Wendy’s is the most expensive fast-food chain. The cheapest? Taco Bell
Popular places like Wendy’s (WEN), Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Burger King, and McDonald’s (MCD) saw menu prices rise by a whopping 12.9%.
Which of the five fast food restaurants is the most expensive? Wendy’s. Over the past year, the cost of dining at the Dublin, Ohio-based chain has increased by 35%, the largest increase across the Big Five this year.
This is according to new data from Pricelisto.com, which gathers data from store visits, phone interviews, and uploaded information from business owners nationwide.
This year, Wendy’s has overtaken Burger King as the most expensive fast food chain with an average item price of $6.63. The average Burger King price in 2021 was $5.03.
Big ticket items that pushed average prices up include Wendy’s “Baikonator” with a suggested retail price of $9.62, down $2.51 from last year’s price. Next up is his half-pound beef double cheeseburger, the so-called “Dave’s Double.” Retail price is $7.69, 36 cents higher than last year.
Outlier: “Spicy Chicken Sandwich” dropped 12 cents to $6.33. The price for a “double stack” or two-patty burger is $3.22, down 13 cents from last year.
Chick-fil-A had the second largest increase in price over the last 12 months, with an average menu option price of $4.65. This is his 15.6% increase from 2021.
Grilled options for the beloved chicken sandwich are up 66 cents from 2021, with an average national price of $7.23. The basic bread option was down nearly $2 to $5.47, still up 51 cents year-over-year.
Chicken nugget versions, “Chick-n-Minis,” averaged $4.63, down 68 cents from last year.
Taco Bell has the third-highest price, up 14.6% from 2021, with an average price of $3.37, the lowest among the Big 5. All options pointed out in the report are marked below $5 in 2021.
All popular menu items mentioned in the report include Chicken Quesadillas at $4.56, down $1.26 from 2022 prices, Nachos Belgrande at $4.69, down $1.35 from $6.04 in 2021, and Crunch Wraps. Supreme, “$4.42, down $1.22 from last year.
Burger King posted a 2% year-over-year increase with an average item price of $5.14.
Its chicken fries jumped 67 cents, its biggest 16.9% gain from 2021. Like the “Double Whopper,” which was slashed 39 cents this year to $7.03, and the “Original Chicken Sandwich” (not to be confused with “Ch’King”) he’s now $5.40. Down nearly 50 cents.
The only fast food chain whose prices have fallen across the board? McDonald’s.
The average price of Golden Arch products in 2022 is $3.77, down 5% from 2021. French fries dropped that number, down nine cents from last year to $2.25, and double cheeseburgers he could drop three cents from 2021 to $2.88.
However, the “Egg McMuffin” was 22 cents, the iconic “Big Mac” was 17 cents, the “McChicken” was 4 cents and the “Quarter Pounder” was 14 cents higher.
A Pricelisto.com spokesperson told Yahoo Finance that, in addition to these popular items, there may be price cuts on other items and McDonald’s “some savings may be being made in terms of staffing and food delivery. There is,” he said.
Overall, the main inflation drivers were wages, transportation, energy and the cost of shipping raw materials, according to Pricelisto.com.
Still, Americans still seem to be putting up with rising prices. A spokesperson for Pricelisto.com said:
BTIG Managing Director and Restaurant Analyst Peter Saleh agrees. In a recent interview after McDonald’s third-quarter earnings release, he stressed that “consumers are not necessarily resisting higher prices.”
“The bottom line is that consumers still have to eat, so they either eat at the grocery store or they eat at the restaurant… Grocery store prices are going up more than restaurant prices. At this point, restaurants are actually worth a little more than they historically have,” he added.
Brooke DiPalma is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her @@ on Twitter.brooke di palma Or send an email to [email protected].
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