This is America’s most expensive fast-food chain: ‘Rip-off’
As fast-food chains hike prices around the nation, one came out on top for being the priciest of all.
A new study found that Shake Shack received the most complaints for being overpriced, followed by Five Guys, which has been slammed for its “out of control” prices.
Earlier this year, Shake Shack raised menu prices by 3%, the burger chain’s CFO, Katie Fogertey, said during an investor call.
The Post has reached out to Shake Shack for comment.
The study, conducted by Preply, also found that celebrity-owned restaurants regularly received complaints about being overpriced — in particular, Gordon Ramsay’s.
“While diners may be willing to pay a premium for a trendy atmosphere and their favorite celebrity chef’s name on the building, they can feel let down if the food served and service offered don’t match the quality they anticipated,” the authors wrote.
Despite NYC being home to many A-list-owned hot spots and Shake Shack locations, the study found the Big Apple was actually considered to have the least overpriced eateries among major US cities. Meanwhile, Oakland, California, had the most, followed by San Jose, California, and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
The authors determined each city’s score by finding reviews of local restaurants, looking for keywords such as “pricey” or “rip-off” and analyzing how frequently they were used by patrons.
The study comes amid price hikes at fast-food chains nationwide, which have customers irate.
Chipotle was the latest to suffer customers’ wrath, as former fans swore off the eatery due to skyrocketing prices, vowing to spend their money at competitors.
Meanwhile, a study revealed that McDonald’s prices have soared over 100%. The chain, however, argued that the findings were inaccurate.
“As the report itself notes, pricing is set by individual franchisees and varies by restaurant,” a company spokesperson told The Post at the time.
“This is not an accurate representation of historical or current pricing at McDonald’s restaurants, and the 2024 average prices listed are significantly inflated.”
The president of McDonald’s USA, Joe Erlinger, also released a statement in which he said menu item prices have only increased a fraction and that the price of a Big Mac, on average, has only gone up 21%.
