Breakfast used to be one of the most affordable meals of the day. Mostly because it usually doesn’t cost as much to make almost everything involved outside of certain meats. Eggs, pancakes, waffles, and other foods, all involve simple recipes filled with basic staple ingredients. However, something has changed over the last so many years and it may not be what you think it is.
Certain variables make sense, like the fact that inflation has driven everything up a little. Then there is the demand for higher wages from even the most beginner-labeled positions out there. Fast food positions that used to be an opportunity for high school kids to pick up some basic job skills and experience to prepare them for when they move into a real career, are now demanding wages as high as $20/hour. So much for a job shaped around teens as workers are now calling it a “career”.
These things sting when it comes to the prices we pay as things no longer become as affordable as they used to. Greed and laziness have pressured the system to no longer require education and self discipline in order to qualify for a higher wage. The whole everyone gets a trophy thing is getting a little old, especially for those of us that have pushed ourselves to achieve higher educations and trials. Yet this still isn’t the biggest reason why breakfast has gotten so expensive.
I am always looking for new mom and pop restaurants to support. So I tend to spend a lot of time at smaller cafes, brunch-spots, and other restaurants with a wide menu and friendly service. With the exception of trendy brunch spots that make no sense to me. I visited a location called Toasted Gastrobrunch, for example, that was more about the presentation of the restaurant than the food when it comes to pricing. You are paying for unique decor like the plastor cow near the front door, industrial theme, fancy art-filled tables, etc. These restaurants are a place for scene kids or sometimes vegan cult members.
I had asked why the price of breakfast was so incredibly high (ex: some of these types of restaurants offer items for $24 that you can get down the street for $14). The gentleman was at least honest when he told me it was because breakfast was “popular” now, therefore they can charge higher prices and get away with it as people will pay. Not because it costs them more to make it or to obtain the ingredients, but simply because they can. Kind of the slogan for corporate Las Vegas (it’s the same reason why our sporting events and shows are so expensive here). It’s pretty much a form of a profiteering that everyone simply gets away with.
Thankfully, you can still find honest businesses that have raised their prices a little over time to combat inflation (which in itself is unfair worldwide for everything we need or do). Those same meals can be found for $14-$16, which seems like a current standard.
But then you run into spots that are just blatantly trying to profit. A good example of this is Farmer Boys. I stopped by a few days ago for a simple french toast breakfast. I say simple since a third (or more) of the plate is empty space. You are done before you know it. Not too surprising when you consider that Farmer Boys is an in-between restaurant. Not quite fast food, but not quite a normal sit-down restaurant either. Yet that simple plate and a small drink was over $20. At this rate, even the trendy scene places are almost attractive as an alternative. The small drink alone was just under $5 and it was a fountain drink. One of the most affordable items for a restaurant to profit from and they have massively inflated the price. Unless they are trying to send a political message about diabetes by making it less attractive to buy one (which i doubt), it is clear sign of profiteering and corporate greed.
The “in-between” restaurant (Farmer Boys) is now more expensive than your typical true sit-down style restaurant that you are waiting on from start to finish. Which, in my book, ruled them out as a place to ever visit again as I’d rather spend that money on a heartier meal as a real restaurant.
Finally, I visited Taco Bell this morning for breakfast (Yes, I know, not exactly the most healthy thing to be eating). They used to be affordable as breakfast was usually around $5 for a meal (including drink). But for a small/thin breakfast quesadilla, two little cinnamon balls, and and a small drink, it was more than $8. You can come back for lunch and get a box lunch that is more densely filled with food for less than this. All of their breakfast combos where $8+.
So the lesson to be learned here is stick to making breakfast at home. Stop entertaining these trendy scene spots that purposely charge inflated pricing. If people stop paying, they will bring those prices down to a normal level (or go out of business, which I don’t feel so bad saying since they are purposely taking advantage of people). If you have to go out, do a little research first and support the places that are reasonable. Support the down-to-Earth mom and pop places. Take a stand. Don’t feed into the problem.
