Honest burgers or 5 guys

Fatboy123 said:
Truth be told I rarely eat out these days as prices no longer match what your getting.
£10 for fish & Chips
£2.75 for a tiny pot of Pret porridge
£3 for a coffee.
Etc etc etc

Quality has gone down as have portion sizes yet prices just keep going up!
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i went to a greasy spoon yesterday which sold beans on toast for £3.50.

£3.50! It would have cost them about 50p or less to buy those ingredients.

I bought it as well. It was horrid.

I have given up going to chain coffee shops, they are awful. Pretty much everything is a rip-off.
 
Lysander said:
i went to a greasy spoon yesterday which sold beans on toast for £3.50.

£3.50! It would have cost them about 50p or less to buy those ingredients.

I bought it as well. It was horrid.

I have given up going to chain coffee shops, they are awful. Pretty much everything is a rip-off.
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I hope you realise that most restaurants/ takeaways will need their food costs well under 20% across their sales mix to even have a chance of being remotely viable. Unlike chain coffee shops, greasy spoons are not exactly churning out substantial profits. That said neither are individual chain coffee shops, they make their money from the sheer volume of them.

How much did you expect to pay?
 
I prefer Five Guys myself, little bacon cheeseburger and small fries for under a tenner does me nicely. Honest burger is okay (I am actually currently sitting in what was their old head office, but is now ours) but I think they are even more overpriced for what you get. Have also tried GBK, Byrons, Shakeshack and P&B and would put my favourite burger (ignoring price) as either the Shackmeister (love the crispy shallots) or the Smokey Robinson from p&b.

All burger places like this are really quite expensive for what you are getting compared to Five guys prices IMO.
 
A smallest Heinz Beans is about 65p, a loaf of bread is £1 for decent bread so 2 slices , lets say 15p.

+ butter, which is about £1.50 for 250g so let's say 10p.

That's 90p, add 70p (20% VAT)

That's £1.60 at cost. (yes I know it may be other brands and it should be cheaper buying bulk but we are guessing the best we can here)

+ Energy + rent + staff + insurance for business and building

Out of £1.90 left. Take the cost about out of this £1.90, it doesn't leave much.

They might make £1 profit? And you were there for 30mins?
 
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b0rn2sk8 said:
I hope you realise that most restaurants/ takeaways will need their food costs well under 20% across their sales mix to even have a chance of being remotely viable. Unlike chain coffee shops, greasy spoons are not exactly churning out substantial profits. That said neither are individual chain coffee shops, they make their money from the sheer volume of them.

How much did you expect to pay?
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I’m getting sick of people moaning about prices without paying any attention to the actual business side of things that these places have to manage and budget for. Some people seem like they want to pay about 10% more than the restaurant buys at.
 
robfosters said:
5 guys is just chain stuff now. Honest burger is very good, but I do love patty and bun.
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This^ Honest Burgers' burgers are ok but they ruin chips by shoving too much salt and rosemary over them by default (and not being very reliable if requested to NOT do that). Drinks are v expensive too.

Patty & Bun are excellent, but they closed the one I used to go to during lockdown. :( You used to be able to get a meal deal on certain days of the week that made it much more affordable if you went with a friend.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
I hope you realise that most restaurants/ takeaways will need their food costs well under 20% across their sales mix to even have a chance of being remotely viable. Unlike chain coffee shops, greasy spoons are not exactly churning out substantial profits. That said neither are individual chain coffee shops, they make their money from the sheer volume of them.

How much did you expect to pay?
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Under £3 is reasonable.

Raymond Lin said:
A smallest Heinz Beans is about 65p, a loaf of bread is £1 for decent bread so 2 slices , lets say 15p.

+ butter, which is about £1.50 for 250g so let's say 10p.

That's 90p, add 70p (20% VAT)

That's £1.60 at cost. (yes I know it may be other brands and it should be cheaper buying bulk but we are guessing the best we can here)

+ Energy + rent + staff + insurance for business and building

Out of £1.90 left. Take the cost about out of this £1.90, it doesn't leave much.

They might make £1 profit? And you were there for 30mins?
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robfosters said:
I’m getting sick of people moaning about prices without paying any attention to the actual business side of things that these places have to manage and budget for. Some people seem like they want to pay about 10% more than the restaurant buys at.
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I don't care about the specifics or how much kinetic energy per penny it costs to spread the better. Here is a greasy spoon that does it for £2.80. Much better.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowU...ngry_Diner-Southampton_Hampshire_England.html

Anyway, I'm not interested in discussing it. If you want to talk about this more, start a beans on toast thread :)
 
Lysander said:
Under £3 is reasonable.





I don't care about the specifics or how much kinetic energy per penny it costs to spread the better. Here is a greasy spoon that does it for £2.80. Much better.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowU...ngry_Diner-Southampton_Hampshire_England.html

Anyway, I'm not interested in discussing it. If you want to talk about this more, start a beans on toast thread :)
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Was just demonstrating you are being unreasonable with your expectation.

If you don't want to discuss it, that's fine, then don't reply.

p.s., the place you linked to that does it for £2.80 with review such as

"The food is cheap and of poor quality."

Not sure that link actually supports your argument that food should be cheaper when eating out, it actually goes against it.
 
meatliquor > patty&bun > honest > Byron > Five Guys > GBK > McDs > Burger king

your mileage may vary & i've not been for any serious burgers since 1st lockdown :( Price wise I find you do get what you pay for, but five guys always feels overpriced. Its very much presented as fast food but priced like a table service restaurant.

As to the cost of ingredients vs price charged comments on here - your being insanely short sighted. This is a few years out of date but the theory holds up, its even worse for cooked foods and dining in. McDs, starbucks and the like bring their costs down with significant economies of scale, low cost ingredients and low staff costs
ubrg6iU.jpg
 
Fatboy123 said:
No greasy spoon I know has ever used Heinz baked beans! One I knew back in the day got a bit annoyed when I laughed at them surreptitiously refilling a Heinz ketchup bottle with something cheap from Bookers Cash & Carry!
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Raymond Lin said:
A smallest Heinz Beans is about 65p, a loaf of bread is £1 for decent bread so 2 slices , lets say 15p.

+ butter, which is about £1.50 for 250g so let's say 10p.

That's 90p, add 70p (20% VAT)

That's £1.60 at cost. (yes I know it may be other brands and it should be cheaper buying bulk but we are guessing the best we can here)

+ Energy + rent + staff + insurance for business and building

Out of £1.90 left. Take the cost about out of this £1.90, it doesn't leave much.

They might make £1 profit? And you were there for 30mins?
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They probably use this.

http://www.ivoryandledoux.co.uk/our-products/baked-beans-tomato-sauce-regular/
 
robfosters said:
I know for a fact many cafes stir a bit of veg oil into vheap beans. it thickens the sauce up and makes them seem more premium. I do it at home sometimes if I only have supermarkets own brand in.
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This is what I was going to say. Apparently some cafes don't even do it by the tin, they just cook a job lot for the day and dilute it with some other material.

EDIT: this is going off topic, which is my fault, even though I said I wouldn't discuss it. Might get GD on it at this rate.
 
Fatboy123 said:
But isn't that the fundamental problem..... you eyes and tastebuds are telling you that your eating something cheap/poor quality yet your wallet is getting a pounding.
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But you have to pay for everything else associated with it. Eating out is way more than just the food as has already been said. The cheaper the food, the higher % of those other costs make up the total bill. So yes beans on toast will be incredibly expensive to eat out because there is basically a floor price in which they can sell you anything, even if the ingredients cost 30p-40p. Particularly if you want it on a plate at a table.

I expect that coffee image isn’t that far out these days. When I was a lot younger I worked in popular takeaway and the coffee cup was by far the most expensive ‘ingredient’ of the drink. A fully printed, dual layer, heat resistant thick cup with a lid, loyalty stickers and removable card isn’t cheap and cost a lot more than the drink itself.
 
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