I agree. Fast food used to be cheap; back in the late 1990s I remember promotions such as 29 cent and 39 cent hamburgers and cheeseburgers from McDonald’s, 99 cent promo items from Taco Bell such as the introduction of the Gordita, Subway’s $5 footlongs throughout the 2000s, and the various dollar menus that McDonald’s and their competitors had in the 2000s. Even outside of promotions, even the most expensive combo meal didn’t exceed $10 until just a few years ago. Yes, I understand inflation exists, but fast food prices to me seem to have undergone dramatic price hikes since around 2010, and the hikes since the pandemic started have made fast food ridiculously priced when considering the low quality of the food. Nowadays fast food combo meals in my area (Silicon Valley) have exceeded the $10 mark. Even Sacramento, which has lower housing prices and generally lower wages, is no escape; a week or so ago I pulled up to a McDonald’s and was shocked to see that the prices were
higher than the already sky-high prices I’ve seen in Silicon Valley. These days I find myself going into a grocery store and getting grab-and-go items whenever I need a quick bite; it’s generally cheaper and the options are healthier anyway. However, sometimes when I forgot to plan ahead or when I can’t plan ahead, I have no choice but to buy fast food and pay today’s insane prices.
Interestingly enough, I recently returned from a trip to Japan, and was amazed by how cheap fast food was there. $10 barely gets you a crappy combo meal in California these days, but ¥1400 in Tokyo gets you some delicious, filling meals, not just from McDonald’s, MOS Burger, and Yoshinoya (just to name a few of the more traditional fast food places), but also at some sit-down chains such as Yayoi-ken, which specializes in set meals (teishoku); I had a wonderful sukiyaki plate with extra beef, rice, and miso soup for less than ¥1400, including tax (the 10% consumption tax is generally part of displayed prices in Japan), and there’s no tipping in Japan. The same plate would’ve easily been $20 before the 9-10% sales tax and an 18% tip in California.