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?

It’s more about value for money. Yes the prices have increased dramatically since Covid but the experience of eating out is generally worse.

Poor rushed service and meals that were designed by an accountant.

Two courses, 2 glasses of wine. £79. Supper after work because we were both coming from the office.

Tuesday night. The restaurant was busy though, as was town. So despite the cost of living, increasing prices and all the other issues people are still going out and eating.

Absolutely about value for money and as I said previously, that is subjective e.g I enjoy drinking good coffee so I’m happy to occasionally spend the best part of £5 on an Americano at certain places in London, or £17 for a tasty burger at a couple of indie places I know.

I don’t agree - it’s the cost of the meals that has gone up drastically and as someone said for four people for a mediocre pub meal the cost is the same as a weeks food shopping. It just doesn’t seem worth it for very average food.

I think unless you work in the food industry people don't realise just how expensive it is right now to run a business.
Electricity and gas for business is astronomical, minimum wage increases (and therefore increases for those who were above min. wage) Brexit means that food import prices are through the roof, the price of beef at the moment is crazy expensive (up 17% this year) because of foot and mouth outbreaks and therefore mass slaughter for an example, business rates are sky high, and tariff increases on everything have meant that restaurants and cafes etc are closing at a rate of knots.

It's become almost untenable to run a business in 2025.

Who do you think is going to pay the final cost?

I think unless you work in the food industry people don't realise just how expensive it is right now to run a business.

The food industry - hospitality ? - isn't unique. All businesses that require premises and staff have the same challenges (as I posted way back when). Any business will have a baseline figure that need to earn before any business activity. It may be £100 a day. It may be £1,000 a day. But whatever it is it needs to be earned every day regardless of anything else.

When i did my DFs books in the early 80s, he had to make £30 every day to pay the standing charges, the rates, the insurance, and the service charges for commercial refuse.

Don't work Sunday ? Then it's £35 a day.

So if you can get 3 cars serviced - at £40 labour per service plus parts - then you get £120 on top. Out of which you need to pay electric and gas (big places to heat, workshops). When you've taken that off, you have maybe £90. Out of which you pay wages. So less tax & NI you may just have £35. Which is great by you have an employee to pay that to. So you have to take no wage.

And DF was lucky. He had the car so people paid cash or didn't get their car. When I left Uni, a friend setup their own business and went bust in the second year because no one paid on time. And despite 40 years of hearing how the UK government is on the side of small businesses, that remains an issue. Only this year a company I was working for had 3 big outstanding debts that threatened to sink them.

If people wanted "one weird trick" to help small businesses, it would be that when a debt falls 1 hour overdue it is automatically doubled and enforceable within 24 hours. The amount of money that would flood the economy with would trigger inflation .....

I think unless you work in the food industry people don't realise just how expensive it is right now to run a business.

People do realize that but it's very expensive to pay your own bills, buy food, pay mortgage or rent, run a car etc. and that means that luxuries such as eating out at restaurants have to be cut.

We went out for my daughter yesterday. We had 2 starters, 4 adult main courses, 2 desserts and a child's set meal. We also had 2 pints of beer, 2 cocktails, a coke and appletise plus zero alcohol beer. We walked out stuffed and the bill came to £150 between us.

That’s not too bad as long as it was good quality food and something that you couldn’t just rustle up at home, ie fish n chips, a burger and a Costco type pudding.

It was really good, at a non chain Mexican.

Sounds good.

Yes completely concur with you
💚🙌💚

Frankie and bennies used to be gd and reasonable . Not any more. Tiny pot of about 9 or 10 chips was 4.50. 13 quid margarita pizza sais 10
inch looked about 7. 3 x soft drinks was about 12quid.

Another one unticked on my list. 22 quid to walk out hungry.

I don't mind paying if it's good food done well. The problem is often it's not even close and I could do a better job myself at home. We rarely have take-outs for this reason and if I CBA cooking we get ready meals from the supermarket because at least they're cheaper and not much quality difference often. I don't begrudge paying for really good food. Fine dining etc that I can't do myself. Obviously that's a very occasional treat though and we don't take the kids. We do go out for brunch sometimes. Still expensive but more like £50 for 4 and a nice treat.

I am now totally converted to brunch over expensive dinners out. Much nicer and cheaper way to catch up with friends. And then the day is yours after, and no hangover.

Eating out is a treat so I just accept the prices. If somewhere feels bad value I just won't go again. If the food is poor I send it back straight away so I don't usually ever feel ripped off in a restaurant.