"Make Fast Food Great Again": What Happened to America’s Cheapest Meal?
Remember when $10 could get you full? Now you need $18 and a minor loan. Welcome to America, 2025
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Something’s broken in the land of fries and freedom.
Not long ago, you could walk into a fast food place with a crumpled ten-dollar bill and leave with a full belly, maybe even a soda to go. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was reliable. It was American. Today? You walk in, order like you used to, and suddenly it’s $17.86 and you’re like, “Wait, did I accidentally eat at a gastropub?”
This isn’t just inflation. This is betrayal. Fast food was supposed to be the great equalizer - the place where the CEO and the janitor could both destroy a Big Mac in under three minutes and no one would judge. It was about speed, value, no tips, no frills. And now? It’s mid-tier dining in a sad paper bag.
Unless you're a coupon wizard or stalking app deals like a hawk, you’re getting fleeced. You want fries with that? Sure - add $4. Want to not be hungry after? That'll be extra. And I am not even mentioning Shrinkflation!
I’m old enough to remember 2021 - not exactly the glory days, but at least you could hit a Burger King in Pennsylvania and walk out with two Whopper meals for $12. Today, you’d be lucky to get one, and don't even ask for onion rings.
What really gave me that shock - the kind that leaves you genuinely rattled — was walking out of a Subway in Connecticut after paying $18 for a sub and a cup of cola.
Yes, we get it. Wages went up. Ingredients cost more. Blah blah. But when the so-called cheap food costs nearly as much as a sit-down meal (without the dignity of a chair or a glass of water), something’s gone off the rails. And let's talk quality. Fast food didn’t get fancier. Nobody added truffle oil. You’re still eating something that was flash-fried and salt-blasted into existence 3 minutes ago. But now it costs as much as a bistro lunch. For that kind of money, I want cloth napkins and eye contact. Maybe this is the new American dream: overpaying for lukewarm nuggets while pretending it’s still the value meal era. Or maybe, just maybe, someone like Trump will ride in on a golden burger bun and declare: "We will Make Fast Food Great Again."
Honestly? At this point, even a democrat would vote for that.