It seems there are two replies to the $30+ meal. One: I spent over $30 per meal at a midrange restaurant - didn’t expect it to be that much. and two: Given this situation I knew it was a ‘pull out the Black Card™ place’.
Not to speak for Dinsdale … but it looks like he was looking for a commiseration of cheapskates:
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“I’ve never spent a dime more than $15 on a meal!”
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“You must be Daddy Warbucks – I’ve never spent more than $12 on a meal!”
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“Rockerfellers, the lot of you! I’ve never spent more than $8 on a meal!”
And so on.
I was friends with the previous owner of this restaurant.
There’s a funny bit by comedian Greg Warren talking about his spendthrift father, for whom going to a cheap restaurant is like a war story…
“There were eight of us. We all had three courses and drinks. Your mother had two. We got outta there for eighteen dollars.”
“You got outta there? It’s a diner, not Danang. Eighteen dollars with drinks? Well they must have given you dog food, Dad.”
A surprising number of good comedians seem to come out of Missouri. Glaser, Foxx, Madigan, Warren. Wonder why. Big Jewish community, maybe?
Once I was down to 15 cents, and all I could afford was one meatball.
You gets no bread with that.
Comedian Mitch Hedberg has a funny bit about how he went to Subway to buy bread to feed to ducks at the park.
“But they wouldn’t sell me the bread. Said it was against store policy, needed something between the halves. I guess they can’t have bread touching. So I ordered a lettuce sandwich and it was $1.99 until I said I needed it to feed a duck. Then they just gave it to me. Here’s what I didn’t know - ducks eat for free at Subway.”
Oh, you can get free bread with the meatball. Particularly if you are a quack.
Many decades ago, I was an armed security patrolman, swing shift. Taco Bell was right there.
I ordered 4 food items and a drink. Bill was 30 cents. And they apologized for the extra 5 cents as I had ordered extra cheese on the bean burrito.
Turns out- lots of crime in that San Fernando valley area, so cops got all food items for 5 cents- if they ate it there. I did explain I was not a real cop, but they said anyone with a gun and a badge was gonna keep the bad guy & riff-raff away. So I ate there nearly every nite. They started throwing in the extra cheese, as i then, to be fair, read a book and spent my whole lunch time there- why not? And my pay rate was “double minimum wage” so I could use the bargain.
Cheapest meal. Of course sometimes buddies grabbed the check, or soemthing, but I dont count those.
This seems to be a mostly American thread. In Canada it is difficult to get a restaurant meal for under $30 now. Surf and Turf at Red Lobster starts at $32 for just the entre’. With a drink and taxes and tip, you aren’t getting out of there for less than $50. A fast food takeout burger, fries and a drink ranges from $10 to $15 depending on the fast food place. I don’t think you can get a steak dinner anywhere here for under $30.
I was in Paris a few years ago on business, and got myself in trouble because I ordered a BLT and a coke at the hotel restaurant, and it blew through my lunch allocation. $22 for the BLT, and $8 for the coke. So, in the heart of Paris $30 gets you a sandwich and a coke. I had to get my manager to sign off on my ‘extravagent’ meal.
For Canadians I’d suggest an equivalent number to the $30 American would be $50-$60.
Isn’t the exchange rate about 75¢ US ~$1 Can?
I wouldn’t be in the running, but the title and question are perfectly coherent.
Depending on when this was, I can probably beat that. On one occasion (circa 1980) I accompanied the marketing VP of a small company to meet with the VP of a major New York bank. I was just a humble technical advisor. But the two VPs got into a pissing contest about fine foods and fine wines, and the three of us went to Lutece in NYC, a restaurant that is no longer in existence but was once considered arguably the best restaurant in the USA. The New York banker knew the chef personally, who came out and assured us that we need not worry about silly things like menus. He brought out a “pre-appetizer” (I think it was some sort of quail) before serving the main appetizer and then the main course, each of course accompanied by a bottle of appropriate wine. The only wine I really remember was having Chateau d’Yquem with dessert, which is an incredible sauterne.
Anyway, the bill for three came to around $700 which our marketing guy paid; according to my handy inflation calculator that would be around $2500 in today’s money. Or about $830 per person. This was not, however, a case of the company not questioning it one bit. The marketing guy told me later that the company owner yelled at him a fair bit. 
Back in the day, when I went on the road with more junior employees, I would remind them that the per diem was not for paying for your meals, it was to subsidize them.
The exchange rate is one thing, but local factors can increase costs. For example, we have a goods and service tax and pretty hefty carbon taxes, which plays havoc with places that cook food. There are also differences in shipping, regulatory costs, etc. Packaging has to be redone with French, taxes are different on businesses, etc
All this means that the actual difference in prices may or may not be close to the exchange rate. For example, a Big Mac meal at McDonalds is $5.99 US. In Canada it’s $9.49. Going by just today’s exchange rate, it should be $7.88
Meanwhile, I was there maybe ten years ago and had a tasty jambon beurre and an entire bottle of rose for 5 euro each (I think more like 4 each, but let’s round up.)I was shocked to find that if you just look, you can find affordable and delicious food and drink there for not much. (This was take away—eaten under some tree in a park somewhere.)
It does not come across that you want communication when you scold people for not answering in the manner you wish. If you didn’t want everyone to participate in the manner they wished you should have set up strict parameters. Being this is one of the looser forums that would still not be looked at as law but a mere suggestion. Something you should understand by now.
Even a quick read of the entire OP could have been confusing, as messed up as it was, if they had the thread title in mind when they did. Lots of posters just jump in with examples before reading the rest of the thread, especially in a light-hearted thread where it doesn’t much matter what other people post before them. Since you messed up enough that there’s this much confusion, just accept that the fault here is yours.
Yeah, I’ve found if you eat at places ordinary people eat at in places like Tokyo or Paris, prices are usually pretty reasonable.
Worldwide, hotel restaurants tend to be expensive, especially breakfast. I just looked up the hotel near our facility in Los Angeles and a chicken sandwich at lunch will set you back $20 and a two egg breakfast about the same.
I thought “who” in the title meant me
Granted I think the whole universe revolves around me( it’s a failing, I’m working on it)
The OP should of been more clear as to whom it was meant to to be. The person, the restaurant, the price of said meal?
Yes, I read the the rambly opening post. Still unclear.
I read a few responses and responded in kind.
I still have the cheapest meal listed. If you can call a corndog a meal.
When I was 9 or 10, we’d bicycle from squirrel hill to Oakland (Pitt Campus). We’d go to Winky’s and get incredibly cheap (15 cent?) burgers. There was a “fixins bar” and we’d all load up on a ridiculous number of pickles. Like pints of pickles. For some reason we thought we were cool eating huge amounts of free pickled.
@Dinsdale : dude. I seriously think this may be off-topic. In light of your recent off-topic discussion……(sorry, I’m high).
Sounds like White Tower hamburgers. Their motto was “buy 'em by the bag.” I don’t remember how many you got for a dollar, but it was quite a few.