# Most over-priced menu items?



## Zwiefel

I am somewhat stirring the pot here, but also interested in genuine reactions.

http://flip.it/oPivF


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## KitchenCommander

Interesting article. I am not sure those rules apply at the places I personally frequent, but if it is true at all, I will be more wary of chicken entrées. I remember one occasion overpaying for a chicken dish that came very dry and without much flavor. Disappointing to say the least.


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## Anton

Whole chicken's are going for $50! A chicken


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## Asteger

All those suggestions sound good. But what what constitutes overpriced very much depends on where you are. No idea, if the focus is the US.


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## Cheeks1989

[video=youtube;FjN546QGSMA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjN546QGSMA[/video]


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## Asteger

2 minds about this. On one hand, looks good and interesting, etc. On the other, it's annoying or maybe almost like a Saturday Night Live spoof. 

'Vintage Carrot' - What, harvested back in the 60s?


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## Godslayer

Where I work 1lb of in room dining chicken wings with one dip costs over $40, its probably the most ridiculous example, I know the cost is sub $4 a pound and I doubt the breading/sauce adds more than $.5 per order, thats the one we normally make fun of, that and the quinoa salad at 12m weighting in at a whopping 125 grm


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## Mucho Bocho

Sam, thats funny. Sounds so pretentious when taken out of context. 

Good share Danny, even if its from a questionable source.


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## Zwiefel

Mucho Bocho said:


> a questionable source.



Perhaps a charitable description.


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## Castalia

What about soda? That has to be in the top ten for most profitable items for the vast majority of restaurants in the US. Pennies of soda for several dollars; the price is 20 or 30x the cost.


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## Zwiefel

Castalia said:


> What about soda? That has to be in the top ten for most profitable items for the vast majority of restaurants in the US. Pennies of soda for several dollars; the price is 20 or 30x the cost.



Excellent point. Also? frequently the most over-taxed item on the menu...and I'm talking pre-Bloomberg.


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## Dardeau

Things like the wings and quinoa salad let you sell more premium items at a lower cost. You make up for the hit you take on the steak and fish


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## CoqaVin

Well said Dardeau, things that are usually HIGH food cost, you have to make up those margins somewhere, if you get my drift


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## rami_m

I would think prep costs would have an impact, no?


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## Dardeau

Not as much as you think. You have to pay the cooks to be there anyway. And you have at least a couple of salaried to pick up slack.


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## Bill13

I think it has to be tea. Brother in law used to run a steak house in Co and for mains he said they made much more when someone ordered Salmon.


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## Dardeau

I don't ever want to eat someplace where a lot of money is being made on salmon. That's one of those items you want to barely make money on.


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## Bill13

Dardeau said:


> I don't ever want to eat someplace where a lot of money is being made on salmon. That's one of those items you want to barely make money on.



They folded a couple of years after opening, maybe that was part of the problem


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## panda

breakfast.


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## Castalia

So least profitable items are steak and fish and most profitable items are..... everything else? I do have to remind myself to stay away from the spicy tuna rolls; questionable product that tastes delicious.


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## chinacats

panda said:


> breakfast.



This is what I had always heard.


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## Zwiefel

Dardeau said:


> I don't ever want to eat someplace where a lot of money is being made on salmon. That's one of those items you want to barely make money on.



Why is that?



panda said:


> breakfast.



I had thought of this many times...usually when I was ordering breakfast


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## Mucho Bocho

Used to be the case. Eggs are now almost $5 a dozen for premium commercial non organic in Raleigh. And believe we've got plenty chickens


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## Stumblinman

I agree with the american crossbreed wagyu. Yes they take longer to mature and taste great but $120 for a 7oz strip that took 2 mins to cook....


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## Newbflat

Wine... I almost never drink it in a restaurant. I just can't get past a glass that costs twice the bottle down the street at the supermarket. 

Bill


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## Dardeau

Because you can get cheap fish, and you can get good fish. You can't get both. I stay away from salmon period because I live in LA. The nearest wild salmon is a couple thousand miles away. Same with halibut, it's delicious, but not after shipping. There are two major tuna docks on the gulf, one in Miami and one in DuLac out by Houma. Comparing fish from the two directly really hammers in fresher is better. It's probably the same in reverse in S FL.


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## drake

I would second oysters. It's crazy what some people are charging for them these days...


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## Dardeau

I would add oysters in with you can get cheap or good. The place I work sells about 10,000 oysters a week. I see a lot of oysters, and see a lot of people trying to sell us low cost oysters. You pay for what you get and no one is making a huge margin on them.


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## spoiledbroth

there's something to be said for a _properly_ shucked and sourced oyster. if you aren't along a coast of some sort or near one, often I have noticed that people do not respect seasonality (which, granted, can be difficult - but I don't want anemic oysters). It's a simple thing, and simple things are often easiest to screw up-- then again I'm geographically as far from the east and west coasts of Canada as you can get, so really the oyster scene would probably be laughable to someone from, say, Vancouver (that is to say: what do I really know).


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## Zweber12

What about bottled water? It's not unheard to pay 6 or 8 dollars per bottle.


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## bkultra

Zweber12 said:


> What about bottled water? It's not unheard to pay 6 or 8 dollars per bottle.



When ever I see bottled water priced like this, I think of...

[video]https://youtube.com/watch?v=YFKT4jvN4OE[/video]


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## Zwiefel

bkultra said:


> When ever I see bottled water priced like this, I think of...
> 
> [video]https://youtube.com/watch?v=YFKT4jvN4OE[/video]



Loves that show, and that episode.


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## spoiledbroth

makes me think of cereal milk...


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## JLaz

Most beverages have insane margins on them.

So much more profitable to flick open a bottle of soda or beer then serve cold than it is to prep perishable food, cook to order, serve at the right temp.

Makes me think of going towards the gastropub route...


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