ATLANTA — Fast food is a staple of the American diet, but lately it is more expensive than ever. Since the pandemic, prices have climbed leading to frustration for fast food customers everywhere.
“It’s outrageous,” fast food fan Kamille Mitchell told Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Sophia Choi. “The prices is crazy.”
Kamille and her sister Kelcey Mitchell told Choi that high prices at the drive-thru drove them straight to a Northwest Atlanta Kroger on Howell Mill Road.
One Lending Tree study found that customers are paying more than $10 on average for a fast food meal this year.
“It don’t make sense to keep spending $20 every day,” Kelcey Mitchell said. “We can just spend that on groceries and cook at home.”
Another study from fastbuzz.com found that from 2020 to 2025, fast food prices increased by 42% at 16 popular chains - almost double the national average inflation rate of 22% in the same period.
While some might feel that disconnect highlights fast food companies using inflation as an excuse to raise prices beyond what they should be, Channel 2 Consumer Advisor Clark Howard says that’s not quite the full picture.
“Fast food has so much lower a markup than traditional restaurants,” Clark Howard explained. “They’re all facing enormous cost pressures on real estate — what they’re having to pay for their space — employees and food.”
Channel 2 Action News Investigates spent weeks checking menus for over 200 fast food locations inside the perimeter across 28 restaurant brands. The results show big differences in prices, even for the same item at the same chain.
For instance, the McDonalds daily double meal was almost $2 cheaper at the Cheshire Bridge Road location in northeast Atlanta than other locations inside the perimeter, where it’s most common price was $9.99.
One of the best deals we found was the limited time $6 big box at Popeye’s. Choi got the two-piece meal with sides of fries and red beans and rice. But if you’re looking to truly maximize calories, sub the red beans and rice for a second side of fries. For a leaner, more protein-rich meal, sub the fries for red beans and rice instead.
And we found another bargain across the street at Popeye’s competitor Church’s Texas Chicken, where one of their chain-wide leaders explained to us how fast food chains keep customers coming back through the drive through.
“Once you get them into the parking lot, then it’s our job to try to upsell you, right?” said Bill Mitchell, senior vice president of Church’s.
Bill Mitchell pointed to a combo on their menu that gets customers two pieces of chicken, a biscuit and a jalapeno for just $3.49.
Another tip he had for customers: don’t skip the apps. Mitchell said the best deals big chains offer are on their mobile platforms where they can build loyalty by reaching guests quickly and directly.
“I don’t have a cashier taking the order,” Mitchell said. “So I can redistribute that labor toward expediting and getting the orders out faster to the guests.”
He said the apps are the best place to find deals and take advantage of limited time offers.
And Clark Howard agrees, saying the apps can score fast food fans some big value.
“You should see my phone; I have so many fast food restaurant apps,” Howard said. “The beauty of them is actually twofold: one, I get lower prices a lot of times on specials that are only available to me on the app. But the second thing is free food.”
But these days it’s not just fast food restaurants offering deals. As prices of some chains have climbed, traditional restaurants and other casual restaurant chains are competing with fast food at similar price points.
“The prices have gone up to the point where there’s very little differentiation between a quick service restaurant and maybe some sit-down restaurants,” said Ben Lawrence, an economist at Georgia State University. “If you look at like Applebee’s or Chili’s, they’re even competing for $10.99 or $11 type pricing.”
Lawrence said one reason that chicken-based products have climbed in popularity at fast food chains is that it provides a good opportunity to differentiate by offering customized sauces and flavors to set themselves apart.
For those wondering if prices will ever come back down, Lawrence said probably not. Instead, prices might stabilize at their current levels as long as they can avoid the steep inflation seen after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a really challenging environment for restaurants today,” Lawrence said.
But some customers say that’s still too much to pay on food away from home, so they’re opting for savings at their own kitchen table.
“You have to pay like $13, $14, $15 for six wings,” consumer Iris Parks told Choi. “I an go buy me a pack of wings for like $4 or $5 and do it myself.”
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