I’m going out, just only to places with outdoor seating. That includes the place that makes my favorite burger, which as I said above has gone up from $16 five years ago to $18 today (still including fries).
that’s gotta be an outlier - the cost of a double double at InO has gone from 3.5 to 5 in the same time frame. the extra protein on my noodles yesterday was +100% from 3 years ago. local mexican prices are 50% higher than prepandemic.
not to mention default tip option for 15% seems to have disappeared from most checkouts. I’ve seen 28% option at my local pizza place like what the fuck.
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Places that haven’t raised their prices too much presumably had better margins.
I haven’t seen printed receipts with tip calculations over 20% yet.
I’ll have to dig out some old receipts and make some more comparisons.
A lot of counter service ipad pos places are doing 18, 20, 25% tip suggestion. I’ve seen 28% one or two times as well
For printed receipts I’ve definitely seen 25% tip suggestions, though some calculate on top of tax, others before tax
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The main place I see it is in cocktails, where we’ve gone from ~$12 as the norm in LA restaurants a decade ago to ~$20. I haven’t really sensed restaurant food getting ridiculously more expensive than it was a decade ago.
I think some of my regular places are increasing drink prices a lot more than food prices.
this is probably true. Zuni Cafe was an interesting example - a few years ago there was no surcharge with a gratuity added to parties of 6 or more. A little later, it was 4% SF fee. Now, it’s 5% SF fee with 20% service AND optional tip.
sidebar, but what is this spreadsheet you got going on???
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Accountants gonna account
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Pastrami sandwich prices are sky high! Here in New York, Eater is reporting some of our most popular restaurants are charging up to $30 for the indulgence. Including Katz’s and 2nd. Ave. Deli, while others are trying to hold the line…
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SIL suggested we go to Malibu Cafe at Calamigos Ranch, in Malibu, CA, this past weekend. I don’t know if they’ve raised their prices lately but a normal sized grilled chicken sandwich and fries were $26 (one online menu said $30) in a to-go box to eat in the grounds. Two of those, plus a Bloody Mary, a coke, and two bottled Arizona iced teas came to almost $90. Parking there is $14, so……. I’d call that pretty pricey for what it was. Maybe not for WHERE it was.
It’s 2023 and restaurant prices, including fine dining especially, has sky rocketed even further!
My big question to FTC members: What is your budget for dining out? Is there a separate budget for regular dining out vs fine dining bucket list items? What restaurants are you aiming for?
I barely eat out thanks to momma’s home cooking, though if I really want to treat a special friend and myself out, I’ll aim for a really good restaurant (that’s really hard to get in) once/few times a year.
However, everything costs a lot more nowadays compared to a year ago. I remember eating at Kato in Los Angeles 11 months ago for $195 before tax and tip. Now their tasting menu costs $320 before tax and tip if you want the A5 Wagyu course included. That’s about a 65% increase in cost!
My salary went up by 0% since then. I doubt I would get a raise in a few weeks from my performance review and I’m stuck living with my momma (rent prices are crazy).
I might have the budget for at most $500 for fine dining experiences this year, though I used to cover my friend’s dinner ($1,000 budget back then), since it was my treat.
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Dining out has roared back but at a big cost. Depending on your status in life, eating out for many has become more of a luxury. We’re talking about burgers in the $20s, pastas in the $20s to $30s or more, and entrees in outer space. A decent meal for two a local tavern will run $50-$60. While I do enjoy dining out, I had to scale back a bit. P.S. All this is happening as prices for food and ingredients have been falling. No going back, I guess…
I do not feel this is generally true. massive spikes have normalized but things are still expensive. Restaurants now have to fight for two things: 1) customers and 2) staff. Industry is a tough place to be and hell if the employer isn’t paying decent (not just a living wage) no point in staying.
That’s total nonsense. A few things (e.g. eggs) shot up because of temporary factors and came back down, but overall inflation of food costs is still high.
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My favorite local burger at Zut in Berkeley was $16 with fries or salad in 2017 and is now up to $18.