# $12.83 for a McDonald's meal? Really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 26, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848 "2012-03-26T14:55:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/21 "2012-03-26T18:02:53Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > That’s still very high pricing, even for Canada. Of course, the stuff they give you for “free” is stuff that costs them almost nothing. It’s an inducement to buy high profit items like pies as well as the meal. > > eta: **Leaffan** hit on it. Taxes are the killer. That’s twice what sales tax is in California. That value-added tax pays for our health care. I don’t whine about it. 🙂 > [@gaffa](#): > > McDonald’s prices vary widely even within a city, especially one like Chicago that tourists visit. The “Rock’n’Roll McDonalds” at 600 North Clark is going to be a LOT more expensive than one up north or on the south side. Toronto is the same way. That’s interesting. I’m not in McDonald’s often enough to notice, but I’ll pay attention more often in other places. The only pricing difference I’m aware of offhand is between the food court at the Eaton Centre versus the food court at 10 Dundas East (one pedestrian scramble away and five levels up). The same meal that costs around $9 at the Teriyaki Experience in 10 Dundas East costs $12 at the Teriyaki Experience in the Eaton Centre. In the Eaton Centre’s defense, you also get a spring roll included that you don’t get at 10 Dundas East, and they just remodeled the whole Eaton Centre food court and took it considerably upscale. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/22 "2012-03-26T18:08:15Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > That’s interesting. I’m not in McDonald’s often enough to notice, but I’ll pay attention more often in other places. The other thing is that the tourist location ones will have fewer items on their “Dollar Menu”, or it will actually be a “$1.29 Menu”. The two most expensive McDonald’s in Chicago are the one on Navy Pier and the one right by the Sears Tower. ---
**Author:** ![alfabex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@alfabex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alfabex)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/23 "2012-03-26T18:36:47Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Is that really the way it is done now? It seems a lot of unnecessary work for the clerk to ring up everything separately when the customer asks for a “number 4 meal”. Why not just have a “Number 4 meal” button? > > But I have no fast-food experience, so what do I know? I think it was mainly to allow substitutes, eg., if someone wanted to have a salad instead of fries. Also, the prices of the drinks were different, so if you wanted an ice tea instead of a coke, that would be something like $0.10 more. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/24 "2012-03-26T19:35:20Z")
Being the father of 2 (two) Happy Meal lovers, I eat a lot of Angus meals. I pay $6.65 plus tax (which varies from town to town.) I never pay attention to what the burger alone costs. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/25 "2012-03-26T19:54:47Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > AFAIK, Mickey D’s still has the Dollar Menu. A double cheeseburger is $1.06, with tax, in my state. If you must have fries (NG since they nixed beef tallow), add another $1.06. It’s not a bad meal for $2.12. Sure the Angus burger is better, but at 3 times the price? > > And if you are getting a fountain drink, that’s REALLY a ripoff. Bring a soda can or bottle, or do as I do, drink 100% pure water, it’s free and really refreshing! I read in another one of these threads that the REAL bargain hunter gets two sandwiches, a double cheese and a chicken sandwich, off the dollar menu, ditches the bread from one and eats like a king with a glass of water. I’ve done this traveling and it’s great, if you have them leave the mayo off the chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/26 "2012-03-26T20:05:21Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I read in another one of these threads that the REAL bargain hunter gets two sandwiches, a double cheese and a chicken sandwich, off the dollar menu, ditches the bread from one and eats like a king with a glass of water. I’ve done this traveling and it’s great, if you have them leave the mayo off the chicken. In Chicago, the dollar menu isn’t nearly as cool anymore. The double cheeseburger is 1.49. The double cheeseburger also hasn’t been on the dollar menu in a long time. For a while they had a McDouble (they took away a slice of cheese), but even that is 1.29 now. I think I have the prices right, something like that anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/27 "2012-03-26T20:15:21Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > In Chicago, the dollar menu isn’t nearly as cool anymore. The double cheeseburger is 1.49. > The double cheeseburger also hasn’t been on the dollar menu in a long time. For a while they had a McDouble (they took away a slice of cheese), but even that is 1.29 now. > > I think I have the prices right, something like that anyway. The McDouble here is $1.39 plus tax = $1.57 ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/28 "2012-03-26T20:46:31Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I read in another one of these threads that the REAL bargain hunter gets two sandwiches, a double cheese and a chicken sandwich, off the dollar menu, ditches the bread from one and eats like a king with a glass of water. That’s known colloquially as the “McGangbang”. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/29 "2012-03-26T20:52:18Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > In Chicago, the dollar menu isn’t nearly as cool anymore. The double cheeseburger is 1.49. > The double cheeseburger also hasn’t been on the dollar menu in a long time. For a while they had a McDouble (they took away a slice of cheese), but even that is 1.29 now. It’s possible they have raised the prices, but for a while there I had to specify the double cheeseburger had to be _from the dollar menu_ or the dollar cheeseburger became $1.36 and the clerk didn’t blink an eye until I pointed that I was only going to pay $1.06 for a dollar meal that should cost a dollar. Plus tax. > [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > I read in another one of these threads that the REAL bargain hunter gets two sandwiches, a double cheese and a chicken sandwich, off the dollar menu, ditches the bread from one and eats like a king with a glass of water. I’ve done this traveling and it’s great, if you have them leave the mayo off the chicken. Why ditch the bread? Does that give you more food than two sammiches? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/30 "2012-03-26T20:56:56Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Why ditch the bread? Does that give you more food than two sammiches? You make them into a mega-sammich. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/31 "2012-03-26T21:02:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > You make them into a mega-sammich. Which is less of a meal than 2 sammiches, if you discard part of one. I don’t see why the discarding operation enhances the quantity, although you might like the taste better. C’est la vie. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/32 "2012-03-26T21:03:32Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > In Chicago, the dollar menu isn’t nearly as cool anymore. The double cheeseburger is 1.49. > The double cheeseburger also hasn’t been on the dollar menu in a long time. For a while they had a McDouble (they took away a slice of cheese), but even that is 1.29 now. As I said, it depends on _which_ Chicago McDonald’s. Most of the ones downtown are going to be $1.29 or $1.49, and the one across from Wrigley Field is in the same range. But if you come up to Albany Park, the [one on Foster at Kedzie or the one on Kedzie at Wilson](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=McDonald%27s+Kedzie&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1920&bih=986&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl) have $1.00 McDoubles. Prices are going to depend on rent and the market. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/33 "2012-03-26T21:05:35Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Is that really the way it is done now? It seems a lot of unnecessary work for the clerk to ring up everything separately when the customer asks for a “number 4 meal”. Why not just have a “Number 4 meal” button? > > But I have no fast-food experience, so what do I know? That’s not how it’s done anymore. The drink is rung up seperately (so you can specificy drink), but they do use a Big Mac Meal SM/MD/LRG button. Which is cheaper than ording everythign separately. It was presumably rung up separately in this order so they could subtract the cost of the drink and fry. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/34 "2012-03-26T21:08:08Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > As I said, it depends on _which_ Chicago McDonald’s. Most of the ones downtown are going to be $1.29 or $1.49, and the one across from Wrigley Field is in the same range. But if you come up to Albany Park, the [one on Foster at Kedzie or the one on Kedzie at Wilson](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=McDonald%27s+Kedzie&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1920&bih=986&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl) have $1.00 McDoubles. > > Prices are going to depend on rent and the market. Far from where I roam, but good to know! ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/35 "2012-03-26T23:31:14Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > You make them into a mega-sammich. When I make a McGangbang (which I typically do if I’m eating at McDonalds), the entire chickenburger including the bun goes between the two beef patties. The whole point of this thing is to be as filling as possible while costing under 3 bucks, right? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/36 "2012-03-27T00:34:49Z")
> [@heathen\_earthling](#): > > When I make a McGangbang (which I typically do if I’m eating at McDonalds), the entire chickenburger including the bun goes between the two beef patties. The whole point of this thing is to be as filling as possible while costing under 3 bucks, right? Yes, as I know a McGangbang it is a McChicken sandwich in it’s entirety placed between the beef layers of the McDouble. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/37 "2012-03-27T02:58:34Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > That value-added tax pays for our health care. I don’t whine about it. 🙂 Really? All my Canadian friends and family insist that it is paid for by some ridiculouosly low payroll tax (less than $1000 a year even for the highest earning folks) at least in Ontario. Are they bullshitting me. Trashing the US healtcare financing system is a popular parlor game in Canada. This was about three years ago, things might have changed since then. This is a real question. Please don’t turn this into a health care debate. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848/38 "2012-03-27T03:31:15Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > Really? All my Canadian friends and family insist that it is paid for by some ridiculouosly low payroll tax (less than $1000 a year even for the highest earning folks) at least in Ontario. Are they bullshitting me[?] According to Wikipedia, health-care funding comes from the general revenue of the provinces, possibly topped up by federal transfers. > [@](#): > > Funding for the insurance plans comes from the general revenues of the Canadian provinces/territories, assisted by transfer payments from the federal government through the Canada Health Transfer. Some provinces charge health care premiums, but these are in effect taxes (since they are not tied to service use, nor to provincial health expenditures). The system is accordingly classified by the OECD as a tax-supported system, as opposed to the social insurance approaches used in many European countries. Currently, patients do not pay out of pocket costs to visit their doctor. [Link.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_%28Canada%29) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/12-83-for-a-mcdonalds-meal-really/616848.md?page=1)