[linguae]

I don’t know where you live, but in the Bay Area prices have exploded since COVID. I remember a decade ago when it was still possible to get a super burrito for under $10; in fact, the price was $7.75 for a carne asada super burrito at El Farolito in San Francisco. A burger was under $10, a deli sandwich was about $8-9, and tacos were around $1.50 at Taco Bell and no more than $3 at a proper taqueria. The prices weren’t cheap, but they never felt bank-breaking. Unfortunately prices have skyrocketed since COVID. Unfortunately my income hasn’t matched; I made the individually fulfilling but poor financial decision of pursuing a research career and not working for OpenAI/Anthropic/FAANG/NVIDIA. Thus, two years ago I quit eating out in the Bay Area, except when socializing. It’s sad making six figures and feeling priced out of dining out, just like I’m priced out of housing and RAM since I can’t compete with Big Tech. I now cook, which I guess is healthier but is also time-consuming.

Japan, on the other hand, is heaven for those with US dollars. A bowl of ramen is around ¥1,100 here (I’m here on a research visit), and they generally taste amazing! Even a Big Mac meal from McDonald’s is far cheaper than in the Bay Area.

[decimalenough]

FWIW, prices have exploded in Japan as well. Ramen used to be ¥500 in a standard Chinese restaurant, maybe a few hundred more for a fancy one, and no restaurant dared breach the ¥1000 barrier.

Fortunately for the traveler, this has been more than matched by the implosion of the yen exchange rate, meaning in USD terms ¥1100 today is still cheaper than ¥500 ten years ago.

[brailsafe]

I'm on the west coast but the prices aren't much cheaper elsewhere if at all. It's way cheaper in Japan to get ramen, but probably much more expensive to get sushi, which is maybe the last value oriented quality meal I'm usually able to find. Canadian A&W and Popeyes are quite good as well (I found U.S Popeyes lacking flavor and juiciness), but never ever get combos at fast food places, only the burger. McDonald's is tasting more and more like cardboard while their prices rise.

Right around When "smash" patties started becoming the next millenial fad is when I first started seeing absurd prices like that. Sides stopped being included, and I ordered a double patty at a local place, paid $16 for just the damn burger, felt insulated, and then just left. I continue trying to keep an open mind, but I tend to be skeptical that I'll get anything worthwhile for my money. If only I'd had a huge amount invested in stocks when the value of money halved.

[linguae]

I agree regarding the West Coast in general. Seattle and Los Angeles are also similarly expensive, and even Sacramento (my hometown) isn’t much of an improvement. A few months ago I was floored to see a $13 burrito at a place that was just $8 pre-pandemic. Sacramento is not inundated with rich people like the Bay Area, so what gives? The average Sacramento resident can’t afford those prices.

I went to St. Louis, Missouri on a business trip two years ago and was pleasantly shocked by the food prices there. I felt like I entered a time machine to 2016 California.

Regarding sushi in Japan, prices run the gamut from cheap conveyor-belt sushi chains (like Hama Sushi and Sushiro) and grocery/convenience store sushi (which is surprisingly good here) to ultra-expensive, reservation-only restaurants with sushi served by world-renowned chefs, and everything in between. I’m not an expert on sushi, but I find that $5 grocery store sushi in Japan often beats what costs $20 back in the Bay Area. To be fair, though, the Bay Area has many excellent sushi restaurants, and while it’s more expensive in the Bay Area than Japan for the same quality, the counterargument is a meal at a Bay Area restaurant is much cheaper than a flight to Japan. I just happen to be fortunate enough to go to Japan twice a year, so I just wait until I’m in Japan to have sushi.

[sgerenser]

The Big Mac thing is kinda sad, just a few years ago I used to tell people who complained about the increasing cost of fast food “You just gotta use the App!” Which was true, with the McD’s app, a Big Mac might be something like $3 or maybe buy-one-get-one in the app, but $6 in store. But it seems like those days are over, the fast food places realized they were losing too much margin as more and more people started using their apps. Oh well, better to cut way back on fast food consumption anyway.