https://pantryandlarder.com/mccheapest


their cost of living list

https://flowingdata.com/2021/03/25/income-in-each-state-adjusted-for-cost-of-living/

Their cost of living doesn't seem right for my state. I am ranked between N. Dakota & Nebraska.
We have high taxes and stoopid gun laws. It's expensive to live here.
I do like a Big Mac once in a while w/ fries and sweet tea when they have the BOGO deal.

Around here they are selling a double Big Mac

McDonalds used to be fast, tasty, and cheap.

These days it's fast, hit-or-miss on quality, and not cheap at all relative to other places around my town.

People just go there for the fast now I think.

What I have noticed is that the fast food places have done one of three things in this economy.

They have either 1. reduced the size of the food and kept price low 2. made the prices higher but kept the items the same or 3. made the items both smaller and more expensive.

Most places have opted for # 3 but our taco bells have opted for #2 It used to be at taco bell 2 items was about $5 or $6 but now they are $10 or $12. At least they are the same size as always.

Our McDonalds have opted for #3 Burgers that rival the size of a chicken nugget and cost twice as much as they used to.

I think food price vs size has a lot to do with company owned chain or franchises.

I rarely eat at a drive through anymore. I can afford a full meal at some sit down restaurants for many fast food combo's.

Just not worth it to me.

I can generally get a McDonalds meal in about 5 minutes in a drive through up north, go down past the Mason-Dixon line and it is more like 12-15 minutes. I don't hit fast food places down south anymore when I am on the road transporting, what a waste of time! I just run into the fuel station and eat whatever crap they have laying around now, and I definitely don't eat fast food in the north east do to cost. Those who don't drive around the country all the time have no idea...

Around here the McDonalds is very fast and usually pretty good. Slowest is Arbys and Burger King.

About the only time I hit any of the fast food chains is when Im real hungry and will be awhile before Im home
OR
Im on the road and dont want to waste 2 hours at a decent sit down Restuarant

When It costs me almost $30 for 2 adults to eat micky Ds, they lost me for the most part.

If we eat at ANY fast food joint, we will either use coupons, or whatever money saving 'deals'
on the company's phone app. I agree about Taco Bell... amount of actual food has shrunk, while prices
have steadily risen.

I'm pretty sure Taco Bell never made any actual food

They used to be good... decades ago...now not so much. I haven't eaten anything there in at least 4 years.
Anyone remember Arthur Treacher's fish n chips? They were tasty back in the day!

I have not stepped foot inside a FF place of any kind in 6.5 years. Can't say I've missed it either

my forays into fast food joints involve picking up a double hot fudge sundae for my bride when she desires one.
that's usually at our local dairy queen, or the tasty freeze in the summer when it's open.

I do my best to avoid Micky Ds. We do FF about 2 times a week because of our schedule, but they are the last option and one I would rather not do at all. The food sucks, they are about the slowest FF joint in town, and they are no longer cheap compared to other FF joints around here.

We have better food at about the same cost at a few local bars around here (if bought without adding boos).

If we are traveling, we usually hit the busy truck stops. The food is good, usually the service is faster, and the pricing isn't much higher then the FF joints. We have learned our lessons about stopping at truck stops that are not busy, there are reasons they are not busy.

We have also discovered that if you are in IA, KY, or TN (and probably a few other states), you eat at gas stations during the lunch hours, or you might not get to eat at all.

We never do FF simply because of the last statement here. We have a couple local pubs that blow FF out of the water with comparable prices and speed with MUCH better food. We also have local custard stands that crush FF with quality, speed and price. There's one custard place near me about a block from Culvers and their food and custard is 10x better! Around here there's no reason to eat crappy food at a chain joint

I used to eat lunch at Wendy's on a fairly regular basis. But now they have been jacking up prices on a regular basis so I stopped going there. It costs more to get a small combo at Wendy's than it does to get burger at the diner across the street. The diner burger tastes better and the portion sizes are larger. It does take longer at a sit down restaurant than at a fast food place, but I'm typically not in a hurry to be anywhere.

When I worked down the street from Wendys I would order a sour cream and chives potato and a chili. Poured the chili on the potato and had a cheap, tasty, and filling lunch.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/y...sonfor-it-e9ca2f58?mod=mw_rss_topstories

sample quotes

Several months ago, the most significant factor pushing fast-food prices upward was the rising cost of food itself. Now, the No. 1 driver is the cost of labor, said Eric Gonzalez, a senior analyst covering the restaurant industry for KeyBanc Capital Markets. In other words, McDonald’s workers are making more money than they used to.
snip

“The reason McDonald’s was so cheap was because they paid so little for their labor,” Washington State University economist Christopher Clarke says in a TikTok video examining the rise in restaurant prices. “Fast-food prices going up are mostly going to workers.”

snip

Nowadays, it costs about five times more to eat away from home as opposed to staying in, Gonzalez said.

They have great chili