How much would you expect this meal to cost?

[Sofielou]

I'm not sure if I'm a bit unrealistic with my expectation here so I thought I'd see what wise Mumsnetters think!

We had a meal out at popular chain Italian restaurant. We ordered:

4 x main meals (3 x pizzas and 1 x pasta dish)
1 x meal from child menu (pasta dish)
4 x soft drinks (3 x Coca Cola, 1 x Sprite)

No starters, no desserts, no alcoholic drinks.

What would you roughly expect the total of the bill to be? (Not London if that makes a difference?!)

Last time we went to Bella Italia, 4 years ago, it was about £70 for 4 adults. I joked that I'd enjoy a 50p can on Tesco ravioli more than theirs. Their mark up on bottles of alcohol, beer, lager, cider is just a total rip-off.

I guessed right. I eat in Pizza Express and based it on full price which is the same all over the country. I like their pizzas. It's not gourmet but they are not substandard. What the fuck do people expect? You are eating in a restaurant with rent and staff and heating and lighting and ovens and washer uppers and cleaners. People always seem amazed that a glass of Coke costs about £3. It's true there's no duty on it so it's not as expensive as a glass of wine but it's not like it's tap water. Same with child meals. How much do you really think Zizzi can do a child meal for? At £7 they are probably breaking even. It's not enough to say you can make it cheaper at home. If that's what you want make it at home. That's what I'm doing tonight. Next week I'll go out and it will cost me a lot more for food I could cook myself but I want to go to a restaurant.

65 pounds

Haha I love that people are still guessing .... 😂

It was £75.

@limitedperiodonly

Well... That was unnecessarily aggressive.😳

£60? P*a express?

It was Zizzis - £75
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I don't know how to make people see this update 😂*

70-80 x

Without reading the rest of the thread I would hazard a guess at £12-15 for each of the adult meals so max £60.

around a fiver for the kids meal and close to £10 for the drinks! 🤷‍♀️ Could be wrong but £75 is an easy total for this menu

That's what I would have dcidcted there tbh & I haven't been since 2018 🤣

Sorry 'expected' god knows what my phone is up to!!

@LoveSpringDaffs

I knew what you meant 😂

Glad someone else was similar in expectation to me. I think I'm just really out of touch with eating out as it's been a while!

I see you posted the price op. Italian is always so expensive for what it is.

Our local Italian charges about £18 for a pizza and a soft drink, the pizzas are bloody lovely.

£70+

All these overpricing dressed up fast food places will go bust in the next year or so, like cafe rouge, Jamie’s etc. As funds become more limited people will vote with their feet. First the quality and quantity drops, then prices up…then they crash and burn. Already seen Zizzi and Wildwood quality and quantity dip…

They are businesses answering to shareholders. No one wants their poor shareholders to receive less. So they up prices to cover the rising costs elsewhere (rather than saying investments are a gamble). Eventually the cash cow public says ‘enough’. And they fail. We are living through a massive evolution, where humans will finally realise we only succeed when we all succeed. But it’s not going to be fast, and it is going to be very painful for many.

I think it's about standard, pizza/pasta in Zizzi or Pizza Express are generally around the £15 plus mark even pre recent inflation. What really bumps it up is alcohol which has also shot up. Since when was a pint or beer £7.50 and glass of house wine £8! This was not in a fancy restaurant either. It's crazy to think not long ago we had half price meals with eat out to help out

If its Pizza Express its not cheap so about 60/70 quid

We ate in PE for the 1st time recently and I was rather gobsmacked at the prices. Especially for a canteen style eatery and I had a salad that consisted of lettuce, egg chicken and croutons yet it was as dear as the pizza. A rhubarb gin was about £7 but it was actually plain gin with a flavoured tonic.
Can't say I'd go again at those prices

I'd say £76 if at ASK Italian

Didn't you check the prices on the menu?

I found your list hard to price because a flatbread could be anything. McDonalds does one for a couple of quid that's like a folded pitta bread with plastic cheese and shit bacon in, or it could have been a nice platter with bread, dips, salad, pickles, chicken or something like halloumi or falafels all with a side of chips, so not terrible if it was nice food in a nice place and it was a full meal.

Or a casual Indian and beer/cocktails place near us does a pizza base piled up with marinated chicken, chips, peppers, onions, chips, fries and melted cheese. It costs around £20 but it's huge and easily serves two, and while it looks a bit of a mess, it's actually really nice. So I'd happily pay £20 for that type of 'flatbread'.

£70ish.

Not at all @Sofielou . You've been sharp-tongued yourself to other posters who asked you why you didn't note the prices on the menu and keep a running tally in your head. I do that but if you don't I can just about see why a bill for around £15 in a restaurant might come as a surprise. You were expecting someone else to have the premises to go to and cook and serve and clear up after you. That costs money.

You've been sharp-tongued yourself to other posters who asked you why you didn't note the prices on the menu and keep a running tally in your head.

Probably because I've been asked the same question about 347 times 😂😂😂

Since when was a pint or beer £7.50 and glass of house wine £8

I haven't been to PE for years, partly because the drinks are so expensive and we have some great independents locally that do wood fired pizza and craft beer, and pizza and a pint is under £15.

I remember that PE didn't do draft lager but you could get a large bottle that was only slightly bigger than a pint for £6.50 and this has to be at least five years ago. Looking at the menu now, Pizza and an alcoholic drink is very likely to be at least £18 and they've downsized the drinks so they're priced per 125 ml wine or 330 ml beer, so if you want the equivalent of a pint or a large wine with your pizza, it's going to be well over £20.