Restaurant prices are just ludicrous

[Mummyhokey]

I know that this is hardly breaking news, but seriously what the actual fuck is going on with prices in restaurants?

Went out to a High Street chain restaurant last night for DD’s birthday. So whilst the food was cooked fresh on site there was absolutely no local chef input into the menu etc. There were also only two waiting staff working a busy place so the service was slow even though they were doing their best.

The cost of the meals was, in my opinion, completely unrealistic in terms of what we were getting. Little change from £20 for a basic burger or chicken dish. Another fiver for a side order. So for the four of us, £100 gets us one course each. Drinks on top, £3.95 for a glass of watered down Diet Coke. Twice that for a beer. £6 for a slice of cake for dessert.

This seems typical now for restaurants. It’s just totally unaffordable for most families to do this more than very occasionally, surely? I get that utilities and wages have gone up, as have the cost of ingredients. But have they gone up by that much? The increases seem outrageous. That slice of cake works out at about £50 for the entire cake. I could buy the ingredients for that burger for well under a fiver.

And then the 12.5% optional service charge added to the bill so that the options are ‘Pay it’ or ‘Ask for it to be removed and feel like a dick for doing so’.

No offence to hospitality business owners or the people working in them, but this just can’t be sustainable surely?

@Daftypants agree we have a Korean near us and for 12 you get teriyaki chicken or salmon etc and kimchi, dumplings ,salad and some other bits all utterly delicious

We just eat out less..I assume others will too, then I guess they don't make as much and put prices up again..I don't mind splurging every now and again for a really good meal but a little of the food is average at best which is annoying when you have just forked out £120 for 4 plates...

Look into a tastecard. You can get free membership with so many things nowadays and some places do 50% off the bill. Some do 2 for 1 on everything. Most do 25% but that's still a help in my book. I think you got off lightly with £100 . Google the place your going to next time see if anything special offers on

I agree with you entirely OP. I think people are just missing your main point that if most customers can’t or won’t pay the price for the offering then it will not be sustainable because in the end the customer is King.
I also agree that the middle chain restaurants are the worst offerings with quality vastly down, costs up and service too variable. There are still some thriving fantastic local eateries around though.
Also, what’s with the 12%+ service charge, no thanks I’ll be sticking to places at 10% so the others have lost my business already.
I think people are thinking more about the health side of food now too which is at odds with a business trying to cut costs.

You can ask for the service charge to be removed.
I know someone who challenged the 15 percent charge for food ( it wasn’t a chain restaurant, somewhere a bit more upmarket ) and they dropped it to ten. I feel many don’t ask to have it removed because they think they can’t or just too embarrassed or see it as a tip maybe? It is another thing that has crept in, but not everywhere does it.

I think you are being very naiive about the cost of running a restaurant and unrealistic about the prices you should be paying.

I actually think restaurants are being naïve in their pricing.

We go out to eat on a Tuesday where they have 50% off their main meals.

They are full every Tuesday.

They must be making a profit on the Tuesday, otherwise they wouldn't open, where meals are £12/£15 instead of £24/£30.

And the threshold almost halved, to £5k from £9.1k; that's a huge increase. Pre- April 25 my ERNI was £266; post April it's over £300. Couple that with wage rises (increase in min/living wage), energy costs (commercial energy isn't capped like residential), the rising cost of actual food ingredients, delivery, and all the other things that businesses have to pay, and you're complaining about paying £20 for a burger that somebody has cooked, delivered to your table and cleaned up after?

Ha! Any business that tells its customers that their price expectations are ‘naive’ probably won’t have many customers.

I'm with you OP but it has been like this for the last few years and it's got to the point now where many think the pricing is reasonable

I'm not surprised about the cost considering how the cost of everything has gone up- food, energy, wages, etc.

What i get annoyed about, is how crap everything is now.

The food is ok.
The service tends to be either slow because they are short-staffed, or just ok
Always a few things on the menu not available.
Service charge added automatically (what exactly is that paying for?!)

Whereas before COVID/Brexit, meals were affordable compared to wages, service was quick and not many places added service charge unless it was a large group, but then people tended to have more disposable income compared to now

I always go on Wowcher or Groupon first.
We went about a dozen times this year with Wowcher for a local carvery, 2 carveries and two deserts for £22.99 instead of £37.

Just have to shop around, there are deals to be had everywhere.

I personally don’t think it sounds good value but. I understand how they get to the prices. The rent/ rates/ franchise fees/ bills/ staff costs. Your average restaurant is making under 10% gross profit.

I do think you are better to find an independent on the outskirts of somewhere and you tend to get better value.

I'm complaining about playing £20 when the burger is overcooked and looks like the chef assembled it with his foot, meanwhile the serving staff look at you like you're a massive PITA for wanting cutlery and they automatically add 12% which would normally be the rate for above average service.

The cost would be less of an issue if the overall experience felt worthwhile.

If you're in the hospitality industry it's your prerogative to justify why £20 is reasonable, but you'd be foolish, when prices are so high, not to manage your kitchen and floor staff well to make the experience as enjoyable as possible for your patrons.

Lunch menus are often cheaper, and many restaurants do a fixed price deal. We're in a not wealthy suburban area, and on full menu prices our local independent Italian charges

Lunch menu
£10 cheapest menu item pasta, or £9 pizza
£3 cheapest side
£4.50 small wine
£2.50 fruit juice

Dinner menu
£13.95 cheapest menu item - pasta or pizza
£4.49 cheapest side dishes
£4.50 small wine
£2.50 fruit juice (sparkling/soda drinks from £3.20)

So dinner for 4 with drinks would be at least £78.78 without desserts, and those prices seem pretty reasonable - I'd guess that adding 4 desserts and a couple of coffees would push it up to over the £100 mark - entirely in line with your chain restaurant. I guess the main difference would be that I'd expect the food and and ambience to be better, for the whole experience. But the costs to the restaurant are similar, irrespective of the "nicer" atmosphere, which is something you can't really pay for.

We go out to a local golf club or cafe but always at lunch time, roughly once a month. The Bill for 2 having a main course and drink is just over £30.
I refuse to pay nearly a tenner for a starter or pudding and £25 for a main course elsewhere

I understand hospitality costs have gone up a lot but my pension hasn't.

We know how businesses work and what costs they face.

But what many seem to be ignoring is that consumers are legitimately questioning whether it's worth the considerable cost.

If the food isn't that good and the experience isn't particularly good then why bother?

Most people don't have money to waste like that. So especially when its a mid range chain that's serving what's effectively a ready meal.

all the other things that businesses have to pay, and you're complaining about paying £20 for a burger that somebody has cooked, delivered to your table and cleaned up after

The point is that this is not good value to most people. It's assembly cooking. It takes no skill and very little effort. Even the cleaning up isn't that much. There's no guarantee the food will be any better than what you can buy in the supermarket.

Plus a lot of restaurants don't even provide a nice atmosphere any more. Freezing cold, echoey, tables crammed together so you can't chat to your dining companions without feeling like you're disturbing people on the next table. Waiting staff interrupting you then disappearing when you want to pay.

I don't think it's changed too much in proportion to everything else, I rarely go out dining. Even going to McDonalds is expensive, over £10 I think for a meal on the bigger burgers. We're on a tight budget, so even a McD's isn't a casual purchase for us.

But what many seem to be ignoring is that consumers are legitimately questioning whether it's worth the considerable cost.

It's that price/value thing.

There is no fucking way a £100 bottle of wine can be 10 times better than a £10 bottle of wine. (for example). The rest comes naturally.

I completely agree and have been saying this myself recently. Main meals in a lot of pubs/chain restaurants used to be £11/12/13 not so long ago, now they are £16/17/18 or even more, for average stuff - burgers, pasta dishes, pizzas. And quality hasn’t improved. I paid £18 for burger and chips in my ‘local’ the other day, and it was just that, no salad garnish, onion rings, coleslaw or anything, absolutely rip off.

@Mummyhokey I agree, £50 just for 2 main meals and not even 2 pints, as one was a half! I’d choke on it at that price! Not remotely reasonable!

They may not be making a profit - it'll be good enough if they're making enough to help towards the fixed costs, i.e. rent, rates, etc. They'll need to compare gross profit (sales less food costs) against variable costs such as wages and utilities, and if that's a positive, then that's good business, as the fixed costs are there anyway whether they open or not. You have to look at marginal costs when decision making such as whether to open or not. If they generate positive "cash flow" on Tuesdays, that's good enough.

You aren't going for the food.

You are going for the experience, service and labour. This also costs rent, electricity and water as well as tax. Oh and don't forget advertising. Whilst trying to make a profit.

Try adding up how much it would cost for you to hire in a private chef, pay them transport, factor in your utility costs. We won't count all the other bits and pieces.

See how much it actually costs.

YABU.

I do get what you're saying.

I went to a village pub with a friend on Saturday. The main courses were expensive but not mind-blowing.
But then it was £3.95 for a small single scoop of chocolate ice-cream, and £4 for a small cappuccino. That bit seemed expensive. As I ate my ice-cream, I couldn't help but think, "I've got nicer chocolate ice-cream at home in my freezer..."

But I agree with what another poster said, people seem to go out to eat a lot more than we did 20-30 years ago... Growing up, we went out to eat maybe once every 6 months, and only for special occasions, and it was real treat.
As children, on a long road trip, sometimes we'd stop at a Little Chef or Happy Eater for lunch, and my sister and I were BUZZED!

There won't be a business for the customers if the business doesn't set realistic prices. To hell with naive customers. If they really don't like the prices they wouldn't be there in the first place - the fact they are says the price point really isn't as wildly off as the 'naive customer' is trying to make out. The customer is a chancer...

I think anyone defending restaurants by saying ‘you aren’t going for the food’ should really not be running a restaurant!

But you miss my point. Whatever you think customers are getting for their money, they don’t think it’s good value. Obviously it’s not just the food they’re getting, but the food is the end product so must be of a quality to justify the price. Obviously ambience etc can be important but if the whole product of food+extras is overpriced relative to its perceived value then the business will fail regardless of the costs of running it.

Restaurant owners seem to be saying ‘Our costs have gone up, so our prices have gone up, lump it’. I say ‘Thanks for explaining why you’ve put your prices up, but since the quality has stayed the same or declined, and you are offering nothing new, I won’t lump it. I’ll just go elsewhere or stay at home.’