Local/regional chains seem to stay more reasonable, but honestly, local restaurants in my area are almost cheaper than fast food. A typical combo meal seems to run around $10-15, and you can find lunch specials and weekly specials for $8-12.
The food is way better as well.
I could go to Arby's for a combo (roast beef sandwich, soda, and fries) and spend around $14. Or I can go to the sushi place half a mile away and pay $11 for their made-to-order bento box: teriyaki salmon filet, small salad, 3 gyoza, 4-piece Cali roll, and tasty rice. I haven't been to Arby's in years.
+1 for local.
If it's the same price, then you're usually getting something much better for your dollar, and supporting a local business instead of a big corpo.
If it's cheaper then win win!
Love local but my sushi place lunch special for 3 rolls is $15 now Local authentic Mexican taco place has $8-12 options tho and the most amazing chorizo burger you've ever had for $12 with sides
The Costco Hot Dog is a 1/4lb hot dog sold at the international warehouse club Costco's food courts. It is notable for its price, which has remained steady at $1.50 in a combo deal including a soda at United States locations since its introduction in 1984. That price has become increasingly low relative to inflation and spawned a cult following
From the wiki
The sausage is so good too but that's not in the states IIRC
A lot of America centric answers, so I'll give a more global one: Ikea or any comparable store which uses cheap meal deals as a loss leader to get you to shop in their store. AFAIK the costco hot dog is the most famous US example.
This being said: eat/cook at home. Rice based meals can be made for as little as a dollar per serving, if you buy in bulk. (Get a cheap rice cooker, it can do more than cook rice, save on energy costs, and takes out most of the hassle.) Potato based meals are also very cheap. Baked potato with a bit of butter contains much of the nutrients you need to survive in the short to medium term.
I love Ikea. I've never bought furniture there, just head up there and vibe in the display rooms for a while. Back when I still smoked, I loved going there high. Leave with some swedish candy and a hotdog. Love it.
Wait, what else do rice cookers do?
Sex.
Serious answer: In the past I've made apple sauce/compote, reheated meals, boiled eggs, steamed vegetables and dimsum, reheated/cooked stuff like soup, etc. etc.
Also useful as a bain marie. Apparently you can also make bread and cakes in them. Also hot chocolate.
Honestly, if I ever move to an appartment, I think a rice cooker, air fryer, and microwave would allow me to do almost all of my cooking.
It really depends on the type of rice cooker you have. But they're useful for a lot of other grains. I make steel cut oats in mine a lot, which have a much nicer texture than rolled or instant oats.
You can steam with them or cook boxed meals.
IKEA is also a well known US answer.
Costco hot dog.
Little Caesars.
Rally's (though it's gotten worse).
I got food poisoned at Rally's four times growing up! No idea why my family took so long to put two and two together but seriously... four damn times.
McDonald's is still cheap but only if you use the app for deals and points. They want to drive people to the app to eventually hire one less employee at each store, which will save them more money. They keep the app cheaper to drive this change.
I think it may be targeted though. My friend who is on the road alot and eating fast food always has 30%+ off McDonalds coupons in the app and never any Uber Eats coupons in his app. I order more delivery and always have Uber+McDonalds coupons but my app only ever shows $1 Hash Browns and $5 Chicken nuggets box which I always thought was normal price.
Everything is more expensive where I am but local mexican restaurants have stayed the most reasonable (more so than chains). Chain-wise I think subway is still pretty affordable.
It’s cheaper to go to our local Mexican place than to Taco Bell. My wife gets the two chalupa combo. And to switch from chicken to ground beef, the combo is $13. Her standing #4 at the Mexican place is $8.75.
When Taco Bell was advertised the $5 box, all the local ones had it at $5.99. Now it’s $8.99. There’s one Taco Bell about 20 miles away that actually does follow the advertised prices. But it’s not worth driving that far.
For the level of "quality" they delivered, they have always been too expensive.
Wendy's Biggie Bag is a solid deal.
Also, Taco Bell, but only if you know what you're doing. There's a $6 box that gets you all you need for a meal, but I think you need the app to order it. Otherwise, your best bet is multiple items from the $1-$2 menu. The combos are a trap, stay away from those.
Taco Bell is not cheap anymore. Maybe before the pandemic, but they crazy now.
Different taco bells have different pricing, most taco bells have a $6 app only box that's one of the best value meals you can get in fast food, but some individual taco bells raise the price on it.
For example, of the 4 closest taco bells to me 3 have the $6 box, but one charges $12 for it. That expensive taco bell has everything marked up at least 30-75%. It's not the worst in the country though, there's a taco bell in NYC that charges $25 for the $6 box.
These 2 are the only answers I can think of. Since everyone's dollar menus are dead and gone, the Wendy's or Taco Bell $5 for 4 items is the best of what remains.
That biggie bag was a nice surprise.only learned about it recently.
I feel like Little Caesars is still pretty cheap.
8-9 dollars for a whole pizza? That I can get a couple meals out of? A pretty good deal.
Chipotle, especially for the amount and quality of ingredients. I used to splurge occasionally and get their quac (edit : okay that's not... quite the right spelling for "guac" there:-D) for a dollar... I haven't done that in years since it went up to like $3. Be careful of salt content.
I keep finding myself surprised that this is a complaint when there are so many better options available.
McDonald's used to be the cheap place.
I'd still say they're the cheapest of the big chains. An article came out a week or so ago saying a meal was $18 but that was at a specific McDonalds at some rest area off a major highway in the NE. The prices in the rest of the country are more normal.
The problem is if you want cheap, you have to use their app and be ok with the deals that are offered. I've resigned myself to the fact that it's probably the cheapest option in the event I forgot to bring my lunch to work. I can get a double cheeseburger and a 6pc nuggets for $4. It's not much variety but it's something in a pinch.
If you're not using the app, then their prices are criminal compared to what they used to be.
But it hasn’t been actual food in decades.
Why do you want to eat cheap food? Do you honestly have no other alternative that putting this garbage into your body is worth it?
It’s a net loss as far as I am concerned. You put this crap into your body and eventually you’ll be paying out of your ass in medical bills.
Take better care of yourself.
Chain restaurants often times will be more expensive than small, hole in the wall places. Part of that is the price of rent that gets passed onto the consumer. If you have the option, I'd say try to find a taco truck, food window (no seating area), or grab and go food from a grocery store.
If you're in Seattle, Dicks Drive In is still relatively cheap compared to McDonalds.
Dicks isn’t far behind really. But in far more willing to spend my money there because the food quality is so much better and they do a great job taking care of their employees.
Having worked there when I was younger I can confirm they paid well and their scholarship put me through a year of college.
I live in a different continent and still miss Dicks.
Every time I go back I get Dicks.
Dicksdicksdicksdicksdicks.
A lot of folks are suggesting fast food apps help you continue getting cheaper prices on their low quality meals. But not much mention that you are selling your data to continue receiving those meals at those lower rates.
Waffle House if you don't mind dining in. They're everywhere. They're always open. You'll almost always leave entertained by the sheer mixture of colorful personalities.
Taco Bell has $6 boxes in the app. BK has monthly coupons in the newspaper for the $18 family meal pack that is enough for my family of 4.
Where I'm at, pretty much everything else starts at $12 a person, or $16+ at sit down/local places.
I just pay a couple bucks more for substantially better food. I want to say something local, but honestly, Culver's.
Culver's is pretty solid.
Culver's is on par with high school cafeteria food, tbh.
You must've gone to a pretty bougie highschool. The stuff my school served could be better described as food-adjacent.
That depends on where you live. Traveling around the country there are definitely some to be avoided.
Just go to your local food truck or small stalls. That way the money you spend goes back into the community and not fund overseas genocide.
There's a super small Thai place near where I live And you can get an amazing meal for like $10
Like I'm talking some of the best food I've ever eaten And they never needed to raise their prices cause of inflation
The only issue is one of the owner is kind of sus and dropped "last nazi trained artist" in a convo but contradictorily married to a Thai woman and knowledgeable about budisim
Me and my gf glanced at each other with a "ya hearing this" face lol
Ya win some ya lose some I guess
In Australia KFC is more economical than McDonald's now - especially is you use some of the permanent deals in the app.
I live in a semi rural dying city. Our cheapest options are just going to local joints. It may not be as quick and you may have to speak to someone, but I just recently spent$60 for mid ass Mexican for two and I would have much rather picked it up. Now I admit I was being lazy and just got paid.
For McDonald's you have to use the app to get any kind of deal.
Costco hotdogs
We have all but stopped drive thru when out for a concert or other events. What we do now is pack some home made sandwiches with some chips, etc for the drive home.
I still do mcd sometimes when working but I only order off the deals or redeeming points for something. I never pay full price.
Panda Express! Why does McDonald's even exist??!
Checkers/Rally's is still decent.
Checkers is one of the least unhealthy food chain
Where I live it's the chicken places. I can get a meal and a drink from church's or kfc for under a tenner.
Life hack: you take some bread, put some ham and cheese on top of it, put another slice of bread on top and boom! you've got food! If you're feeling fancy you add tomato, lettuce, hard boiled egg, tuna or anything else.
Ok boomer
For less than the cost of a Big Mac, fries and a Coke, you can buy a loaf of fresh bread and some good cheese or roast beef, which you will enjoy much more
In Spain we do cured goat/sheep cheese and some cured ham/salchichon. Put that between fresh, home made bread and your golden.
If you're not at home, you can easily find flat surfaces to prepare your food on, known as benches. They are available in any park that hasn't had them removed just to spite the homeless. You can also add butter to your park bench sandwiches using a credit or debit card.
!I actually knew someone who did so while making food to sell at a funeral to raise money for the deceased.!<
Or you can make your sandwich at home and wrap it in some food grade wrapping material (like aluminum foil).
PTerrys in Austin is bangin... Best fast food fries. You can get a double cheeseburger meal for $8.
If you’re in the more western states (and even some parts of central) US, In N Out. One of the best quality to price ratio you’ll get.
In N Out has the worst fries I have ever eaten.
It’s weird. I love them fresh, but they definitely don’t travel well.
Food trucks tend to run cheaper as they cut down a lot of expenses in their operation compared to restaurants with dining areas, staff, drive thrus, etc.
On top of that, I have found a few random local places with rather decent prices. A pub in town, a chinese restaurant across town, and a diner. They took a while to find though and not all their items are cheap. I am also finding places are incorporating delivery apps into their operations to avoid paying out as much too through middlemen.
Not at all my experience; food trucks tend to be massively overpriced (and poor quality) in my area. I assume they expect to sell based on convenience and novelty. I guess it isn't working as there aren't very many around.
Damn that is unfortunate. Out of curiosity, what is the population density?
I am in a 50k city in a 300k county. Much smaller and selection plummets and quality and cost get highly variable.
When I lived in a larger city of 2 mil I found the prices to be reliably higher, with quality (sometimes) matching. But Portland OR sort of made a 'thing' about quality street food vs your average street vendor, so my experiences may already be skewed.
I don't go there but when I'd drop in to use a bathroom while travelling I always found it shockingly expensive. I'd rather go to the local hole in the wall dumpling joint and get a plate full of real homemade and inexpensive food any day.
