One issue with Five Guys is they only use fresh and not frozen beef. This means their supply chain is more costly, since the beef needs to be delivered and used within a short time period. McDonalds uses frozen (except for the quarter pounder burger) so they have lower costs in their supply chain.

Anonymous wrote:Hello! Would love to hear from an actual finance DCUMer. Is there concern the restaurant industry is headed for a collapse? Did restaurants bounce back from covid by pivoting to all the takeout (after being clobbered when covid started), but now food price inflation plus staffing issues mean another crisis is ahead? I’m genuinely curious.
- DCUMer without a dog in this fight

They won't collapse. I think what we'll see is a trend to more fast casual, where you order on a kiosk at the front, take a seat, and they bring it to your table or call your number. Labor should be 1/3 of an overall restaurants' budget (then 1/3 food cost, 1/3 overheads + profit). You can cut your food costs by switching to cheaper ingredients (for example using skirt steak instead of a nicer cut) or reducing portion sizes. You can reduce labor costs by doing kiosk ordering and not having proper waitstaff. I'm surprised Five Guys hasnt' gone to kiosk ordering, but it could be a matter of space costs -- you need to have 2-3x the number of kiosks to match one human, and that takes up space. McDonalds that get renovated are like this now -- almost all kiosks and just one actual order taker.

Look at grocery stores -- 20-30 years ago self check-out was new. Now it's the norm and staffed registers are the rarity.

Anonymous wrote:My family of three spent $42 at Chick Fila yesterday. I was a little shocked, but we don’t eat there often so maybe that’s normal pricing.

What did you get??

My family of 5 spends about $50 at nicer order at the counter type cafes that aren’t friend fast food, but rather nice sandwiches, soups and such

There is a sign on the local 5 guys that says they are hiring starting at $17 an hour. Did you think they were just going to eat that increase in payroll or pass it on to the consumer?

My family of three spent $42 at Chick Fila yesterday. I was a little shocked, but we don’t eat there often so maybe that’s normal pricing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Guess it’s time to learn to make hot dogs and hamburgers at home. You can do it!

It was a treat. Don't regret it but that meal would have cost maybe $14 bucks before 2020.

I just find it all surreal. Here's a receipt from a D.C. Five Guys in 2016. The Little Bacon Burger was $5.99. That same burger is $9.99 today.

What is happening now is unsustainable.

This is an invalid comparison. Compare to last year.

Prices were already jacked up during the pandemic.

Have you not gotten five guys in the last two years?

Prices were already jacked up during the pandemic.

Anonymous wrote:$27. For a burger, fries, and a hot dog for my daughter and I to share.

This inflation and 'supply chain crisis' is ridiculous.

Five Guys were expensive before Covid and before inflation. I can certainly believed that. Stop going there.

Five guys is good. But, it’s always been ridiculously expensive for a damn hamburger and fries. This is not a surprise. Also, it hasn’t gone up that much where I live. Everything is expensive in DC.

I like five guys, but they have always been expensive to me. Getting the smallest size of everything makes it more affordable if it's not a special treat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5 guys has gotten expensive. I paid 6.50 for a jar of Bon Maman raspberry jam at WF tonight.

Whole Foods? They mark up non house brands because they know you’ll pay. It’s Amazon they have all the data.

I have shopped at WF like 3 times since acquired. It’s $5/target.

Ok, well, I shop at Aldi, and the *only* whole bean coffee they stock (not even very good) has gone up from $5 to $7 in the last two years. That's 40%. Non-organic broccoli has been hovering around $4/pack, up from about $2.50-3, so we've been buying other vegetables lately instead. These are not luxury goods you have to shop around for. Inflation is a real thing.

5 guys has always been ridiculously expensive for what it is. It is super good, though. I suggest you skip the hot dog and fries and just get fries and shake; that’s the best part of their menu.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello! Would love to hear from an actual finance DCUMer. Is there concern the restaurant industry is headed for a collapse? Did restaurants bounce back from covid by pivoting to all the takeout (after being clobbered when covid started), but now food price inflation plus staffing issues mean another crisis is ahead? I’m genuinely curious.
- DCUMer without a dog in this fight

I can't speak to the fancy sit-down restaurants (a lot of which closed in 2020) but it is concerning that the Five Guys at L'Enfant is gone. I walked past the Subway at Mcpherson and its also gone.

So what’s going to happen next, exactly? Restaurants are going to close, groceries are going to be very expensive, and that’s the new normal?

Anonymous wrote:My husband went to 5 guys yesterday and was complaining that his burger and fries were 17.95. I like 5 guys and am not a particularly healthy eater. 5 guys has obnoxious portion sizes. NOBODY needs a regular burger at 5 guys. It is two patties. That is terrible for you! Also, even the smallest fry should be shared with at least one person.

+1 Our family of four is not particularly health conscious and we all get little burgers and share one large fry there.

My husband went to 5 guys yesterday and was complaining that his burger and fries were 17.95. I like 5 guys and am not a particularly healthy eater. 5 guys has obnoxious portion sizes. NOBODY needs a regular burger at 5 guys. It is two patties. That is terrible for you! Also, even the smallest fry should be shared with at least one person.