Norway has been considered to be super-expensive among tourists and others looking in from abroad. However, Norwegians going to the US really have to mind their spending nowadays, especially when eating out. Forcing employees to rely on tips to get above slave wage is generally not a thing in Europe, so the price we see on the menu is what we expect to pay.

If you go to a gas station near an airport in Western Norway, you can get a massive 300g burger (3/4 lb) with added cheese and bacon for about 200 kroner, which is $19. If you want something that normal people can finish, a regular 150g cheeseburger is about $12. A McDonald’s double cheeseburger is 43 kroner, or $4.12. If you order a burger at a restaurant or a pub, you’ll probably be spending about $25 for a bacon cheeseburger with included fries. You’re not expected to tip in Norway.

Considering that the prices Americans here refer to don’t include taxes and tips, I’m actually pretty sure it would be more expensive to eat out in the US than in Norway, and average pay for a waiter/waitress here is about $41 000 per year.

people used to think I was on crazy pills because I for some reason used to point to 2008 as my favorite nostalgia year.

Nothing particularly major happened with mine, no sports team championship, no graduation, no first date, nothing like that, and my family was for the most part, well insulated from the financial crisis, we lived in a country that was less impacted anyway

2008 was just another year in the 2000s, I only remember it so well because of the small little gaming communities I had joined online when I was 16, Still talk to and hang out with them today at 32.

Here in Japan, a chain has a cheese burger with beef from Kobe, caramelized onions, and gravy made from the drippings for 7.50USD Half that if you want it with regular beef.

I investigated why things are so cheap and businesses can have the weirdest hours (there’s a bar in Tokyo that’s only open for 5 hours a week on fridays), they tax unused commercial property (for certain definitions of unused, like in rural areas just throwing some gravel down and letting your neighbor park there for a few bucks can be enough to dodge the tax), so companies offer extremely competitive rates to get businesses in. The .4% interest rate and very cheap remodeling costs (except plumbers for some reason) serve to keep startup more accessible, so places don’t have to be super profitable to exist. The taxes work in conjunction with the interest rates to keep banks and capital firms from just buying everything up with the free money to establish a local monopoly and drive up prices. There’s probably other things driving down home and commercial property costs, it’s mindboggling to see a 3 floor+attic, 800sqft/floor building in the center of a city with 10 million people and have the business owner say he’s renting it because the owner wanted 2.5m to buy the whole thing, and that was too much.

I know China manages to keep commercial property somewhat cheap by having 5 year plans and SoEs/universities guarantee the commercial sectors have the inputs such as steel, concrete, and skilled labor they’ll need at a specific price point, but I’ve never managed to talk to someone about tax policies and the like.

Pave Flavortown, put up a parking lot.

A “craft burger” with fries is 15€ in Germany. And normal burger meal is like half that.

There’s never been a better time to learn how to cook! Smash burgers are dead simple with a good cheap second hand cast iron pan and a sauncepan clad in aluminium foil to “smash” with. Thicc™ burgers are best done with a reverse sear. Put them in the oven until desired level of “done”, then sear them in a hot pan for a minute or two for colour and texture.

Burgersauce is just mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, chopped up pickles and black pepper.

EDIT: Oh, and if you want crispy af bacon, start them in a cold non-stick pan with no added fat and let them get up to medium heat. That way the fat will render out slowely and deep-fry the bacon in it.

When Bob’s Burgers started airing the burger of the day was $5.95. This used to be a reasonable price for a burger.

Coming out of left field here, but… scaling beef production is not very sustainable?

Like, unless it’s a rare treat, I feel like beef has to go artificial or prices keep going up, even if wealth distribution is worked out.

Carl’s Jr. $5 Burger used to mock this bullshit. It cost $3 and it was fucking amazing.

$17 for a burger, even if it really did look like the picture, which we all know it doesn’t, is way too much. No, thank you.

I pay $12/day to feed myself. I make all of my own meals at home, I haven’t eaten out since the pandemic. I formed the habit, and just kept cooking at home as prices got ridiculous. My diet is excellent, mostly fresh vegetables, and organic chicken.

Gentrification came for flavortown.

Rent is now $4000/mth. No loitering.

Burgers are fine-dining now. Still trying to find cheap food that’s nutritious and doesn’t contain too much fiber for medical reasons. Eventually that will be fine dining prices too.

The CEO’s, shareholders and the 1% need to make more! There is no fucking way I am going to spend $17.00 for a fucking cheeseburger.

In Pulp Fiction (1994) John Travolta’s character freaks out over the “5$ milkshake”.

One of my parents said that steaks were 35 cents when they were kids.

I am not looking forward to my Walmart cheese & breadstick snacks costing $70 bucks for a set of five.