Is eating out in the west very expensive?

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Where are you?

Even Five Guys by me (Rhode Island) I can get a single cheeseburger and fries for $13.80 after tax.

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I went out to a local mom & pop diner last week for breakfast. The "early bird special" of 2 eggs, 2 bacon strips, 2 toast and hash browns was $13. A cup of drip coffee was another $4. Add in a tip and that's $20 for one person.

I'm in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, which is a MCoL area.

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rheameg@reddit

Ouch I live in a low income rural area so prices are low

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vwsslr200@reddit

Even for fast food takeout

That's an exaggeration. The McDonald's app always has a $7 meal deal.

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MeanTelevision@reddit

That's one place. I haven't been to McD in more years than I can remember, and not everyone goes the same places.

The point remains, whether or not it applies to every single place to the penny.

Once you add tax and such it's going to be close to $10 anyway. And that's just for one meal.

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7.70 is nearly $8 which is 8/10 of the way to $10.

Saying it's nearly $10 is a fair assessment.

My actual point stands.

> I don't think that's an outlandish price at all for someone else to prepare a warm 1000 calorie meal for you.

Dandibear@reddit

From what I've seen, Amish people make great members of the community.

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420forworldpeace@reddit

they really do provide a lot of culture, community and literally are about 80% of the entire economy. they’re the #1 and truthfully one of the only reasons i like living where i do.

with that said though, a lot of people think just because someone is amish they’re inherently trustworthy and have good practices, fair pricing, or quality work. reality is you’re just as likely to get screwed by Joe Yoder as you are Joe Schmo if you don’t do adequate research, which in this case means word of mouth.

you also have to go to the stores that don’t center on english tastes and business for the better deals. although i will say having a knockoff amish version of Pulp in town is nice since the nearest is 30 mins away lmao. they do got my yankee ass there.

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Dandibear@reddit

"Joe Yoder" lolol

Fair point though. People are people.

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rheameg@reddit

Subway order online use code 699fl and get a whole foot long for 6.99

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purplishfluffyclouds@reddit

*dine

Dude, here in WA state, I can't even get a meal for two at a run-down restaurant for anything less than $30. An appetizer is usually $12-25. I don't go out to eat anymore. Too damn expensive. It's helpful that I love cooking. I cook for nearly every meal every day. We spend probably $600/month on groceries at Walmart and Costco between the two of us and our 2 yr old.

Last time we went out to eat I got 12 small shrimp, some vegetables, and broth for $38. My wife got the same, but with two sides of fried rice. Our total was $130.

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health__insurance@reddit

GDP per capita in Washington is over $100k. That's about double of poor states.

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doktorhladnjak@reddit

I was gonna say as someone who lives in Seattle proper, there’s nowhere you’re getting table service for 2 after tax and tip for even $30. A counter order teriyaki joint or non-bougie food truck is the only way you’re spending that little. Many walk up to the counter places are even more like $40 for two.

For sit down table service, you’re looking at $50 minimum in most cases. You can probably still find a couple pho places for less but not by much.

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Semicomedic_Truther@reddit

Lucky to get two meals and drinks at a food truck for less than $30

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lfisch4@reddit

Oh god I know I’m gonna get downvoted for asking this but I really am legitimately clueless. So you are still supposed to tip when the servers are making $16.66? Is 20% still considered the standard in this situation? I tipped, but the menu made such a big deal about how they pay their workers a decent wage that I pulled it back to 10%.

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althoroc2@reddit

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ThePevster@reddit

These days I’m only tipping for full service. If there’s a screen involved at any point, there’s no tip from me.

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Spiritual_Lemonade@reddit

Not wrong. I'm South in Olympia.

So many places even local are now counter ordering, with bins and stations to bus your own table.

Even locally owned half decent food.

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MotherofaPickle@reddit

My last McDonalds run (for myself and my 2yo) cost $15. And that was mostly just extra fries for the 2yo.

For the whole family of 4? Close to $30, even though my husband hates McDonalds. And that’s CHEAP. Ordering Chinese for pickup at our local place is going to be $50.

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Range-Shoddy@reddit

Yeah it’s ridiculous. Family of four at fast food is almost $50 if we need sides and drinks. It is almost cheaper to eat at a real restaurant than fast food. It does not cost me $50 to make 4 cheeseburgers and fries at home, more like $15 if I get really big burgers.

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sharpshooter999@reddit

Rural Nebraska here, you can still get a burger, fries, non-alcoholic drink for $7-$9 at the small town mom and pop places. My wife, I and three kids went out the other night after my son's t-ball game. We all ate for $45 and change. I had 12 wings, fries and a beer, my wife had the same but with 6 wings. Two kids had kids cheeseburgers with fries and milk and my oldest got her usual steak quesadilla and Dr Pepper. The place was packed too

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gonyere@reddit

If we go out, breakfast or lunch will be $30-50+, for two people. Dinner is easily $50-80+. I can feed our whole family of 4 for 4-7+ days on that, easy. As such, I rarely eat out more than once a week.

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Spiritual_Lemonade@reddit

WA too. Western. I had to kill time and it's a decent atmosphere but an appetizer and a skinny margarita at Cheesecake Factory was $33.

No-You5550@reddit

Southern USA here and it cost more to eat out here too. A good cup of coffee is $9 alone.

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tocammac@reddit

Bull! There's plenty of good coffee at under $2 per cup.

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Ok-Car-5115@reddit

🤯 that’s worse than the Midwest.

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OrionX3@reddit

people "should" stop eating out to make ends meet. After watching way too many financial shows it's clear a lot of people don't cook even when money is tight and it can and will absolutely ruin them...

The amount of Caleb Hammer I've watched where someone has 50k+ in CC debt and is too lazy to cook to save money is unreal.

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Ok-Car-5115@reddit

Good clarification

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Stock-Cell1556@reddit

Yeah, and it's also usually not nearly as healthy so is considered a treat.

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GeneralPITA@reddit

The first thing my wife and I look at when we've gotten "spendy" is how much we've eaten out.

We're a family of 4 and would go to Chipotle and spend about 70-80 USD. We can make similar meals at home for 20 USD and have leftovers for lunch.

We live in Central Europe now and cooking at home is still cheaper, but not by quite as much.

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mmaalex@reddit

A few years ago when fast food still had dollar menus you COULD eat out cheaper than preparing similar food, but that food was really bad for you, and since covid those deals have largely dissapeared.

You can definitely eat junk calories very cheap if youre careful about how you shop in the US. Eating a balanced and varied diet can be quite a bit more expensive.

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I visited indonesia a few times: Sumatra, Java, Bali, East Timur.

Here is my comparison: A whole meal at a restaurant/cafe in The Netherlands could cost between €15 and €35.

A whole meal in Indonesia costs about €0,50 to €5 (and more expensive on Bali).

Monthly salary in Indonesia is about €300. Monthly Salary in The Netherlands is about €2800 after tax.

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AdamOnFirst@reddit

Everything in the west will seem expensive to you relative to what you’re used to. Like very expensive. We’re just much much richer, so all the numbers are far larger.
Wages and such are also much higher, so it’ll rarely be the case it’s cheaper to pay somebody else to buy the food and spend the time preparing and serving it is cheaper than making it yourself.
Regulations and expectations are also higher, so the costs inherent in maintaining an acceptable, clean, etc stall or restaurant are also much costlier, adding on to the dynamic of #2.

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Complcatedcoffee@reddit

Yes, the average Indonesian salary is about $9800 in USD per year. That average US salary is more than 6X that. If OP is grabbing something to eat for $1, yes, I can grab something to eat for $6 or less. I had a $5 breakfast sandwich from a cafe that was incredible. If I did fast food chains, they have items for $1.50+ usually. I don’t usually get a giant combo meal, and I don’t think OP is eating anything equivalent to that. I can easily order a $2 bean and cheese burrito from Taco Bell and be satisfied. I don’t need a $12 combo meal with a giant Mountain Dew and a side dish.

A lot of our grocery stores have prepared foods sections that are really affordable, too. They often have a buffet set up and you get charged by weight. I do that for lunch sometimes and it usually costs about $4-$5.

I think it’s generally equivalent for the kind of convenience food OP is talking about. Our foods are probably less healthy and more processed. I can get 2 for $2.22 taquitos at 7-11, but it’s not a healthy choice.

If I don’t bring a homemade lunch to work, I usually get lunch at the grocery store. Today I got a tamale and a small pozole and it was $4.50. However, when I prepare my own lunch, it’s usually less than $2. There are many restaurants near me with $15 lunch prices, and I don’t do that unless it’s a social thing and I can dine in and enjoy the ambience.

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thequirkynerdy1@reddit

You're getting a sandwich filling enough to be a meal for only $5?

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Yep. Hard to cook certain foods for just one person. Lasagna? Enchilladas? Brisket? Pot roast. Those are some of my favorite foods, that you aren't just going to cook without ending up with a bunch of leftovers.

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unsurewhatiteration@reddit

It heavily depends on where you are and where you choose to eat.

I can take my family of 4 out and easily have it cost over $100 just to eat a meal, or I can go to a restaurant owned by a nice local Mexican family and get so much food for $45 that we need to bring home leftovers.

It can be cheap or expensive, depends on the place and what food/drink you get. A quick snack from a roadside cart is pretty cheap. A sitdown resturant with wine and fancy decorations, that's going to get expensive.

a simple yet filing meal at a casual resturant where you sit down at the table to eat, a 1 person meal will cost about the same amount of money as factory worker makes in an hour.

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Imateepeeimawigwam@reddit

Halo teman ku! Yes, its much more expensive to eat out in America than it is in Indonesia - at least where I live in the US. Having spent a lot of time visiting and living in Indonesia, I can tell you that it is just not the same. I am an American (bule), but tried to eat as local as possible while I was there. There is no kaki lima to get a cup of coffee or a bakwan for 10 cents, and there is very little that resembles a warung where you can get a meal cheaper than you can make at home. Going to a restaurant here in America is great - there's amazing food where I live - but it's going to cost you. I miss indonesia so much! Please send some rendang and some gado-gado!!

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RealWolfmeis@reddit

It's so much more expensive to eat out, here in the US.

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ImpressiveMind5771@reddit

Depends on the girl

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trinite0@reddit

Yes, in the US it's significantly cheaper to buy groceries and cook yourself (or buy easy to prepare food, like full cooked frozen dishes) than it is to eat out.

Part of the reason for this is the cost of labor. Restaurants have to pay cooks, servers, cleaners, delivery drivers, etc. significantly more in the US than they get paid in less developed countries. Those costs increase the prices that they must charge their customers.

The food itself is very cheap. So if you do all the work yourself at home, you're only paying for the food (and the cooking equipment, which is also pretty cheap).

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A lot of Asian countries have a very cheap and reasonably portioned street food culture that many use in lieu of consistent home cooking. Singapore is a good example: even though they’re rich, the government literally subsidizes “hawker centers” to provide cheap, quick food to commuters etc.

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Jooj272729@reddit

More importantly, labor is extremely cheap and there is less overhead there for things like insurance and rent.

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Dumuzzid@reddit

*usually it’s a western fast food chain, while local fast food costs $1-$1.3. However, people don’t really like local fast food for some reason, I don’t too

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sics2014@reddit

What do you mean by canteen food?

I think of something like a buffet or hospital cafeteria when I hear canteen.

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opheliainwaders@reddit

I’d probably translate it as “food court” rather than canteen?

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tabidots@reddit

OP is probably talking about something that’s quite common in many Asian countries, also known as a “rice buffet” or (in Malaysia/Singapore) “economy rice”. You get a plate of rice and then there’s a whole smorgasbord of savory dishes to choose from as toppings for the rice. Often it’s priced by number of items with a small surcharge for more expensive proteins like fish. “Rice and three” is probably the most common set. It’s an awesome setup because it’s cheap and you don’t need any language skills, just point to what you want.

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kidfromtheast@reddit (OP)

I have been to hospital cafeteria, but at the time the staff already choose the food for you. Meanwhile, the canteen that I am talking about is like a buffet but you don’t pay once and then all you can eat type of deal. You get a plate, choose what you want to eat, get it weighted* and then pay

The places which weight the food you take yourself is usually inside a school, an office area, a mall (a mall always has a cafetaria, usually to attract people going deep inside the mall as the food section is always located deep inside the mall)

*If it’s a “warung” a.k.a a mom and pop shop, they don’t weight it. You still get to choose what type of meat, vegetables you want though

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cori_2626@reddit

Totally! I traveled to Singapore and Malaysia and we went totally nuts at the street food markets and hawker stall centers there - and I know that even that, being in Singapore, probably isn’t nearly as cheap as what you have in Indonesia.

Fun-Yellow-6576@reddit

It’s more expensive to eat out than it is to cook.

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ophelia8991@reddit

Don’t forget that in the US, you will usually tip the server if you are eating out. Even without that, it’s vastly more expensive to get restaurant food

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tabidots@reddit

Generally in Asia it is more typical to eat out and the experience is much more casual and quick, often because you’re patronizing a small business and interacting directly (or almost directly) with the person making your food.

In the US, eating out (at a sit-down restaurant, not fast food) is generally a lengthier and less casual experience, where you have a server who can walk you through the restaurant’s menu and is sort of the “conductor” of the meal (pacing, etc.).

It is more of an entertainment/leisure experience than pure eating: you go to this place and they take care of you (like going to a spa, say), they put on a show for you (not literally, but I mean just the whole “Hi, I’m (name) and I’ll be your server tonight”), and you usually eat food that is less healthy and more fun than what you’d eat at home on a daily basis.

And so this experience is priced accordingly. People don’t typically eat out every day—even if you could afford to, restaurant food in Western countries generally isn’t healthy, because the ways they make food tastier revolve around adding more butter, cheese, cream, oil, and salt.

300% of ingredient cost is a pretty typical way of pricing meals for restaurants.

Their prices are:

Fried Rice - Ham $9.25 - Vegetable $9.25 - Chicken $9.29 - Pork $9.29 - Beef $9.99 - Shrimp $10.99 - House Special $10.99, Includes Shrimp, Chicken, Beef, Pork.

None of them include egg, so the actual protein content is probably much lower than yours.

In the meantime, I can buy: - a dozen jumbo eggs for $3, - a bag of rice for $1.77, - beans for $1.98, - a bag of frozen veggies for $0.98, - soy sauce for $1.58 - oil for $4.12

twomenycooks@reddit

Just like in Indonesia, in America, preparing meals at home is less expensive than eating at a restaurant.

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Fried rice would run anywhere from $7-$20 depending on where it’s from.

In the US my family cooks all meals at home every day, probably going "out" less than 2-3 times per month. We are economically upper-middle-class I suppose, so could easily afford to eat out all the time. But we don't because 1) we can generally cook better (and much healthier) food at home, 2) eating out takes time and is generally a hassle (there is no "street food" outside of major cities in the US to speak of), and 3) I can make most things we like at home for 10-20% of the cost of paying someone else to do it.

infinite_five@reddit

Well, yeah, it’s much more expensive. I wouldn’t call it “very” expensive, because it’s not always (although tipping culture can often be the deciding factor in making it unaffordable; the minimum is generally considered 15% of the bill, and that’s if you’re being stingy. Good service requires a higher percentage, like 20 or even 25%), but, well, let’s take a look at a meal my mom would often make for our family of four when I was little and how much it would cost.

Whole chicken, already cooked: $6.21 Green beans, steamed in bag within minutes: $2 Total, including tax: about $10

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cori_2626@reddit

In Asia there’s plentiful street food, where there’s no rent, no labor beyond the business person themselves that does all the cooking, and basically no costs beyond the initial purchase of the cart, food in bulk, and cooking oil in bulk. So the difference in cost is super different!

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MerelyMisha@reddit

If you’re single, it can actually be cheaper for equivalent food in countries where labor is cheap and street food is common, due to economies of scale. Especially true if you can more easily rent a room without a kitchen, and a kitchen would add a lot to your rent.

Asking a question should not have anyone *that* pressed. Use the scroll option.

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bluecrowned@reddit

I downvoted it because it contributed nothing to the conversation.

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Sledgehammer925@reddit

Five years ago, it was inexpensive enough to go out for dinner two or three times a week. Now, it’s not affordable at all. A meal that costs $10 to make at home would cost $50-60 dollars elsewhere. In the US we have a lot of fast food restaurants that were geared towards the low wage earners and they have become so expensive that either they refigure their business model or go bankrupt. It’s crazy.

We can’t afford to pay crazy amounts for food, so we always prepare them at home. We aren’t poor, either.

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SilverB33@reddit

Last I checked yes Even fast food places are as expensive as a decent resturant

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Emotional-Chipmunk70@reddit

36M, single without children. I order out $30-$40 worth of food everyday. Just depends on how much money one makes, and how many responsibilities one has.

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OrdinarySubstance491@reddit

Yes. I wouldn’t run a business if I couldn’t make a profit. Making a profit means charging more than the cost of goods, which means the meal would cost more than it costs to make it at home.

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We don’t really have street food stalls. The closest thing we have to that is fast food and in the past couple years they decided to raise their prices a lot.

It used to be almost what you described. We drive instead of walk but you could go to a drive thru and get a breakfast sandwich for maybe $4. And you could get lunch for $5-7.

It's expensive. Avoiding eating out is generally seen as a good way to save money.

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vwsslr200@reddit

McDonalds just for me was $10.60 for one meal

I think there are a few things going on here:

1) To get people to make food for money, it has to pay well enough that they don't do something else. But a cook in New York doesn't really make more food than one in Jakarta per day, but they must get paid more. So therefore each meal has to cost more.

Countries getting richer makes stuff more affordable, but not workers. So the ingredients and tools to cook become less expensive compared to incomes. Or dishwashers to make cleanup easy. Or very convenient frozen meals.

2) Rich countries regulate more in general. It costs money to meet food service regulations.

3) For the US and some other rich countries, expensive cities clamp down on construction, so there is a growing shortage of homes. This means rents are really high, so workers have to earn even more and generally live further away, meaning more time not earning money.

You can kind of see the difference in the third one if you compare the cost to eat out in, say, Tokyo to London. Japan builds a lot of housing and retail space, so rents for both a restaurant and its workers are much more affordable than in London. London is a fair bit richer, but the gap in the cost of a cheap meal out is way, way larger than just the difference in income.

As a result, Tokyo has way more restaurants per person and people eat out a lot more often.

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OceanPoet87@reddit

$1 will buy you some bottle water or. Gumball at the store thats it. You can buy a hot dig and soda at Costco for $1.50 which they have kept as its kind of a signature they have. But at many Costco (not all), you have to have a yearly $60 membership. Pizza slices there are about $2

Eating out costs somewhere between $15 or $20 alone or up to $40. But prices vary by location, type of food, etc.

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lisasimpsonfan@reddit

How much of your income is that $1 per meal? Is that in USD? Google says average income for your country is $367 USD a month. If you are paying $60USD for two meals a day that is a lot of your income.

I really miss pre-covid prices. Eating out has gotten way more expensive, along with housing prices, but pay remains the same.

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Takeabreath_andgo@reddit

Pancakes, eggs, oj at home: $1.50

Pancakes eggs oj at restaurant: $8.50 for the meal $3.50 for the oj Plus 7% tax and 20% tip

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Alert_Delay_2074@reddit

$1 will maybe get you a candy bar in the USA. Maybe.

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CaryWhit@reddit

I am single and if I want a real cooked meal, it is cheaper to eat out, if you know where to go

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BusEnthusiast98@reddit

Yes it’s expensive in the west and consisted a luxury. which is crazy bc eating out and street food is as old as cities themselves. But western markets aren’t competing based on quality of food or location, they’re competing with people’s time. We aren’t buying food we’re buying time. So you can charge as much as the time saving is worth, rather than how good the food is.

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GirlyDressyGal678@reddit

Most cheap USA restaurant food is highly processed, high calorie + low nutrition "food" that has made the average American obese. We increasingly sell & allow consumption of candy bars, sodas, doughnuts/ hot dogs/ burgers/ fries in most venues.

Nutritionally, it's not to be recommended.

Fresh, healthy food, or even dead animals free from antibiotics, steroids, grown outside factory farms w/ horrific conditions: expensive & not the normal fare.

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The_Motherlord@reddit

I'm in Los Angeles. It is vastly more expensive to eat out rather than to cook.

Yesterday I spent around $175 at a Korean market. Enough food for all meals for 3 adults for 5 days. If I were to order in or if the 3 of us were to go to a basic area restaurant it would be between $90-$150 for 1 meal. Even our neighborhood taco truck which used to be $1.50 per taco and $4 per burrito is now $7 per taco and $12.50 per burrito and the food sizes have shrunk. We used to joke that the area Chinese place was $5 for 5lbs because they gave so much food for $5. We recently went and got the same things we always get and it was $22 for that same amount of food.

A couple of months ago I visited my son and his family in Switzerland. Spent some time in Paris at an Airbnb on my way. Paris food prices were shockingly affordable and reasonable. Both from outside sources and in markets but markets had crazy low prices. Bakeries too. Sandwiches, baguettes, pastries baked with egg or meat, super reasonable, like a couple of euros or less, so I would say similar to your region. There were little street side stands or coffee places where someone could get a quick coffee and breakfast at a similar price to what you mentioned. At lunch time I would see many people getting sandwiches from street vendors and eating while walking. But restaurants were busy and full too.

Switzerland had prices very similar to LA. The same breakfast or lunch pastry from a bakery in Switzerland would have been 5-7x as much. If bought at a Migros (basic market) it would have been probably half that. Pretty much everything was on par with LA prices but the selection was far smaller and the quality often not as good in the markets. The restaurants were just as expensive as LA and the food was mostly bad. Meat in markets or butchers was crazy priced, the equivalent of $40-$50 per pound. Fish cost less than in LA. which was strange because they are landlocked and we are not. The kitchens in people's apartments and homes were tiny, which indicates they don't cook at home often. At lunch time I would see many people buying sandwiches and pastries and cheese from the markets to eat on a bench, the restaurants were actually quite empty.

There is nothing someone could get for $1 in LA or Switzerland. But you could definitely find good fresh food for $1 in Paris, even if it's just a baguette or breakfast pastry.

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AuntieFox@reddit

I live in California. Eating out is very expensive. We dont real l y have food stalls or street food here. We do have fast food like McDonalds or fast casual places like Dennys. But even the cheap meals there are between $7-$15 each. And get a little more expensive for lunch and dinner.

My 5 day budget for 2 people is about $50.

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Bluemonogi@reddit

It is more expensive to eat out than to buy groceries and cook at home. My family only eats one meal out every 2 weeks.

We buy a week of groceries at a time so we have food at home.

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Spiritual_Lemonade@reddit

You'll never find a meal that low in cost here.

I've even seen people "selling plates" which is term for home prepared food from a different culture for $24 plus. For a paper plate of a few things.

At Costco you can get a slice of pizza for $1.99 or a hotdog and fountain drink for $1.49.

Anywhere else is excessively expensive for very little.

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Eubank31@reddit

It's hard to find food that will actually fill me up for less than $10. My girlfriend and I went to dinner with a friend, I got a burger + fries and she got a sandwich and fries, it came out to $42. Not horrible, but 42 is more than we spent on the most expensive meal we had in Japan a few weeks ago

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BoldBoimlerIsMyHero@reddit

Just checked one of our cheaper places. $3.95 for a grilled cheese that’s two slices of bread and a slice of cheese. $5.90 for a hot dog. Just a regular hot dog not like a big one or a natural one. One egg, one sausage, hashbrowns and toast is $8.90.

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illarionds@reddit

My initial reaction was "of course it's far more expensive to eat out" - but that's not actually necessarily true, if you consider the value of your time.

Obviously it depends greatly on where you eat! Maccas for me and my kids costs £15-20 - an hour of my time is worth more than that, even ignoring ingredients.

On the other hand, given the chance my youngest would eat plain pasta with peas, sweetcorn and cheese for every meal, which takes less than 15 minutes, and maybe £2 of ingredients.

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dumbass_sempervirens@reddit

I have a weird work schedule m

Day before yesterday I was driving home from work at 10 am and I was sooo hungry. I stopped at a Cracker barrel and ate.

Now, this was a $20 breakfast. And I had gotten up at 2:30 for work, so it felt more like dinner.

But I had country fried steak, 2 scrambled eggs, grits, and apparently they just give you a side of biscuits and sawmill gravy.

forgotwhatisaid2you@reddit

That would be $13 per day. So, you could eat out three times a day for 23% of your income. U.S. per capital is just over 82,000. Eating out three meals a day at an average of $20 per meal would be 26% of your income. If course, both places many people earn less than the per capital income.

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dahred@reddit

It’s very expensive eating out in NYC. I’m talking the type of restaurants that a waiter is required to serve you. A meal can cost about $15-20, add in an appetizer of around $10 plus a non-alcoholic drink that’s around $3 so you’re looking at about $30-40 dollars. Now factor in a 20% tip that is usually expected and tax so you can spend anywhere between $40-50 just to sit down and have a semi-decent meal. With $40-50 you’re much better off buying some groceries and cooking which can last a few days if you’re frugal about it.

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Swimminginthestorm@reddit

I haven’t eaten out in years and it’s saved me so much money. It costs $40/wk to feed me and my cat, and I don’t buy the cheapest ingredients.

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FatGuyOnAMoped@reddit

I've been to SE Asia a couple times (Thailand and Laos) and the food there was extremely cheap, if you're spending USD. A khao man gai from a food truck was the equivalent of $2-$3 in Pattaya, and not much more in a proper restaurant. IIRC it was closer to $3-$4 from the food court at Lotus's.

The same dish from a Thai restaurant in my town is closer to $16. For reference, I'm in a medium cost of living area, and most Thai restaurants around here are run by Lao or Hmong people and the food is very good.

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mealteamsixty@reddit

I would actually die to be able to walk to a food stall and get a flavorful filling meal for under $5, that sounds like a scam to me its so far out of my experience. Like I would be concerned that the meat was coming from street cats or pigeons. But I've seen videos of the amazing food options in Asia and the middle east and im super jealous of that. Mostly pretty healthy, too! Almost all of american "eating out" options are incredibly unhealthy, another point against doing it often.

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Hour_Suggestion_553@reddit

In the USA it’s always goin to be cheaper and more bang for your money eating at home. Sometimes you’ll get deals at fast food restaurants but with crappy ingredients. I’ve been to Indonesia and I myself was shocked how cheap it was (ordered uber eats everyday) and that was touristy type restaurants. Not street food so I can just imagine. Per person at the sit down restaurant is at minimum $20 person with tip/ drink. (Midwest USA)

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Odd-Help-4293@reddit

Yes, in the US, it's much more expensive to go to a restaurant then to cook at home.

I can make dinner at home for $2-3, or I can go out and spend $10-20.

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It’s much much more expensive to eat out than to cook for yourself.

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FishyFry84@reddit

It depends on how many dates I take her on beforehand...

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TempusSolo@reddit

Some of the fallacy in your thinking is the time it takes to shop for the supplies that you factor into the costs. I only shop 1 day a week and that trip takes me 90 minutes. Most meals I make average less than 10 minutes (breakfast and lunch only take a few minutes to fry and egg, make toast or a sandwich for example) and dinner may take a bit longer depending on what I'm making. If I break that 90 minute shopping time into 21 meals, each meal is less than 5 minutes longer. My breakfast and lunch each cost me about 1.50 a meal. Dinner is about 3 dollars a plate. My basic meals runs about $75/wk plus 90 minutes of commute and 175 minutes of cook time.

If I were to eat every meal out, I'd have a commute time to get to the restaurant, the time it takes for them to make it and the time I sit there eating it. My nearest restaurant is about 15 minutes away. They take over 10 minutes to serve me and I'll sit there are eat for another 10 then drive home. That one meal will cost me 8-10 dollars for the food. 30 minutes of commute time and and additional 10 minutes of waiting for the food. Eating at the nearest place three times day would be $189/wk plus 630 minutes of commute time and 210 minutes of waiting for my food.

The math now is pretty simple on which one is more expensive.

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The cost of water is affordable. I was referring to the time required to do all of the stuff just to have a meal

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Ok-Equivalent8260@reddit

We eat out a lot because we enjoy it 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Ill-Butterscotch1337@reddit

It's expensive but not that much more relatively. It's hard to find data on the average salary in Indonesia, but it looks like the average salary in the US is ten times more. So if youre spending 2-3 dollars per day on eating out that would be equivalent to spending 20-30 of the average Americans salary per day. To me that's a lot of money.

But you may earn more and surely the overall cost of living is less there as a whole, so spending more money on food might be justified.

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xiopan@reddit

One thing that is cheap is hot food prepared by grocery stores, small corner stores, and even gas stations. The grocery stores sell by the pound, usually $7.00-$10.00. Corner stores and gas stations sell by item. You can get a meal of 2 vegetables and chicken, fish, or meatloaf for about $5.00, or a quart of soup for $6.00. The price goes way up if you start adding heavy-weight carbs, like potatoes, mac and cheese, or bread-based stuffings. Even so, big guys can buy a ton of food for $12.00; I am happy with my $3.00 piece of salmon and spinach.

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Brave_Speaker_8336@reddit

Fast food is cheap, like in terms of flavor and calories I could certainly live off of that cheaply, but I wouldn’t do it because of how unhealthy it’d be. I’m a McChicken fiend and it’d cost about $7.50 for 4 of them right now which is nearly 1600 calories worth. On a lazy day, I might get that and maybe snack on some fruit and raw veggies at home so it feels more balanced

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The_Existentialist@reddit

As a single person it can be cheaper to eat at home with proper planning but all the good grocery deals are in bulk and you can end up getting way more than you need. This can all be mitigated with planning as I said but, it’s easy to end up spending more at home and throwing away food.

With restaurant take out I eat it all every time, even if over a 3 day period.

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oneislandgirl@reddit

Much more expensive to eat out in USA! You can go broke eating out every meal plus the food you find, especially less expensive food, is horrible for your health. Portions are too large, they are full of salt, fat and sugar. Even a fast food meal can cost you up to $20. Your health, your weight and your wallet will all be damaged if you eat out all the time. Grocery and fix it yourself is about 1/4 to 1/3 of the cost and better for you. The delis inside the supermarket are not too bad for cost and quality of food if you want more convenience.

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commanderquill@reddit

I had a roommate who went broke and started rapidly losing weight. They said it was all the stairs in the place we had just moved into. I was very confused, because if four flights of stairs twice a day made you lose that much weight, we wouldn't have an obesity problem. Then, later, they mentioned off-hand how this is the first time in a long time they've had DoorDash. I hadn't realized it, but apparently they ate out pretty much every day. I was like, well no shit you lost weight.

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oneislandgirl@reddit

Door Dash is probably the most expensive way to eat out.

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commanderquill@reddit

Especially if you have a car! I understand being sick and not wanting to leave the house, but damn, you aren't cooking the food, the least you can do is go get it yourself.

I live in Seattle too and there's an extra fee DoorDash gives for us because they're pissy about us forcing them to pay their drivers a certain amount or something.

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Folksma@reddit

One of my roommates is currently doing that oaf its hard to see

Doordashing KFC (in a big city that has great fried chicken restaurants!) everyday. If it's not KFC, doordashing gas station food.

We don't have street food where people are cooking on portable equipment or in a stall in the West. Diners used to be common 50+ years ago and those were cheaper than a restaurant, but those went away as people started driving everywhere.

"Eating out" is fast food like McDonald's/Subway/another chain or we have to go to a sit-down restaurant with a waiter. Fast food has gotten more expensive the last few years where a fast food meal is often only slightly less than the cost of a meal at a basic sit-down restaurant.

The last decade food trucks have started being a thing in areas with lots of people, like touristy areas, but they aren't priced differently from fast food.

I can make a decent basic dinner at home for say $3-6. A fast food meal is going to be $8-10. I wouldn't expect a sit-down restaurant to be less than $15.

When I'm traveling, another option is to go to a grocery store and check out the deli. There are often packaged sandwiches and other prepared things that may be good options at reasonable prices.

Restaurant food in the US is heavy in salt and butter to make it taste good. I'm not into restaurants to keep myself fed. I use them more as a special event or to get a meal of a cuisine or method I can't or haven't cooked at home.

The last few years people do food delivery apps, which is insane to me. One of my neighbors has food delivered a few times per week. With that you're paying marked-up prices for fast food.

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Unfair-External-7561@reddit

Some places in the US definitely have street food! Different regulations in different places.

we just spent $42 on two little quesadillas, crinkle fries and drinks ._.. I think i'm done eating out, we're getting cup ramen from now on

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BAMspek@reddit

Egg fried rice in the States is usually anywhere from $12-15. But that’s a full sized family portion.

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PendejoSosVos@reddit

I haven’t spent less than $50 on a two person meal in quite some time now. And if it’s at a sit down restaurant? Around here it’s $50 per person lol

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Kali-of-Amino@reddit

Even before the children were born and I was only cooking for two it was cheaper to eat at home. Now that I'm cooking for five adults and near-adults it's much cheaper to eat at home. I can buy 10 pounds of uncooked chicken leg quarters for $7. I would have trouble finding a single chicken meal for $7.

Lunch (for 2 at a casual place) is easily $50 for a sandwich and beer.

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PacSan300@reddit

Compared to Indonesia (and really many other countries)? It can absolutely be significantly more expensive to eat out than to cook at home. Sometimes you can find good, cheap eats, but more often than not you are paying quite a bit to eat out. It can also vary greatly based on where you live or visit, with some some cities and countries in the Western world being much more expensive than others.

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ABelleWriter@reddit

It's more expensive than going to the grocery store, but it depends where you are, what restaurant you go to.

For example, my favorite restaurant is a local seafood place. I can get a burge or a crab cake sandwich or a chicken breast sandwich with a side for $14. Can I make a burger at home for less? Yes. But twice a month my friends and I go get dinner.

If I am at work and door dash Chinese food, I struggle to order enough to get free delivery ($12). I always end up getting enough for the next day's lunch, too.

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Rarewear_fan@reddit

Yes it is far more expensive, even at “cheaper” spots. You have higher ingredients/labor costs and then tipping culture.

And on top of all of that….most restaurants have tight profit margins so there’s a lot of turnaround in many areas.

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fakesaucisse@reddit

Usually it's much more expensive to eat out, and it can be a lot more unhealthy.

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justwatchingsports@reddit

Everywhere in the world, people buy prepared food and restaurant food. Cooking for yourself every day is hard work

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neronga@reddit

It really depends where you are and what your food storage and consumption situation is looking like. I could buy eggs and bacon for 10$ at a restaurant or I could buy a whole carton of eggs and package of bacon for like 30$, but I might not be able to eat all of it before it went bad. The more mouths you have to feed the cheaper your food gets per portion when buying groceries, but if you’re living alone it can be just as cheap to eat out since you might end up wasting more.

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startupdojo@reddit

If it was cheaper to eat out than to eat at home, they would not have a business. The business is the markup. They can cover up with salt and sauce that you are getting mostly cheap ingridients (rice) and little of expensive ingridients (meat) and they are more efficient... But they are also less healthy.

In the west, you pay more for the atmosphere and experience, not just the food. Also, because of strict food safety regulations, there is no street food as you know it...

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Seuss221@reddit

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Sleepygirl57@reddit

Midwest here and it’s definitely more expensive to eat out. Even fast food, which we hate, costs more than cooking at home now.

Blue387@reddit

The west is not a monolith, but cooking at home here is cheaper than going out. Living near Sunset Park I can go to a Chinese place and get barbecued pork on rice for less than $10. Wah Fung in Chinatown is 5.50 for a meat, rice, and veggies.