# $30 for a pizza..are you frackin serious? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 23, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389 "2011-09-23T21:25:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/21 "2011-09-24T02:12:41Z")
You never know – maybe it’s the best pizza in the entire world? ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/22 "2011-09-24T02:31:12Z")
Look up Hungry Howies. Five dollar pizza. Better than Domino’s. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/23 "2011-09-24T02:50:53Z")
> [@palacheck](#): > > I have a friend that worked as the manager of a large regional pizza chain and he basically said pizza was the single most profitable food sold at any of the restaurants he has ever worked at. Average cost to make a pizza(large I think)–and they’re known for their heavy use of cheese and toppings–was **$1.34**. I find that surprising, given how much mozzarella cheese costs, when you buy a pound or half a pound in the supermarket. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/24 "2011-09-24T03:16:08Z")
For $30, my pizza had better be topped with silver dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/25 "2011-09-24T04:06:04Z")
> [@palacheck](#): > > Average cost to make a pizza(large I think)–and they’re known for their heavy use of cheese and toppings–was **$1.34**. Seriously? Places around here charge more that twice that…for the DELIVERY FEE. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/26 "2011-09-24T04:12:58Z")
> [@palacheck](#): > > I have a friend that worked as the manager of a large regional pizza chain and he basically said pizza was the single most profitable food sold at any of the restaurants he has ever worked at. Average cost to make a pizza(large I think)–and they’re known for their heavy use of cheese and toppings–was **$1.34**. Maybe that’s true just for the ingredients (and even that seems doubtful), but the ingredients alone are not the only costs that go into making a pizza. The pizza place also has rent, electricity, salaries, taxes, etc. etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/27 "2011-09-24T04:30:21Z")
> [@Cyberhwk](#): > > Seriously? Places around here charge more that twice that…for the DELIVERY FEE. Well that’s because they deliver pizzas in cars that run on gasoline rather than tomato sauce. \*before someone says “they don’t give the delivery fee to the drivers” - drivers do get mileage reimbursements usually, just not the entire fee. To explain the excess, I got nothin’ (other than to pad their pockets). ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/28 "2011-09-24T07:04:54Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Maybe that’s true just for the ingredients (and even that seems doubtful), but the ingredients alone are not the only costs that go into making a pizza. The pizza place also has rent, electricity, salaries, taxes, etc. etc. etc. Yes. I worked at a pizza place in high school (so 14 years ago). I remember being told during my initial training that the raw ingredients cost for a plain pizza was $1.25 and that the actual profit after all expenses were taken into account was about $1.50. Still, that’s pretty good considering that a large plain pizza was $6.50. That place had a 2 large plain pizzas for $10 weekend special that I sorely miss… I know it was more than 10 years ago and they surely charge more now, but… ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/29 "2011-09-24T07:57:15Z")
Work at a pizza place. Chances are you’ll have the opportunity to take home whatever didn’t sell 😉 The price for such is “what the market will bear”. Around my way the non-chain pizza places will charge you extra if your order is under a certain amount. It’s understood they’ll do this; consequently, one seldom hears complaining. We’re also in a bit of a “foodie” area where some people don’t blink twice at dropping more than $50 at one of the “upscale” takeout places. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/30 "2011-09-24T08:36:26Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Does Papa Johns still due the 2nd pizza free on pick up? That used to be a pretty good deal if you didn’t mind driving. Wha huh? Are you sure it wasn’t just a 2-for-1 night? A local PJs offers 2-for-1 pizzas on Mondays. I couldn’t imagine them offering that deal continuously, especially in a college town. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/31 "2011-09-24T08:45:34Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > Work at a pizza place. Chances are you’ll have the opportunity to take home whatever didn’t sell 😉 Not at the two I worked. You see, each owner believed (I think correctly) that if he allowed employees to consume unpurchased pizza without cost, it would create an incentive for employees to assure there was unpurchased pizza at closing time. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/32 "2011-09-24T09:58:06Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > Not at the two I worked. You see, each owner believed (I think correctly) that if he allowed employees to consume unpurchased pizza without cost, it would create an incentive for employees to assure there was unpurchased pizza at closing time. We were allowed to take home unpurchased pizza for free at the place I worked at. I don’t remember ever seeing anyone make unnecessary pizzas just to try to get them later. But then, there was generally always a pretty good chance that that there’d be a couple left over on any given night. ---
**Author:** ![Bri2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/48db29/32.png) [@Bri2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bri2k)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/33 "2011-09-24T10:17:43Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > You could always do what I did last week for probably the first time in nearly 40 years. Make your own crappy pizza with one of those Chef Boyardee home pizza kit. It will at least be CHEAP. A blast from the past for sure. I guess it’s a childhood comfort-food thing, but I love Chef Boyardee pizza kits! Back on topic, $30 is insanely steep for a pizza. For that price, it better come with wine and a comely waitress to pour it for me too. Here I pay $20, but that’s including the $5 tip. One of my rules of life is always tip pizza delivery folks well. Unless they show up very late with cold food. Bri2k ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/34 "2011-09-24T10:35:06Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I don’t know where the OP lives, but I’ve frequently beaten the hell out of a $30 bill buying pizza both here and in Denver some years ago simply because I rarely like the combinations that are on special and order the five or six toppings that I like on a large pizza that will feed me for three (or maybe four) meals. > > Now I’m hungry. Thanks a lot. :mad: Good news - Papa John’s currently has a deal for a large with whatever toppings you want for $11, which takes care of the problem of your favorite topping combo not matching up with any of the specialty pizzas. It’s a nationwide deal AFAICT; it’s right on the front page of their website. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/35 "2011-09-24T15:43:39Z")
Ah, God bless Papa John’s. Man, for those prices, you could move to Japan. Just recently ordered two large pizzas from the Koyanagi Pizza Hut here where I teach, the bill came out to about 60 dollars (5,300 yen). It was good, but DAYUM. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/36 "2011-09-24T18:12:31Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I’ve got a crazy idea–if you think something is too expensive, don’t buy it. I don’t see what’s so pitworthy about finding something you believe is too expensive (happens just about every time I go clothes shopping or go to Home Depot). Says the guy who apparently thinks people complaining about stuff you wouldn’t complain about is pitworthy. I’ve got an idea for you. If you don’t like reading a thread, you can, you know, not read it, rather than trolling people. And, anyways, you help rich people pay lower taxes so that poor people have to pay more. So you have no right to complain when those poor people can’t afford something. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/37 "2011-09-24T18:18:11Z")
> [@kiz](#): > > Work at a pizza place. Chances are you’ll have the opportunity to take home whatever didn’t sell 😉 > > The price for such is “what the market will bear”. Around my way the non-chain pizza places will charge you extra if your order is under a certain amount. It’s understood they’ll do this; consequently, one seldom hears complaining. We’re also in a bit of a “foodie” area where some people don’t blink twice at dropping more than $50 at one of the “upscale” takeout places. > [@Mince](#): > > Not at the two I worked. You see, each owner believed (I think correctly) that if he allowed employees to consume unpurchased pizza without cost, it would create an incentive for employees to assure there was unpurchased pizza at closing time. My husband worked at a Pizza Inn as a busboy when he was in high school, and his shift started just as the lunch buffet was ending. His first task was to clean off the buffet table. He’d put all the leftover pizza in one box, put the box on top of an oven, and munch his way through his shift. He’s a very quick, very hard worker, so this didn’t interfere with his duties. In addition to the leftovers, each employee was entitled to one pizza (I think it was a medium) or one spaghetti dinner per shift. Bill, being an active teenage boy, was able to eat the leftovers AND a spaghetti dinner each shift. This was a big relief to his mother and her food budget. She had 8 kids to feed, 6 of them being teenage boys (blended family). However, I can certainly see the owner’s point…it does seem to guarantee that there will be unsold pizzas at the end of each day, and that those unsold pizzas will miraculously be the employees’ favorite kinds. On the other hand, being stingy with the employees isn’t a good idea, either. So allowing each employee to have a pizza or pasta dinner seems like a good idea to me. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/38 "2011-09-24T18:20:28Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > Wha huh? Are you sure it wasn’t just a 2-for-1 night? A local PJs offers 2-for-1 pizzas on Mondays. I couldn’t imagine them offering that deal continuously, especially in a college town. If I remember right the “full price” pizza was close to $20 and you got a second one free if you picked it up yourself. Their website now has a deal for a large one topping at $10 and a large up to 7 toppings at $11, so the price point is about the same with a little different marketing. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/39 "2011-09-24T18:41:06Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Says the guy who apparently thinks people complaining about stuff you wouldn’t complain about is pitworthy. > > I’ve got an idea for you. If you don’t like reading a thread, you can, you know, not read it, rather than trolling people. > > And, anyways, you help rich people pay lower taxes so that poor people have to pay more. So you have no right to complain when those poor people can’t afford something. This post is like rain on my wedding day (ie, you posted just to tell me not to post if I don’t like something). But the last part shows that you probably won’t get the irony (ie, because you appear to be stupid as all fuck). ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389/40 "2011-09-24T18:52:42Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Look who just parked their big dumb ass right in the excluded middle . . . No, merely insulting you for your constant pissing on people who aren’t as enlightened in the ways of robotic rationality as you. But insults only work on those who possess shame, so I should really know better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/30-for-a-pizza-are-you-frackin-serious/597389.md?page=3)