Even McDonald’s is expensive now

Oh 100% love 5guys. Just need to adjust that in the future I have to treat it as a sit down restaurant instead of just grabbing a quick burger on the way to train.

Exactly. Do people really expect anywhere not to put their costs up, when the cost to them has gone up..😅

Five guys is so much better quality and it’s actually filling unlike McDonalds

Local chip shop is much better value in my area.

You can get enough cod and chips to feed two people for £10, and that's fairly sizeable portions too.

Home cooked food is always more than a restaurant though...
Similarly, restaurants are more expensive than a supermarket sandwich.
It's not a fair comparison
The happy meal books are good - much better than the toys which always seem to be a tin

Just checked and it was actually £12.69 in December 2024. 2 happy meals and a medium big Mac meal. No promotions or discounts. If that's not cheap then nothing is.

I think Five Guys is a massive rip off. Tiny portions and burgers and such a lot of money. I also agree about McD's. What used to be under a fiver is now double that. If I have a burger, I have it from our local Turkish place. Beautifully cooked right in front of you with tons of salad and a huge side of triple cooked chips that you can never finish. It's £12 with 15% off if I collect. I'd far rather have that than mass produced rubbish.

Only recently went back to maccies after about 20 years - I think it's one of the few places that's still really cheap. 2 kids and 1 adult meals plus drinks is about £14. It would be £25 -30 plus in a cafe

Oh my god, that’s ridiculous. I asked my daughter if the burger was worth it? Said no I’m still hungry

Wendys is even worse. Paid 3.99 for a chicken wrap and they only gave me half a wrap!! As in, half the size of a normal takeaway wrap. I haven't got fast food in over a year now. Didn't ever used to get it often, but now I strictly avoid it.

@Thisinfuriatingplace We got Five Guys for the first time while away from home over Christmas, £38 delivered for two burgers and two fries, not even any drinks 😫

Myself and my daughter went in April to Manchester, never been before this was the food and bill, was disgusted

Sadly that's what they have to charge to just cover their costs. Everything has sky rocketed in price, especially energy costs. Add to that increased salary and employers NI costs and the fact that 20% of your meal price goes straight to the VAT coffers. It's really really hard for restaurants to survive. So many are going under, so if you like somewhere and would miss them pay the £15+ and understand they aren't ripping you off. I have friends in the industry, it's not a fun place to be right now.

Isn't that if they are a franchise?

You are right. It has become too expensive. But one thing must also be considered that the prices of McDonald's varies A LOT from location to location. According to mcdswrapoftheday.co.uk, the prices of wraps varies from £3.79 to £5.29 in UK, which means that at some locations you'll pay 40% more for the same thing.

Wetherspoons can be cheaper than Maccas and you do get cutlery 😃

I can't think of another restaurant that you could get a burger, fries and a soft drink for £7

To me, a restaurant servers you food with crockery and cutlery, at the table.

If you are expected to eat with your hands, why don't all customers wash them before eating?

I've stopped eating takeaways apart from Indian, as they're so expensive, but occasionally I do love a good chicken tikka massala with mushroom pilau and naan bread.Along with poppadoms, sauces and onion bhajis it lasts me for three meals.

Do they not still offer "meals" that are a reduced price to the individual item prices? Admittedly it seems that it has gone up since I last went when it was around a fiver for a Big Mac meal. But, of course, so have food prices in general.

In any case, I can't think of another restaurant that you could get a burger, fries and a soft drink for £7. I honestly don't think that's a bad price for a full meal with a drink. I don't tend to eat there often as I'm not really fan of burger and fries, but I still think it seems relatively cheap.

Not in my local McDonald’s or any I’ve been to ever.

I think it's still fairly cheap, although it does depend what you buy. The app always has offers on and there's the saver menu too. They had happy meals for £1.99 on the app last month, you can't beat that.

@mrsm43s
Big Mac: £4.99
Fries: £1.19
Diet coke: £0.99
Total: £7.17

It's up to you whether that's cheap or not.

Prices: https://mcdonalds-menu.co.uk/

Yeah definitely getting too pricey. And not to derail but I'm always surprised how busy my local nandos is on the weekends I mean it's £15+ now for burger and two sides!!! I used to pay £8 for that and get a bottomless drink. Can't justify nandos anymore

Is it not about a fiver for a fairly hefty meal of medium fries, a large burger (e.g a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder rather than a hamburger/cheeseburger) plus a drink? Surely that is cheap? I can't think of anywhere else that serves an adult meal for a fiver or so. Maybe these are the old prices? I've not been for a while. But it general, nowadays, I'd not really expect much change from £20 for an adult main course and a soft drink in a pub or restaurant, and I'd expect to pay about £15 per adult portion for a takeaway without soft drinks (just outside of London for regional perspective), so McDs is still about as cheap as it gets.

I remember when I was a student back in the early 90s a standard value meal was £2.88. It stayed the same price for ages. According to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, that’s £6.05 in today’s money. The actual current price is £6.59, so that’s about 10% more expensive in real terms.