Burrito Inflation

[FXCLM5]

my cafeteria at work

pre pandemic

$6.49 gets you burger of day, unlimited fries and 20 oz soft drink

changed to

$7.99 for burger and fries

changed now to

$8.99 for burger only
$1.99 for fries

so $8 to $11 just within the last 2 months, and dont even talk about pre pandemic

, yet I still go there daily, everything went up 150%+ as well, but beats getting in my car and driving down a hill to get food, I do need to pack my lunches again

 

[JesasaurusRex]

my cafeteria at work

pre pandemic

$6.49 gets you burger of day, unlimited fries and 20 oz soft drink

changed to

$7.99 for burger and fries

changed now to

$8.99 for burger only
$1.99 for fries

so $8 to $11 just within the last 2 months, and dont even talk about pre pandemic

, yet I still go there daily, everything went up 150%+ as well, but beats getting in my car and driving down a hill to get food, I do need to pack my lunches again

Ya my eating habits haven't changed much. Which sucks lol, just paying more for stuff and poorer.

 

[ctwo]

https://www.google.com/maps/place/T...2bf6b442d56d80!8m2!3d37.3668695!4d-121.959083

$9.00 w/ tax for a regular carne asada burrito

OMG it looks wonderful.

I checked the taco prices are $3.99 each here.

 

[Blankpage]

There’s a simple solution, just skip lunch.
I could count on my fingers the number of times I’ve had lunch this year.
Although I did eat at Chipotle today with a coworker just for a break from the office.

 

[Abacinator]

Taqueria El Favorito in Rohnert Park has amazing burritos under $9

 

[Kurosaki]

Saw a post in my city Facebook page about a food truck that set up shop near the lease office of an apartment complex near me. 2 dollar tacos, 8.50 burrito, 9 bucks for a plate of 3 tacos, rice and beans. Those are reasonable prices and nice to see.

Do you go to Movie Theaters?

All the time. What’s your point? Theater food has always been ridiculously expensive. I don’t buy food at the theater.

 

[Kurosaki]

I've never had good chicken& waffles in the bay area. It's always been bad. People always try to fancy it up and it misses the whole point of that meal.

Problem with chicken and waffles is it’s usually mediocre chicken and mediocre waffles. But put them together and the novelty drives business.

Kinda like that sushi “burrito” fad. It’s just a big roll with average ingredients usually. Never had one that was as good as a proper sushi restaurant. And costs as much as an Uber ride.

 

[Kurosaki]

Shoulda used multiquote from the start but I was 4 pages behind. Sue me.

I never found the food trucks to be the "value option". I always found them pricey, and the food was never extraordinary.

I think Rubio's near us is running about $11 for a steak burrito right now, but it's been a bit since I've been there.

The one that got me was 5 guys. Like 3 years ago a full meal was like 7 or 8 bucks. Now, a burger on it's own is over 10. I can make a better burger at home if you are going to charge that, thank you very much.

Food trucks used to be all about value. If they weren't then what's the point? Like was said earlier, it was a fantastic idea to reduce huge overhead costs and pass that savings along to the customer. But that mindset is swallowed by all the fancy expensive food trucks.

In-N-Out is still under $9 for a Double double, fries and a drink.

The In-N-Out v 5 guys wars can find their own thread.

I usually stay out of those burger comparisons but usually get swallowed up in them anyway. In n Out and 5 guys aren't even in the same price point so I don't get the comparison. I just checked my local 5 guys out of curiosity. A cheeseburger is $13.50. They're "little" cheeseburger is 11.50.

A double double is what? 6-7 bucks? If 5 Guys is voted to be better, it damn well better be when it's double the price. I don't compare Outback Steakhouse to Ruth's Chris.

 

[Blankpage]

Nothing wrong with Outback new york strip
I don’t eat at fancy stake houses

 

[Kurosaki]

Nothing wrong with Outback new york strip
I don’t eat at fancy stake houses

Nothing wrong with Outback at all. Just making a point about price point when comparing food. When 5 Guys has a 7 dollar burger, call me.

I don't do fancy steak houses either unless it's a work lunch I get to expense. Or when I was in Vegas last month and got trapped in a broken elevator for 2 hours. Hotel comp'd my dinner at their steak house. Ate and drank like a king. arty

 

[Abacinator]

I recently learned the the same company owns outback and Fleming's.

 

[Eldritch]

All the time. What’s your point? Theater food has always been ridiculously expensive. I don’t buy food at the theater.

That $5 Skittles and $8 Ice Cream is pretty normal there? I mean you ask if people can imagine and you just said you have already seen it existing.

 

[Kurosaki]

That $5 Skittles and $8 Ice Cream is pretty normal there? I mean you ask if people can imagine and you just said you have already seen it existing.

The ice cream and skittles was a comparison to what if ice cream trucks went that high for normal prices the way some restaurants have? You might want to re-read my post.

I don't know why you brought up movie theaters out of that comparison when we've been talking about food prices at any given location that have gone from reasonable to ridiculous. Movie theater food prices have always been ridiculous.

 

[Eldritch]

The ice cream and skittles was a comparison to what if ice cream trucks went that high for normal prices the way some restaurants have? You might want to re-read my post.

I don't know why you brought up movie theaters out of that comparison when we've been talking about food prices at any given location that have gone from reasonable to ridiculous. Movie theater food prices have always been ridiculous.

You asked if we could imagine. Clearly we all have seen it so of course we can. California passed a law requiring an increase in the minimum wage for all employees by $1 dollar a year, every year since like 2018. It will max at $15 an hour for these types of small business with less than 25 employees in January of next year. So if you are a typical 7 day a week restaurant with about 8 full time people, that is around $17k a year in annual increased operating costs, every year. In order to cover that increase, your Burrito spot that sells 50 burritos a day has to increase their Burrito Cost by $1 each, every year for all the years of wage increase.

Then you add the wild increase in grocery costs that have started surfacing as a result of both supply chain issues and COVID relief driven inflation.

Taking those things into consideration, the cost increases seem to make sense.

Did you think we could mandate higher labor costs and print a couple trillion in free money and prices would stay the same?

 

[Kurosaki]

You asked if we could imagine. Clearly we all have seen it so of course we can. California passed a law requiring an increase in the minimum wage for all employees by $1 dollar a year, every year since like 2018. It will max at $15 an hour for these types of small business with less than 25 employees in January of next year. So if you are a typical 7 day a week restaurant with about 8 full time people, that is around $17k a year in annual increased operating costs, every year.

Then you add the wild increase in grocery costs that have started surfacing as a result of both supply chain issues and COVID relief driven inflation.

Taking those things into consideration, the cost increases seem to make sense.

Did you think we could mandate higher labor costs and print a couple trillion in free money and prices would stay the same?

You're taking a very basic observational and hypothetical statement way further than was intended to springboard into a deep socioeconomic discussion. Not in the mood because it wasn't my intent. I still don't get bringing up movie theaters. A hot dog at a theater is going to be twice the price as the fast food place down the street same as a beer at a ball game is going to be 15 dollars or more and be less than half that at a bar nearby. We all know that and it doesn't have anything to do with Covid or supply chain problems, so the relevance is lost on me.

I spent more time talking about steaks and burgers and you focused on one statement about an ice cream truck.

Since this thread started about burritos, it's been pretty good in proving decently priced burritos are still out there but there is a reality of many places that have bumped their prices significantly. If someone wants to go down the socioeconomic rabbit hole with you about cost of ingredients, hourly pay, etc, they can do that. Not me and just not sure why you picked on me to do it.

 

[eBay Mike]

Beefy 5 layer burrito is only like 3 bucks!

It’s all about the Spicy Cheeesy Double Beef burrito. $2.00 for 620 calories.

 

[ctwo]

said something about movie theaters...

I forget what the marketing tactic is called. Movie theaters had a small ($4) and large ($7) popcorn. They were not selling very many larges so genius added a medium ($6) popcorn. Large popcorn sales immediately went through the roof.

Do you see the psychology play?

What they are doing now makes me feel hostile.

There’s a simple solution, just skip lunch.
I could count on my fingers the number of times I’ve had lunch this year.
Although I did eat at Chipotle today with a coworker just for a break from the office.

I've gone OMAD for a year now. The burrito was to be my only meal maybe once or twice a week.

 

[AbsolutEnduser]

dude, have you seen the videos of taco bell workers showing how all of their food is made? dump dry meat pellets into container, add hot water, stir, done
I mean I knew it was questionable food but damn

I'm well aware of Taco Bell's practices. I still love that shit

Wow.
Well I wasn't.

(Then again I can't find nor look for a taco bell..)

 

[byke]

When you go there, it's all assembly. They don't actually cook anything. Just think of it as camping food.

 

[TylerW]

I forget what the marketing tactic is called. Movie theaters had a small ($4) and large ($7) popcorn. They were not selling very many larges so genius added a medium ($6) popcorn. Large popcorn sales immediately went through the roof.

I'm remembering an article a read a long time ago called the $6 omelette. It was written by the owner of a diner. They had an omelette on the menu that cost $2. It was rarely ordered, and it caused disaster in the kitchen because it threw a massive wrench in the typically well-oiled machine comprised of all of the cooks and stations in that kitchen. The owner hated that omelette because it slowed everything down on the rare occasion that it got ordered.

But he he didn't want to remove it from the menu. Instead, he raised the price to $6, without changing the menu item at all, figuring that the price hike would ensure it wasn't ever ordered. The opposite happened. The omelette saw a massive spike in popularity. they had to reconfigure the kitchen to accommodate for the influx of orders.

Its an interesting study on the pricing of goods and perceived value.