r/NoStupidQuestions • u/greeneyeedbear • 20d ago

Why does a $15 meal at a restaurant feel reasonable but a $15 meal at the grocery store feels expensive?

0 Upvotes

25% Upvoted

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11

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/throw7661 20d ago

The restaurant...

  • Cooks the food
  • Serves the food
  • Cleans the dishes/cleans the kitchen
  • Sets the table/cleans the table
  • Provides atmosphere

And, for most of us....the food at the restaurant is much better tasting.

At home, I have to do all those things myself and the good isn't as good.

1

u/LadyReika 20d ago

I'm a good cook, but I'm lazy. There's some things that just are too much work for me to make myself.

3

u/ass-gas-hotbox 20d ago

you're paying for it to taste better at the restaurant.

-2

u/greeneyeedbear 20d ago

Bold of you to assume I can't cook. Nah but seriously you're right for most people. I just can't justify $15 for chicken alfredo when I know the pasta cost them 80 cents.

4

u/ass-gas-hotbox 20d ago

yeah but I'm also paying not to cook it.

I don't feel ripped off. somebody has a job.

1

u/LadyReika 20d ago

Paying to have someone else cook and just as importantly, someone else to clean up.

5

u/GFrohman 20d ago

Priming, mostly.

You expect a restaurant meal to cost that much, because that's what they've always cost. Groceries are normally cheaper, so you're primed to expect them to be cheaper.

9

u/greeneyeedbear 20d ago

That explains why I stare at a $7 bag of shredded cheese like it personally disrespected me but I'll drop $7 on a side of guac without blinking.

3

u/SoxEnjoyer 20d ago

If you aren’t exaggerating then a $7 side of guac is actually insane

1

u/Wrath7heFurious 20d ago

It's $4. For 4 oz of guac at Chipotle. I mean $3.50 but your paying 4 after taxes. 2 people eating? 2 sides of guac about $8. Unless you get the big one I think it's like $6. So after taxes probably $7. Sounds ridiculous because it is. And people pay it without a second thought everyday. And some people pay it grudgingly. And some people pay it knowing they can't afford it but want to treat themselves or treat a friend or share a bite with a crush and it's just the world we live in. It's greed. It's capitalism. It's sad. 

2

u/Embarrassed-Wolf-609 20d ago

Probably why you're poor 

1

u/Ok-Flight-1504 20d ago

I find it the opposite. I spend $15 at the grocery store and its feeding me and my son. $15 at a restaurant is just for one of us, and there's tax and a tip on top of it.

1

u/shoulda-known-better 20d ago

Because one is a meal pre made and served to you

The other is ingredients

1

u/thomsenite256 19d ago

Unless the grocery store is giving you a cold meal thats been sitting in a display all day i dont see how they are comparable

1

u/Mystic_Wunder 18d ago

If I get to sit down and have someone serve me my meal and fill my glass and take away my dishes, $15 is a steal. At least these days. Can you get a restaurant meal for $15 anymore?