Over nine dollars for a 6" Subway chicken sandwich

[ripcord]

I'm sticking to food trucks, stands and mom and pop places.

[Meadowoak]

1. I don't buy them anymore unless I have a BOGO coupon.

[Jirel]

2. No loss.

Support local business, eat better food, for the same money. Win-win.

[MichMan]

8. Franchise chains are usually owned by local operators

[NanaCat]

21. That doesn't make it a local business

Franchise owners aren't always local, you know.

Even when they are the business still gets everything but their workers from corporate-controlled, not local, sources.

Thanks for playing.

[MichMan]

42. What makes you so certain that mom & pop stores always buy everything from local sources?

They buy much of their food and other supplies from distributors, Costco, and Amazon as well.

[SarahD]

59. Or maybe they just seem local.

There is a california couple who owns numerous fast food restaurants on the west coast. They try to create the impression they are a mom and pop concern.

[Elessar Zappa]

3. Food trucks always have the best food, imo.

And yeah, it’s usually cheaper than other eateries.

[jimfields33]

4. Most don't have the overhead and wages either which helps keep prices down.

[Wonder Why]

5. along with lack of restrooms, seating, or service. But they still want tips in spite of outpricing some restaurants.

I avoid them if possible and stick with the mom & pop places.

[ripcord]

19. In Southern California we have a whole culture built on food trucks and stands

There are whole streets in Los Angeles lined with food stands. Where I live in the desert we have food truck courts and a vacant corner that has over 50 trucks and stands. You can get Mexican food, Mediterranean food, pizza from a mobile oven, bbq really almost anything you want. The majority of these places are run by families.

[jimfields33]

20. That's true. I also like mom and pop places.

[Jacson6]

23. My mother worked on a food truck when I was young.

She told me to never buy food from them because they take short cuts in expiration, refrigerating and cooking meats.

[Elessar Zappa]

32. They're inspected regularly now.

And there’s plenty of short cuts taken in regular restaurants also. People would never go out to eat again if they knew how much.

[Igel]

41. Yup.

They use propane and don't support the local infrastructure--things like property taxes. Also not so many employees.

On edit:

The food trucks I have access to, however, have food that's a bit better tasting than Chipotle or Chick-Fil-A, but still costs 15-20% more--and offers fewer choices in terms of dietary preferences and beverages (even if there's a wider range of high-calorie foods). Oh--and no "open grazing" on drinks and condiments.

[dchill]

6. To be fair, prices vary by location...

...and prices on everything have just about doubled since the pandemic greed-for-all. And the places like you've mentioned are the priciest around my stomping grounds.

[BannonsLiver]

7. Yes, it's a common misconception

That food trucks are a less expensive option vs brick and mortar. That hasn’t been my experience. But as you said it varies by locale.

[Sympthsical]

52. Yep

There was an area by my old apartment where food trucks would bounce into. $8-12 for tiny portions of food. These were glorified appetizers rather than meals.

In contrast, by the bar down the street, a taco truck would park in the lot and sell $2 tacos. It was always insanely crowded, and they must've made a good amount from volume alone. I think I heard they bumped up to three or four bucks recently.

But they've always been the outlier. You go to food trucks to try new or novel things. They are not there to actually feed you cheaply.

[Emile]

9. We make our own submarine sandwiches.

[chouchou]

10. 4 years ago (2020) that same sandwich was 4.59

One might say: "Well, you know that prices have gone up"
Really? , like 100 percent. Think again.

[Bobstandard]

11. Subway is great for the freeway traveler

I know I can depend on a decent sandwich prepared and served quickly from ingredients I can see and estimate the age of.

And lets face it. Prices exploded when the Covid outbreak wasn’t stopped as early as it could have been. And it continued longer than it should have when mask uptake was slow and the vaccine rollout was slow rolled and protested. Actions and lack of action have consequences

And don’t get me started on the corporate capture of government that makes it easy to price gouge.

And what about that asswipe who colluded with Russia, and Saudia Arabia to raise oil prices?

Aack!! My blood pressure!

[former9thward]

25. No, prices did not increase 100%

[questionseverything]

51. Groceries have

[Wifes husband]

12. Fire house

Hook and ladder sub. White bread, fully involved. Cannot believe how good it is

[cloudbase]

13. Overpriced at half that cost.

[senseandsensibility]

14. My recollection is that Subway is a company that never

divested from Russia. I think that is still true.

[chillfactor]

15. I make my own subway sandwiches.

Better and much cheaper than the bought ones.

[MichMan]

16. Why would you care what Subway charges then?

[NanaCat]

22. It's called empathy

Even if I don't eat there, I can empathize with people upset about prices for things like this. Some of us also appreciate it when others warn that a company is gouging customers. It's a public service, in its own way.

Never thought of those things before attacking, did you?

[MichMan]

38. If the comparison is between making all your food at home vs eating out

How is telling the OP to make their own food at home empathy? If I told someone posting about paying a mechanic several hundred dollars to repair their car, and I said they should learn to fix it themselves, that hardly seems empathetic to their situation.

I've never been in a Starbucks. I couldn't care less if they charged $18 for a Latte.

[chillfactor]

35. in case you don't understand what I wrote...

where in my post did i say anything about what Subway charges?

[MichMan]

37. Since that was the whole point of the OP, logic would indicate that your reply would be in regard to it.

[SWBTATTReg]

65. I do too, make my own subways. I like experimenting and toying w/ the different varieties of things one

can put on a sandwich, and plus, I usually make it out of a footlong, so I have two sandwiches.

[OAITW r.2.0]

17. I like my local subway. I'd have to travel an hour to find a food truck up here....

I get 2 meals out of a foot long and they made really good at my location.

[tavernier]

29. Same.

I get tired of same old fast food and I love the freshness and veggie options. Tuna salad, my fave. They give local discount where I live.

[SunImp]

18. Always check for coupons online or in your mail

[brooklynite]

24. When you post something like this, you should specify where...

Here in DC a classic 6” is $5.99; pretty much what it’s always been.

[ripcord]

26. It is California

I was trying to avoid a big discussion on the minimum wage increase for fast food workers.

[Elessar Zappa]

33. Wage increases aren't responsible for increased costs.

That’s a conservative lie that’s been repeatedly debunked. Fast food workers make $16 an hour in my town and Subway and other fast food joints are virtually the same price they’ve always been.

[EX500rider]

39. $16 to $20 is a 25% increase

Hard to believe that would not increase costs

[Bucky]

46. Yes it's an increase. But there are other in-puts (produce, equipment, utilities, supplies, delivery costs...)

No one doubted an increase in wages would be inflationary, but a 25% boost to labor costs will not produce a 25% boost to prices. Labor cost for restaurants are between a quarter and a third of overhead. So at most it's a 10% boost to costs.

[MichMan]

53. Produce, utilities, other supplies, and delivery costs are also up due to inflation.

[Bucky]

58. So let's not just blame the minimum wage

I don't know if you were contradicting my point or just enhancing the context. I'm just not wanting the whole shmere to be dropped on the working stiffs. Wage inflation is still way way behind housing inflation.

I was googling for single room apartment average costs in CA. They are pricy. That ain't labor costs. In SF it's $3200/mo, in SD it's $2900, in LA it's $2600. I'm sure those aren't the nice ones, to boot. On the west coast, $40k is just keeping their heads above water.

[phylny]

27. I never liked their sandwiches.

A whole lotta bread, not much in between.

[Duncanpup]

28. Head over

Wow that’s expensive.
We’re doing homemade Philly cheesesteak mushrooms onion hoagie peppers spread and cheese wiz or sliced.

The price $0

[Bucky]

47. Cool.

But where are you getting the free bread, meat, cheese, and veggies? Do you trust the source?

[Duncanpup]

48. Karns grocery store

[Celerity]

49. They gave you the ingredients for the sandwiches for free?

[Duncanpup]

50. No we have the knowledge on how to make these.

Kind like Jedis

[Celerity]

61. I asked because you said:

We’re doing homemade Philly cheesesteak mushrooms onion hoagie peppers spread and cheese wiz or sliced.

The price $0

If no free ingredients, then the price was not $0.

[Duncanpup]

62. The original post was $9 for sub

I meant I’d feed Ripcord for free.

[Scrivener7]

30. Wow! In my youth when things were tight, I could get a footlong for $5 and it would feed me for a whole day.

[LisaM]

31. I don't think food trucks are necessarily cheaper.

We got a burrito and three street tacos the other day, $26, plus tip. My main issues are that I can't see into them (I am short) and sometimes there's nowhere to eat sitting down.

[EX500rider]

40. Yeah food trucks are certainly not cheaper in my area, everything is $12-$20 (TampaBay area)

[FarPoint]

34. I can cook with good skills

Fast food is no longer on my list of options... I can pack a lunch!

[Ferrets are Cool]

36. I would not mind paying these prices if I knew it was so that the employees could get a living wage...

but I am not ok with paying these prices so the CEO can buy another yacht.

[WarGamer]

44. If it's in Cali... they get $20/hr

Or 40k/year full time.

[Bucky]

54. Given the cost of renting in Cali, I'm not sure that's a middle class lifestyle

Here in Houston I could probably get by on $40k, but that's still gonna be about $1200/month for a single bedroom (the CA avg is over $1900/mo) and you have to delete about $6000 for income tax at that level. Plus, I assume, about $2400 a year for insurance and $2000 a year for gas. Oh, and FICA contributions will be a tad over $3k

That leaves someone (...calculating...calculating...) a whopping $13k per year ($1080 per month) for food, clothing, toiletries, illness expenses, recreation, and (I assume) socking away for retirement investments, rainy day funds, little gifts for their significOther, and... oh yes, car note payments.

I'm of course assuming their paycheck never falls short cause of sick days. That's realistic, right?

[WarGamer]

55. There has to be a line somewhere...

I'll admit I eat way too much fast food.

Today I had a PopEyes chicken sandwich combo and paid $13

I can go to the Mediterranean mom and pop place and get a chicken kabob plate with drink for the same price... with rice, hummus and a pita

[Bucky]

60. Amen, go patronize the independent mom & pop establishments.

I'm no stranger to food trucks, but few of those workers are really getting much beyond minimum too.

The real villain is housing costs in our economy. It's keeping lots of folks out of a middle class lifestyle.

[WarGamer]

43. Not that long ago...

[JI7]

45. I find food tucks to be very expensive

but it could be becsuse I mostly go to the ones at event or festival type things where they pay a large fee to be there.

Maybe the ones that just stop in streets where they don't have to pay and most customers are workers in the area might be cheaper.

[oasis]

56. Much goes to pick up the tab

for the 80 zillion daily Charles Barkley endorsements.

[Sympthsical]

57. Noticed the exact same thing the other day

We frequent a Mediterranean deli that has a Subway next door. Amazing shawarma and gyros. Not a terrible price (about $23 for a shawarma plate with hummus and cucumber salad for partner and a gyros sandwich for me). But walking in, I noticed it was $9.49 for a 6" sub at Subway and $15.49 for a foot long.

WTF? Who is eating there for that? Especially when much, much, much better food is literally next door for a similar price. I think the gyro, which is a solid portion, ridiculously filling, and insanely delicious, is about $10.

Funnily enough, a nephew asked for fries while we were out. I had a $5 bill in my pocket. There was a McD's across the street. So I walked over and . . . there went my entire $5 for a single order of fries.

Fast food is so dumb nowadays. I very occasionally nab something off the Taco Bell value menu. However, I did see Arby's was running a 2 for $6, which seems ok for what it is.

[ripcord]

63. I'm 6'5" and weigh a bit above 250 but I get burritos at these places I can't finish

And they are $10, there is a guy that tows a wood fired pizza oven, I get a large 4 topping for $25 and the ingredients are great quality. Most of the food is someone's home recipe, I asked one lady, in my really bad Spanish, if she had worked in a restaurant and she said this was how she cooked for her family, I looked at her kids, in their late teens and early twenties, and told them that they were very lucky to have her.

It isn't just the food, people gather there. I see neighbors and coworkers, people give each other tips on whether to try the Greek place or the guy with the brisket chili fries. Most people eat at the long tables that each place sets up and strangers start talking about this and that, it really is a great experience, my Spanish is even getting a little better.

[Sympthsical]

64. Similar by us

Over time, we've scoped out the local restaurants - particularly the hole in the wall places - to find the best food. And like yours, the places we like are typically run by families. The deli I described above is owned and operated by two Middle Eastern men who hand make everything (they even have a sign saying there's a wait for your order because they're making it from scratch - it ain't meant to be fast food).

And honestly, $10 will do for you in almost all of these places. I think $10 for a wet super burrito at our regular spot is about right, and that thing can easily be split across two meals if you wanted. Saving half for next day lunch isn't uncommon in our house.

I have been hearing tales from friends in S.F. proper that the taquerias are getting wildly out of hand with prices, though. Like $20 burritos and things. Ooft. Hard pass.

[HAB911]

66. Subway added to Ukraine's list of "international war sponsors"

just sayin'

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/subway-ukraine-russia-war-international-war-sponsors/