Extortionate cost of beefburgers

R

Rose65

Well-known Member
Location
United Kingdom
I have a big grumble about burgers. I love a good burger in a soft bun, onions, brown sauce. But it's a basic food surely? Quite economic cooked at home, bought from the supermarket.

I am absolutely amazed at the costs eating out though. Every time we go on a day out the price becomes higher. Commonplace it's £6 or £8.00 each.

At an airshow recently it was £14.00 per burger! I refused to do that. Today a friend staying at a hotel near a racecourse meeting is saying it's £18.00 for a burger and chips.

This is ludicrous. How can anyone, especially with a family possibly afford to eat out fast food?
 

Rose65 said:
I have a big grumble about burgers. I love a good burger in a soft bun, onions, brown sauce. But it's a basic food surely?

I am absolutely amazed at the costs. Every time we go on a day out the price becomes higher. Commonplace it's £6 or £8.00.

At an airshow it was £14.00 per burger! Today a friend staying at a hotel near a racecourse meeting is saying it's £18.00 for a burger and chips.

This is ludicrous. How can anyone with a family possibly afford to eat out fast food?
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The price of dining out everywhere in the US has sky rocketed.

Your prices don't shock me as a result.
 
I rarely ever eat burgers... I mean probably once every 4 or 5 years.. and when I do I usually buy one at a Fast food place... A few months ago I stopped at a Burger king..a basic burger.. and. small coke cost me £8... I was in shock.. given that McDonalds charge just £1.29 for a Cheeseburger...

I was at the County Fair a couple of months ago.. and some of the stalls were charging £20 for a burger... £10 for a hot dog... scandalous!!
 

hollydolly said:
I rarely ever eat burgers... I mean probably once every 4 or 5 years.. and when I do I usually buy one at a Fast food place... A few months ago I stopped at a Burger king..a basic burger.. and. small coke cost me £8... I was in shock.. given that McDonalds charge just £1.29 for a Cheeseburger...

I was at the County Fair a couple of months ago.. and some of the stalls were charging £20 for a burger... £10 for a hot dog... scandalous!!
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First they made us all stay in because of covid. Now we can't afford to go out.
 
I haven't been to a restaurant since COVID. I just haven't got back into eating out since things have died down. I'll probably have sticker shock when I do go. I remember it as being nice.
 
A lot of it is a captive clientele, like at the air show or the race track, once you are inside the entrance the vendors know you're not likely to leave if you get hungry.

Another thing that I find rediculas are all the food trucks and speciality diners charging fine dining prices for tacos or burgers. There use to be a speciality hot dog place by me that people raved about, $8 to $15 for a hot dog, a friggen hot dog! Like the twenty cents worth of sauce made it something special.
 
I agree that prices have risen - especially for restaurant food. In a sit-down restaurant recently, a burger with french fries cost $20-$25 but it is almost too much to eat!! They don't have to be that big! I needed a knife and fork and didn't enjoy it.

Otherwise, we save up and certainly don't go out as much as we used to. But, have to ask ourselves if we really NEED to eat out. We rarely went out to eat while I was growing up. Just have to make changes, I guess.
 
hollydolly said:
A few months ago I stopped at a Burger king..a basic burger.. and. small coke cost me £8... I was in shock.. given that McDonalds charge just £1.29 for a Cheeseburger...
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It's been a long time since I've been to Burger King... but we like McD's when we're out and about shopping. The regular hamburger (and not that very long ago) was on the "$1 or Under" menu for 89 cents. Now they're $1.89... so more than double and although it's still not too bad, I don't know where it's going to stop. I *think* that's just under £1.50... so about the same. (Just took me way too long to figure out how to do that pound sign on my laptop... alt0163 if anyone needs to know.) :)
 
Rose65 said:
I have a big grumble about burgers. I love a good burger in a soft bun, onions, brown sauce. But it's a basic food surely? Quite economic cooked at home, bought from the supermarket.

I am absolutely amazed at the costs eating out though. Every time we go on a day out the price becomes higher. Commonplace it's £6 or £8.00 each.

At an airshow recently it was £14.00 per burger! I refused to do that. Today a friend staying at a hotel near a racecourse meeting is saying it's £18.00 for a burger and chips.

This is ludicrous. How can anyone, especially with a family possibly afford to eat out fast food?
Click to expand...
That’s outrageous. My husband is a huge meat eater and loves his burgers and will only purchase them from Costco. They are pure lean beef and salt as the only ingredients.

If going out why not purchase some extra nice buns or submarine type bread and make some exceptionally good sandwiches to take with you? You could include a few cheese slices and cucumber slices for on the side and include a favourite beverage anc maybe an apple or other snack.

It’s a healthy meal which will save you a lot of money in the long run and sure to please your palette too.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
That’s outrageous. My husband is a huge meat eater and loves his burgers and will only purchase them from Costco. They are pure lean beef and salt as the only ingredients.

If going out why not purchase some extra nice buns or submarine type bread and make some exceptionally good sandwiches to take with you? You could include a few cheese slices and cucumber slices for on the side and include a favourite beverage anc maybe an apple or other snack.

It’s a healthy meal which will save you a lot of money in the long run and sure to please your palette too.
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Oh yes we learned our lesson. The next time we went to an air show we took a good picnic.
 
OldFeller said:
I just looked up one of the restaurants I used to go to "a lot". It's Outback Steakhouse and their prices haven't changed in 3 years. So there's hope.

They have pretty good burgers for just under $15.00.
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$15 in US dollars is $19.84 Canadian dollars which I can afford however there is no way I’d pay that merely out of principle. It’s outrageously price. I’m so glad we rarely if ever eat out. It’s far too pricey and in reality you don’t really know what you’re getting from a restaurant
 
PeppermintPatty said:
$15 in US dollars is $19.84 Canadian dollars which I can afford however there is no way I’d pay that merely out of principle. It’s outrageously price. I’m so glad we rarely if ever eat out. It’s far too pricey and in reality you don’t really know what you’re getting from a restaurant
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It's a steakhouse. So if you go, you're expecting to pay a lot for the visit.

You get plenty to eat and none of the food is bad at their prices. The burgers are about 3/4 inch thick and not from a frozen patty.
 
OldFeller said:
It's a steakhouse. So if you go, you're expecting to pay a lot for the visit.

You get plenty to eat and none of the food is bad at their prices. The burgers are about 3/4 inch thick and not from a frozen patty.
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This is true. We have a place here in Canada called The Keg and it’s a steakhouse and I admit that it’s top quality food . The atmosphere is really nice also which can be especially great if you want a treat out that’s not fast food. Good points. 👍
 
hollydolly said:
I rarely ever eat burgers... I mean probably once every 4 or 5 years.. and when I do I usually buy one at a Fast food place... A few months ago I stopped at a Burger king..a basic burger.. and. small coke cost me £8... I was in shock.. given that McDonalds charge just £1.29 for a Cheeseburger...

I was at the County Fair a couple of months ago.. and some of the stalls were charging £20 for a burger... £10 for a hot dog... scandalous!!
Click to expand...
The reason McDonald's can keep their prices lower is because they own the companies they source the food from. Not so with almost all other fast-food restaurants.

But here in the states, McDonald's prices are only pennies cheaper than other fast-food restaurants because they can set prices that are "competitive" with theirs.
(actually, they probably have to, by law).
 
I can't remember when the last time we bought ground meat for burgers or buying from a fast food place.
My usual background story.

Long ago we bought a grinding attachment for our Kitchen Aid stand mixer we still have it & use it regularly. Even now we typically buy about 20 lbs. of USDA choice chuck on sale. Grinding with the fine plate for use works for us. Packaging using a vacumn sealer, normal is 8oz. patties for burgers. That way it doesn't restrict the use to only burgers. Flattened for easy freezing & storage learned way back. Pre ground chuck can be thawed for use in meat sauce for pasta, meatballs & meatloaf.

As for eating burgers out at a restaurant we gave that up long ago when we had 3 teen age sons to feed. Since then we've kept that tail gate party way of having good food that we knew we could afford & trust to eat. Icing down the soda & condiments Check. Wrapping the buns in clear plastic wrap Check. Individually wrapping the pre cooked burgers in foil Check. Heating the burgers on the warm engine Check. Enjoying those burgers a no brainer.
 
Murrmurr said:
The reason McDonald's can keep their prices lower is because they own the companies they source the food from. Not so with almost all other fast-food restaurants.

But here in the states, McDonald's prices are only pennies cheaper than other fast-food restaurants because they can set prices that are "competitive" with theirs.
(actually, they probably have to, by law).
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So..what is the difference in price between Burger King and McD's in the USA
 
I never buy fast food hamburgers or fries, etc.
Now and then I'll buy some ground chuck if it's on sale and form my own patties to freeze.

To tell the truth, I don't much care for ground beef anymore. I hate what some people call "browned hamburger meat" when it's really only boiled in it's own juice and gray-looking. I stopped making "chili" this way years ago.
 
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