Restaurant "Price and participation may vary"

[y_p_w]

Any extreme examples?

I like a good bargain, like Taco Bell's Happy Hour drinks for $1. It might be a little bit more expensive in some locations. I was in a certain area and got one where it was $1.29. I also remember going to this well known location (the Taco Bell Cantina in Pacifica, California) where they didn't even have Happy Hour. I was there, checked the price on the app (saw it for $1) , and tried to order at the counter but was told they didn't have Happy Hour prices. I then tried to just put in a mobile order on the app (where it said it was $1 at the time) and when it came time to check out it said there was a technical problem and I couldn't complete the order. I also remember checking out the prices at one particularly touristy location, and a lot of the menu prices were more than double that of nearby locations. I can check prices in the Taco Bell app, and the $4.99 combo box that I can get near home is $13.99 at this location. I did end up getting that a few days ago at the Pacifica location where it was $6.99.

As far as I can tell, it was more and more locations choosing to not participate that brought down the McDonald's Dollar Menu. Maybe a decade ago I'd been to some locations where it was a bit more expensive (like Times Square). Maybe $1.79, although they didn't settle on a single price for what were typical Dollar Menu items.

I think I complained here about not getting the Applebee's $9.99 Really Big Meal Deal, although I noticed it was available again in my area. There seemed to be a lot of confusion because I ordered in person and was told there was only one burger and one chicken option. There was also no signs nor paper menu with it, so you either had to know about it coming in. I guess maybe they'd tell a customer if they asked about any promotions. But with online ordering there were a lot of available options (I count 11), including some at a $12.99 premium price. However, I also wanted to watch a game at the bar, so ordering for pickup wasn't going to work. And as much criticism as they get for their steaks and ribs, Applebee's does a really good burger. And $9.99 plus tax is less than a medium Whopper combo at Burger King, even with a $2 tip at Applebee's. I was recently in San Francisco and got curious about the Applebee's in Fishermans Wharf. Kind of a weird location on the 2nd floor, with stairs and elevators to get up. Really good views too. But there the starting price for that deal was $14.99. And going through the menu, their prices were universally higher than most suburban locations. They did have Happy Hour though, but that was half price off their already inflated prices for certain items.

 

[55hambone]

Corporate wants to get some dollars into the stores so that they can get their percentage. Franchisees want to sell products that they aren't losing money on.

 

[JayhawkRoy]

Some Denny's price the on-going specials at a dollar higher than what you see on TV, and you have to ask to see the special menu. You get the normal priced menu only without asking.

 

[97prizm]

Any extreme examples?

I like a good bargain, like Taco Bell's Happy Hour drinks for $1. It might be a little bit more expensive in some locations. I was in a certain area and got one where it was $1.29. I also remember going to this well known location (the Taco Bell Cantina in Pacifica, California) where they didn't even have Happy Hour. I was there, checked the price on the app (saw it for $1) , and tried to order at the counter but was told they didn't have Happy Hour prices. I then tried to just put in a mobile order on the app (where it said it was $1 at the time) and when it came time to check out it said there was a technical problem and I couldn't complete the order. I also remember checking out the prices at one particularly touristy location, and a lot of the menu prices were more than double that of nearby locations. I can check prices in the Taco Bell app, and the $4.99 combo box that I can get near home is $13.99 at this location. I did end up getting that a few days ago at the Pacifica location where it was $6.99.

As far as I can tell, it was more and more locations choosing to not participate that brought down the McDonald's Dollar Menu. Maybe a decade ago I'd been to some locations where it was a bit more expensive (like Times Square). Maybe $1.79, although they didn't settle on a single price for what were typical Dollar Menu items.

I think I complained here about not getting the Applebee's $9.99 Really Big Meal Deal, although I noticed it was available again in my area. There seemed to be a lot of confusion because I ordered in person and was told there was only one burger and one chicken option. There was also no signs nor paper menu with it, so you either had to know about it coming in. I guess maybe they'd tell a customer if they asked about any promotions. But with online ordering there were a lot of available options (I count 11), including some at a $12.99 premium price. However, I also wanted to watch a game at the bar, so ordering for pickup wasn't going to work. And as much criticism as they get for their steaks and ribs, Applebee's does a really good burger. And $9.99 plus tax is less than a medium Whopper combo at Burger King, even with a $2 tip at Applebee's. I was recently in San Francisco and got curious about the Applebee's in Fishermans Wharf. Kind of a weird location on the 2nd floor, with stairs and elevators to get up. Really good views too. But there the starting price for that deal was $14.99. And going through the menu, their prices were universally higher than most suburban locations. They did have Happy Hour though, but that was half price off their already inflated prices for certain items.

Burger King had a $1 Whopper a few years ago. The franchisees said they weren't going to offer that as it lost them money. BK corporate said suck it up it's part of your franchise agreement. As a side note you should look up Mitch Headbergs stand-up on fast food restaurants. He says "I want to buy a fast food restaurant chain so I can tell customers that I don't participate at this location. "

 

[slacktide_bitog]

If an "independent" franchise doesn't want to participate, then don't use the name

That said, most so-called "independent" franchises are micromanaged so much they're really misclassified employees

 

[y_p_w]

Burger King had a $1 Whopper a few years ago. The franchisees said they weren't going to offer that as it lost them money. BK corporate said suck it up it's part of your franchise agreement. As a side note you should look up Mitch Headbergs stand-up on fast food restaurants. He says "I want to buy a fast food restaurant chain so I can tell customers that I don't participate at this location. "

I think that was the Whopper Wednesday promotion via their app. When it got to $3.99 I was thinking it wasn’t really worth it. They used to have this “introductory” offer (for signing up for the app) for a free Whopper with a minimum $1 purchase. It didn’t come with a code, but a message that the manager had to approve it. But it stayed on my app for maybe a year or so.

 

[y_p_w]

Some Denny's price the on-going specials at a dollar higher than what you see on TV, and you have to ask to see the special menu. You get the normal priced menu only without asking.

Oh, I’ve done that. There was some less expensive item (Moon Over My Hammy Omelette) that wasn’t on any printed menu and was less expensive than similar omelettes on the Denny’s menu at the time. I knew I could order it as an online/mobile order as I like to look up the prices before I arrive. On a vacation, a server went to his manager and verified that it could be ordered sit-down. I think their cooks know about all these obscure items even if the servers don’t.

A lot of franchised locations I’ve seen won’t put up specials as their window displays.

Most Domino’s around here charge $8.99 for the national $7.99 carry out special.

 

[GrumpyCat]

Subway does that a lot. One restaurant 1/2 mile away might while another will not. Thankfully they have this rolled up in their app now. Same for McDonalds.

 

[y_p_w]

Subway does that a lot. One restaurant 1/2 mile away might while another will not. Thankfully they have this rolled up in their app now. Same for McDonalds.

If I'm going to be on the road, I can now look up prices. The one difficulty is getting breakfast/lunch prices if the app or website doesn't have an option for off-hours pricing to maybe order for a later time.

The ability to check prices in advance is really nice. I've seen some really crazy price swings, like when I saw a special that required a $1 minimum spend to get a certain deal. I was looking for the easiest way to get that, and found one location that had 70 cents for a bottle of milk and 30 cents for one tub of ranch dressing. Was totally weird too as all the other sauces were 25 cents there, and it's 25 cents for ranch nearly everywhere else. And my closest location has $4.09 for that same bottle of milk.

 

[PF52]

Subway does that a lot. One restaurant 1/2 mile away might while another will not. Thankfully they have this rolled up in their app now. Same for McDonalds.

I was going to mention Subway also. Some locations have their own signs prominently posted that they do not accept coupons, or that they don't do the $5 footlong deal.

Raising their prices to nearly triple what they were a few years ago sealed the deal for me. I love Subway, but almost never go there any more. Judging by the empty stores, apparently I'm not the only one.

 

[wavinwayne]

We get coupons in the mail weekly that are for the local chain restaurants. My daughter tried to use one of the Dairy Queen coupons, and our local DQ refused to honor the coupon. RIP, local DQ.

 

[y_p_w]

We get coupons in the mail weekly that are for the local chain restaurants. My daughter tried to use one of the Dairy Queen coupons, and our local DQ refused to honor the coupon. RIP, local DQ.

I tried to get the 85 cent Blizzard deal, which requires a $1 minimum purchase of something else. Was inside and they even had a counter display advertising the deal. Played around with the app, selected the location, and their price for a small soft drink was $4.99 even though it was $1.99 on the menu board. So I went to the cashier and showed them the deal, which had a code with an alternate number to enter. Was told their POS terminal had no way to enter the code and that they could only honor the deal with prepaid mobile order. Since that was about 250% more I just walked out.

 

[GrumpyCat]

I was going to mention Subway also. Some locations have their own signs prominently posted that they do not accept coupons, or that they don't do the $5 footlong deal.

Raising their prices to nearly triple what they were a few years ago sealed the deal for me. I love Subway, but almost never go there any more. Judging by the empty stores, apparently I'm not the only one.

Some Subways tripled prices, others not. A 12" tuna is "only" $8.69 or so at most around here. A friend stopped at a Subway in Elizabethtown KY near a Tesla Supercharger where $14 was the average for a 12". I guess it is fair if that is what their market will bear.

 

[Patman]

Some Subways tripled prices, others not. A 12" tuna is "only" $8.69 or so at most around here. A friend stopped at a Subway in Elizabethtown KY near a Tesla Supercharger where $14 was the average for a 12". I guess it is fair if that is what their market will bear.

I don’t know if you guys have them in the US, but up here we have a chain of sub shops called Firehouse Subs and they’re priced even higher than Subway. But you get what you pay for, as their subs are light years ahead of Subway. Just incredibly flavorful! I usually wait until they have a half price deal on the app before buying one of those yummy subs from them. The last time my girlfriend and I went there and paid full price I think it came out to $30 for two medium sized subs

 

[4WD]

I don’t know if you guys have them in the US, but up here we have a chain of sub shops called Firehouse Subs and they’re priced even higher than Subway. But you get what you pay for, as their subs are light years ahead of Subway. Just incredibly flavorful! I usually wait until they have a half price deal on the app before buying one of those yummy subs from them. The last time my girlfriend and I went there and paid full price I think it came out to $30 for two medium sized subs

They are HQ’d in Florida - good food …

 

[4WD]

Lunch today

 

[tcp71]

I don’t know if you guys have them in the US, but up here we have a chain of sub shops called Firehouse Subs and they’re priced even higher than Subway. But you get what you pay for, as their subs are light years ahead of Subway. Just incredibly flavorful! I usually wait until they have a half price deal on the app before buying one of those yummy subs from them. The last time my girlfriend and I went there and paid full price I think it came out to $30 for two medium sized subs

Never heard of them before this post. Looked them up and there are at least 6 in the city. Will have to try them.

 

[john_pifer]

Firehouse Subs sell their old 5-gal pickle buckets for cheap. Like $1.50 or something. Maybe even less, I forget.

Anyway, I bought 2 to use as my car wash buckets.

Took over a year for pickle smell to go away!

They’re attractive buckets. I bought grit guards to go in the bottom.

 

[PandaBear]

I think the franchise models are going to die in the next 10-20 years for most mom and pop franchisees. Maybe McDonalds and Chick-fil-A will survive as they are well managed enough to withstand this but most are not well managed by location management cost cutting or headquarter bad decisions.

The model is also wrong for today's world as they can't be flexible enough to close down some locations as needed after you sold the franchise right to someone, or close down a couple places when the franchise is losing money to consolidate sales to others or start penetrating a new market by losing money early on to recoup back later.

It no longer makes sense, and most franchisees are just buying a stable job that hopefully turn into a future passive income if lady luck is on their sides. It is probably better to buy stock in the headquarter instead of opening a franchise today.

 

[zzyzzx]

Price and participation may vary​

Which means that you will not get the sale price.