Lunch with a beer for €9.50: the price dividing opinion
A dish for €6.90 and a beer at €2.60: the €9.50 lunch pitting Spain's restaurant prices against those in the U.S.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A lunch with beer for €9.50 dismantles the inflation excuse
As restaurant prices become one of the biggest headaches for Spanish wallets, a figure drawn from a real meal strikes a chord: a breaded steak salad with a draft beer, for €9.50. The detail is not trivial. The dish alone costs €6.90; the beer, another €2.60. And the best part, according to whoever shared it, is that the whole menu hovers around that level: the most expensive dish, an entrecôte, comes in at €7.50.
The contrast with the United States is what turns the anecdote into an argument. The same kind of dish would cost $25 plus a $10 tip across the pond. Against that, in Valencia there are still set menus for €6.50. Some celebrate the price as a bargain, while others still consider it excessive. The debate over whether the whole thing is a steal or a rip-off remains open: what nobody disputes is that restaurant margins in Spain remain far lower than in other countries.
The next time someone pays €20 for a dish in Madrid, the question should be mandatory: how much of that is real cost, and how much is margin?
As restaurant prices become one of the biggest headaches for Spanish wallets, a figure drawn from a real meal strikes a chord: a breaded steak salad with a draft beer, for €9.50. The detail is not trivial. The dish alone costs €6.90; the beer, another €2.60. And the best part, according to whoever shared it, is that the whole menu hovers around that level: the most expensive dish, an entrecôte, comes in at €7.50.
The contrast with the United States is what turns the anecdote into an argument. The same kind of dish would cost $25 plus a $10 tip across the pond. Against that, in Valencia there are still set menus for €6.50. Some celebrate the price as a bargain, while others still consider it excessive. The debate over whether the whole thing is a steal or a rip-off remains open: what nobody disputes is that restaurant margins in Spain remain far lower than in other countries.
The next time someone pays €20 for a dish in Madrid, the question should be mandatory: how much of that is real cost, and how much is margin?
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (15 replies).
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