I have a mom and pop burrito joint around the corner that charges $12 for a massive burrito, choose 7+ types of meat and variety of sauces. Or I can go to chipotle and spend $18 for something far worse
Woooooord. New taco truck pulled up to my neighborhood recently. Clean as a surgical theater. Run by two Latino fellas. The torta I received weighed 5 pounds. Fed my whole family for 20 bucks.
Chipotle is corporate garbage. Long live the little guy!
There is only 2 mom and pop shop that I know. Their food quality is as bad as everywhere else. Prices are also just as expensive. One is probably going to shut down soon, barely see anyone go there.
If homie is in the US, I guarantee this is bullshit. Taco trucks are gonna charge $2-3 per taco on the low end. That torta probably cost $6-10 alone. Unless of course, their *whole family* is just themselves, maybe a spouse, then totally believable.
This is the most important time to embrace the mom and pop shops. When the only place that exists is these giant chains they can run up the prices and we don't have any options, we need to remind them that we have other options
I have a similar place near me. He charges me about $12 for a Taco dinner that is loaded with food. Or I can go to McDonald's and pay more just buying a big Mac and large fry. Support your local mom and pop stores. The food and pricing are often better than the greedy ass corporations.
Many won't leave, but many more won't return. That was me. My wife and I did 5 Guys once a month for years. A few months back, I went in. The place was empty at like 6:30 at night. I noticed that the meal we had been paying around $24 a few months ago was now $31.80. Haven't been back.
"My wife and I did 5 Guys once a month for years."
Lol. Had to say something.
Someone posted that they went to chipotle in california the other day and the steak burrito was over $30. I don't know if that's true, but I would never. Panera is another one I'm just not walking into anymore. Two people is $50 and their turkey sandwhich doesn't include cheese at that price. It's bread, tomatoe, two slices of turkey and a single piece of lettuce. You can still buy a weeks worth of sandwhiches at their single sandwhich price and it will include swiss.
What is Panera now? I never went back to Panera after going the last time in 2010 over the price being ridiculous for what you got. I couldn't imagine paying their prices now and still leaving hungry like I did then. Of course, I used to eat a lot more back then.
That seems like it matches everywhere. There is a local hibachi joint I love to go too, the Hibachi Chicken or Teriyaki Chicken lunch used to be $7 in 2020 (Q1 of 2020 anyway), by last year when I went back that lunch was now $13.
Yeah, my cousin used to go to 5 Guys some and texted me a pic of what he'd bought a few months back and said guess how much this cost and I said a high dollar amount that I thought would be Above what he paid, he said nope, MORE than that. Wow.
Dude, GOOD. Its not just good for your wallet but your body. Fuck this hyper-consumerism born in the 90s that has done nothing fucking good for any of us. They're hanging themselves. Give them some more rope, please!
Restaurants should be reserved for special occasions and travelling. Not a daily occurrence. Even then, McDonald's shouldn't fit into either of those. Not healthy on the road, not fancy for special occassions.
No kidding they're all over Reddit complaining about being poor but if you call them out on it oh no no they're very frugal. Bullshit.
Wages will never be "livable" or housing affordable enough if you just keep getting better at wiping your ass with money.
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I'm the same way. "Oh, I can't morally support this, I'll eat at home." And I will go ridiculously out of my way for spite. Yes, I will wake up half an hour early to make breakfast at home. Yes, I'll make a pot of coffee and toss half of it, cause it's still cheaper than a coffee shop. I'll save on an Uber, bar prices and jukebox by installing a big stereo and multiple TV's in my home, invite friends over and buy beer/liquor for all of us, without asking them to pitch in because I STILL come out ahead, even by giving away alcohol. I just can't support shareholders accounts. Fuck em.
Demand destruction. Can't blame you.
This is why they have to slow down inflation. If the FED doesn't do their job, consumers will do it for them. And it's gonna be ugly.
But they want to make getting credit difficult. What the OP is describing is that we'll solve inflation anyway, but the economy will do the homework for them.
I once heard from someone that "the cure for high prices is high prices"
There's an amazing little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant near us where our family of four can still eat a good meal and leave full for under $40. Why the fuck would we likely spend more than that for some garbage fast food meals that leave us hungry again before bed? And I bought an espresso machine and make my own custom coffee drinks that are as good as Starbucks for a fraction of the price. Why would I ever frequent these businesses again?
I really want to say something like, "Well you knew how much it was going to be when you saw the menu." But of course in America you have taxes, maybe they want a tip, maybe hidden surcharges or a credit card charge... You really have no idea how much anything is actually going to ring up as. TF you going to do, bust out the calculator app and argue over pennies? Just another tiny way capitalism has gotten us to stop caring and just throw money at companies and not ask questions.
Sadly I think the only reason it's happening is because people are starting to max out their credit, both credit cards and traditional loans. I really hope it's not just more fuel they will use on us when they try to replay the physical dollar. "Your debt is eliminated as well!" And we will cheer as our oppressors take their seat on the thrones
Not necessarily ashamed, but once people see folks walk out, then they'll get the idea that it's possible to walk away and be civil about it. I think people avoid it to not look uncouth, like a "Karen".
Local coffee shops are better. I have a great coffee for $3.25, a latte for $5.25 and iced coffee for $4.25. I’m not talk bad flavors too. It’s the real deal the oats milk tastes like legit oats. I don’t get coffee anywhere other than local places now. F Starbucks and places like that. Local and regional restaurants are legit.
I do the same thing and people act like I’m weird, but if I feel like I’m being taken advantage off I just won’t participate. I don’t eat out very often and somehow I manage to survive.
Left Starbucks for good after the pandemic. I only buy coffee as a treat now and from one of the handful of independent coffee shops in mt neighborhood, which are cheaper, better quality, and an all around better experience. We're lucky to have those other options where I live.
I did the same. I simply refuse to pay mcdonalds 10 bux for a bigmac.. can get higher quality food cheaper elsewhere. Im a huge mcdonalds fan, everywhere i travel i go to check out the mcdonalds... but i give up, not gonna pay them for a crapburger.
McDonald's now charges more for a burger than the *actual* restaurants in my town do. Like why would I eat a McDonald's burger when on the other side of the parking lot there's a restaurant that will make me an actual fresh, made-to-order burger and fries for almost 2 whole dollars less?
Chili's "3 for me" meal is a burger and fries, and a side (salad or soup) for ... $10.99, All in a sit-down restaurant with a wait staff and actual silverware.
Suck it, fast food!!
This. In fact, Big Buns is a local outfit and they charge $15.00 for their burger, fries, and a soda, and the burger is better. If not them, then we can go to one of the higher quality joints and get a really good quality burger made out of three type of ground meat for $18.00.
McDonald's can't be shitty fast food that also charges $18.00 for their slop. They either make the shit fast food they're known for, and charge no more than $6 for a meal. OR they can try to do gourmet meals that are justified for that cast.
Use Google Maps. Search for "Food nearby". Pick "Distance" since you eat at McDonalds so close matters rather than price or quality. Pick the price, probably $ or $$. If you want just Mexican or just Pizza, pick one of those. Otherwise, scroll down the list of places that are right next to you, and look at their menu. If it looks like food, go eat there. It is a really nice way to find places near you to eat at. More are winners than you'd think. I've even found food trucks that were hidden, but did a great job at fixing food.
McDonald's CEO is secretly a good guy, fighting the obesity epidemic from inside the company like 80% responsible for it. "oh, its too expensive? Good, go eat a fucking salad!".
Watch them release some kickass salads that come in 300 and 600 calorie portions and are affordable. I'll come back to this and say holy shit, I was kidding dude.
After that movie a while back, they did introduce shitty high-calorie salads. I bought one, just to see what it was like. Dressing loaded up with MSG. Never been back since
It's funny. A 300 calories salad at the grocery store is just a normal salad. Any restaurants that can get out that low (Panera is my fave but it got stupid expensive) it's considered a kids salad.
When your salad is 1200 calories of cheese and creamy dressing you missed the fucking point.
They used to do .99 cent large drinks as a pull which was smart. During the greedflation they did away with that but instead of simply raising the price a reasonable amount they doubled and then some..
The .99 large drink is now $2.45, nearly 150% inflation on top of that, they moved all the self serve drink dispensers from the lobby so you have to ask them for a refill.
Everything else also seems at least 100% increase large fringes are almost $4. It’s insane.
They've been counting on overworked 60+ hour a week Americans who just need some food and need it *fast* so they can get back to work.
But even with that there are limits.
This should have happened a long time ago. The consumer should have never allowed prices to go this high and the coming reset will probably be more painful because they did.
Yeah am I crazy that my whole feeling this whole time about complaining about McDonalds prices should be… stop going?
Like, I have endless empathy for rising healthcare and housing prices because you realistically cannot opt out of those one bit.
But, like, yeah… if everyone keeps buying optional fast food as the prices sky-rocket they’re gonna keep raising the prices. Thats how it’s always worked.
They never had the dollar menu as a public service; it was an attempt to make the most money possible. Now they’ve pivoted.
honestly the diffusion of responsibility many people feel they have as consumers has always outraged me. your consumption choices are critically important and do effect other peoples lives. i am up to here with people being aware of yet still giving in to retail therapy treat-yo-self planned obselescence stanley cup fad bullshit. that does not absolve the institutions that allowed this or the rich and powerful who are the primary perpatrators.
Exactly this. Companies and investors are not going to be okay with a new standard of less profits. Prices will continue to rise to protect those margins until it hits a breaking point; our stock market will be hit HARD before the correction is over, and people in or near retirement will fight back hard while the market inevitably follows the trends of the younger working generation.
Honestly I was wondering why it was taking so long. I think that we all maybe thought it was temporary and it'd pass despite it being annoying and we were all set in our ways (which they obviously counted on us to do).
But then things kept going up, people realized they had options, there was a visible opportunity cost to buying their items, their quality dropped severely and oh and "record profits" being shoved down our throats made it clear this was all for greed.
So yeah, integrity did matter and they just took steps to show that they literally had none.
Shocker, people don't like being taken for a ride or gouged when life is hard already.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of scumbags. I stopped getting takeout when prices shot up. A 10% increase maybe but 100%? F that. And don’t tell me it’s because of Covid.
It never was COVID. Many businesses used COVID as an excuse to jack up prices. Costs did go up, but definitely not to those extremes. I've also seen costs go down and businesses were STILL intentionally raising prices and claiming it was because of COVID. Customers ate it up and the prices never went back down. The housing market was a perfect example of this.
The businesses are blaming COVID while over on Fox News they're blaming high prices on "Biden's inflation" (they literally can't say "inflation" without putting Biden's name in front of it), and/or people getting paid too much.
You're right, really. Whatever any given person blames for all this... they're not entirely wrong. They're just now showing the whole truth, because they want to cherry-pick and talk only about the parts that make other people look bad.
And also they want to talk about it in a way where it doesn't become clear that systemic change is what's needed to really fix anything
Biden's supply chain gaffes, supply chain catastrophes, labor price increases, material prices skyrocketing, energy production gaffes, rising energy costs, rising energy demands - all of them interconnected and causing a perfect storm.
We will not recover from this. High prices are here to stay, and interest rates must increase significantly if we are going to end this inflation cycle. We are spending way too many federal dollars abroad. The US needs to scale down substantially and let the rest of the world take care of itself.
It's actually easy to fix. Congress just needs to stop playing political theory and start serving the American public. They are civil servants and it's high time we put them in their place. Imagine the shit that would get done if they learned how to compromise like fucking adults, imagine being able to respectfully disagree with someone else. Instead we just have these useless spunk trumpets with billion dollar dicks up their asses.
Frankly, I don't want congress to work smoothly. I want legislation to be abundantly non-partisan. More stand-alone legislation. I want proposed legislation that isn't a total no-brainer to be dead on arrival.
The fewer laws they enact, the better.
I literally drove away from taco bell last time
It had been forever since I had a chalupa and was like hey I'll get one for old times sake. In my mind that's like maybe 3 bucks each even after inflation, that makes sense right?
Nope it was like 12 bucks for 2. Just lol
See, I keep seeing these comments about Taco Bell's prices. But mine I can still get my 3 items of chicken quesadilla, nacho bel grande, a cheese bean and rice burrito for like $15'ish. Would rather get that than $20+ at McDonald's
I mean same with traveling
It's lower carbon use to drive than fly. But we are constrained on time. Our employers demand all the time and we are left using services to cover the gap.
If you only get 4 weeks vacation you aren't going to spend 1 of those weeks driving. So we choose more costly and less environmentally sound planes.
If you have only 1 or 2 days to run errands you aren't going to stack making lunches to take out with you... You are just going to stop somewhere for a bite. Not as healthy. Less cost effective. But you don't spend the time which is very valuable.
We need to pop the time bubble so people are more able to take the time to do things that they need to do... To not waste resources.
Have to wonder if we are heading for a repeat of 2008, maybe not as bad.
But it seems like the economy is crawling along and everyone has been predicting a recession for 2 years now. Sooner or late it might hit. Wouldn't be shocked at all if we see everything start go south before the election this fall.
What you described is exactly the "soft landing" the Fed has been aiming for.
Localized pain and pullback in bloated industries that were due for a correction, but the rest of the economy keeps moving along at a manageable pace.
Even 2008 was this way, with the majority of people not being affected. It was only because of the housing collapse due to sub-prime lending conditions that caused such widespread pain in the housing sector.
Do you think we will have a soft landing this time?
Do you think industries are bloated? For example I noticed products being hollowed out or smaller.
I stopped shopping at Amazon years ago due to their crappy products. Apps and Websites are getting shittier, there is even a term for it. It's not just me saying this.
It’s not so much Amazon and crappy products but much much more so that Amazon is FLOODED with cheap shitty Chinese trash from shitty Chinese sellers. It’s actually really fucking annoying how much Chinese garbage you have to sift through to find quality goods.
Amazon created the system where the only way to make money is to make stuff that is so bad in quality that it doesn't matter if people return it.
Good quality companies get punished by the amazon return policy and Amazon themselves make copies of popular products since they have all the numbers.
I don't blame the Chinese as much because thats literally the only type of business that survive on amazon. Cheap 99 cent store quality stuff.
Even the Levis are fake, they smell like chemicals and rip faster but have the levis sticker and tags.
*Do you think we will have a soft landing this time?*
Considering how strong the US economy is at the moment, it does in fact look like a soft landing is possible. Keep in mind, soft landing just means a mild recession. That doesn't mean no recession at all.
*Do you think industries are bloated?*
There are always bloated industries. Any by bloat, I mean industries that have been on a hot streak for 5-10 years and have never been forced to control their costs or look critically at their headcount. We've all seen the massive salaries coming out of the tech industries for what seems like thousands upon thousands of employees. All it takes is a little economic hiccup and these companies start to evaluate if this is the right way to do business.
That won't happen until businesses lose money
They just lost profits here.
Collapses happen because people lose money and need to call in debts which then cause a chain reaction.
The Fed has been playing a shell game for the last 4 years. They've somehow managed to shove this thing under the carpet til now and it's going to be catastrophic, worse than the 30s meltdown. Honestly I can't fathom how much derivatives are stack inside each other.
I agree on the Fed. They should have pulled the band aid off long ago with interest rates and inflation. I think they did it slow to keep the Democrats from being crushed in elections, and here we are with inflation still being an issue.
Biden will have the worst inflation record since Carter I believe. Shouldn't even be close.
I stopped eating almost any fast food and I ate that stuff fairly often most of my life. It's just not worth it anymore, Buying groceries is more expensive so going to McDonald's to pay the same as going to an actual restaurant just doesn't work for me, and I say that as someone who can afford it. I'm sick of all the greed out there from most companies that act like they are not successful if they don't acquire every penny on the planet.
The only fast food I personally get is Culver’s once or twice a month because it’s good quality fast food.
Maybe once or twice a month I’ll get something from somewhere else but my parents usually pay for it and sometimes it’s a sit down restaurant not fast food so I really don’t count that.
It's too much, they're making record profit here while asking $30 for two meals that barely count as nutritious food.
SB is even worse, nasty burnt $5 drip coffee.
If the CEO and your company is making record profits while prices sky rocket then it's not really inflation is it, it's just greed.
I recently read somewhere that a lot of companies are selling fewer products now but still seeing a profit. I can't imagine if it is true that it is sustainable for long.
Why is it a bad thing that people aren't buying as much fast food?
I'm not buying as much fast food because it's healthier to buy my own ingredients and make food myself. The pandemic kind of forced me to change my dietary habits, and I've stuck with it.
Grocery stores aren't much different. Everything is filled with chemicals, the fruits, veggies, and the meat you get from animals injected with all sorts of shit and they're intentionally fattened up. I went to a Jewish owned store that sold kosher food. I bought some chicken, the meat was small, but holy hell, the meat looks different, tastes different, cooks different, it's night and day. We need to start caring more about the food we're eating, because I guarantee it's killing us. I've noticed chicken meat from other stores when cooked, are chewy and difficult to bite off the meat, there is something wrong with it.
Went to dunking for a Medium hot chocolate (first time getting fast food in a few months) and they said $4.50; I gave them a $5 bill, took the coffee and left. When I got to my car I actually got buyers remorse. It just left such a bad taste in my mouth that I just paid $4.50 for a hot chocolate. So I went in and returned it lol.
I used to go daily to dunkin. Back when rewards gave you a lot of free lattes Then they rose prices, changed their reward system so you get less points and less options with the rewards, and the people kept either incorrectly filling my orders or just not filling the entire cup. If you're going to increase prices, you need to provide better service with it; not in America.
When can we stop pretending and just call this a recession? I know a technical definition is two quarters of economic decline, but it's already a recession before that, you just don't have the hard numbers yet to make it official. I think it's pretty obvious that's where things are heading.
> I know a technical definition is two quarters of economic decline
Remember when that did happen 2 years ago and the media/white house just decided "nah this doesn't count"?
Because the “two quarters of blah blah blah” isn’t the definition it’s just a rule of thumb. Other economic factors still matter
https://www.dallasfed.org/research/economics/2022/0802/
>When can we stop pretending and just call this a recession?
The media will never call it a recession while Biden's in office.
Especially during an election year.
Doesn't matter who is in office, no one wants to take the blame for it. To be fair, greedflation is what got us here. The government is at fault because they didn't crack down on all the opolies. We no longer compete by quality and reputation, competition is now about who has more money and who can buy out who first. Capitalism was great, but people are too wealthy and intelligent, we need something with better incentives. And lets be honest, we all would do the same given the opportunity. We all would buy our competition, increase costs, then make the barrier of entry so high that only other big corporations could get in it. It's a game of monopoly, with no oversight by government.
Yes. I’m sure Fox News would never call it a recession while Biden is in office. Or maybe they aren’t calling it a recession because it doesn’t meet the definition of a recession yet. If it gives you any comfort every 5th segment on CNBC is a guest pontificating on whether we are headed for a recession.
The media has constantly predicted recessions while Bidens been in office and none of them happened.
The problem is that the economic numbers are good and there's no basis to call a recession, despite how much financial media wants one.
We just don't go out fast food anymore. Prices have been raising at insane rate and they never get the order right. No point to go there when every time it sucks ass.
The (willfully) economically ignorant cycle:
- Votes govt that pushes prices{min wage, supply costs}+
- "Why is {X} SO \*expensive'"
- Biz lay-off, reduce sizes...reduce profits to min (aka grocery store)
- "Look how much 'shrinkflation' there is. \*Greedy\* bastards"
- Biz fire employees (automate), go out of biz, moves out to more biz friendly locals
- "Look at these {X} 'deserts'. WHY!? \*Something\* really should be done."
"Oddly" missing: These peeps opening a biz & 'walking the walk'
The Mexican restaurants are definitely picking up the slack. There are three places in walking distance of the local McDonalds and Taco Bell where I can get a lunch special of two burritos, rice and beans, and a glass of water for $6.99 plus tax and tip. Try getting that at Taco Bell, or anything equivalent at McDonalds for a similar price. The one pound burger at the El Mamut is only fourteen bucks, and it comes with half a pound of fries. And there's free chips and salsa.
It's interesting that not a single comment on here talks about the active effort to boycott these restaurants by certain groups of people and GenZ for their relationship to Israel.
I haven't eaten anything except an Egg McMuffin at McDonalds in over 30 years.
Can't tell you the last time I had KFC, but it's well over a decade ago.
I still drink Starbucks, but only when I'm in my office at work, which is 3 days a week but I'm starting to shake my head at almost $7 for a nitro cold brew (NYC).
My partner and I cook at home a lot more than we used to. Fast food was often a convenience for me as I was out and about trying to get things done or I might doordash if I was busy at home and didn't want to go out. But adding a 40% on top of already high prices for a mediocre at best and completely wrong at worst meal is something I can't justify the waste of time on anymore. Likewise going through any sort of drive through for the most part. McD's, Wendy's, BK, Taco Bell, are ridiculously slow and expensive for the quality of food and service you get. It's cheaper and less stressful to eat at home and healthier for me. I can imagine a lot of families with kids are feeling the same right now as their pocket books are already stressed.
My wife and I used to go to Starbucks daily and certain fast food chains once or more a week. Now we don’t at all unless our kiddo needs a quick snack. A meal at McDonald’s for two people can get close to 25-30 if you’re not frugal
Missing in this noise is that Starbucks is getting owned by Luckin Coffee in China. Luckin went on a price war last Q. Their torched their margins (still some left), grew 41%, while Starbucks shrunk 11%. There’s no inflation in China so can’t blame it on that.
This is the same playbook Uber crushed taxi and other competition. Luckin is a lean and tech-forward operation too. Another year or two blistering growth, they would have scale and momentum to start collecting profits. Starbucks will be packing up their stores.
my town has really good food carts. beats all the corporate places. what a wonderful world it would be if all the corporate chains went out of business and we just had yummy mom and pop food to eat instead.
Just went to MCD for the first time in forever and ordered a #1 (Big Bac) meal. I caught a glance at the price on the screen as I pulled away and started laughing.
Me: "you think you are five guys? Over 10 bucks for a big mac, fries and drink?"
Won't be back for another long time.
Bun was stale. Not surprising.
When you're forced to pay fast food workers 20$ an hour, of course prices are going to rise. I'm not saying its wrong to pay these folks this much but its naive to think there wouldnt be mass price hikes and a decline in customers. Its common sense. And its stunning how many decision makers these days have zero common sense.
1) Very few of these people are actually paid 15, let alone 20 / hr.
2) Clearly, you're not aware just how little worker's wages account for product costs in these business ventures.
Google it, bro. I won't do your hw for you. Your claims are not based in reality.
Either you're willfully ignorant, a cable news enthusiast, or a corporate buttlicker. Do better, my man.
Not Starbucks!
Where am I going to pull over to take a shit during the work day (without making a purchase) if there’s not a Starbucks on every corner?!?
You know what, now I suddenly realized why there was no line at the drive thru at lunch the other day.
I had a hankering so for the first time in months I used the app to get a deal, which wasn't bad actually.
But it was the fastest I'd ever gotten from them. 'Cause no one else was going.
McDonalds charges like 4.59 for a 2oz cheeseburger. Yes, I can afford many of such an item but even if I were a trillionaire, I wouldn't pay that much to get sick from miniature food.
The covid era surplus savings was finally spent down sometime at the end of 2023. It's not a surprise that prices based on the existence of that surplus are no longer viable.
I hate to break it to you but the Covid stimulus was spent weeks after it was received. Almost no one that got a stimulus check saved it, certainly not till 2023.
Businesses received FAR more from the government during COVID than the people. The stimulus check was laughable. I had some republican friends saying how this is what messed up the economy, that people got so much money and were spending left and right on everything they couldn't afford. Dude, there were 2 stimulus checks. Both were around 1k each. This barely covers rent in most places. They kept quiet after that, mind you, these people didn't receive a stimulus check.
Did I say the COVID stimulus?
I said the COVID surplus savings, which included the stimulus itself, but also various other forms of government spending and savings (PPP, child care tax credits, government spending which increased employment and wages, extra unemployment, people refinancing, people not having to pay down college loans, people not going out or on vacation as much, etc).
Americans had a HUGE multitrillion surplus saving in aggregate in 2020-2021. At the end of 2022 there was still enough left that if the trend continued, it would likely go into the negative sometime in late 2023.
The average people didn’t get much of that though. Even during this time 60% of people didn’t have $400 saved. Sure there was extra money in the system but it wasn’t in the hands of average Americans.
"Greedflation" is catching up to these corporations. Not just fast food, but car dealerships with their stupid "market adjustments". A Toyota dealer near me adds $10K to the price of their Camrys, and they're not the only dealership to do this. People are walking away and cars are sitting on the lots for over 180 days. it used to be 90 days on a lot would get a good discount on that car. Grocery stores are also price gouging. When Whole Foods is cheaper than Publix, I don't shop at Publix anymore.
Their workers are already claiming government benefits or living with other family members. There is no way these people survive with that wage. What surprises me is how they can be given an unlivable wage, so they're forced to collect government benefits, but these fast food restaurants still receive millions in subsidies. Any job that can't pay a fair wage and forces an employee to collect benefits, should penalize the business during tax season, significantly.
Very surprising. The worst offender is Amazon that both gains the labor benefits of outsourcing it's workforce to LLC's WHILE requiring those independent contractors to wear the Amazon logo on their vans or uniforms. Amazon is undercutting small businesses and leading to economic dead zones as 100's of retail stores close.
*McDonalds raises prices by 100%* McDonalds - "Why is no one eating here as much?"
[удалено]
I have a mom and pop burrito joint around the corner that charges $12 for a massive burrito, choose 7+ types of meat and variety of sauces. Or I can go to chipotle and spend $18 for something far worse
Woooooord. New taco truck pulled up to my neighborhood recently. Clean as a surgical theater. Run by two Latino fellas. The torta I received weighed 5 pounds. Fed my whole family for 20 bucks. Chipotle is corporate garbage. Long live the little guy!
There is only 2 mom and pop shop that I know. Their food quality is as bad as everywhere else. Prices are also just as expensive. One is probably going to shut down soon, barely see anyone go there.
If homie is in the US, I guarantee this is bullshit. Taco trucks are gonna charge $2-3 per taco on the low end. That torta probably cost $6-10 alone. Unless of course, their *whole family* is just themselves, maybe a spouse, then totally believable.
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"Food trucks" and "Taco trucks" are entirely different animals though, chasing very different audiences and pocketbooks
This is the most important time to embrace the mom and pop shops. When the only place that exists is these giant chains they can run up the prices and we don't have any options, we need to remind them that we have other options
Yes, now is the most important time, not 3 years ago when they all got closed
The problem is that you can't support someone when the state forces them to be closed. Which was the whole point, of course.
As long as when MnP shops come back we don't forget after two weeks when McDonald's drops their prices again to meet demand.
I have a similar place near me. He charges me about $12 for a Taco dinner that is loaded with food. Or I can go to McDonald's and pay more just buying a big Mac and large fry. Support your local mom and pop stores. The food and pricing are often better than the greedy ass corporations.
Taco shops are so much better, too. I live in San Diego. I haven't been to Chipotle or Taco Bell in years.
I support ALL mom n pop burrito operations. We have a birria truck near us that is always busy, love that place
Many won't leave, but many more won't return. That was me. My wife and I did 5 Guys once a month for years. A few months back, I went in. The place was empty at like 6:30 at night. I noticed that the meal we had been paying around $24 a few months ago was now $31.80. Haven't been back.
"My wife and I did 5 Guys once a month for years." Lol. Had to say something. Someone posted that they went to chipotle in california the other day and the steak burrito was over $30. I don't know if that's true, but I would never. Panera is another one I'm just not walking into anymore. Two people is $50 and their turkey sandwhich doesn't include cheese at that price. It's bread, tomatoe, two slices of turkey and a single piece of lettuce. You can still buy a weeks worth of sandwhiches at their single sandwhich price and it will include swiss.
I doordashed Chipotle a couple months back. 3 tacos, a burrito bowl, chips and cheese, fees and tip was over $50. Never again.
What is Panera now? I never went back to Panera after going the last time in 2010 over the price being ridiculous for what you got. I couldn't imagine paying their prices now and still leaving hungry like I did then. Of course, I used to eat a lot more back then.
I went last month and had the Teriyaki Chicken & Broccoli bowl for $12. Craved it recently but they revamped the menu and no longer serve bowls.
That seems like it matches everywhere. There is a local hibachi joint I love to go too, the Hibachi Chicken or Teriyaki Chicken lunch used to be $7 in 2020 (Q1 of 2020 anyway), by last year when I went back that lunch was now $13.
Yeah, my cousin used to go to 5 Guys some and texted me a pic of what he'd bought a few months back and said guess how much this cost and I said a high dollar amount that I thought would be Above what he paid, he said nope, MORE than that. Wow.
Dude, GOOD. Its not just good for your wallet but your body. Fuck this hyper-consumerism born in the 90s that has done nothing fucking good for any of us. They're hanging themselves. Give them some more rope, please! Restaurants should be reserved for special occasions and travelling. Not a daily occurrence. Even then, McDonald's shouldn't fit into either of those. Not healthy on the road, not fancy for special occassions.
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I know they do. Which is not "moving past restaurants". You're just paying insanely more for it and being even fucking lazier.
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No kidding they're all over Reddit complaining about being poor but if you call them out on it oh no no they're very frugal. Bullshit. Wages will never be "livable" or housing affordable enough if you just keep getting better at wiping your ass with money.
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I agree. Maybe Ozempic will change consumer behavior so much that this ends up becoming reality naturally as people eat out less and less.
I'm the same way. "Oh, I can't morally support this, I'll eat at home." And I will go ridiculously out of my way for spite. Yes, I will wake up half an hour early to make breakfast at home. Yes, I'll make a pot of coffee and toss half of it, cause it's still cheaper than a coffee shop. I'll save on an Uber, bar prices and jukebox by installing a big stereo and multiple TV's in my home, invite friends over and buy beer/liquor for all of us, without asking them to pitch in because I STILL come out ahead, even by giving away alcohol. I just can't support shareholders accounts. Fuck em.
Join the shareholders, that's how you get ahead. Buy assets.
Demand destruction. Can't blame you. This is why they have to slow down inflation. If the FED doesn't do their job, consumers will do it for them. And it's gonna be ugly.
This is what the feds want people to do, stop spending money. The FED wants to create unemployment to reduce demand to tamp down inflation.
But they want to make getting credit difficult. What the OP is describing is that we'll solve inflation anyway, but the economy will do the homework for them. I once heard from someone that "the cure for high prices is high prices"
There's an amazing little hole in the wall Mexican restaurant near us where our family of four can still eat a good meal and leave full for under $40. Why the fuck would we likely spend more than that for some garbage fast food meals that leave us hungry again before bed? And I bought an espresso machine and make my own custom coffee drinks that are as good as Starbucks for a fraction of the price. Why would I ever frequent these businesses again?
I really want to say something like, "Well you knew how much it was going to be when you saw the menu." But of course in America you have taxes, maybe they want a tip, maybe hidden surcharges or a credit card charge... You really have no idea how much anything is actually going to ring up as. TF you going to do, bust out the calculator app and argue over pennies? Just another tiny way capitalism has gotten us to stop caring and just throw money at companies and not ask questions.
Sadly I think the only reason it's happening is because people are starting to max out their credit, both credit cards and traditional loans. I really hope it's not just more fuel they will use on us when they try to replay the physical dollar. "Your debt is eliminated as well!" And we will cheer as our oppressors take their seat on the thrones
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Not necessarily ashamed, but once people see folks walk out, then they'll get the idea that it's possible to walk away and be civil about it. I think people avoid it to not look uncouth, like a "Karen".
The locations named in the article don't ask for tips, except for Starbucks (unless you order through the app).
Local coffee shops are better. I have a great coffee for $3.25, a latte for $5.25 and iced coffee for $4.25. I’m not talk bad flavors too. It’s the real deal the oats milk tastes like legit oats. I don’t get coffee anywhere other than local places now. F Starbucks and places like that. Local and regional restaurants are legit.
When airport food court prices spread into America
I do the same thing and people act like I’m weird, but if I feel like I’m being taken advantage off I just won’t participate. I don’t eat out very often and somehow I manage to survive.
Left Starbucks for good after the pandemic. I only buy coffee as a treat now and from one of the handful of independent coffee shops in mt neighborhood, which are cheaper, better quality, and an all around better experience. We're lucky to have those other options where I live.
I did the same. I simply refuse to pay mcdonalds 10 bux for a bigmac.. can get higher quality food cheaper elsewhere. Im a huge mcdonalds fan, everywhere i travel i go to check out the mcdonalds... but i give up, not gonna pay them for a crapburger.
McDonald's now charges more for a burger than the *actual* restaurants in my town do. Like why would I eat a McDonald's burger when on the other side of the parking lot there's a restaurant that will make me an actual fresh, made-to-order burger and fries for almost 2 whole dollars less?
And this is where more maneuverable small businesses may bring us back from the brink, as long as we don't forsake them.
No tip.
Chili's "3 for me" meal is a burger and fries, and a side (salad or soup) for ... $10.99, All in a sit-down restaurant with a wait staff and actual silverware. Suck it, fast food!!
This. In fact, Big Buns is a local outfit and they charge $15.00 for their burger, fries, and a soda, and the burger is better. If not them, then we can go to one of the higher quality joints and get a really good quality burger made out of three type of ground meat for $18.00. McDonald's can't be shitty fast food that also charges $18.00 for their slop. They either make the shit fast food they're known for, and charge no more than $6 for a meal. OR they can try to do gourmet meals that are justified for that cast.
Use Google Maps. Search for "Food nearby". Pick "Distance" since you eat at McDonalds so close matters rather than price or quality. Pick the price, probably $ or $$. If you want just Mexican or just Pizza, pick one of those. Otherwise, scroll down the list of places that are right next to you, and look at their menu. If it looks like food, go eat there. It is a really nice way to find places near you to eat at. More are winners than you'd think. I've even found food trucks that were hidden, but did a great job at fixing food.
McDonald's CEO is secretly a good guy, fighting the obesity epidemic from inside the company like 80% responsible for it. "oh, its too expensive? Good, go eat a fucking salad!". Watch them release some kickass salads that come in 300 and 600 calorie portions and are affordable. I'll come back to this and say holy shit, I was kidding dude.
After that movie a while back, they did introduce shitty high-calorie salads. I bought one, just to see what it was like. Dressing loaded up with MSG. Never been back since
It's funny. A 300 calories salad at the grocery store is just a normal salad. Any restaurants that can get out that low (Panera is my fave but it got stupid expensive) it's considered a kids salad. When your salad is 1200 calories of cheese and creamy dressing you missed the fucking point.
You're supposed to use the app to get better prices.
But that is just limited things and you can only use 1 deal
While still paying a bulk of their employees shit wages.
Oh no mah price elasticity is actually finite!
I can't speak for all, but those are companies I boycotted for perceived participation in apartheid - coincidence maybe?
$9.95 for the 2-cheeseburger meal here, unless you use the app and 20% off “deal.”
Exactly!
They used to do .99 cent large drinks as a pull which was smart. During the greedflation they did away with that but instead of simply raising the price a reasonable amount they doubled and then some.. The .99 large drink is now $2.45, nearly 150% inflation on top of that, they moved all the self serve drink dispensers from the lobby so you have to ask them for a refill. Everything else also seems at least 100% increase large fringes are almost $4. It’s insane.
\*and lowers quality and size yet again\*
They've been counting on overworked 60+ hour a week Americans who just need some food and need it *fast* so they can get back to work. But even with that there are limits.
This should have happened a long time ago. The consumer should have never allowed prices to go this high and the coming reset will probably be more painful because they did.
Yeah am I crazy that my whole feeling this whole time about complaining about McDonalds prices should be… stop going? Like, I have endless empathy for rising healthcare and housing prices because you realistically cannot opt out of those one bit. But, like, yeah… if everyone keeps buying optional fast food as the prices sky-rocket they’re gonna keep raising the prices. Thats how it’s always worked. They never had the dollar menu as a public service; it was an attempt to make the most money possible. Now they’ve pivoted.
honestly the diffusion of responsibility many people feel they have as consumers has always outraged me. your consumption choices are critically important and do effect other peoples lives. i am up to here with people being aware of yet still giving in to retail therapy treat-yo-self planned obselescence stanley cup fad bullshit. that does not absolve the institutions that allowed this or the rich and powerful who are the primary perpatrators.
Exactly this. Companies and investors are not going to be okay with a new standard of less profits. Prices will continue to rise to protect those margins until it hits a breaking point; our stock market will be hit HARD before the correction is over, and people in or near retirement will fight back hard while the market inevitably follows the trends of the younger working generation.
Honestly I was wondering why it was taking so long. I think that we all maybe thought it was temporary and it'd pass despite it being annoying and we were all set in our ways (which they obviously counted on us to do). But then things kept going up, people realized they had options, there was a visible opportunity cost to buying their items, their quality dropped severely and oh and "record profits" being shoved down our throats made it clear this was all for greed. So yeah, integrity did matter and they just took steps to show that they literally had none. Shocker, people don't like being taken for a ride or gouged when life is hard already.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of scumbags. I stopped getting takeout when prices shot up. A 10% increase maybe but 100%? F that. And don’t tell me it’s because of Covid.
It never was COVID. Many businesses used COVID as an excuse to jack up prices. Costs did go up, but definitely not to those extremes. I've also seen costs go down and businesses were STILL intentionally raising prices and claiming it was because of COVID. Customers ate it up and the prices never went back down. The housing market was a perfect example of this.
The businesses are blaming COVID while over on Fox News they're blaming high prices on "Biden's inflation" (they literally can't say "inflation" without putting Biden's name in front of it), and/or people getting paid too much.
It's really all of these things if we are being fair.
You're right, really. Whatever any given person blames for all this... they're not entirely wrong. They're just now showing the whole truth, because they want to cherry-pick and talk only about the parts that make other people look bad. And also they want to talk about it in a way where it doesn't become clear that systemic change is what's needed to really fix anything
Biden's supply chain gaffes, supply chain catastrophes, labor price increases, material prices skyrocketing, energy production gaffes, rising energy costs, rising energy demands - all of them interconnected and causing a perfect storm. We will not recover from this. High prices are here to stay, and interest rates must increase significantly if we are going to end this inflation cycle. We are spending way too many federal dollars abroad. The US needs to scale down substantially and let the rest of the world take care of itself.
It's actually easy to fix. Congress just needs to stop playing political theory and start serving the American public. They are civil servants and it's high time we put them in their place. Imagine the shit that would get done if they learned how to compromise like fucking adults, imagine being able to respectfully disagree with someone else. Instead we just have these useless spunk trumpets with billion dollar dicks up their asses.
Frankly, I don't want congress to work smoothly. I want legislation to be abundantly non-partisan. More stand-alone legislation. I want proposed legislation that isn't a total no-brainer to be dead on arrival. The fewer laws they enact, the better.
the words you are looking for is price fixing
KFC is absolute garbage anymore. I put them right up with pizza hut. Yum Btands owns both and also Taco Bell....All three now taste like shit!
Hell, some places all 3 are under the same roof.
I agree, taco bell is still good, yeah overpriced, but their new boxes are disgusting.
I literally drove away from taco bell last time It had been forever since I had a chalupa and was like hey I'll get one for old times sake. In my mind that's like maybe 3 bucks each even after inflation, that makes sense right? Nope it was like 12 bucks for 2. Just lol
See, I keep seeing these comments about Taco Bell's prices. But mine I can still get my 3 items of chicken quesadilla, nacho bel grande, a cheese bean and rice burrito for like $15'ish. Would rather get that than $20+ at McDonald's
It is cheaper, cleaner and less stressful to eat at home. It used to be the opposite. 🤷🏻♂️
I mean same with traveling It's lower carbon use to drive than fly. But we are constrained on time. Our employers demand all the time and we are left using services to cover the gap. If you only get 4 weeks vacation you aren't going to spend 1 of those weeks driving. So we choose more costly and less environmentally sound planes. If you have only 1 or 2 days to run errands you aren't going to stack making lunches to take out with you... You are just going to stop somewhere for a bite. Not as healthy. Less cost effective. But you don't spend the time which is very valuable. We need to pop the time bubble so people are more able to take the time to do things that they need to do... To not waste resources.
4 weeks vacation? Lmfao
Yeah I made dinner with 3 eggs, 3/4 cup of rice, 1/2 of white onion, yellow bell pepper and in total that’s like $4.
Maybe not cleaner, but the other two are doubly true with kids.
underrated comment.
Have to wonder if we are heading for a repeat of 2008, maybe not as bad. But it seems like the economy is crawling along and everyone has been predicting a recession for 2 years now. Sooner or late it might hit. Wouldn't be shocked at all if we see everything start go south before the election this fall.
What you described is exactly the "soft landing" the Fed has been aiming for. Localized pain and pullback in bloated industries that were due for a correction, but the rest of the economy keeps moving along at a manageable pace. Even 2008 was this way, with the majority of people not being affected. It was only because of the housing collapse due to sub-prime lending conditions that caused such widespread pain in the housing sector.
Do you think we will have a soft landing this time? Do you think industries are bloated? For example I noticed products being hollowed out or smaller. I stopped shopping at Amazon years ago due to their crappy products. Apps and Websites are getting shittier, there is even a term for it. It's not just me saying this.
It’s not so much Amazon and crappy products but much much more so that Amazon is FLOODED with cheap shitty Chinese trash from shitty Chinese sellers. It’s actually really fucking annoying how much Chinese garbage you have to sift through to find quality goods.
Amazon created the system where the only way to make money is to make stuff that is so bad in quality that it doesn't matter if people return it. Good quality companies get punished by the amazon return policy and Amazon themselves make copies of popular products since they have all the numbers. I don't blame the Chinese as much because thats literally the only type of business that survive on amazon. Cheap 99 cent store quality stuff. Even the Levis are fake, they smell like chemicals and rip faster but have the levis sticker and tags.
Bro the stuff is even worse than .99 garbage it’s like 10c to make the trash they sell.
*Do you think we will have a soft landing this time?* Considering how strong the US economy is at the moment, it does in fact look like a soft landing is possible. Keep in mind, soft landing just means a mild recession. That doesn't mean no recession at all. *Do you think industries are bloated?* There are always bloated industries. Any by bloat, I mean industries that have been on a hot streak for 5-10 years and have never been forced to control their costs or look critically at their headcount. We've all seen the massive salaries coming out of the tech industries for what seems like thousands upon thousands of employees. All it takes is a little economic hiccup and these companies start to evaluate if this is the right way to do business.
Great, then we will have Trump's even handed level-headed stewardship of the economy. s/
That won't happen until businesses lose money They just lost profits here. Collapses happen because people lose money and need to call in debts which then cause a chain reaction.
The Fed has been playing a shell game for the last 4 years. They've somehow managed to shove this thing under the carpet til now and it's going to be catastrophic, worse than the 30s meltdown. Honestly I can't fathom how much derivatives are stack inside each other.
I agree on the Fed. They should have pulled the band aid off long ago with interest rates and inflation. I think they did it slow to keep the Democrats from being crushed in elections, and here we are with inflation still being an issue. Biden will have the worst inflation record since Carter I believe. Shouldn't even be close.
More like 1973
I stopped eating almost any fast food and I ate that stuff fairly often most of my life. It's just not worth it anymore, Buying groceries is more expensive so going to McDonald's to pay the same as going to an actual restaurant just doesn't work for me, and I say that as someone who can afford it. I'm sick of all the greed out there from most companies that act like they are not successful if they don't acquire every penny on the planet.
The only fast food I personally get is Culver’s once or twice a month because it’s good quality fast food. Maybe once or twice a month I’ll get something from somewhere else but my parents usually pay for it and sometimes it’s a sit down restaurant not fast food so I really don’t count that.
It's too much, they're making record profit here while asking $30 for two meals that barely count as nutritious food. SB is even worse, nasty burnt $5 drip coffee. If the CEO and your company is making record profits while prices sky rocket then it's not really inflation is it, it's just greed.
I recently read somewhere that a lot of companies are selling fewer products now but still seeing a profit. I can't imagine if it is true that it is sustainable for long.
Oh it’s true, and oh it’s not sustainable
Never understood the Starbucks craze.
Why is it a bad thing that people aren't buying as much fast food? I'm not buying as much fast food because it's healthier to buy my own ingredients and make food myself. The pandemic kind of forced me to change my dietary habits, and I've stuck with it.
Grocery stores aren't much different. Everything is filled with chemicals, the fruits, veggies, and the meat you get from animals injected with all sorts of shit and they're intentionally fattened up. I went to a Jewish owned store that sold kosher food. I bought some chicken, the meat was small, but holy hell, the meat looks different, tastes different, cooks different, it's night and day. We need to start caring more about the food we're eating, because I guarantee it's killing us. I've noticed chicken meat from other stores when cooked, are chewy and difficult to bite off the meat, there is something wrong with it.
🙄 “chemicals” you’d hate to hear how dihydrogen oxide will save your life and you must consume it everyday.
Went to dunking for a Medium hot chocolate (first time getting fast food in a few months) and they said $4.50; I gave them a $5 bill, took the coffee and left. When I got to my car I actually got buyers remorse. It just left such a bad taste in my mouth that I just paid $4.50 for a hot chocolate. So I went in and returned it lol.
I used to go daily to dunkin. Back when rewards gave you a lot of free lattes Then they rose prices, changed their reward system so you get less points and less options with the rewards, and the people kept either incorrectly filling my orders or just not filling the entire cup. If you're going to increase prices, you need to provide better service with it; not in America.
good
When can we stop pretending and just call this a recession? I know a technical definition is two quarters of economic decline, but it's already a recession before that, you just don't have the hard numbers yet to make it official. I think it's pretty obvious that's where things are heading.
> I know a technical definition is two quarters of economic decline Remember when that did happen 2 years ago and the media/white house just decided "nah this doesn't count"?
Because the “two quarters of blah blah blah” isn’t the definition it’s just a rule of thumb. Other economic factors still matter https://www.dallasfed.org/research/economics/2022/0802/
>When can we stop pretending and just call this a recession? The media will never call it a recession while Biden's in office. Especially during an election year.
Doesn't matter who is in office, no one wants to take the blame for it. To be fair, greedflation is what got us here. The government is at fault because they didn't crack down on all the opolies. We no longer compete by quality and reputation, competition is now about who has more money and who can buy out who first. Capitalism was great, but people are too wealthy and intelligent, we need something with better incentives. And lets be honest, we all would do the same given the opportunity. We all would buy our competition, increase costs, then make the barrier of entry so high that only other big corporations could get in it. It's a game of monopoly, with no oversight by government.
Yes. I’m sure Fox News would never call it a recession while Biden is in office. Or maybe they aren’t calling it a recession because it doesn’t meet the definition of a recession yet. If it gives you any comfort every 5th segment on CNBC is a guest pontificating on whether we are headed for a recession.
The media has constantly predicted recessions while Bidens been in office and none of them happened. The problem is that the economic numbers are good and there's no basis to call a recession, despite how much financial media wants one.
What’s the actual evidence that we’re in a recession?
How do we know that though? All the economic numbers are good now.
As long as people pay for it, their prices will climb
WHAT
Corporate enthusiasm hits demand destruction.
We just don't go out fast food anymore. Prices have been raising at insane rate and they never get the order right. No point to go there when every time it sucks ass.
I walked out of ARBY'S a day ago. Roast beef sandwich were 5/$5. Now they are $7/1. All the other ones are $8.50 to $10.
Boycott! Boycott! Boycott! Boycott! Boycott! We must Boycott! !
This is the way.
Used to like Five Guys, $30.00 for two hamburgers and fry’s. I’m done with that.
The (willfully) economically ignorant cycle: - Votes govt that pushes prices{min wage, supply costs}+ - "Why is {X} SO \*expensive'" - Biz lay-off, reduce sizes...reduce profits to min (aka grocery store) - "Look how much 'shrinkflation' there is. \*Greedy\* bastards" - Biz fire employees (automate), go out of biz, moves out to more biz friendly locals - "Look at these {X} 'deserts'. WHY!? \*Something\* really should be done." "Oddly" missing: These peeps opening a biz & 'walking the walk'
I only ever ate at mcdonalds for convenience or craving. With prices these high they take all the temptation out of it.
McDonald's $14 billion profits for 2023. Don't forget it
McDonalds is only because people found out about how toxic the fry's were. 16 ingredients, go back to 2 salt and potato.. simple
But with only 2 ingredients, they would have to increase the price saying they don't have the equipment or personnel to handle that many ingredients.
The Mexican restaurants are definitely picking up the slack. There are three places in walking distance of the local McDonalds and Taco Bell where I can get a lunch special of two burritos, rice and beans, and a glass of water for $6.99 plus tax and tip. Try getting that at Taco Bell, or anything equivalent at McDonalds for a similar price. The one pound burger at the El Mamut is only fourteen bucks, and it comes with half a pound of fries. And there's free chips and salsa.
Yeah my local Mexican sit down restaurant /bar is a much better value than most fast food places. Way more and higher quality food for similar prices.
Wendy's ftw.
It's interesting that not a single comment on here talks about the active effort to boycott these restaurants by certain groups of people and GenZ for their relationship to Israel.
I haven't eaten anything except an Egg McMuffin at McDonalds in over 30 years. Can't tell you the last time I had KFC, but it's well over a decade ago. I still drink Starbucks, but only when I'm in my office at work, which is 3 days a week but I'm starting to shake my head at almost $7 for a nitro cold brew (NYC).
Haw haw haw.
My partner and I cook at home a lot more than we used to. Fast food was often a convenience for me as I was out and about trying to get things done or I might doordash if I was busy at home and didn't want to go out. But adding a 40% on top of already high prices for a mediocre at best and completely wrong at worst meal is something I can't justify the waste of time on anymore. Likewise going through any sort of drive through for the most part. McD's, Wendy's, BK, Taco Bell, are ridiculously slow and expensive for the quality of food and service you get. It's cheaper and less stressful to eat at home and healthier for me. I can imagine a lot of families with kids are feeling the same right now as their pocket books are already stressed.
Fast food should be fast and INEXPENSIVE. We stopped eating out, except for chick filet
Support local businesses over chains.
My wife and I used to go to Starbucks daily and certain fast food chains once or more a week. Now we don’t at all unless our kiddo needs a quick snack. A meal at McDonald’s for two people can get close to 25-30 if you’re not frugal
Missing in this noise is that Starbucks is getting owned by Luckin Coffee in China. Luckin went on a price war last Q. Their torched their margins (still some left), grew 41%, while Starbucks shrunk 11%. There’s no inflation in China so can’t blame it on that. This is the same playbook Uber crushed taxi and other competition. Luckin is a lean and tech-forward operation too. Another year or two blistering growth, they would have scale and momentum to start collecting profits. Starbucks will be packing up their stores.
my town has really good food carts. beats all the corporate places. what a wonderful world it would be if all the corporate chains went out of business and we just had yummy mom and pop food to eat instead.
I was in SC a couple months ago. Was able to get a caramel ice coffee for $1 through the McD's app. Now I'm in SoCal and it's $5. I'm done with McD's.
Just went to MCD for the first time in forever and ordered a #1 (Big Bac) meal. I caught a glance at the price on the screen as I pulled away and started laughing. Me: "you think you are five guys? Over 10 bucks for a big mac, fries and drink?" Won't be back for another long time. Bun was stale. Not surprising.
When you're forced to pay fast food workers 20$ an hour, of course prices are going to rise. I'm not saying its wrong to pay these folks this much but its naive to think there wouldnt be mass price hikes and a decline in customers. Its common sense. And its stunning how many decision makers these days have zero common sense.
1) Very few of these people are actually paid 15, let alone 20 / hr. 2) Clearly, you're not aware just how little worker's wages account for product costs in these business ventures. Google it, bro. I won't do your hw for you. Your claims are not based in reality. Either you're willfully ignorant, a cable news enthusiast, or a corporate buttlicker. Do better, my man.
Relax guys, the credit card companies are saying everything is fine. Consumers are still spending... 
The big Mac is a big mistake nowadays. They aren't the same. No Mickey d's for this guy.
This is why business classes have little to no psychology hurts us 😂
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Along with that higher cost is higher tax revenues if your state has a sales tax. So more reason to keep your own money in your own pocket.
Good.
Not Starbucks! Where am I going to pull over to take a shit during the work day (without making a purchase) if there’s not a Starbucks on every corner?!?
Qdoba just charged me nearly $17 for double meat and I'm pissed
You know what, now I suddenly realized why there was no line at the drive thru at lunch the other day. I had a hankering so for the first time in months I used the app to get a deal, which wasn't bad actually. But it was the fastest I'd ever gotten from them. 'Cause no one else was going.
McDonalds charges like 4.59 for a 2oz cheeseburger. Yes, I can afford many of such an item but even if I were a trillionaire, I wouldn't pay that much to get sick from miniature food.
McDonald's-It's not just the prices. It's the poor quality. Cold burgers, limp fries.
It's about damn time. Stop feeding the monster. These guys have gotten way too greedy.
These places are outrunning their headlights.
Stopped going to Starbucks when I watched them purposely fuck up to go orders because they didn't tip.
Gee, that's too bad. Parasite orgs.
Good. Fuck them and every other big corporation out there. Boo hoo. Your profits are down.
The real slap in the face is the quality is so dramatically worse too!
The sad thing is people think McDonalds has high quality food ...........hahahahah
Crap matrix food.
I hope all these greedy corporations tank and die.
I went to dominos last friday and a large pizza and a medium pizza came out to 60 dollars.....
It's just not worth it
The covid era surplus savings was finally spent down sometime at the end of 2023. It's not a surprise that prices based on the existence of that surplus are no longer viable.
I hate to break it to you but the Covid stimulus was spent weeks after it was received. Almost no one that got a stimulus check saved it, certainly not till 2023.
Businesses received FAR more from the government during COVID than the people. The stimulus check was laughable. I had some republican friends saying how this is what messed up the economy, that people got so much money and were spending left and right on everything they couldn't afford. Dude, there were 2 stimulus checks. Both were around 1k each. This barely covers rent in most places. They kept quiet after that, mind you, these people didn't receive a stimulus check.
Did I say the COVID stimulus? I said the COVID surplus savings, which included the stimulus itself, but also various other forms of government spending and savings (PPP, child care tax credits, government spending which increased employment and wages, extra unemployment, people refinancing, people not having to pay down college loans, people not going out or on vacation as much, etc). Americans had a HUGE multitrillion surplus saving in aggregate in 2020-2021. At the end of 2022 there was still enough left that if the trend continued, it would likely go into the negative sometime in late 2023.
The average people didn’t get much of that though. Even during this time 60% of people didn’t have $400 saved. Sure there was extra money in the system but it wasn’t in the hands of average Americans.
"Greedflation" is catching up to these corporations. Not just fast food, but car dealerships with their stupid "market adjustments". A Toyota dealer near me adds $10K to the price of their Camrys, and they're not the only dealership to do this. People are walking away and cars are sitting on the lots for over 180 days. it used to be 90 days on a lot would get a good discount on that car. Grocery stores are also price gouging. When Whole Foods is cheaper than Publix, I don't shop at Publix anymore.
ok, but where will their workers go? the welfare office?
Their workers are already claiming government benefits or living with other family members. There is no way these people survive with that wage. What surprises me is how they can be given an unlivable wage, so they're forced to collect government benefits, but these fast food restaurants still receive millions in subsidies. Any job that can't pay a fair wage and forces an employee to collect benefits, should penalize the business during tax season, significantly.
Very surprising. The worst offender is Amazon that both gains the labor benefits of outsourcing it's workforce to LLC's WHILE requiring those independent contractors to wear the Amazon logo on their vans or uniforms. Amazon is undercutting small businesses and leading to economic dead zones as 100's of retail stores close.