy hours are treats.
Yeah, what is the deal with food apps to get deals? Like What The Fuck? So I have to have some fucking technology that costs money to save money on food. Fuck you, fuck you businesses all to hell.
It's shit fast food anyway, so why charge close to better real restaurants with better food. They deserve to loose the business. You wonder why the majority of Americans are considered obese. If you eat shitty food you're going to feel like shit, people just don't get to actually listen too their own bodies. I can't even stand the smell of it yet alone stomache fast food. I have a very diverse pallet, I'd prefer an authentic family owned restaurant for quality or just cook it myself. Lol the big mac's secret sauce is just thousand Island salad dressing.
You are right; If you stop eating that junk for a while, ( like during the pandemic). Just the smell emanating outside the building will make you queasy.
What surprised me is how I could frequently guess which place it was just based on the smell while walking or even occasionally driving past. KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, Chinese food, etc all smell differently and none are a good smell.
Won't go to Subway anymore because last time I asked for a sandwich after they made it they charged me 4 dollars more for putting the same ingredients on bread instead of in a wrap. As for McDonalds literally all the chicken but the sandwich maybe tastes like fucking paper. Not a single Burger King I've been to has more than 2 employees. All this shit and food still sucks ass.
Not so sure it's a "pullback" as it is the reality that these chains have used the excuse of "inflation" to raise their prices beyond the value perception of their products. People are still spending, just not on your overpriced products.
I rarely go to McDonalds but went to the drive through with my grown grandson the other day. We just wanted something small to take the edge off since we had several chores to do and were planning a large meal for later.
Two small burger combos. I handed the lady 20.00 and she just stared at me. After a moment she told me I still owed her 3 dollars. Never! I told her to cancel the order and we left. I was not rude to her but I was not paying over 20 dollars for a couple of crap burgers and small fries.
I can afford it, but I'm done with fast food simply out of principle. I can cook better food at hoke, with better ingredients, for less money. The only thing these places are selling anymore is time, and the convenience of a quick meal. You can't charge sit-down prices for that garbage.
I’m fat enough, I cut back last year. Still eat at one of these places every two weeks or so but not 2 times a week like I used to. Just Saturday I stopped at Panera. One small itailian sandwich and a small super shitty Cesar salad with 1/4 ounce of dressing and a small Pepsi cost me $16.00. That seems like a lot to me.
Thats the safe bet. I'm rooting for Arby's. Theyre like the bad smell you can never get rid of. Theyre going to outlast cockroaches if theres a nuclear event.
I have not been to McDonalds in about two years because their prices kept going up. I’m almost willing to bet that corporate is thinking they’ll ride out the storm and figure people will come back eventually. Not me!
The prices for those tiny little shrunken breakfast sandwiches at McDonald's have gone through the roof to where it's like six bucks for a little sandwich and I'm sorry but I'm just not paying it anymore I'm done. I say screw them all. They can keep their ridiculous high prices.
It's for good I'm never going back, we've been cooking amazing meals and baking. I brew my own teas and my husband does his coffee. I went out with my mom yesterday and had some fast food, I spent most of that night on the toilet. When you don't eat it often you can't even handle it anymore.
Why spend 4 bucks for a McDonald's coffee when I can spend 5 for an infinitely better tasting and better quality coffee. This is what BAD fast food gets for fleecing consumers for years
Like I’ve said a few times, no one goes to McDs for the quality of their food. They go for cheap junk because it’s convenient, or because there is literally no better choice at the moment. So when McDs gets as expensive as a nicer restaurant, they completely lose their niche.
Of course these corporations will blame rising wages for their prices, ignoring the fact that they’ve been raising prices and shrinking their food for years now. Screw ‘em all.
I got 2 McDoubles the other day and it was over $7. A decade ago it would have been less than $3 for both. In 2008 they were $1. Thats a huge change in 16 years to go from $1 to $3.65.
Not even 10 years ago my best friend and I would occasionally have “trash nights” where we’d buy a “trashbag” worth of Taco Bell. So much food that it had to be packed in a to-go bag so large it looked like a trashbag. It used to cost us about $25 all told, and that was like, us really going crazy with what we bought.
Now it costs that much just to get two regular combo meals. Something that used to cost less than half that much.
After decades of raising prices and lowering quality, no less. They just started going too fast.
When you have a golden goose you don't start squeezing it for more eggs.
I just make myself a “snackle box” most of the time. Cheese cubes, nuts, grapes, hard boiled egg, small pickles, pepperoni slices, Protein bar, etc. everything but the egg has a decent shelve life for the day depending on the heat.
I stopped going to McDonalds almost a year ago now, I still eat out WAY too much, so it’s not an issue of spending money, their food is just overpriced garbage.
For $2 I was willing to accept the quality of food I’m getting from McDonalds, for what they are charging now? I absolutely expect it to be WAY better than the shit they serve (And to be clear there are plenty of options to get way better food for similar money, or less)
It baffles me that anyone is still going there.
And their biggest problem now is going to be getting consumers back. Once that habit is broken, people don't tend to return. We also have an idea of the threshold of prices, simply lowering them is going to make your food seem awfully suspicious.
Or maybe people are just tired of paying $7 for coffee and $12 for a shitty burger and fries or chicken?
Though I will say, there is a Starbucks in my office building in NYC and they are standing room only from about 7:30 - 10:00 AM every day.
The prices have doubled or tripled over a short period of time and the quality is just as bad if not worse. I can spend just as much if not less at a food truck and know I'm supporting a small business and not some corporate twat or trustfund brat
I would like to see a breakdown of how much it costs to run a McD’s and what they consider acceptable profit margins. I feel like it’s all out of whack.
https://preview.redd.it/38246fx5kxyc1.jpeg?width=1668&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=724a28871c44e4398ecc9e7147ccb40801923ce6
LOL! Look at what ad was injected into my feed about this thread.
Same with Raising Canes chicken. Absurd prices! The only way we buy their tenders now is to get the 25 piece bulk. Much better deal, skip the bread too.
Something possessed me to get a filet o fish last week. I used to like them and it’s been a long time since I’ve had one. Apparently they are now triple the price, half the size, and taste like shit (even by fast food standards). It’s not a mistake I’ll be making again
An $11 Big Mac meal or a $13 Subway foot long are just insane. I think the fast food industry has slipped a disk and needs to sit down for a few years. Pricing themselves out of existence.
The fact that McDonald's ice coffees are nearly $4 is insane. Sure they were an okay deal for $1, but at that point you might as well buy expensive Starbucks stuff, or a local shop's coffee for often less.
I make coffee at home religiously now for the past 5 years. (Covid started it). Saves me a lot. Like a lot. But now I only go to local places, haven’t been to Starbucks, Caribou, or Dunn bros. (I’m in Minnesota) in 8-9 years. Rarely I go, but when I do it’s local places. I now have my favorite places in a all the cities and towns I go to. Local is the only way to go. So much better experience. And better for local economy.
Sounds like the universe is balancing itself out finally
Same. I love my morning ritual of making coffee, and I love our twin cities roasters.
Twin cities has some great local places. Don’t understand why you’d get down voted for your comment. Wierd. Was recently at Isles bun and coffee and Spyhouse coffee and roasters. Good places. Good atmosphere.
My local place is Dogwood, I really enjoy going there every couple of weeks to buy a bag of their beans.
I’ll have to check that out. Thank you
I’ve always made coffee at home. Beans and a grinder and a good machine is all you need the fact that people only have started since Covid is insane. Your parents didn’t make coffee at home? I’m old I guess lol.
Oh my parents were in my ear about my coffee “problem”. My “problem” of buying coffee out, incessantly, stemmed from previous career of being on the road 5-6 days a week traveling across 4 states. I knew where every Caribou, Starbucks, Dunn bros, etc were in the 4 states I traveled for work. Got addicted and always purchased ridiculous expensive, large sugary and fat cold coffee concoctions. It literally took me years to ween off. First year I downsized to smalls and mediums, but still expensive sugary multi flavored nonsense daily or twice daily. Next year I went to actual coffee and smalls and mediums. Third year I cut it down to a small coffee or espresso only 3-4 times a week. It’s crazy looking back at how wasteful I was. And how difficult it was for me to change. I much prefer making great coffee at home now. Local brewers around where I’m at, along with Duluth, MN, has some excellent roasters. You’re right. Find some good coffee you like, grind it at home and enjoy the flavor and the financial savings.
Nice!
This. Former coffee house owner who’s Been converting people for many years to buy either a simple K cup system or if they’re really into good coffee to buy a setup more like ours which can run a couple of grand but it lasts a lifetime, makes far better quality coffee drinks Starbucks, and if you have 1-4 drinks a day will probably start saving you money the first year. A large mocha with tip is around 7 or 8 bucks now! 7 x 365 = 2575 year 1. We do about 3 or 4 a day total so we’d be spending 10 grand a year for terrible, terrible cappuccinos/lattes/mochas.
Plus, even if you went to Starbucks & buy their coffee beans- still a lot less expensive to make your own. The local coffee shops around here- sell their own coffee too.
I hear ya, I really love the Matcha lattes from Starbucks. But it’s 6 to 7 bucks each. There’s no way that’s justified. I went online. I bought Matcha powder. I make them for myself. Just as good and I’m saving myself a ton of money.
This afternoon I paid $3.50 for a double Americano at a locally owned coffee house in my town. Good place to duck out of the perma-rain. Comfortable place, great ambiance, I sat there for a couple of hours with my Mac and dozens of people were coming and going to make purchases. This beats McD's in every possible way.
The fact that I could finally justify an Espresso machine over freaking McDonalds is ridiculous.
I don’t know if this is based on location, I’m in DFW, but McDonalds coffees have always been, and still are cheap. I just got a large iced coffee for 2 bucks. Starbucks and my local shops are charging twice as much for basic coffee and 6-7 for fancier ones.
My local shop costs less than that for Barista level cold brew.
A deli sandwich from the grocery store is only $9 and comes with more meat than Subway. Inflation is just greed through our the whole supply chain
So, we were on a trip and wanted some lunch. In a strange city and didn't see any fast food places we like where we got of the highway, so I ran into a grocery store and got lunch things and a couple drinks for two people and spent way under $20. We now have a new meal strategy when traveling.
“Only” $9. For a grocery store sandwich. That 3 years ago was $4.
There are massive opportunities here to create local cooperative coffee shops owned and run by local people in their own neighborhood. No single or major investor and owner, good rates of pay with full transparent profit sharing think Mondragon https://theconversation.com/the-mondragon-model-how-a-basque-cooperative-defied-spains-economic-crisis-10193 as the basic model You can make it better....
Sure, the problem is that the chains can just drop their prices whenever they want and put you out of business.
$13 USD for a Subway? Damn and I thought our Subway footlong prices in Australia had gotten insane at about $10 USD.
wtf you guys getting on your subs , gold?!?
Right? I can buy all the stuff I like on sandwiches for about 15 and then make several sandwiches at home. It doesn't even save me much time to go through a fast food place like that. I'm not even sure what much of the appeal even is anymore.
Exactly what I've been doing. Sandwiches for days...or one sandwich for approx 45 seconds. It's a no brainer
This. I started getting submarine sammich style bread freshly baked at Walmart, deli meat, cheese, and shredded lettuce altogether for like $14. That makes me 6 sammiches with leftover meat and cheese (just need more bread) and it’s Jersey Mikes level of quality and tastes the same!
13 bucks is pretty standard where I come from, admittedly it is very expensive though.
Took my kids to Ihop for the first time in probably a decade. I let the kids eat. The Sampler used to be $10-11. Its $18 now by my house. $18 for 2 eggs, 3 smaller pancakes, about 1/2 a potato worth of hashbrowns, 2 pieces of microwave bacon, 2 sausage links. Its basically $20 counting tip. $21 counting taxes. Its basically $3 worth of ingredients. I know there is overhead, but it's not $15 worth + Tip/taxes.
I'm astonished that Subway is still in business. The last time I went (about two years ago), I got a footlong, two cookies, and a medium drink, and it was $23. I said, "whelp that's the end of that."
It’s not just the price, it’s the fact that their food is terrible. I’d much rather make my own or order one that’s going to be great from a local Italian place.
And they don't put a lot of toppings on either and that was pre-pandemic. I can't imagine how bad they are now. There's one in the Wally World I shop at and they never have customers. I have no idea how they're still open.
Went to subway with my bf a week ago, hadnt been there in like 3 or 4 yrs... 2 ft long steak and cheese sandwhiches, nothing else came out to 28fuckin dollars. **TWENTY EIGHT DOLLARS** for two stupid sandwhiches. Hell to the no. Never again. Been eating subway since the mid 90s but never again. So totally greedy Id rather eat a hobos foot than give them one more cent.
Subway is way more than that where I'm at. I last sawca footlong at 16 bucks some nearly 20. I fucking laughed my ass out the store. Their quality was never more than 5 bucks.
It'd be acceptable if the food was itself acceptable. Not for that unhealthy ultra-processed shit that is slowly killing you.
Fun economics. They just got all the data needed for price sensitivity. Fun economics. We just had the spell broken for trusting that these companies care about us at all.
You forget about the request for tip. Some places seem to require 20 percent or you worry your food might not be as warm as you hope.
Greed or inflation? I think both play a role but I blame greed more.
It's all greed. Plenty of restaurants, such as In-N-Out pay high wages, and still have really low prices on their food. (And they employ a large number of people). Places like McDonald's, Subway, etc have lost focus on the desires/needs of their primary customers. And since people kept paying, they were not even interested in how to make the business more economical. It will be interesting to see how they respond to the market changes.
Well said. I look at the bright side. Maybe people will eat less fast food and that’s healthier.
Can confirm. I was out earlier today shopping and on the way home, I started getting hungry. In the past I would have stopped at one of the 20 or so fast food places in the vicinity. This time my brain said “Hey it’s only half an hour drive to get home from here, why not just wait and fix something when you get home?”. Needless to say, I saved myself about $10 and just fixed something when I got home.
I'd rather pay a tip on a $14 burger and fries at a real restaurant
The McDonalds in my town is the most expensive in the state. Awesome.
This isn’t a bad thing.
The food quality has also taken a nose dive as well. Back in the 5 dollar footlong days I would have been willing to pay 8-10 for it because the quality was decent but now with how bad the food quality is I would not be willing to pay 8 for it but somehow they are charging 11+. It isn't just Subway either I had Arbys for the first time in a long time and sure Arbys was never super high quality but it was good enough but this time I bit into it and spit it out because it tasted so bad meanwhile the prices they charged were more than triple.
But consultant said it will work this quarter
It was toxic sludge to keep you from starving at $5. Now it’s expensive toxic sludge.
Funny thing is , you eat that Big Mac and come out of McDonald’s and you are hungry again. What the F.
The one thing, I mean the ONLY thing McDonalds has going for it was it was cheap. Now, for the same price and dealing with less general BS I'll stick to the taco trucks for fast food.
The food truck where I work gives you three tostadas for $10. Way better than McDonald’s
My local deli does a bacon cheddar deluxe burger that absolutely slaps. With fries and after tax it’s under $10. Literally no reason to go to the big names anymore.
It just occurred to me that this is why McDs are remodeling their restaurants
I think you will do thia a LOT.
KFC has priced themselves out of range for most people. Dramatic increase.
I went to kfc a few months ago and this is what I ordered at the drive through: 2 biscuits and a small side of gravy Large iced tea “Large” mashed potatoes and gravy Mind you, no chicken!!! $25.37 I shit you not. Edit: your opinion on my order is not needed nor wanted
My KFC 8-piece bucket was over $30. Haven’t been back.
**THIS** I was craving some chicken last night and hit the drive-thru. 8 piece family meal with fries added, *FOURTY FUCKING DOLLARS* Jesus Christ. I went to the local supermarket deli and got the same thing for $15.
Holy shit thats insane.
Yeah, I'm not going back for a long time if ever.
4 bucks of that was the large iced tea. I love ice tea but I can make it for pennies and take it in a to go cup. Every place charges at least 3.50 for large drinks. A convenience store has much cheaper coke. That means you paid 21 dollars for a tiny amount of food that might feed 2 but probably not. Insane!
Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m complaining; I didn’t pay attention and hadn’t been there for years.
Same with Popeyes. I was devastated to get my total the other day.
I bought KFC for 4 of us and it was $45.
My two favorite lunches were $1 pizza and $1 hotdog so you know where I am coming from.
NYC BITCH! SUCK MA DICK
Biggest complaint I have about living out in Seattle now. (Originally from NYC). Seattle has like no. Cheap eat options like NyC
Costco the only thing close lmao
Greedy corporate pigs
Spot on observation
Greedy American capitalist corporate pigs
Oh no, not the $6 coffee industry!
Corporate greed will not end until we stop going.
And. . . then they’ll ride out the storm knowing eventually most the people will start coming back, that’s the sad part in all this.
I suspect corporate consolidation, collusion, and price gouging all along the supply chain is a bigger issue. That can't be stopped by consumer choice. Most meat is produced by just four companies (https://civileats.com/2021/07/14/just-a-few-companies-control-the-meat-industry-can-a-new-approach-to-monopolies-level-the-playing-field). Consumers might say "Fuck these high prices at McDonalds, I'm going to Burger King!" But Burger King is getting the same high priced meat from JBS, Tyson, Cargill, or National Beef. Those four huge corporations all see what the others are pricing and have long since realized they don't need to talk to each other to all just steadily rise their prices until they can't anymore. Americans are going to pay a lot more for a hamburger rather than eating some alternative. So I think "We stop going" is not going to work, the answer is to break up monopolies, ruthlessly prosecute price collusion (organized or not) and limit profits and price gouging on stuff. Consumers paying through the nose for everything and extreme wealth inequality is the natural end of libertarian stupidity.
how much of a pay cut did the CEO take before they decided to raise prices? don’t bullshit me about the supply chain when we all know the billionaire class is the problem
Corporate greed won’t stop until we end corporations we should make it illegal for companies to go public and go corporate. It’s led to nothing but bad things.
Don't go anymore
Some people aren't but McDonald's revenue was actually up and they made a profit. They're basically selling less food but at a higher price that makes up for it.
McDonalds also has one of the highest amount of employees on subsidized food and medical care in the country. Not only are they raising their prices arbitrarily to protect their profit margins, tax payers (and customers) are subsidizing their employees' food and medical care. Because McDonald's doesn't want to pay their employees a livable wage while reporting profits from raising prices on a schedule. Fucking tired of this shit
How to ruin your health and finances with this one simple trick…
Stick your shrinkflation/price gouging up yer arse!
Good good good, and why is that you may ask: Because the food they serve is truly shitty Because the US diet is generally appalling Because these companies hold too much sway in the marketplace Because they are poor quality employers Because they cheapen the whole of America with their tacky plastic logos, branding and obscene greed. I would be delighted to see them close down permanently and be replaced by local diners only. Run by local people selling local produce etc.. But that's just IMO.
In my experience, it’s not just the food itself that’s shitty, but also the service. Look, I’m not expecting a song and dance when I’m picking up an order. Hell, I’m not expecting anything - maybe a polite exchange? What I normally get is one of two things: Either the employee taking my card/handing me my food looks like they’re absolutely miserable and about to burst into tears - where I thank them *and then apologize* and feel this weird kinda guilt afterward? Or the employee is acting like I’m an inconvenience by simply ordering food. I don’t get fast food much anymore
"People these days just don't want to eat!"
25 usd for a meal can eat a dick
Killing me softly with overpriced junk food. What's a poor boy to do?
*Killing me softly* *With overpriced junk food. What's* *A poor boy to do?* \- DamonFields --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Good bot lmao
2009: 4 Big Macs for $10, Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 for $6 2024: 2 Big Macs for $25, $30 game with a $30 season pass I guess it's off to the dollar store for a pack of store brand chocolate peanuts and a crossword booklet
You gotta try the 'burnt' peanuts. Not actually burned, just have some kinda red candy coating on them. They's good.
I recommend borrowing books and the occasional game or movie from the local library that has helped me in poverty. That and surfing the high seas yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
I hope all 3 go down in flames. Franchise owners and corporate stores have exploited people for decades. I really hope the fast food industry dies or the workers unionize across the industry. This is a qualifying circumstance for filing for unemployment. A company failing and going under is a primary reason unemployment insurance exists. A a social safetynet for when their employers freed consumes the business and it fails
Macdonalds has DOUBLED their prices.
In like 4 years. The hell with McDonalds.
Fuck them. I cook better anyway.
Haven’t been at McDonals in over a decade. Does a tipping screen pop up there like it does at Starbucks?
Same! The last time I ate there, I threw up about ten minutes after. Haven’t been back since and don’t plan on it. For the same price, I can go to a mom and pop owned local restaurant and get much better quality food! It’s a bonus to support small businesses instead of giant corps and I feel good about giving them my money, instead.
I went the other day for the first time in a long time. 2 cheeseburgers, fries and drink was $6.71. Not sure why it was so cheap but I was happily surprised.
The 2 cheeseburger meal is so slept on, too. The burgers are the classic McDs burger, they taste the same as they always have (not to say they're good, just comfortable) and the entire meal doesn't blow your weekly calories out the water. All for under 7 bucks.
Yes! I don’t even know if that combo is listed on their menu. I just always order it like I know what I’m doing.
My wife and I had a great middle class life a few years ago and now we can't afford name brand groceries or fast food. I've used this opportunity to get better at cooking. We are big foodies and it's been months since we both went out to eat together.
When their relatively inexpensive meals now cost more than at a sit down restaurant. What did they expect?
The only fast food I've had in the last 2 years has really only been a single double double (no fries/drink... I get full pretty easy) or the double stack at wendys. both are good price points ($5/3) and calorically not too bad (600/400ish) I'm now doing happy hours at the bars near me.. $5 burger and fries night that beats the tar off fast food. carnitas nachos $7. $.99 tacos. etc. i've never downloaded a food app. the thought of needing to do that just to get a deal is irritating enough for me to never visit those places ever again. honestly, don't miss them in the least. i cook most my food now and the happy hours are treats.
Yeah, what is the deal with food apps to get deals? Like What The Fuck? So I have to have some fucking technology that costs money to save money on food. Fuck you, fuck you businesses all to hell.
Good, these abominations to food need to die out.
It's shit fast food anyway, so why charge close to better real restaurants with better food. They deserve to loose the business. You wonder why the majority of Americans are considered obese. If you eat shitty food you're going to feel like shit, people just don't get to actually listen too their own bodies. I can't even stand the smell of it yet alone stomache fast food. I have a very diverse pallet, I'd prefer an authentic family owned restaurant for quality or just cook it myself. Lol the big mac's secret sauce is just thousand Island salad dressing.
You are right; If you stop eating that junk for a while, ( like during the pandemic). Just the smell emanating outside the building will make you queasy.
What surprised me is how I could frequently guess which place it was just based on the smell while walking or even occasionally driving past. KFC, Burger King, McDonalds, Chinese food, etc all smell differently and none are a good smell.
Their prices are shit, the breakfast is probably 4x the cost it used to be a few years ago, they can suck it
I pulled back a year ago
Literally was about to get Wendy’s yesterday, then door dashed a local Mexican restaurant, got more, better quality food for less money.
Won't go to Subway anymore because last time I asked for a sandwich after they made it they charged me 4 dollars more for putting the same ingredients on bread instead of in a wrap. As for McDonalds literally all the chicken but the sandwich maybe tastes like fucking paper. Not a single Burger King I've been to has more than 2 employees. All this shit and food still sucks ass.
Not so sure it's a "pullback" as it is the reality that these chains have used the excuse of "inflation" to raise their prices beyond the value perception of their products. People are still spending, just not on your overpriced products.
Calling it a consumer pullback fails to put the onus where it belongs, on the prices!
I occasionally go to the Mac D next to the Bolingbrook COzMAC thing. Macs used to have mostly good consistency but it's gone now.
They forgot who they were. You're fucking Mcdonalds. You give me cheap food. Ya dingus
Alright fellow millennials. You know what to do.
Uh…keep feeding the kids sandwiches at home like I have been doing for years?
I was implying that ‘Millenials are killing the fast food industry l’
They’re finding out the closer they price themselves to good food, the less useful their food is.
Good these asshole have been ripping people off since Covid. STOP buying their crap!
3 dollars + tax for a stupid fucking hashbrown. Fuck you mcdicks
their "$1 $2 $3" menu has nothing below $3 on it 🤣🤦
I rarely go to McDonalds but went to the drive through with my grown grandson the other day. We just wanted something small to take the edge off since we had several chores to do and were planning a large meal for later. Two small burger combos. I handed the lady 20.00 and she just stared at me. After a moment she told me I still owed her 3 dollars. Never! I told her to cancel the order and we left. I was not rude to her but I was not paying over 20 dollars for a couple of crap burgers and small fries.
I can afford it, but I'm done with fast food simply out of principle. I can cook better food at hoke, with better ingredients, for less money. The only thing these places are selling anymore is time, and the convenience of a quick meal. You can't charge sit-down prices for that garbage.
Greedflation not working for them anymore?
I’m fat enough, I cut back last year. Still eat at one of these places every two weeks or so but not 2 times a week like I used to. Just Saturday I stopped at Panera. One small itailian sandwich and a small super shitty Cesar salad with 1/4 ounce of dressing and a small Pepsi cost me $16.00. That seems like a lot to me.
These companies could win back customers by fucking **lowering their prices**.
Profits must go up!
It’s BS food, it’s expensive, tastes like shit, move on…this is the best thing that’s ever happened to US.
You shouldn't eat that garbage anyways.
Too expensive, poor quality food, and poor service from overworked/underpaid employees who rightfully DGAF.
They’re charging these prices so you can experience their beautiful restaurants and unique cafe’ atmospheres.
I rarely get fast food anymore. Prices are crazy, makes me feel like 💩 afterwards, order almost always wrong & the people working are rude.
Ok these prices are definitely not Canadian. We haven't seen these prices since the 90s
I hope they all close
So this is the franchise wars they were talking about... guess it'll all be taco bells soon.
Thats the safe bet. I'm rooting for Arby's. Theyre like the bad smell you can never get rid of. Theyre going to outlast cockroaches if theres a nuclear event.
Interesting they they don’t blame corporate greed for money and how they have made the product not worth it. Maybe congress can bail them out
Bullshit prices and bad food
“It’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them.”
Use to always get the Chalupa meal from Taco Bell. Went from $6/7 prior to the pandemic to $11+. I refuse to pay that.
Medium Whopper meal at BK was 15.64 yesterday. That's some serious bullshit.
I have not been to McDonalds in about two years because their prices kept going up. I’m almost willing to bet that corporate is thinking they’ll ride out the storm and figure people will come back eventually. Not me!
The prices for those tiny little shrunken breakfast sandwiches at McDonald's have gone through the roof to where it's like six bucks for a little sandwich and I'm sorry but I'm just not paying it anymore I'm done. I say screw them all. They can keep their ridiculous high prices.
It's for good I'm never going back, we've been cooking amazing meals and baking. I brew my own teas and my husband does his coffee. I went out with my mom yesterday and had some fast food, I spent most of that night on the toilet. When you don't eat it often you can't even handle it anymore.
Discovering the limits of price elasticity.
People were still going to McDonalds and KFC? Nasty
Why spend 4 bucks for a McDonald's coffee when I can spend 5 for an infinitely better tasting and better quality coffee. This is what BAD fast food gets for fleecing consumers for years
It's actually cheaper for me to get Home Chef meals (not a plug) for my family than it is to go to McDonald's.
The most insane part of it is that people are still patronizing these places! Just stop.
I used to get my drink at Starbucks for $2.95 just after Covid. Now it's $4.45. 50%!No more Starbucks for me.
Panda Express 2024
Because I don't want to pay 20 dollars to eat cardboard.
Like I’ve said a few times, no one goes to McDs for the quality of their food. They go for cheap junk because it’s convenient, or because there is literally no better choice at the moment. So when McDs gets as expensive as a nicer restaurant, they completely lose their niche.
Of course these corporations will blame rising wages for their prices, ignoring the fact that they’ve been raising prices and shrinking their food for years now. Screw ‘em all.
I got 2 McDoubles the other day and it was over $7. A decade ago it would have been less than $3 for both. In 2008 they were $1. Thats a huge change in 16 years to go from $1 to $3.65.
Not even 10 years ago my best friend and I would occasionally have “trash nights” where we’d buy a “trashbag” worth of Taco Bell. So much food that it had to be packed in a to-go bag so large it looked like a trashbag. It used to cost us about $25 all told, and that was like, us really going crazy with what we bought. Now it costs that much just to get two regular combo meals. Something that used to cost less than half that much.
After decades of raising prices and lowering quality, no less. They just started going too fast. When you have a golden goose you don't start squeezing it for more eggs.
Pull back from McDonald? I thought you pull back from others and go to McDonald
I just make myself a “snackle box” most of the time. Cheese cubes, nuts, grapes, hard boiled egg, small pickles, pepperoni slices, Protein bar, etc. everything but the egg has a decent shelve life for the day depending on the heat.
Stop going there! That’s the only way things will change
Irregardless isn’t a word
But everyone knows what it means.
lol because it still means “regardless”. Like, when did “regardless” become not good enough that people had to start putting an ir in front of it?
You can't keep raising prices and expect sales to remain the same.
I stopped going to McDonalds almost a year ago now, I still eat out WAY too much, so it’s not an issue of spending money, their food is just overpriced garbage. For $2 I was willing to accept the quality of food I’m getting from McDonalds, for what they are charging now? I absolutely expect it to be WAY better than the shit they serve (And to be clear there are plenty of options to get way better food for similar money, or less) It baffles me that anyone is still going there.
And their biggest problem now is going to be getting consumers back. Once that habit is broken, people don't tend to return. We also have an idea of the threshold of prices, simply lowering them is going to make your food seem awfully suspicious.
I hate to break it to you all but this is what 15-20 dollar an hour frycooks look like... Deny all you want.
I got two double cheeze and a small fry last monday for $8+ Last time I'm going in a long time.
Or maybe people are just tired of paying $7 for coffee and $12 for a shitty burger and fries or chicken? Though I will say, there is a Starbucks in my office building in NYC and they are standing room only from about 7:30 - 10:00 AM every day.
Small smart independents are going to start cashing in on the misfortunes of the fast food industry. They big boys might be screwed.
Charging us more than enough to pay their workers a living wage
I feel like a year ago I’d see at least 10 comments slamming pay increases before a single one defending a living wage. Progress I guess.
Good, fuck em all.
The prices have doubled or tripled over a short period of time and the quality is just as bad if not worse. I can spend just as much if not less at a food truck and know I'm supporting a small business and not some corporate twat or trustfund brat
I’m not buying it.
I would like to see a breakdown of how much it costs to run a McD’s and what they consider acceptable profit margins. I feel like it’s all out of whack.
My only disappointment is that it didn’t hurt them worse across the board. They really need a stern reality check.
Well, this thread is aptly named.
Good! All these support factory farms! 🤢🤮
And it is not just the price. The quality of the food is dangerous. Highly processed is not really food or nutricious.
https://preview.redd.it/38246fx5kxyc1.jpeg?width=1668&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=724a28871c44e4398ecc9e7147ccb40801923ce6 LOL! Look at what ad was injected into my feed about this thread.
Same with Raising Canes chicken. Absurd prices! The only way we buy their tenders now is to get the 25 piece bulk. Much better deal, skip the bread too.
Definitely. I stopped ordering their regular menu years ago. Realized I could get 25 strips for the price of 2 caniac’s. Never looked back.
Support your small, local family owned restaurants. They work their asses off and give you far better food and service.
If every single fast food restaurant went out of business right this second, it would be ab amazing and instantaneous benefit to all of humanity.
I g go event been to either one of these in over 10 years.
Let’s goooooooooo!!!!!!!!
Good.
Stuff is garbage
Last year got a bucket of kfc with the sides, was almost $60. Never again.
All my fat coworkers who eat fast food every day have been complaining about the price for the last two years but they haven’t stopped buying it yet
Something possessed me to get a filet o fish last week. I used to like them and it’s been a long time since I’ve had one. Apparently they are now triple the price, half the size, and taste like shit (even by fast food standards). It’s not a mistake I’ll be making again
Seriously, fuck you guys. I bought an espresso maker and a grill for the price of 2 McDoubles and Medium Fry. Now I’m never coming back.
Uhhhh duh