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>My favorite brunch spot for some eggs and coffee used to cost $50 for 2 even during the pandemic shutdowns Where on earth is this? This seems incredibly expen

>My favorite brunch spot for some eggs and coffee used to cost $50 for 2 even during the pandemic shutdowns Where on earth is this? This seems incredibly expensive even by East/West Coast standards.

qbasic_forever 3y ago
Definitely not outrageous for the west coast pre-pandemic prices. A nice breakfast plate in a popular city was easily $15/person. Add coffee, juice, etc. for two people and then gratuity and it's $50. I'm sure it's even worse now but I stopped going out years ago. I've heard you can't even get a burger and fries for less than $20 now.
crazygringo 3y ago
For NYC it seems right -- each person has a $15 plate and a $4 coffee, that's $38 which then adds 8.875% = $3.37 for sales tax and $7.60 for 20% tip, for a total of $48.97. Where they're getting $100 from though, I have no idea. Nobody's charging $30 for eggs or $8 for coffee unless you're at a top-end business hotel in Tokyo or something. Or the eggs come with caviar or they're accompanied with a small steak.
- darth_avocado 3y ago
  I’m in the Bay Area. The math is close. Pre pandemic we’d do two plates, two coffees and a fifth item (side of bacon or a single pancake or something else). It was $17 for a plate, $5 for a coffee and a few bucks for the side. Came down to around $50-55 depending on whether we ordered the side. The same plate now costs $27, coffee is $7 and the sides are also similarly up priced. And that moves the needle up on the taxes and tips. This is a proper brunch spot, so it’s not just eggs.
  - noahtallen 3y ago
    Adding another anecdote for Seattle — a decent local breakfast spot (not upscale) has $15-$20 plates, with $4 for bottomless drip coffee (it’s not great). With 20% tip and 10% tax, it comes to around $30 a person. I think $30 a person is pretty normal at a lot of decent places. You can definitely still get a good lunch for $15. But just not that normal. I do find $50 a person to be way more common than it should be if you go order a side and a drink as well.
- dan-robertson 3y ago
  I tried to think of a restaurant in NY that might sell eggs in the morning. I don’t live there so probably I’m biased towards places that might be better known to/targeted at tourists. I looked up the menu for Balthazar and they indeed have $28 eggs (Benedict) and $7 (bowl of) coffee. I guess that’s a bit expensive but could also be the price at a ‘favourite brunch place’.
  - crazygringo 3y ago
    Yeah, Balthazar is 100% a Soho tourist trap, I've never known anyone here who would actually eat there unless it was paid for by your company or something. (Not that the food is bad, it's just overpriced to take advantage of tourists, not a place locals go.) A normal, nice popular brunch spot in "trendy" Williamsburg is Egg Shop. Their egg plates are all still $14–16, and coffee is still $3–4: https://www.eggshopnyc.com/menus/#breakfast-lunch https://www.eggshopnyc.com/menus/#breakfast-lunch
    - dan-robertson 3y ago
      Yeah, I thought that might be the case. Basically all of the restaurants I’ve heard of in NY don’t do brunch, unsurprisingly. I looked up some breakfast menus at a few reasonably upscale downtown hotels and they had eggs of some kind around $20-$30, but I guess that’s probably not super representative either. I wouldn’t normally go to a local hotel restaurant where I live (though in other places where there are fewer non-hotel options I guess I might).
  - darth_avocado 3y ago
    If it helps, I travel frequently between the Bay Area and NYC, and NYC is noticeably cheaper to eat out in than Bay Area. Maybe it’s the density of restaurants and the competition?
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euroderf 3y ago
So many complaints. In Helsinki a weekend brunch in the range of 20€-24€ will not have warm entrees, except maybe some eggs and some weenies. 30€ or more will get you an acceptable selection of warm foods. Altho to be fair, VAT is included and tips are unnecessary. Maybe the math all works out w.r.t. coastal brunches.

>My favorite brunch spot for some eggs and coffee used to cost $50 for 2 even during the pandemic shutdowns Where on earth is this? This seems incredibly expensive even by East/West Coast standards.

qbasic_forever 3y ago

Definitely not outrageous for the west coast pre-pandemic prices. A nice breakfast plate in a popular city was easily $15/person. Add coffee, juice, etc. for two people and then gratuity and it's $50. I'm sure it's even worse now but I stopped going out years ago. I've heard you can't even get a burger and fries for less than $20 now.

crazygringo 3y ago

For NYC it seems right -- each person has a $15 plate and a $4 coffee, that's $38 which then adds 8.875% = $3.37 for sales tax and $7.60 for 20% tip, for a total of $48.97. Where they're getting $100 from though, I have no idea. Nobody's charging $30 for eggs or $8 for coffee unless you're at a top-end business hotel in Tokyo or something. Or the eggs come with caviar or they're accompanied with a small steak.

darth_avocado 3y ago
I’m in the Bay Area. The math is close. Pre pandemic we’d do two plates, two coffees and a fifth item (side of bacon or a single pancake or something else). It was $17 for a plate, $5 for a coffee and a few bucks for the side. Came down to around $50-55 depending on whether we ordered the side. The same plate now costs $27, coffee is $7 and the sides are also similarly up priced. And that moves the needle up on the taxes and tips. This is a proper brunch spot, so it’s not just eggs.
- noahtallen 3y ago
  Adding another anecdote for Seattle — a decent local breakfast spot (not upscale) has $15-$20 plates, with $4 for bottomless drip coffee (it’s not great). With 20% tip and 10% tax, it comes to around $30 a person. I think $30 a person is pretty normal at a lot of decent places. You can definitely still get a good lunch for $15. But just not that normal. I do find $50 a person to be way more common than it should be if you go order a side and a drink as well.
dan-robertson 3y ago
I tried to think of a restaurant in NY that might sell eggs in the morning. I don’t live there so probably I’m biased towards places that might be better known to/targeted at tourists. I looked up the menu for Balthazar and they indeed have $28 eggs (Benedict) and $7 (bowl of) coffee. I guess that’s a bit expensive but could also be the price at a ‘favourite brunch place’.
- crazygringo 3y ago
  Yeah, Balthazar is 100% a Soho tourist trap, I've never known anyone here who would actually eat there unless it was paid for by your company or something. (Not that the food is bad, it's just overpriced to take advantage of tourists, not a place locals go.) A normal, nice popular brunch spot in "trendy" Williamsburg is Egg Shop. Their egg plates are all still $14–16, and coffee is still $3–4: https://www.eggshopnyc.com/menus/#breakfast-lunch https://www.eggshopnyc.com/menus/#breakfast-lunch
  - dan-robertson 3y ago
    Yeah, I thought that might be the case. Basically all of the restaurants I’ve heard of in NY don’t do brunch, unsurprisingly. I looked up some breakfast menus at a few reasonably upscale downtown hotels and they had eggs of some kind around $20-$30, but I guess that’s probably not super representative either. I wouldn’t normally go to a local hotel restaurant where I live (though in other places where there are fewer non-hotel options I guess I might).
- darth_avocado 3y ago
  If it helps, I travel frequently between the Bay Area and NYC, and NYC is noticeably cheaper to eat out in than Bay Area. Maybe it’s the density of restaurants and the competition?
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euroderf 3y ago

So many complaints. In Helsinki a weekend brunch in the range of 20€-24€ will not have warm entrees, except maybe some eggs and some weenies. 30€ or more will get you an acceptable selection of warm foods. Altho to be fair, VAT is included and tips are unnecessary. Maybe the math all works out w.r.t. coastal brunches.