Exorbitant prices for new fast food items

[hypernova]

What is going on with fast food these days?  I'm not sure who was first, but Arby's was quick out of the gate with those Market Fresh sandwiches.  For a measly 4 bucks, you can grab what basically amounts to a run of the mill deli sandwich with some fancy bread and maybe a fancy sauce spread on it...oh and some stupid fancy lettuce which i could care less which kind it was.  Give me good old fashioned head lettuce.
Pretty soon, everyone was getting into this "high society" style of food.  First Wendy's, then McD's made these "premium" chicken fingers with some fancy sauces to dip them in instead of your standard BBQ/whatever.  Sorry, but I don't see how each one of those "fingers" can set me back A DOLLAR A PIECE!  They aren't that much bigger than a regular nugget, and if looking at Wendy's, cost more than THREE TIMES what a .99 cent 5 piece does for what overall seems to be the approximate same volume of food.
Now McD's comes out with these premium chicken sandwiches.  Now I'm not a fan of their regular chicken sandwiches.  (Wendy's and BK has them beat by far.)  But this new addition to the lineup seems like it brings them even furthur down.  Having a coupon from the newspaper for a free fry and drink with the purchase of a spicy premium chicken, I decide to eat one.  When I get there, I immediately check the menu to see the cost of one sandwich.  $3.40.  Just for the sandwich.
--side note--I can eat an ENTIRE meal from Wendy's for LESS THAN THAT!  A jr. bacon, 5 piece, and medium fry totalling $2.97, plus two, yes two 12 oz cans of soda pop from home- (that equals out a hair more than .20 cents per can when it was bought if it was bought at 24/4.99 or 12/2.50, which is most of the time.  I stock up on sales.  Sometimes even 24/3.99!  Bottom line:  I get more food AND drink, for $3.39.  One cent less.  Usually I only drink one can.)--
I immediately notice upon receiving the sandwich that it's an oval.  Not a circular sandwich as usual.  Upon opening that box, I was utterly disappointed at the size (or more appropriately the lack of size) of the sandwich.  Even more disconcerting was the size of the slab of meat in between the buns.  My God was that thing tiny.  It almost looked like it wasn't any more than 2/3 the size of a Wendy's or BK spicy chicken, if even that.  Then the coup de grace.  It had an acceptable amount of spice.  Just not the taste.  Quite frankly, it was crap.  Complete and utter crap.  I will take a Wendy's or BK spicy chicken each and every time before I take this overpriced, undersized POS.

Now to talk about those premium salads that everyone's offering.  Since I have NO experience in that field, I can't offer any criticisms or praises.  But I do know they are also fairly pricey for a freaking salad.  They may have bits of chicken and such, but I don't know if that merits that high price tag.  Maybe they're charging you for those 5 or so different types of lettuce they pointlessly throw in there when one or two is more than sufficient.

What's everyone's thoughts on this growing trend?

[markrvp]

The price of all food has gone up.  Taco Bell seems to be the best bang for the buck.  If my wife and I go anywhere there is a waitstaff it costs at least $20+ for lunch.  That adds up if you do it a bunch.

[DrewKaree]

First Wendy's, then McD's made these "premium" chicken fingers with some fancy sauces to dip them in instead of your standard BBQ/whatever.  Sorry, but I don't see how each one of those "fingers" can set me back A DOLLAR A PIECE!  They aren't that much bigger than a regular nugget, and if looking at Wendy's, cost more than THREE TIMES what a .99 cent 5 piece does for what overall seems to be the approximate same volume of food.

Chick-fil-A was actually the first to come out with these.  That piece of chicken is the tenderloin.  Each chicken only comes with two, and as you can see, they aren't even close to the same size as the chicken breast.  This means they cost more for the restaurants.  Other than Chick-fil-A (who pressure cook those pieces to retain the moisture and keep them juicy), no one else makes that chicken anything more than a dried out chunk of overcooked crap.

Nuggets are the easiest thing to make, and again, Chick-fil-A was the first to make them, and the only one to pressure cook them.  A lot of pre-made nuggets also are pressed together, and are cheaper because "scraps" are used.

Chicken is just fricken expensive.  You're not comparing apples to apples.  Look at Wendy's chicken sammitches.  The cost is comparable.  You're comparing "nuggets" and hamburgers (BEEF) to chicken breasts. 

How many chickens does it take to make an equal amount of beef?  See what I mean?


The "different types of lettuce" come in different sized heads.  A head of regular ol' lettuce will get you somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-6 regular salads.  A head of Romaine will get you MAX 3 salads.  Romain is also more expensive because it requires the same amount of space to be grown but produces less actual useable lettuce.

More expensive lettuce + less yield = WAY more expensive salad.  Throw the chicken discussed above on that salad, and you've got one pricey salad.


I don't much care, since I don't go to McD's for anything more than their standard #1,2, or 3 or their $1 menu, but I have had experience in this area.  I know it prolly doesn't help you, but I wouldn't buy a chicken sammitch from ANYONE other than Chick-fil-A unless it's McD's $1 chicken sammitch (which ISN'T a chicken breast, and prolly has the toes and lips mashed into the patty). 

Arby's is for Roast Beef.  Nothing more.  If you enjoy their "Market Fresh" sammitches and don't mind their prices, all the better for you.  If you think they're too pricey (and I think so too), then you won't buy 'em.

It's all about increasing perceived value in your mind so they can make more profit and improve their image in your mind.

[jbox]

I only eat turducken. 

[DrewKaree]

I only eat turducken. 

I'll drop a turducken in yU0r t0p TAnK

[jbox]

I only eat turducken. 

I'll drop a turducken in yU0r t0p TAnK

Ur m0mz l0v3d 1t! & bu$h is teh turducken gey!

[shmokes]

Great Harvest (the bread people) has started selling sandwiches.  I went there the other day and ordered the first one I saw that sounded good: A grilled chicken panini.  ---maternal-smurf--- cost over $7 after tax.....FOR JUST THE SANDWICH.  I didn't so much as order a water to go along with it.  Now that, I thought, was expensive for fast food.

[ChadTower]

Psst... this is your signal to stop eating all that fast food.

[ClubNinja]

Psst... this is your signal to stop eating all that fast food.

Seriously.  I eat fast food once every three months at most.  And I think that's too much.

[ChadTower]

I eat a lot of Chinese takeout... not sure if pork and broccoli counts as fast food.  Probably once every two weeks we take our kids to Wendy's.  A chicken sandwich and caesar salad is decent enough. 

[GGKoul]

I eat a lot of Chinese takeout... not sure if pork and broccoli counts as fast food.  Probably once every two weeks we take our kids to Wendy's.  A chicken sandwich and caesar salad is decent enough. 

Haven't gone to Wendy's in about 2 years.  Every since I got a chili from there and the chili smell like someone took a dump in it.  Disgusting.

[ChadTower]

WTF do you expect from cheapass fast food chili?

[RayB]

Hypernova: Lettuce and dipping sauce is "fancy"? Are you one of those people who eat their fries with mayonaise? 

I used to pay $5 for a glass of orange juice when I lived in "the city", so this is nothing.

I like Arby's sandwiches. They always taste uber-fresh and they're healthy as well.

[ChadTower]

I've only ever been to the Arby's by UMass Amherst... went there twice, got a practically rancid sandwich both times.

[patrickl]

Are you one of those people who eat their fries with mayonaise? 

Hey, what's so weird about that? That's how they are supposed to be served. Besides, with ketchup on them the fries look like they are having their period.

[ChadTower]

I don't think anything, ever, was meant to be served with mayo.  What a disgusting glob of fat that crap is.

[Ken Layton]

Actually, I have eaten at Taco Bell many times. They seem to be trying to keep prices down. I wish there was a Del Taco in Washington state as they have cheaper prices than Taco Bell.

Looks like Del Taco is mostly in California.

[ChadTower]

If they had anything that I would eat that contained any nutritional value, I'd probably go there too once in a while.

[RayB]

If it weren't for Taco Bell and Ramen, alot of students would be starving.
 

[ChadTower]

I lived on Ramen and Pasta Roni in college.  Hell, high school too.

I just gave my kids their first Ramen last week, actually.  The 4 year old looked at it like he does all food and didn't touch it.  The 6 year old thought it was cool and ate the whole thing.

At least when we threw my younger son's lunch away that day it only cost us twelve cents instead of what it usually does.

[hypernova]

Lettuce and dipping sauce is "fancy"?

You misunderstood!  I meant sauces other than like the stuff you find at McD's.  SnS, BBQ, Hot Mustard, and Honey.  Those are the basic sauces to me.  Maybe honey mustard too, but anything beyond that is fancy!

And regular old head lettuce is cool.  Its those funky leaves you get in funky salads I'm speaking of.  Romaine is one!  There's some other freaky looking lettuce too.  Those are fancy!

Psst... this is your signal to stop eating all that fast food.

If anything, I should eat MORE fast food!  I'm 6'2", and only weigh 151.  I can't gain weight for ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---!  I don't exercise or anything special.  I make fat people jealous.

Yeah shmokes...those bread company restaurants are insane in terms of pricing.

Heck Drew, I wasn't looking for a lecture on lettuce and such, I was just stating random crap I thought was interesting to compare. 

[RayB]

If anything, I should eat MORE fast food!  I'm 6'2", and only weigh 151.  I can't gain weight for ---Cleveland steamer---!  I don't exercise or anything special.  I make fat people jealous.

Watch out! I was like you until I was 21. (5'11 130 lbs) until got my first car and first real job (which meant I could afford to feed myself properly). I ballooned up to 165 lbs in less than a year.

I didn't think I excercised either, but turns out that walking everywhere, every day was pretty damn good excercise. 

[hypernova]

I'm 27 now.  I worked at McDs part time for 1 yearish, then full time for about 2ish years during and after high school.  (You better believe I ate my allowance in free food each time too!)  I now work at a warehouse (Kaivac if anyone's heard of it, for almost 7 years now) and up until last year, ate fast food 8-9/10 business days for lunch every two weeks.  Now I eat those Hungry Man and other microwave dinners 8/10 days per 2 business weeks.  (Both times I ate a nice deli meats sandwich on the other days.)

I've gained five pounds since I started at Kaivac in the last 7 years.

Sometimes I wonder if I have a tapeworm...but then I realize I have obscene metabolism and thank the heavens.

I'm such a freak!

[shmokes]

The less fast food I eat, the less I want to eat it. 

I had to drive out to a rural office yesterday to take care of a problem wasn't able to leave until 9:30 p.m. and it's almost a 2 hour drive home.  The only food available was McDonald's so I ordered those new higher quality chicken strips and some fries.  I had eaten three of the five chicken strips and maybe a dozen or so fries when I just couldn't eat any more.  For the rest of the drive home I felt a little bit like vomiting every time I got a whif of the food, but it's rural area so there were no garbage cans.

I can do Subway and Gandolfo's and places like that.  Or even Fazolli's (doubt that's spelled right).  But forget burgers.  Places like McDonalds or Burger King or Arby's make become more revolting the less I eat.  And the more revolting it becomes the less I eat there.....which makes it even more revolting.  For a long time I hated Wendy's for the most part, but could eat their chicken sandwiches (especially the spicy chicken), but now that's as bad as the hamburgers.

[hypernova]

shmokes, I weep for you!

Oh...wait.  I'm only 26.  I'm horrible with my age.  And people's names.

[shmokes]

Don't get me wrong.  I can grill the best burger on the planet.  But homemade burgers fresh off the grill in the backyard are a far cry from that meat cookies you get at fast food restaurants.

[ChadTower]

There is no meat in a fast food chain burger.  It's recycled building materials.

[fredster]

I eat at all the fast food places.  I like some better than others.

I think Burger King makes a good burger. McDonalds is way down on the list for that.

I eat at Taco Bell the most. Just not in the car. I can't stand to eat TacoBell in the car.

[ChadTower]

The last time I tried to eat a taco in the car my foot kept getting stuck in the steering wheel.

[fredster]

Now that's comedy.