Ok, the Big Mac is $5.19 for the sandwich alone here at my local Chicago McD’s, so it’s actually more expensive than the In N Out Double Double (at least the one I last had this year in Chandler/Phoenix). Also worth noting is that In N Out uses slightly bigger patties, at 8-to-1 (pound) to McD’s 10-to-1.
ETA: OK, I could customize a McD’s double cheeseburger with a “regular” amount of lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise (to simulate the burger sauce–I don’t have an option to put BigMac sauce on my app, which is closest to In N Out’s burger sauce), and that’s $4.99, so a few cents cheaper than an In N Out, but, also, 10-to-1 patties, not 8-to-1. And I’m sure they’re stingier about the add-ons than In n Out.
I presume you are referring to the fact that in some states, tipped employees have a lower minimum wage than others. California is not one of those states. In California, tipped employees have the same minimum wage as everybody else. That’s been the state law for decades.
It was pre-covid and I don’t remember what city I was in (not Phoenix) and my double double was noticeably higher than the Wendy’s double I had earlier in the week. I don’t know if it was specific to the city or even just the store.
How so? The only thing that could really be fresher than any other chain would be if the patties were never frozen. Veggies are refrigerated and have the same shelf life for everyone.
I haven’t seen anywhere, but is $20 standard for all I&O stores? Or only in some locations.
That’s interesting, as they’re usually pretty closely priced, from what I noticed. I’m looking at pre-Covid prices in LA, and they were $4.35 in 2019; $3.75 in 2017. At any rate, they track pretty darned close to most of your Big 3 for equivalent products. Like I said, they are not a tier or two up in pricing like Five Guys or Smashburger or Shake Shack. I was shocked the first time I went to one, as I expected prices to be sky high given the reputation. Were you comparing it to a Double Dave’s or something else? I’m looking at menus c. 2020 in LA, and a Double Dave was already $5.99 for sandwich only then. (That said, they do have coupons and deals all the time, it seems.) I believe it was only last year that In N Out crested $5 for a double double.
Suppose your minimum wage increases from $16 to $20. So - everyone (who doesn’t get laid off) in that fast-food restaurant making $16 will be making $20. What about those already making $20? They will probably stay at $20, or get a small increase - but not as much as the 25% that the $16 workers got.
At the moment, in my part of suburban Houston, a double-double is going for $5.30. Sandwiches from the Big 3 aren’t much less than that. Maybe ~10-15% more if you find one of the cheaper franchises. I don’t know if that counts as “significantly”
From what I recall, starting pay out for them in this area is around the $10-$11 mark, which is noticeably higher than the wage you’d get at one of the Big 3, which would be the national minimum wage
Personally, the cost of my time waiting in line at In-N-Out makes it unattractive to me. I don’t think the minimum wage affects that much.
Wendy’s never freezes hamburgers. And McDonald’s quarter-pounders are never frozen as well. I’m not sure about other chains, but never frozen is not a particularly large competitive advantage.
Yeah, out of curiosity, I checked the McDonald’s in Katy, and a Big Mac there is $4.59, so there it is cheaper than the In N Out, probably partly because of the Texas minimum wage, I’d guess.
How flexible is a patty-cooking robot? Can it switch over to fryer duty when that part of the kitchen is busy? The human it replaced can switch over to operating the fryer, or cleaning the dining room or taking out the trash. I question the value of single-purpose robots.
Yeah, I’m not sure that those replacements for people really do all that much good in terms of lowering the number of staff. I was at a McDonald’s a few weeks ago with ordering kiosks. There were still two employees who I assume were taking orders in addition to helping people with the kiosks and bringing food to the tables. Thing is at that time of day. even without the kiosks there would have been two cashiers. And some places are slow enough at certain hours to only need a couple of people working - in my fast-food days, sometimes one person would be the cashier and also clean the dining room while another made the fries, burgers, sandwiches , chicken and whatever else came from the kitchen. Two people plus a manager total - robots really aren’t going to save anything on that shift.
This might have been covered above and I missed it but… how do other countries manage it? I saw a meme about this a few days ago, I cna’t find it but I think it was about Denmark maybe? It went something like:
US Mcdonalds:
Wage: $9
No benefits, no health insurance, no union.
Big Mac: $5.66
Denmark Mcdonalds
Wage: $22
6 weeks vacation, 1 year paid family leave, life insurance + pension, unionized.
Big Mac: $4.90
Assuming it’s true… why the hell can’t we demand the same here in the US?
I posted about this a ways upthread. I live in Luxembourg, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with one of the higher cost-of-living baselines in Europe, a livable minimum wage, and extremely strong labor protections.