Another fast food pricing thread?

Man Pinside is just obsessed with two things: Getting fat, and the prices of things!

"They", unfortunately, is the Federal Reserve and Government spending which lead to the inflation we've all experienced and continue to experience. It has little/nothing to do with the restaurant. I paid $18.32 for a three piece cod dinner at Culvers (two sides, drink). It was large enough for two meals but yes, it's tough to bite that price off.

Chris

Everything is too expensive.

But not Del Taco

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The good news?

A can of Chef Boy R dee (even with meatballs) can still be had for under $2.

Here ya go!

This current, still raging thread has it all: Whining about the rich and fabulous lifestyles of overpaid fast workers, complaints about prices, raging at apps, and wondering why fast food sucks now when it all used to taste awesome (hint: the product is the same, you are 60 years old now, not 15, and that slop simply doesn't agree with your tortured body the way it did when you were a kid)

Enjoy:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wendy-s-introducing-surge-dynamic-pricing-on-it-s-menus-

Again...another consequence of government "decision making". The push for a "living wage" in minimum wage jobs ($15-20/hour) is way off base. No one is or ever was expected to live off a minimum wage job. Those are "first jobs" or "starter jobs". Some states/localities passing minimum wage laws has really put a hurt on these kinds of businesses. It's a feel good solution that acts counter to the objective.

I agree with your cost-to-value assessment. It's tough for all of us...especially for those working in those minimum wage jobs.

Chris

It's the next price bubble thread. Soon we'll see "is the fast food bubble going to burst?!"

Kraft Mac N Cheese is a good standby as well.

We paid $140 for the Knott's food pass on top of the $90 renewal for the season pass. Good for two meals a day, four hours apart at most of their locations.

And we are definitely getting our money's worth. It's a deal that's hard to beat. We're going today.

I don't buy this narrative. I see plenty of people of diverse people of all ages working these jobs. Not just high school and college students.

Why do you think the folks you mention are working in these jobs?

Retirees needing something to do?
People being "under-employed" (meaning working in a job they are really over-qualified for)?
Surely our society/culture isn't producing adults who are qualified for nothing more than the fast food industry.

What say you?

Chris

I quit fast food after I started noticing the workers looked like Carnies, thugs and Typhoid Annie.
Chef Ramsey exposing what some of those kitchens look like and how they store the food didn't help.
Then the reports of workers spitting in Cops food.
Don't care how expensive it becomes, will continue to live my boring uneventful life with clean simple grub.

Yes, it's total bullshit. Makes people feel better about wanting to crush and exploit the poor by blindly repeating "these are jobs for teenagers trying to buy their first car stereo."

When confronted with facts the narrative usually shifts to "Oh yeah? Well why don't these adults trying to support families get better jobs?" or "They should have done better at school!"

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Many people think of fast-food work as a job for teenagers, but the report found that many people holding those jobs were adults. About 23 percent of the workers were teens ages 16 to 18, compared to about 26 percent of front-line fast-food workers who were adults with children of their own.Oct 15, 2013

A link nobody will click on about the high cost of these jobs to our society:

https://journalistsresource.org/economics/public-costs-low-wages-paid-fast-food-industry/

I see Boysenberry Fest is now upon us with special items at most of Knott's food places.

We're there!

Because ruthless white collar bean counters outsourced all the good blue collar jobs to save a buck.

Not sure why I bother posting this kinda stuff to a pack of rabid capitalists. Chalk it up to conference call boredom I guess. ANYWAY, I won't be returning to argue back with y'all, so go nuts.

There could be a whole host of reasons. I don't think that it's particularly relevant.
I'd be okay with raising the minimum wage if I thought it would help put money in the pockets of those workers but all the money is gonna get sucked up by the extremely high taxes in CA that we don't see any fucking benefit for paying.

I mean, if I could walk into your house anytime in a 12 hour window and have you make me two different burritos with some sides and have it in my hands and back out the door in 5 minutes how much would you charge me?

I thought this thread was supposed to be about deals on good food.

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The point is the cost is all relative. Last weekend we were about an hour from home kinda in the middle of nowhere. About 12:45 and everyone is hungry and of course all there is to eat is McDonalds in a reasonable distance.

Do we drive an hour home with a hungry 7 year old? Do we bother finding some chain restaurant that we have to drive 20 minutes to and wait for food anyway? We were hungry and McDonald’s is right there. We had food at a table in a few minutes and it was exactly what you’d expect from fast food, but we ate and went about our day.

Was it my first choice? No. Do I “like” McDonald’s? Eh not really I guess it’s fine? But it was fast and we weren’t hungry anymore. Is it “too expensive”? I mean, at that time it was worth it. Would I go there voluntarily on a normal day? Probably not.

You’re making the point for me in that you can make the “exact” food yourself but you choose not to for whatever reason. You’re paying someone else to make exactly what you want, when you want it, and quickly. Is there value for me at this moment in going to get some fast food? Nope. Was there last weekend? Yep!

So that’s why I asked if $32 is too much for you to pay someone, what would someone have to pay you?

Congratulations O-din on living the life of Riley.

Happy Meal still a little over $5 is still a good deal. If you need to order 3 Filet O Fish for yourself you probably need to rethink things.

Ha, my Dads #1 saying

Did you remember to TIP?

These threads always degrade to the current socio-economic state of the country. Nothing new here...however that looks effin' tasty.

If fast food keeps charging $15+ for lunch, people will stop going and then prices will drop...BOOM! Bursted.

First things first, there needs to be a government crackdown on those stupid credit card machines that immediately want anywhere from 15-40 % tip, ridiculous and insulting... they should be banned and illegal.

Now you're bringing in the "Are tips out of hand?" thread. The apocalypse is upon us.

It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

That is the smoked sausage at Fireman's BBQ in Ghost Town. One of our favorite food items at Knott's. But there are so many other choices.

Last stop at Mc Donald's in my area, I paid $13,50 for a Big Mac menu, roughly 3$ more than In n' Out that's next level in taste and quality.
So I'm not eating Big Mac anymore, it's not worth the price.

It's also regional. Last time I took a trip to the California coast I was taken aback by the price of fast food compared to where I live.

Watching Kitchen Nightmares made me want to avoid all family owned restaurants...especially Italian ones.

And I'd much rather support local family owned businesses than some Darden owned corporate place...at least they have some standards they are forced to abide by.

The fast food that scares me the most is Burger King...and I really REALLY like freshly made BK food. The fries are crispy and the Burgers are good. However there's rarely anyone working there that cares at all and most of the time I'm getting really old product.

Quickway hibachi... chicken, rice, veggies, and a water from home. 8.75.

I won't disagree with that. Businesses don't see themselves as community citizens these days, or maybe they never did. They are accountable to shareholders.

Where do you think this leads to with greater use of robots (i.e. McDonalds, auto manufacturing) and someday AI?

When humans are no longer required to build product, what happens to all of the humans?
Guaranteed minimum income? If so, then were do governments source the money to pay that income since there are fewer workers and therefore fewer taxpayers?

It all seems like quite a mess on the horizon to me.

We are a long way from the attitudes of Star Trek (TOS) and food replicators.

Chris

I always wanted to sample that blue and purple cube food. It just looked so cool.

Soylent green.

Its far better than Bar Rescue. They're all free to watch on youtube. I've watched every one and I still re-watch Gordon taste other peoples food from regular restaurants or wanna be fine dining places. It's absolutely hilarious.

Doug Stanhope hit the nail on the head about Reality TV just needing a giant dickhead to get ratings. And "Kitchen Nightmares has an exemplary dick in Gordon Ramsay"

I can't stand the dick in Bar Rescue. Dude takes it waay too far just TRYING to be an asshole. Most punchable face in TV history.

which is rare these days

I swear this never gets old:

Last time I went to McD's I used the app and got a Big Mac and fries for $3.20 and poured myself a water. Evidently Chipotle in MN is gouging while McDonalds in MN is practically giving food away.

Just come to Knott's. We've got you covered this time of year.
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That had to be some sort of promo for using the app. Just a big mac is $6 by itself.

This is the last castle of old pinball type fat ass poor folk; they way we used to!
They can't all be "which 12k game should I buy site unseen or nevermind I'll just buy them all" threads.

I eat McDs way more than I should, but they usually have decent deals on the app. I can get some kind of sammy and some other item (fries or a 10 pc or another sammy) for around $6.

Fast food pricing is indeed crazy expensive. But, I expect it will get even worse around these parts come April 1.

Just 10 years ago, the California minimum wage was $8. Next month it will be $20 for fast food workers. Up $12 in only ten years. That's a $24,000 raise to $40K/year on what was a $16,000 job in 2014.

And value. Their pricing on everything, including soft drinks, shakes, and milk is terrific compared to the competition. I like their streamlined menu and fresh ingredients. Atmosphere is a little bustling. The one in town is extremely, requiring almost 20 employees most of the time. With payroll tax, that's over $400 just in labour costs every hour.