Be it in Canada or America, I’ve sensed that restaurant prices have skyrocketed over the past few years. But have they exceeded the basic rules of supply & demand? This fellow thinks so. Do you feel that restaurant prices where you live are reasonable?
And the quality has gone for absolute shit.
Overpriced mediocrity.
Service is sketchy too … I never ate in restaurants much, but now …
I don’t bother at all, it’s not good value.
A couple of burgers and beverages with tax & tip … around $80.
You can eat cheaper at a fast food joint, but who wants to eat that crap.
I like my own cooking and I know exactly what it is. My wife likes my cooking too.
“Do you feel that restaurant prices where you live are reasonable?”
It’s idiotic. The only times I ever eat out is hitting fast food on the road. McD’s or Wendy’s, never Hortons. No sit-down restaurant meals. Because the food is always meh at best, and it is $50-$60 for two with no booze.
As I opined today driving around, you can no longer get a hamburger, made from an actual cow, that tastes like a hamburger. Or if you do, it’ll be $50.
Yep, they’ll all be bankrupt soon, because geezers like me make our own burgers at home. Geezers have all the money, right?
I should add, as I did below, that restaurateur -owners- can’t really be blamed for the insane pricing, any more than landlords can be blamed for the insane rents.
You have a loan. A -freaking huge- loan. Millions of dollars. You must PAY the loan. You price accordingly. Then the government jacks the interest on your loan? You price accordingly upward.
The government decrees minimum wage shall go up 20%? Your prices go up 20%.
The government does all of this. I do not blame McDonalds for charging $18 for two egg sandwiches and a coffee. I blame the feds, the province and the city. That’s who did it.
But also I’ll make my own egg sandwich, thanks. It’ll be cheaper and better.
If anything, prices are lower than they need to be for restaurants to remain profitable. The carbon tax hits every part of the restaurant supply chain, there’s constant culls of livestock thanks to overzealous government bureaucrats driving up ingredient cost, minimum wage increases drive up the cost of labour.
Fast food restaurants, in particular, keep getting yanked around by the constantly changing rules over single use plastics.
Restaurants have been reducing portion sizes and lowering ingredient quality to try and keep the sticker shock down, but the result is that there’s little out there better than I can cook myself for the price.
So no, I don’t think restaurant prices are unreasonable but I do think the regulatory burden is making running a restaurant at all impossible.
There’s no question.
Whether its local, on the road, or at the airports, costs are extreme. And its not just here, the US is seeing costs just as bad.
Indeed, when an ordinary burger and fries is over $20, something is wrong.
Pasta meals in the mid to high 20s. Just Dumb.
Between the actual cost, the extreme wages, tip expectations, etc, its just not worth it.
Haven’t even mentioned the lack of a satisfying meal, or its poor nutritional content.
Was out today and ended up at Hillside Mall. While the wife went shopping, I wandered the food floor. 3 types of pre-fab Chinese, A&W, SUbway, NYFries, SInghs, Pizza, Saigon Kitchen, Edo, Opa.
I went home and had a 3 egg omelette with Green onion, ham and shrooms. That was Muy Bueno.
Sooner or later, the food industry will hit the wall, though, business was steady on a Monday there today.
We eat at Boston Pizza at least one Friday a month. I have to say that we haven’t seen a major jump in our favorite entrees- Jumbalaya fettucini and fettuccini alfredo. The eye opener lately was the two burger, medium fries, a shake and a Coke at 5 Guys. It was as much as two clubhouse sandwiches and two Caesars at a nice sit-down place in Olds that we frequent (Grouchy Daddy’s.) Back in September we did a Montana road trip, and all of our sit-down meals were pretty comparable to what we spend up here, cost wise.
Boston Pizza doesn’t really cook their much of their food. It’s pre-prepped at Sysco, except for the pizza’s and pasta.
They have a $15.00 lunch in 20 min. Some are OK.
Caesar salad is good (for what it is, not as a Caesar).
Steak sandwich is said to be good, but at over $25.00, no thanks.
Pizza’s are generally good. Some I just would not get like perogy.
But a pint of beer is $10.00!
Yup, and then at the end, when you’re paying, the server passes the cc reader and the tip prompt shows 18%, 20%, 22% and 25%
Ya,,, of course you can change it, but it’s such a turnoff, one doesn’t feel like returning to eat there.
Wood fired pizza at local Italian supermarket is $22, delicious.
Breakfast anywhere is $50 with tip.
Maybe once a month?
At least at home one can choose the ingredients and make the food as desired.
No markups.
Trans Canada Brewing Taproom in Winnipeg has excellent wood fired pizza for $20.00.
Pints are $7.50 to $9.00
There are deals and good food out there.
Prefer to stay away from place’s that rely too much on the Sysco’s and Gordon Food Service. Not as good as made in house, lower quality ingredients. These place are typically mom & pop shops, the food is good and well priced. No marketing budget to include in the costs.
Lamplighter!!!
Mmmmm.
One of the main reasons for the price increases for everything is the constant devaluation of the Canadian (and American) dollar. The CDN dollar has lost 34% of it’s purchasing power since 2005 and 22% just since 2015. The U.S. dollar has lost 97% of it’s purchasing power since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913. Both Canada and the U.S. have massive debts that cannot be paid off and the continued borrowing and money printing by governments ensure that both dollars are on a crash course that can’t be stopped. People need to get their wealth out of dollars and into something that won’t depreciate over time before it’s too late. Bitcoin is a great candidate and it’s on sale right now. It’s always volatile but consistently rises in value over a long time-line. Bitcoin has a future. Dollars do not. Research and learn.
Had lunch in downtown Toronto yesterday. Couldn’t believe all the poop on the sidewalks. We met at a nice restaurant. Oysters were $57/dozen. Plates were $27 – $57 each (no steak). Food was excellent. Portions were small. Restaurant was 2/3 empty. I used to eat in restaurants quite frequently – nice ones. While the quality is still there (in Toronto) the prices are crazy and they don’t serve enough food – lots of bread though. They should make meals 100% tax deductible again and get people out of their condos.
Too expensive?
Absolutely
But it’s not because of anything they do.
This is the result of intervention by those without a stake in the restaurant business.
Let’s review
Carbon taxes drive up commodity prices
Environmental laws impose renovation requirements to install equipment usually at a cost exceeding the equipment’s value
Minimum wage laws eat into profit margins and the only benefactors of wage increases are the government and unions that take a percentage of salary for payroll taxes and dues.
Don’t get me started on those that impose menu restrictions.
Bingo!
You forgot WSIB. That’s some expensive sh1t right there, having employees you can’t fire that don’t do anything because they’re “hurt.”
And before any of the trolls start crying about the poor injured workers, I’m a physical therapist. I have done WSIB claims. I know -exactly- how “injured” they are. For every guy with a genuine work stopping owie, there are two dozen trying to turn a hangnail into an iron rice bowl.
If you build it, they will come.
Ever wonder why nobody wants to build or make anything here in Canaduh? That’s a really good reason right there. Then there’s pensions…
Chain Fast food is mostly sloppy shit served by somebody who probably just had a sloppy shit and didn’t wash their hands.
Unless I’m starving, I’ll go hungry till I get home.
I get a $12 full breakfast at a greasy spoon that’s been around for 50 years. Sugar Tits gets a 5 buck tip.
I buy fresh made sandwiches from some local independant places that are $10-11 bucks and I’m overfull when I’m done.
Local mexican restaurant has great food and prices still aren’t too bad.
Mom and Pop restaurant pizza is awesome.
Mostly eat at home or bring a lunch to work.
It ain’t what you earn, its what you save.
Not to defend some of the pricing mentioned, but it costs a ****-ton of money just to open the doors of every restaurant every morning. Here in New Jersey (uggh) a pizza/cheesesteak joint near me I’ve been patronizing for a half century plus has had to really spike prices since Covid just to make a meager profit. I still go there because I’d hate to see it close, but I’ve definitely cut back on the frequency of my visits.
Restaurant costs are f-ing unbelievable. I looked into a couple of franchises over the years, multi-millions in the building and the equipment alone. Like about eight million-ish.
Multi-million loan is a big fat nut to crack every day selling food. And that’s before you get employees and food cost and insurance and taxes and taxes and taxes and lawyers and accountants and delivery costs……..
…and then they raise the interest rate on your loan….
Yeah. I didn’t pursue it. Not economically viable, IMHO.
…Uber Eats…
…Door Dash…
The fast food industry is looking at the valuations of the various phone app companies that capitalized a goodly chunk of the fast food market. These multi-billion dollar companies showed the world that the restaurant market will accept higher prices. The restaurants got tagged by these app companies and that also hit their bottom line.
Fast forward to today, menu prices are up because a portion goes to Uber Eats and Door Dash. The market has shown that it is not really price sensitive, but time sensitive. Companies price accordingly.
The same goes for those auto garages that charge $150 ~ $200 per hour to replace suspension components and brakes. The auto owner can do that work themselves, if they want to.
“The auto owner can do that work themselves, if they want to.”
You really don’t want that, considering the driving (dis)ability of many auto owners, that can’t even put up a Christmas tree or assemble a simple bookcase, you don’t want them fixing their vehicle too.
We eat out maybe 4 times a YEAR( birthdays etc etc)……..#1, IT’S TOO EXPENSIVE, #2, I LIKE THE FOOD AT HOME BETTER, #3, I DETEST TIPPING…………….end of story…….
Don’t worry!
All this inflation, ongoing for more than half a decade now, is just transitory!
The central bankers said so themselves!
Governments are the problem.
One example:
City of Edmonton LAW is that McDonald’s and every other business MUST charge .25 cents for each paper bag, $2.00 for each reusable bag.