this post was submitted on 12 May 2024
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Kevin Roberts remembers when he could get a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a drink from Five Guys for $10. But that was years ago. When the Virginia high school teacher recently visited the fast-food chain, the food alone without a beverage cost double that amount.

Roberts, 38, now only gets fast food "as a rare treat," he told CBS MoneyWatch. "Nothing has made me cook at home more than fast-food prices."

Roberts is hardly alone. Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers.

A January poll by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions found that about 25% of people who make under $50,000 were cutting back on fast food, pointing to cost as a concern.

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[–] reddig33@lemmy.world 276 points 5 months ago (13 children)

If you can eat at a nicer place for the same amount of money, why would you eat at McDonald’s?

[–] BobbyNevada@discuss.tchncs.de 103 points 5 months ago (2 children)

I would rather spend that money on a local burger joint. Give me a single named joint with a generic paper bag with grease stains on the outside.

[–] spongebue@lemmy.world 84 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Unfortunately, so many local burger joints have a "flagship" burger featuring a Sysco patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion for $17, sides extra.

[–] MrVilliam@lemmy.world 56 points 5 months ago (9 children)

I know a Sysco burger when I see one. Normal burgers aren't chode cylinders; Sysco burgers have goddamn right angles. They taste like they're about 40% gristle. It's basically just the "technically beef" parts of dollar store dog food pressed into the vague shape of a burger patty. The paper that separates the frozen turd patties is better, both in terms of flavor and nutrition. Fuck Sysco burgers. If Sysco reads this and doesn't like what I have to say, they can go fuck themselves until their asshole is as fucked up as a Sysco burger eater's asshole 93 minutes after their shitty lunch.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 30 points 5 months ago

Sysco has variety in their products. I just checked and they apparently have 128 different beef patty SKUs: https://shop.sysco.com/app/catalog?q=beef+patty&BUSINESS_CENTER_ID=syy_cust_tax_meatseafood&ITEM_GROUP_ID=syy_cust_tax_meat

Though I'm sure a lot of them are just variations on leanness and package size. Point is, unless you're going to a specialty place, any restaurant is going to be buying Sysco patties (or at best, Sysco ground beef packs and hand-formed into patties) but the nicer restaurants are going to be using the better choices, and the shitty places are going to be using the cheapest ground beef formed into a cylinder and frozen.

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[–] TheSpookiestUser@lemmy.world 28 points 5 months ago (7 children)

Convenience and familiarity, mostly. If you go to a McDonalds you know exactly what you'll get and you'll be able to get it pretty quick.

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[–] spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works 131 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (4 children)

Not only have the prices become absurd, the quality control has gone to crap.

For years we've taken regular road trips and use to stop at fast food places every single time. In the past 3 years we've repeatedly been served triple salted food, awful sub sandwiches, "cheese" burgers missing the cheese and condiments, and cold burger patties so old and dry they couldn't be choked down. When you factor in the amount of waste due to the lousy food, the actual prices are way higher than what's shown on the menu.

The ridiculous prices and regular bad experiences pushed us to a tipping point and we now find a grocery store along the way for deli sandwiches. It usually only adds about 5 minutes to the trip. Not only are the prices about 30% less but the food is consistently edible which makes the real price probably 1/2 of fast food places.

This is something we wouldn't have taken he time to do a few years ago, so for us there's been a big upside to the absurd prices and lousy food. We're permanently changed our habits and cut fast food out of our diet completely. We are now spending less and getting consistently better quality, healthier food.

Maybe we should send "thank you" notes to the various fast food corporate headquarters.

[–] Tikiporch@lemmy.world 43 points 5 months ago (2 children)

You can't pay your employees poverty wages and expect them to care about quality.

It has to hurt for the people who spend their hard earned money on a night off from cooking by ordering out at McDonald's, but it's a lesson we all learn the hard way.

[–] _number8_@lemmy.world 35 points 5 months ago (2 children)

it's very hard to give a shit when you're making a meal that costs $15 in 30 seconds when you make maybe $9/hr. the math is so plainly unfair and it's right in front of you all day

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[–] HurlingDurling@lemmy.world 23 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

I usually go to the salad bar of my grocery store and pickup a salad with no protein or dressing, then go to the dressing isle and buy a bottle of the dressing of my choice, finally go to the deli and pickup a cooked chicken. At home I shred the chicken and store it in a container and every day after I just stop buy the salad bar and pickup a hefty salad for $5, add a bit of my shredded chicken and dressing with gusto.

Best lunch ever.

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[–] generalpotato@lemmy.world 124 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Death of fast food is a treat we can all look forward to. Keep raising those prices geniuses!

[–] Bluefalcon@discuss.tchncs.de 48 points 5 months ago (3 children)

I'm seeing more local places popping up. I'm happy with that. $15 for a big Mac meal or $15 for the Chicken tikka masala? I'll take the big Mac, said no one.

[–] The_v@lemmy.world 35 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Full dinner for my family of 4 at McD's us $65.

Full dinner at my locally owned restaurant that offers takeout plus lunch the next day from leftovers - $70.

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[–] newthrowaway20@lemmy.world 86 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Used to be that people went to fast food because it was good, fast, and cheap.

These guys running the show have managed to reverse all three of those points. Now fast food is shit, slow, and expensive. It's honestly amazing that people put up with it as long as they did.

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[–] LostWanderer@lemmynsfw.com 74 points 5 months ago (28 children)

That's pure greed at this point...Jimmy John's is still well in an affordable range. As a rule, I tend to avoid buying food from places with surge pricing as fast food is supposed to be affordable! It's not fine dining and as a result should be priced appropriately; they've forgotten their role in the food space and thus their business will live or die based on future choices.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 61 points 5 months ago (6 children)

Jimmy John’s

Yeah, but their owner is a big trump fan, and for some inexplicable reason he's paying Rudy Giuliani 's legal bills...

Their subs are decent tho and probably cheaper than subway at this point.

Man, subway actually used to be decent too. $5 for a foot long is pretty much what it was worth. And if you knew what you were doing it could have been relatively healthy.

I haven't been in probably a decade now. But sometimes I still get JJ's. Just wanted to mention that like a lot of big chains, we really shouldn't be giving them a lot of money.

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[–] foggy@lemmy.world 63 points 5 months ago (29 children)

Hey McDonald's.

This isn't reddit so you probably won't see this.

Hashbrowns cost $1. Figure it out. Not here to haggle.

Also can someone sue these MFS giving deals through apps? Like "sorry homeless guy pan-handling out front, medium fry is only free if you have a $200 phone! Sucks to suck." How is that ok?

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[–] Snapz@lemmy.world 55 points 5 months ago (7 children)

Overdramatic headlines to try to make this more exotic and mysterious than the reality - YOU GREEDY FUCKS HAVE INTENTIONALLY TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF EVERYONE SINCE THE PANDEMIC STARTED. It was never acceptable and you finally pushed fast enough to even upset the wealthy and those who spend outside their means.

You are all broken humans. You chase endless growth without purpose, you are a disease.

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[–] fubarx@lemmy.ml 55 points 5 months ago (3 children)

I was running between work and meeting friends for drinks last week. Lost track of time and it got past 10pm. On the way home, saw a Burger King drive-in. Haven't had fast food in years (we eat at home a lot). What the hell.

Two discoveries:

  • A small Whopper meal was over $15!
  • My stomach didn't appreciate it all night and most of the next day.

For that kind of money, you can do much better. Lesson learned.

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[–] kumatomic@lemmy.dbzer0.com 51 points 5 months ago

tHe MaRkEt WiLl ReGuLaTe ItSelF! Okay sure, for the most profit without regard for the consumer. Corporations need a heavy hand.

[–] alienanimals@lemmy.world 47 points 5 months ago (5 children)

All of the megacorps are raising prices because they know consumers cannot do anything about it.

Meanwhile, wages can't keep pace with inflation because, "tHaT wOuLd MaKe ThE pRoBlEm WoRsE" Yes it would, but only allowing huge corporations to do that shit makes the class disparity worse and not allowing individuals to match is boiling a frog in water.

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[–] seaQueue@lemmy.world 44 points 5 months ago (16 children)

The ridiculous part of this is that fast food is already subsidized by cheap corn, soy and dairy so their customers are getting screwed at both ends. I'm guessing we'll see record fast food profits soon if we haven't already.

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[–] Sorgan71@lemmy.world 42 points 5 months ago (6 children)

good. Maybe people will stop eating shit

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[–] phoneymouse@lemmy.world 40 points 5 months ago (14 children)

This food is gross to begin with. I’m always shocked by how many people eat McDonald’s. Have some self-respect folks. Don’t eat that shit. You’re worth more than that.

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[–] Fidel_Cashflow@lemmy.ml 38 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Explaining a dystopia to an american: imagine no burgers

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[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 35 points 5 months ago (3 children)

And itll be spun into blaming the cost on pay increases of the workers

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[–] droans@lemmy.world 34 points 5 months ago (4 children)

about 25% of people who make under $50,000 were cutting back on fast food

Only 25%? Who hasn't cut back, even if it's subconsciously?

I know it's just an anecdote, but my wife and I make a lot more than that and we've had to cut how often we get fast food because it's become way too expensive.

Shit, half the time we just get sit-down service because the cost isn't that much higher. Why would we get low quality fast food for $30 when we can go to a local sit-down restaurant and get higher quality food for $40, tip included?

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[–] Aermis@lemmy.world 32 points 5 months ago (6 children)

I was flabbergasted yesterday when I got 2 happy meals for the kids, a mcrispy and a filet of fish, and the teller said $30. My wife and I just stared. Wtf happened. We went there for a quick easy cheap meal while road tripping. Next time we're packing sandwiches.

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[–] trslim@pawb.social 32 points 5 months ago (14 children)

I can get a full, wellmade calzone and drink for 8.15 at a nearby pizza place. I got two small cheeseburges and a small fry for 10.00 at McDonald's. Ridiculous

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[–] AgainstTheGrain@lemmy.ml 29 points 5 months ago (16 children)

I probably am gonna get a lot of hate for this. Isn't that a good thing? Afterall processed food is the leading cause of most diseases today, most notably cancer. It's about time organic food is promoted heavily and incorporated in the policy making.

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[–] FartsWithAnAccent@lemmy.world 27 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

I'm not because I stopped going, fuck these assholes and their insane prices for shitty food and terrible service.

Fast food restaurants like McDonalds have eliminated all the reasons people went to fast food places.

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[–] limelight79@lemm.ee 26 points 5 months ago (6 children)

It's not just fast food. They're getting the attention because they're supposed to be cheap, but the price of eating out in general has jumped over the last 4 years or so.

For example: We often eat at a local barbecue place, usually getting the same order each time. (During the pandemic, we would get take out.) I don't have the numbers in front of me, but when I looked it up a while back, I think we were paying ~$15 more now for the essentially the same order. Adding $15 on to a ~$30 order is a huge increase, as a percentage.

In general, our dining out expenses have gone way up since the start of the pandemic, but we aren't eating out more often or ordering more extravagant foods. The prices have just gone up. (When we go out for meals, we go to a mix of fast food and casual dining places, some with counter service.)

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[–] _number8_@lemmy.world 26 points 5 months ago

i haven't gotten fast food regularly in years (only once this year, trip to taco bell, feelin a bit proud tbh), but i have been lucky enough to WFH for a lot of that. when you're starving and want something you just want it, even if it's overpriced garbage. i dread the day of having to work an office job again.

what really pisses me off is the psychological manipulation: these companies think they can just rewire our brains with their dogshit marketing. ohh $3 is actually fair for 1 hashbrown. there was never a ""dollar menu"". they don't even list the damn prices on their website like a normal restaurant. it's so fucking shady and dishonest, the whole damn thing, the gray prison architecture, taking away the soda fountains from customers (and making the kitchen people worry about drinks as well). it's so so fucking sick. WE'RE the ones suffering, they're the ones looking at graphs and DESIGNING our suffering. they don't have to pinch pennies, they don't have to pinch shit. fuck mcdonal i CANNOT wait to see them fall.

[–] Texas_Hangover@lemm.ee 24 points 5 months ago

Good, stop eating that crap. Learning to cook was the best thing I ever did.

[–] penquin@lemm.ee 23 points 5 months ago (8 children)

Yeah, fuck that noise. I took my kids to Wendy's the other day and their food was $32. Fuck off with this shit. Even fancy places charge less for two kids meals.

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[–] woodenskewer@lemmy.world 23 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

The CEO and now chairman of McDonald’s was paid $19.2 million last year in salary, bonuses and stock, according to federal securities filings.

He was paid a base salary of $1.4 million

https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/mcdonalds-ceo-chris-kempczinski-got-raise-last-year

Being friendly and just going on his base salary and not all the other piles of money tossed his way, in plebe terms, he makes $673/hour.

[–] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 23 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Im in Canada and i was telling my daughter that when I was her age, I could walk into McDonald's with $5 and get a big Mac meal and a nickel in change. Now it's like $17+ for the same thing. Probably lower quality too.

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