A Price Analysis of Restaurant Food

Americans are now spending more at restaurants than they spend at grocery stores. We know that's more expensive, but eating at a restaurant means you save time, don't have to shop, cook, or clean up, and you can eat things that are difficult to prepare at home. Meanwhile, restaurant operators must carefully calculate the price of their meals to cover costs while still attracting diners.

The restaurant business is notoriously tough, and owners have a myriad of costs ranging from health permits to commercial rent. On average, 30% of a restaurants revenues go to labor costs, 30% goes to general overhead, and 30–33% is spent on ingredients. Making a decent profit in the restaurant industry is a high hurdle. As a consumer, when eating out you’re paying for a lot more than just the food; it’s the excellent waitstaff, unique ambiance, convenient location, in addition to the delicious dish that makes for a memorable experience. In order to cover all of these costs and still make a slim profit (generally 3–5%), restaurants need to mark up ingredients on average 300%.

That does not mean that every ingredient has an equal markup. Matt Hawkins did the math to show us the different markups on ingredients that go into foods such as hamburgers, omelets, burritos, pizzas, and other meals we get from restaurants quite often. Note that he uses West Coast prices. See the various comparisons at Plate IQ. -via Metafilter

We dish up more neat food posts at the Neatolicious blog

Comments (3)

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Absolutely agree. You can argue 2-3 bucks for a burger, time to cook, skill of chef is worth something (for me, the fact that I don't have a hungry predator swarm milling around me while I eat is important)... but charging 3-4 bucks for a cup of sugar water is just criminal.
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There is another factor as well. Not long ago, folks weren't as mobile as they are today. The weekly shopping trip meant that you had eggs that might have been in the store for a few days and then those eggs sat in the fridge for a few more days. Today, the modern woman might decide at lunchtime to make something for dinner and pick up the ingredients on the way home from work. Voila! Really fresh eggs! That's OK. You can use them with the vegetables that flew in yesterday from half way around the world.
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The trick is to put the freshly boiled eggs into a pan of cold water until cool. The eggs will 'sweat' a little bit and make the shell come off more easily.
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It's SO easy to peel a boiled egg.
Just crack it lightly on a counter and then roll it so the shell cracks all around. If you did it correctly, the shell will peel off in 1 or 2 chunks.
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I don't get this insistence on eating super-fresh eggs...

I purchase eggs about once a month/two months in bulk (like, 2 1/2 dozen or 5 dozen at a time, it's cheaper than by a single dozen). Never once have I encountered a "bad" egg and they're all super easy to peel when hard-boiled.
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I don't really have this problem as my eggs usually sit in my fridge for a few weeks. However this is the third mention of it lately (my roommate first, then another blog, now here) so I'd like to suggest something that I've heard:

Pierce your eggs before boiling. A pushpin is good for this. Poke it in the wide end. This lets air in, which makes the cooked egg easier to peel.
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This article is silly and wrong. The way to peel a hard boiled egg is to roll it from End to End rather than around the "equator". This time honored procedure pushes the air bubble all around the great circle meridian of the egg loosening the membrane as it goes, giving a great peel every time.

And to suggest that your eggs should not be fresh is to assure that the egg you peel is not worth the effort.
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Here's what I do. Take the eggs out of the fridge and let them come to room temperature. Add a little white vinegar to the water you boil them in. When done, let them cool completely (put back in fridge if you're in a hurry). The shells will come off easily.
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The best way to make easy-to-peel hard-boiled eggs with pure yellow centers is to place the eggs in a pot of cold water and add a teaspoon of salt. Place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and remove from heat and let sit for 13 minutes. Drain the eggs and immediately place in an ice bath until completely cooled. Drain and enjoy your perfectly cooked hard-boiled eggs
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2167423
Muscle Might
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I've noticed the variation in the ease of peeling an egg - I have two-a-day for muscle growth. And some days it's so easy, some days it takes bloody ages! Thanks for clearing that up! I'll store them for longer!
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The idea that an older egg is easier to peel can't be true (not all the time anyway). I had two boiled eggs today: one had no "air pocket" which indicates a fresh egg. It peeled VERY easily. The other had a large air pocket. It was a #$%!X to peel and I nearly threw it across the room. I need another answer!
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