Also, sometimes less is more. Getting the maximal amount of food is only good if you want to eat more than the normal portion size. In the US, we have supersized portions and underwhelming healthcare, so it’s not a good match. You know the guy who successfully sued a restaurant to get a soda filled to the brim and…

Very well thought out response. I felt exactly the same way - the article only covers the variable cost that is used in production. Overhead, fixed cost, capital expenditures, and other things are omitted. The $5 of ingredients for $20 pizza seems much more reasonable when you realize they pay $20k/mo rent and spent…

If I want guac at a restaurant and the menu says the cost is $2 I get to decide.

Exactly. I’m paying for the luxury of not having to do it myself because it’s tedious and I’m too hungry to bother. On the rare occasion that I’m in the mood to make pizza and have the time, I will. The rest of the time I get it, I buy it because I’m starving and can’t wait longer than 30 minutes to eat.

5 gallons of unsweet tea costs about $0.50, including labor cost. Sweet tea costs about $1.25 for 5 gallons. When I was doing restaurant work, we figured we made about $45 per 5 gallons.

Just don’t add the cheese to your burger. It’s cheap American cheese, usually, and you can’t taste it under all the condiments anyway.

Take ‘m down. Take the bastards down. Milk them for the cheap and the free shit. Make them BLEED!!!! BLEEEDDDD : ) : )

What’s the time of the human being making your food worth? What’s pest control and clean drains worth? What’s a working cooler worth?

Well, yes, which is why we spring for “something decent” and buy the fresh stuff as opposed to the shitty pre-shredded kind. But it’s still *ridiculously* cheap compared to actually buying a $15+ pizza. We make a batch of spaghetti sauce ahead of time and it comes out to ~$0.60/qt.

Pound of mozeralla is at least $3, if not $5 for something decent.

Anyone who’s ever made pizza from scratch know how massive a markup there is on it. Dough is literally flour, water and yeast. Flour is about $0.17, and water and yeast are practically free.

It’s not uncommon to see iced tea on a restaurant menu for $1.99 or even $2.99 in some places. What the hell? That’s halfway to beer prices right there.

I’ll gladly pay McD a dollar, it’s the $2.50-$3 that most sit down restaurants charge that gets me. I know I usually get refills, but man if I don’t get 2 refills I’m really getting screwed

I eat cheese pizza like a little kid and I use the complimentary parmesan and crushed red pepper. I’m playing this game at an entirely different level.

Im sure thats why Price Club got into the business. High margin, one size (18") and only 3 types on the menu, at 1 price ($10). They sure as hell werent making any money off the hot dog/soda combo.

This is the only part of business or economics in general that I’m actually curious about (normally I find finance dull and/or scary).

It’s amazing that the cans actually cost more than the soda in it.

Call me crazy, but if I like a restaurant, I usually don’t try to make sure to minimize their revenues and drive them out of business!

So, what’s the point here?

Patrick, you didn’t broach the biggest money maker at restaurants. Soft drinks (actually most drinks). A Coke/Pepsi might cost the store a nickel, but if they sell it to you for a buck (that’s what McD’s will charge in NC), that is 1900% markup. Think about when McD’s has their Monoploy game tokens - they are on…