Phrased totally wrong… full prices at busy times, “discounted” prices at off times. This “attracts” folks to off times as opposed to repelling them from busy times.
2 Likes
I had some after a concert very late in the night as the only option near my hotel - let’s just say if I have the choice between those or going hungry to bed, I will always pick starving (even for fast food they are beyond horrible and practically inedible)
me been led to believe “surge pricing” is a surcharge to normal pricing when things are busy/in demand.
by the definition you mention, there is no surge pricing - just standard pricing with a discount for certain conditions.
I suppose my interest here is if you’ve ever loved them. That meat paste and cheese slice fried in the shell, and topped with lettuce and especially their taco sauce was a huge winner for me. Again, world’s worst taco, but it always worked for me.
1 Like
It’s just marketing… surcharges seem negative, discounts (ala happy hour) seem positive.
2 Likes
certainly don’t disagree -about the ‘positive’ encouragement - but surge pricing is defined as charging above normal in peak times/demand.
hotels are a splendid example. when there is an event in town and rafts of people attending - their prices go up.
theme parks - prices go up weekends and holidays . . .
the price of roses climbs steeply on Valentines Day . . .
I didn’t have them before but I had and have my large share of many (sometimes questionable) taco stand tacos and similar which in the worst cases have caused some (serious) stomach problems etc. but nothing was even remotely bad like the stuff from JitB (I wouldn’t call it taco or food - I am not terrible fond of McD burgers but compared to that they are French Laundry style gourmet food) - and yes, there is a nostalgic factor with many “older” foods but I also believe nothing should go quality-wise beyond a certain threshold. I hate wasting food but that was the first time in 20+ years I threw away stuff after a few bites.
Finally, a half-decent and detailed explanation for why restaurant prices have jumped so much in the last couple of years.
5 Likes
And this … beginning April 1 (not an April’s fool joke)
3 Likes
It’s been interesting to dabble on the Toronto Food Reddit.
90 percent of the replies are people saying :
$18 is too expensive for Eggs Benedict.
$10 is too much for a breakfast sandwich.
$6 is too much for a slice of pizza.
Those are the going rates.
Meanwhile, that margin is tighter than ever.
I question why he uses prime-grade meat. And where he finds it at just $6.60/lb. And why jasmine rice?
It’s not clear to me that that legislation would affect La Vaca at all. The owner already pays his workers more than minimum wage, and I don’t think his is a fast food restaurant (I could be wrong about this).
2 Likes
no surprise. in the last round(s) of tipping wars, did some calculations.
below is for tipped employees -
for California me bets the State Unemployment is much higher.
Workman’s comp also varies widely by location - California is not cheaper…
and not mentioned in the first article, many states have a ‘gross receipts tax’ - so they pay more tax on the increased costs they are forced to past along.
| 6.20% | Social security employer paid | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.45% | Medicare employer paid | |||||
| 1.50% | Worker’s Compensation | |||||
| 0.60% | Federal Unemployment tax | |||||
| 2.29% | State Unemployment tax | |||||
| 12.04% | total employer paid taxes | |||||
| pre-tax | with tax | |||||
| $7.25 | $8.12 | Federal minimum wage | ||||
| $2.13 | $2.39 | Federal min. tip credit | ||||
| $15.00 | $16.81 | proposed wages | ||||
| increase from | ||||||
| $7.25 | 207% | Federal minimum wage | ||||
| $2.13 | 789% | Federal min. tip credit | ||||
1 Like
There are often times unintended consequences to legislation like this that many fail appreciate.
There are only a limited number of hourly wage restaurant workers within a given vicinity (or locality). If a restaurant (let’s just use La Vaca up in SF as an example) is currently paying their line cooks $21/hour, and come April 1, all the fast food chains in La Vaca’s city is now paying $20/hour whereas before they were let’s say paying $16/hour, every worker in La Vaca’s restaurant will feel like they are entitled to an equivalent raise – of either $4/hour (absolute) or $5.25 (percentage).
Now, the owner of La Vaca is under no legal obligation to do so, but you want happy workers. Because happy worker, happy life. So just by peer pressure alone, La Vaca will increase its own wages – maybe not by $5.25, and maybe not even by $4, but it will increase.
And remember, the new $20/hour is the minimum – if McDonald’s is going to hire a more seasoned worker, it’s not going to be at the minimum starting wage. So that La Vaca employee who’s staring cross-eyed at his McDonald’s counterpart may just jump ship, or at least threaten to do so.
Then what does La Vaca do? Well, it raises its own wages.
1 Like
That is super-speculative.
There is more to this than money, in case you don’t remember what it’s like to be a worker.
People need to be able to pay rent and buy food, even fast food worker people. If they can’t manage that where they are, they will go elsewhere.
Trust me, it’s not.
I’m not making a normative statement, just a factual one.
Again, I’m not taking a normative position on minimum wage, whatever that number may be.
I’m just stating a fact that you want happy workers. That’s all.
1 Like
You’re asking me to trust a guy who hates butter and Girl Scout Cookies? It is to laugh.
You’re coming at this from a rather robber baron perspective, in case you don’t realize it. It sounds like you’re advocating for keeping people in poverty in order to keep burrito prices low.
1 Like
Ok, you do you.
As I said up above, I’m not taking a normative position on this issue, as I think it’s beyond the scope of this message board.
I don’t necessary support keeping people in poverty or support getting people out of poverty. I take no such positions, either way.
I’m just pointing out that merely raising minimum wages for the fast food sector will have unintended consequences for the rest of the dining (and diner) industry. If you can’t believe, or won’t accept, that, that’s ok.
Not here to convince anyone of anything.
1 Like
Are you sure about that? Because it sounds like you’re trying to convince people that raising the minimum wage is bad for everyone. Unless I missed the part where you sympathize with low-wage workers.
3 Likes
Related: cool tool. Gets at some of the nuance:
2 Likes
