As Fast Food Prices Surge, It's Time For A Chain Restaurant Renaissance

Fast food is famous for two qualities: it's fast, and it's cheap. And while it's as fast as ever (maybe even faster thanks to fast food's increasing use of AI), it's not quite so cheap these days. The price of a Big Mac meal with medium fries and a drink has hit nearly $14 in New York City. And that's not just an isolated example — prices in the limited service meals and snacks category, which includes fast food chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Chick-fil-A, increased by over 34% from 2019 to 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That easily outpaces the overall inflation rate of 23% during that period. 

One alternative for inflation-weary consumers has proven to be full-service chain restaurants — you know, the Applebee's and Chili's of the world. The price gap between fast food and chain restaurants is narrowing for many reasons, but one of the biggest is labor costs — fast food restaurants are more heavily impacted by rising labor costs than full-service chains.

In New York City, home of the $13-plus Big Mac meal, you can (at the time of writing) purchase a classic Applebee's burger and fries for $15.99. The restaurant is also currently running a promotion where customers can get two entrees and an appetizer for just $25. Applebee's on a date night might be fancy (according to Walker Hayes), but it's also a darn good deal, even compared to McDonald's.

Other full-service chains are leaning into the low-cost trend. Chili's recently launched a new Big Smasher Burger, which could certainly hold its own to a Big Mac. Chili's Big Smasher Burger value meal comes with an appetizer and a drink for only $10.99 as part of the chain's 3 For Me promotion. If you're keeping tabs, that's a couple bucks cheaper than the Big Mac Meal in New York City, and the Big Smasher Burger is made with a half-pound of beef compared to the Big Mac's two 1.6-ounce patties. You don't need girl math to work this one out.

Chain restaurants aren't afraid to beef with fast food — a recent ad for Chili's Big Smasher Burger lauded the beefy entree as "the best $10.99 you can eat," concluding, "See you later tiny drive-thru burger." Perhaps not coincidentally, McDonald's launched a new value meal on June 25th that runs through late July. The $5 value meal includes a McDouble or McChicken, fries, Chicken McNuggets, and a drink. And it's not just McDonald's — fast food deals are everywhere this summer. 

Fast food sales have remained relatively stable thus far. McDonald's reported that sales increased by 8.7% from 2022 to 2023. But at the end of the day, people will only pay so much for a Big Mac. Full-service chain restaurants becoming competitive with fast food may seem like a depressing sign of inflation, and in many ways it is. But it could also be good news for consumers because increased competition will likely lead to more deals, better value, and cheaper burgers.