There's a vast gulf between a soup kitchen somewhere cheap and a sit-down restaurant in the middle of the city with high quality but high rents and high wages.
McDonalds is still going to exist and be cheap enough to eat at a lot.
Hole in the walls, with relatively cheap rents and family owned with takeout and streamlined overhead will also still exist.
Eating out is strangely expensive in most places in the US, compared to many parts of Asia at least. I'm not sure why. I considered density as a factor but if anything cities cost more in the US.
>Eating out is strangely expensive in most places in the US, compared to many parts of Asia at least. I'm not sure why. I considered density as a factor but if anything cities cost more in the US.
The same reason everything is more expensive in the US; overhead and wages. The economics of running a family restaurant in a building you've owned for generations is completely different than that of a corporate fast casual place that pays wages and rent.
I don’t think this is the case at all. Specialization provides tremendous value, and making things in bulk is far more environmentally friendly than everyone making things individually.