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It costs at least $10 a person for a meal in a sit-down restaurant.
We're taking US$10. And it's frequently more.
I think the only place where I can really get a dinner meal for less than $10/person is fast food. Any actual sit-down restaurant has prices from $7.99 upward for entrees--add in tax and tip and you've got at least ten bucks per person (so, roughly $30 for three people, for example).
And most restaurants are even more expensive. I think most chain restaurants, like Ruby Tuesdays, have entrees ranging from $8.99 for the cheapest, most bare-bones stuff (like pasta with no meat) to $12.99 for stuff that's like a basic dish with starch, veggies, and meat, and then we're talking $17.99 for deluxe meats like steak or seafood.
And this doesn't even cover those luxury restaurants. $26 for a steak? I don't care how good your service is; that's still way more than I'm willing to pay.
Comments
You can get two tacos, chips, and rice for $8 at Surf Taco
More seriously, it probably depends where you live. It wouldn't surprise me if chains near metropolitan areas cost more.
I think the pub down the street from my house charges a bit less than $10 for fish and chips.
I know a place in my area that serves pretty good Tex Mex dinners with rice, beans, and chips/salsa included for about $6.75.
I used to use $5 as my rule of thumb for a basic meal.
I mean, in my undergrad years, here were the prices for lunch:
* $3.25 to $5 - roll with veggies and meat, or box of rice with veggies and meat, at the Middle Eastern food truck
* $4.50 to $5.50 - something at the Mexican food truck
* $4.50 to $5 - something at the Chinese food truck
* $5 + tax - footlong sub at Subway
* $4.50 to $6 - burrito or quesadilla at Anna's Taqueria
* $4.50 to $6 - box with rice and one or two entrees at food court that's located just off campus
And remember that, if I can get lunch at this price, I can also get two lunches, and then stick one in the fridge or carry it with me. Sure, it might not taste as good after seven or ten hours, but it's still edible and decent-tasting. So effectively, this isn't just the cost of lunch, it's the cost of a meal that counts as lunch or dinner.
Heck, I'd actually buy four boxes of food from that food court, stick them in my fridge, and then reheat them for my weekend meals.
So my usual practice was, I want to make sure that I eat such that my average cost comes out to be below $5, roughly. And the rule of thumb was if a meal costs less than $5 it's cheap, if it costs more than $5 it's expensive.
Unfortunately, these days, most things cost more than $5...which means most options are considered expensive.
Well, that's inflation for you.
Even fast food is headed that way. Subway has like four sandwiches left on their $5 menu.
Thats quite a good deal tbh for fish and chips from a pub. I would be lucky to get fish and chips from a pub for less than a Charles Darwin.
Seven dollars minimum here for their foot-longs.
Is that 7 Aussie Dollars or did you convert it?
Footlongs here are £5 minimum.
Aussie dollars
CountryPumpkin,
More seriously, it probably depends where you live. It wouldn't surprise me if chains near metropolitan areas cost more.
Pretty much, food in general is also generally more expensive in places like LA or New York than in say Milwaukee or Des Moines from what I can tell.
I kind of agree with Glennmagusharvey about restaurants being pricier than one would like. Still, I guess you could always go out less often if that gets to be a problem. Plus, I think $10 a meal at a restaurant is much more reasonable when/if you have a decent income, so part of the expense thing might just be relative.