Mcdonalds is actually considered expensive compared to other places in ny.
No it isn't. You can get 2 cheeseburgers, small fries, a large drink and an apple pie for $5-6. It definitely is not considered expensive. But even if you're comparing the type of meals that posters here are more likely to get (like big mac / quarter pounder type stuff) , you're only going to find cheaper stuff in the outer boroughs. Comparable chain places like Wendy's, Burger King, etc are all more expensive across boroughs. There aren't that many BKs in manhattan, but there's one on the same block as my apartment building . I almost never go to it(mainly because I am not eating much red meat these days, not because of its poor getbig reputation), but they had this thing called a farm burger or something like that a few months ago that I tried out. It was one of their premium burgers, but it was about $9. Just for the burger- no fries or drink. I remember the price because i was surprised a place like bk would have an item at that price point. McDonalds doesn't have any singular item in that price range.
Also, there is an arbys a few blocks away from me. Now let me tell you something: I love arbys. I grew up in a part of the country that had a lot of arbys, and in the time I've lived in NYC, we have had some bad luck with them. When the first arbys returned to the city 4 years ago and it opened up so close to where I live, I felt like the universe was smiling on me. It was around the time I was first cutting down on red meat, but I made special exceptions for arbys. I'm a fan. That being said, from an objective standpoint, it's even shittier than mcdonalds, yet it's somehow much more expensive.
Two regular sandwiches and small fries comes out to more than $10 in nyc. It's actually something that they have the balls to charge that amount of money for pressed meat in this day and age. Nevertheless, I rarely get basic sandwiches when I go there and usually get something more calorie dense and I am always surprised by how much I end up paying. Part of that is because arbys was known as value food when I was growing up.
And those are the more reasonable prices. From there, in nyc, prices just go up. Luckily, the food tends to get much better, but you arent really going to find cheaper stuff than mcdonalds in nyc. At least, it won't be easy to find.
