Kevin Roberts remembers when he could get a bacon cheeseburger, fries and a drink from Five Guys for $10. But that was years ago. When the Virginia high school teacher recently visited the fast-food chain, the food alone without a beverage cost double that amount.

Roberts, 38, now only gets fast food “as a rare treat,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. “Nothing has made me cook at home more than fast-food prices.”

Roberts is hardly alone. Many consumers are expressing frustration at the surge in fast-food prices, which are starting to scare off budget-conscious customers.

A January poll by consulting firm Revenue Management Solutions found that about 25% of people who make under $50,000 were cutting back on fast food, pointing to cost as a concern.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    If you can eat at a nicer place for the same amount of money, why would you eat at McDonald’s?

    • BobbyNevada@discuss.tchncs.de
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      6 months ago

      I would rather spend that money on a local burger joint. Give me a single named joint with a generic paper bag with grease stains on the outside.

      • spongebue@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Unfortunately, so many local burger joints have a “flagship” burger featuring a Sysco patty, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion for $17, sides extra.

      • Wanderer@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        Anything where you can get a burger bun that doesn’t taste like it full of sugar is worth it over anything else.

        The bread quality in america is the lowest of the low.

    • Laser@feddit.de
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      6 months ago

      That nicer place is probably at home. Not that there’s anything wrong with it. But I think all fast food chains raised prices? At least here in Europe it’s not like McDonald’s is somehow standing out as more expensive. Worse, yes. But that was always the case