Fast Food Raised Prices Too Far… Now They're Paying the Price

Can someone tell me why this, this chicken sandwich, an order of french fries, and this drink, look at it, literally the size of my hand. Okay, this is a small drink was $17.59. Shake Shack, like this That tastes like it came out of a machine, one of those stupid freestyle machines that has 17,000 flavors in it. It sure isn't for the branding on the bag because there is none. Okay, I guess the presentation of eating it in your car is kind of cute, but not $17 cute. Like What? What? And and the drink $17 There I'm sure there's a reason, right? Like there has to be a reason why Shake Shack was just $17. So, I really think we're entering the era of the end of fast food because with the prices nowadays who is going to justify Who's going to continue to justify being able to eat food that you already know is not good for you and also pay a lot for it. Domino's Pizza is closing 250 plus locations and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Wendy's is closing 300 to 600 locations in 2026. Popeyes Chicken is closing 136 plus locations and also filing bankruptcy mostly in Florida and Georgia. Papa John's is closing over 300 locations in 2026. Denny's is closing over 150 locations in 2026. Red Lobster is closing over 100 locations in 2026. Red Robin is closing 70 plus locations in 2026. Pizza Hut is closing 250 locations in the US in 2026. Smokey Bones is closing 120 locations in 2026. It brings me absolutely no joy to bring you this information. However, it is the real facts of what is going on in the US economy in 2026. Please don't spend any money. Please plan your spending, do a budget. >> I literally got three things from Taco Bell and it was like $15 and something. Like a medium a medium, not even a large Dr. Pepper and two Cheesy Gordita Crunches is $15. I'm sorry What? Uh I haven't been to KFC in a minute and I'm sure many of you as well, especially with the high prices at many of these fast food restaurants these days. But one individual found that out for himself. He wanted to get his family a 16 piece chicken meal. And when he took one look at the price, he immediately was in disbelief. Take a look at this video for yourself. Have a look at this. Man, I lost it there. Watch. $55 $55 for a 16 piece meal. I paused it and zoomed in on it for you. Take a look at that. $55.19 for fast food, Kentucky Fried Chicken. If you didn't get a chance to look at the rest of the menu because he panned so fast. Take a look for a 12 piece, that's $43. An eight piece, $33. And for tenders, $33.29. 12 piece, $43.19. And as you see, $55.19. So, basically in a nutshell, a bucket of chicken at KFC is over $50. Who can afford to eat this stuff? You might as well go to a restaurant if you're going to spend $50. I mean, think about it. The average household $55.19 for 16 pieces of chicken is just totally insane. Do you know what pisses me off? Back in 2005, this $20 bill could buy you 11 Crunchwrap Supremes from Taco Bell. Do you know how many you could buy now in 2025 with this $20 bill? Let me show you. Only two. Only two. This entire stack right here cost me $84 with tax. Can someone please tell me how this is possible? Fast food chain Wendy's says it's planning to close hundreds of restaurants as it suffers a business downturn. Fast food giant says it's shutting down about 5 to 6% of its US chain locations equating to around 240 to 360 store closures. Wendy's says move comes following an 11% drop in sales domestically and a 10% drop in global sales in the fourth quarter. I predict that tons of fast food and restaurant places are going to go out of business before they figure it out. What am I talking about? The fact that it's so damn much money to go out to eat right now that people just aren't doing it anymore. And if they do it, they're going to places that have actually gotten it. What do I mean by gotten it? Okay, so I can go to In-N-Out for half the price of every other fast food place and the food is better. I can go to Chili's BJ's, or Red Lobster and get a meal for lunch for under 20 bucks or happy hour $5 margaritas. What you can't go to McDonald's or Chipotle for under 20 bucks now. Yeah, if you hit the dollar menu, use the app, and you do the little tricks and stuff. I Me and my son went to Chipotle the other day. The video goes everywhere. It was $52.64 for the two of us to get two bowls and two drinks. Like these people have lost their minds. A lot of these fast food places and a lot of these sit-down places. Like Denny's, me and my son went to Denny's to have breakfast. It is a Denny's. It was over $62 for the two of us to have coffee and our breakfast. And I was like, "What the hell did we eat?" >> We have to talk about these McDonald's prices. I went to McDonald's today just to get some lunch, no intention to film a video. I got a double cheeseburger. I like it without ketchup. I think it's one of the best things on the menu at McDonald's, but the price caught me so off guard. This thing right here is $4.19. And I remember probably in high school, one of these was like a dollar, I think, before the McDouble was even invented. And I'm in Colorado. I don't know if that's why. I don't know if it's more expensive out here. But this thing right here for 419 is crazy. And don't get me wrong. I love these things. I get them all the time. I've been eating them for years. But 419's too much. Now, to be fair, it is buy one get one for a dollar. So, 519 for two of these which is still crazy. I don't know how McDonald's went from being the best value in food, not even just fast food to now you can get two of these for essentially the price of like a little Caesar's pizza. You can feed a whole family or you can get two double cheeseburgers. That's insane. Times are crazy, you guys. I just want to share that my uh frequently gotten meal at Jimmy John's, it's usually like $12. Something like something around $12. It's today was 1428 for the exact same. For the exact same thing. That's crazy. Somebody do that math actually because that percentage I don't know. I don't know how to do that, but that seems like an insane price increase. Am I wrong? I'm actually flabbergasted right now. So, it's kind of my fault. I didn't prepare well before work and I'm hungry and I don't want to faint. So, I went to McDonald's to get myself a quick bite. Tell me how one Egg McMuffin is $5.99 for just the Egg McMuffin. No drink, no hash browns. $5.99 for one Egg McMuffin. I got this sausage burrito for like three bucks just as an alternative. I cannot justify $5.99 for an Egg McMuffin. Like that it I think doubled the cost. I get it, inflation like that, but like it's fast food. Bring down the ego. We got Five Guys for dinner because health. I got an Oreo shake. Five Guys is absolutely outrageously expensive. $70 for two burgers, two shakes, and fries. The bag's all steamy, probably because of the fries. Look at that. >> [laughter] >> How Which one do you think looks bigger? I get You got a single? Yeah. They kind of look the same. They both I love how they just like put all the fries in here on top of this. Okay, so I actually just left a drive-thru without buying anything cuz I went to Kentucky Fried Chicken and I said, "I'll just take some chicken tenders." And they're like, "Okay, there's like a four, six, whatever." I was going to get I think it was six chicken tenders and they're like, "That will be $20." And I was like I didn't even get fries or a drink, literally just chicken tenders. And I was like that is the most insane thing I've ever seen in my life. I was like, "I'm so sorry, but I can't do that. That's that's bonkers." So, I had to say, "No, thank you. I think I'll just starve today. I'm going to actually go get a taco at Taco Bell because it's not $20 for one taco. I know that." I was like for a few chicken tenders is $20 with no sides, no drink at a drive-thru? That's That's bonkers. Um what's the most expensive fast food that you've bought lately? I'm officially too poor for KFC. I am making pulled pork sandwiches for dinner tonight and my family wanted coleslaw, specifically the coleslaw from KFC. So, after I left the grocery store, I went to KFC and I ordered three sides of coleslaw and a kids chicken nugget meal because I was hungry. I hadn't eaten all day. Three sides of coleslaw and a kids meal was guess how much? Oh, wait. Just guess. $36. $36 for three sides of coleslaw and a chicken nugget kids meal. Like, what is this world coming to? I don't even understand how they can justify charging so much for coleslaw and five of the tiniest chicken nuggets I have ever seen in my life. Like, I'll show you like just and look at that. That is the the tiniest little nuggets I have ever seen in my life and then I got like a half order of fries. It was the smallest kids meal I've ever seen. Cold fries, I didn't get my drink. I didn't even realize that I didn't get my drink cuz it was supposed to be a Capri Sun. I didn't even realize I didn't get it until like I'd already driven away and it's just a Capri Sun so like whatever. But, you're charging $36 and you're not even giving people their complete order. Three sides of coleslaw and a kids meal, 36 bucks. That is just crazy. You know, when you go to get fast food now, you might as well go to a regular sit-down restaurant because it's almost equal in price. It really is crazy. In fact, I really think that this year, 2026, we're going to see a lot of fast food establishments close down. In fact, there are already talks of quite a bit that are closing down, but I think the trend is going to continue especially as the year goes on because they're not lowering the prices. I know they're coming out with more deals, you know, in terms of maybe children eat free or, you know, they're trying to say, "Oh, you get more on a on a value menu." They're really trying to get customers, you know, their attention and I've seen other healthier options like oh, they're they're trying now like protein bowls and stuff like that. But, I think because the line has been crossed at, you know, with with the price point, I think that's just it because that was the reason why people would go and get fast food. Otherwise, you know, what's the point? So, it is it is what it is. I think they're going to continue to see more and more closures. People just can't afford it anymore. The buy now, pay later programs that they've been offering even for fast food like what where are we? What world do we live in that we've come to that? Fast food already is not good for us. So, you know what? Maybe this is for the better. But, let me know your thoughts down below. What do you think? Do you think that fast food is going to continue to thrive or do you see that these businesses are going to be closing down because right now the demand's not there. The consumers are disappearing, you know, people don't have the money for that. So, what are your thoughts? Let me know. Thank you for watching and I'll catch you in the next video. Take care, everyone.