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Comment by bell-cot | Hacker News Reader

> "The whole conceit was that you were getting some OK-level of food for a low price and you could get it quick," Roberts said. "Now I can't justify the expense. If I'm paying $15 for a burger and fry and drink and it's McDonalds quality, forget about it — I'm going home."

My n=1 - I live in a pretty upscale American city, and ~$15 will get you a very nice burger and fries (no drink) at some of the most upscale restaurants in town. Pay attention to their Happy Hours, and it's more like $11 or $12 (so you could add a soft drink). A huge portion of meaty lamb roganjosh & rice at my favorite Indian take-away is $16. Why would anyone ever want to go near a McDonalds?

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There was a time when ~$3 could get you two very average 450kCal burgers from McDonald’s. One could hypothetically survive off $6/day. Less if you were in a cheap state.

This is the experience people are disappointed about missing; McDonald’s was never about the big ticket combos, it’s always been about the value deals which couldn’t be found anywhere else. I worked for three years at a Canadian McDonald’s, week after week our most popular sandwiches were the McDouble and Junior Chicken, each coming in at $1.46 CDN after tax. Now they’re both $4.50 after tax, roughly a 300% increase in the span of 10 years. People are right to be upset: the entire category of ultra-cheap-takeout is being swept out from under them with McDonald’s being just one of many companies following the same trend.

A good burger will run you $25 in Boston. Wages are generally higher, but still. It's kind of insane. That being said, I noticed probably even 10+ years ago that fast food prices were a pretty bad deal.

I live in the Greater Boston area and you can still find decent meals for say $18 takeaway. I saw the chart on reddit and can't find it right now but McDa prices effectively doubled in the last 5ish years. Many fast food places way outpaced inflation.

It makes almost no sense to go fast food. Cava is about $12-13 out the door. It's even crazier on the west coast where in and out exists. I don't understand how McDs exists and since its significantly more liked than Burger King, even in a HCOL area, I don't see how they make money.

Boston's food prices are pretty nutty. I've been here for almost a month and a lot of things here are outrageously expensive. I'm not even talking about food that tourists are meant to eat, but just everyday basics. The funny thing too is that there's so many college kids here that the price of a mere burger seems like a low-level swindle to capitalize off the proliferation of student debt and gimmies from Late Boomer (Gen X) parents.

> Why would anyone ever want to go near a McDonalds

Depending on the franchisee, it's often one of the only late night options in town, giving sustenance to the stoners and post-drinks drunchies of the world.

They also got in on the drive-thru cafe concept before Starbucks figured it out, thus a lot of people became accustomed to going to their local "McCafe" in the morning. Never had their coffee, but I've heard it's not half bad to at least being acceptable. Oddly enough, public opinion seems way more divided on the quality of Starbucks than that of McCafe.

It's funny that restaurant burger prices in my EU country are basically the same as in your "upscale American city". I thought everything there was more expensive since the higher percentiles of your salaries are so much higher.

North America has a unified agriculture market amongst Mexico, US, and Canada - drastically simplifying logistics.

The EU has a similar setup, but 26 countries still adds some overhead versus 3 countries with some form of a "Commerce Clause". It makes sense though - a Polish farmer probably can't compete with a Dutch farmer at scale due to less capital to invest in relatively expensive automation or larger operations.

At least you aren't paying East Asian prices for a lot of produce.

Don’t forget to factor tip and taxes into your prices. Without those it’s difficult to actually compare them to countries that actually show the final price.

You don’t tip for takeaway unless you’re a mark.

McDonalds is a great place to hang out. It’s well-lit, down to earth, not too loud or quiet, you can serve yourself drinks, and meet people from all walks of life in there.

re: McDonalds:

This applies to Burger King also: both franchises have (usually) hidden away on their discount menus small 'classic' hamburgers: small burger and bun, pickles, mustard, and ketchup. They are very inexpensive (usually, but may depend on individual places).

There little classic burgers remind me of when I was a kid, and I enjoy them. Two of them makes a light meal.

I am in my 70s and very well off financially, but it makes me feel bad to see a young family in front of me doing custom orders for adults and kids, and run up a bill much more than going into a non-franchise locally owned restaurant and getting a real meal.

Another tip for older people: Burger King offers a $1 large cup of coffee to seniors but you have to ask for it.

Whataburger (a Texas regional chain) has (or at least they still did as of a year or so ago when I last ordered one) one of those basic burgers and I don’t believe it’s even on the menu - you just have to know about it. But I like their name for it - the “justaburger”; it’s just a burger.

Try it at 00:30. In many places a Taco Bell is all that’s open.

A burger at Applebee's is $13.

Unless your idea of a "very nice burger" at an "upscale" restaurant is Five Guys you're full of it.

Ann Arbor locals generally don't compare The Gandy Dancer or Weber's to Applebee's.

I'll assume that you are not from this area?

(Admittedly, you can spend $29 on a burger at West End Grill. Though that's not with fries, but their excellent sautéed vegetables, and choice of soup or salad. And if you're dining there, I'd really suggest spending a bit more to get their smoked duck.)

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