Like I dont understand whats so different in sanfrancisco.Ok let say Im comming from texas, and I go to a walmart in sanfrancisco, wont they have the sam priced items?And what about restaurants like chipotle, does it get more expensive in sanfrancisco or is it the same priced in any state?(I always order the chicken bowl for 6$)
I m in agreement with Spaceball about this. The rep of SF as an expensive place to eat is based on the word of tourists who tend to go to the restaurants that natives save for special occasions. Fast food and chain restaurant prices, as others have stated, are pretty much the same all over. But life is too short to short to eat chain food.There are any number of inexpensive and moderately priced places to eat in SF that actually offer good food. These are the restaurants that we return to again and again because they offer good food at good prices. I had an incredible sit down, wait on me meal at a neighborhood restaurant last week. $15 including tip. Just one exampleI can also eat at home quite nicely because I love to cook. SF is very European in terms of grocery shopping [thus the small number of Safeway, Lucky and other huge supermarkets]. We shop in our local shops, one for meat, one for produce and other stores where many items actually cost less than the major chain supermarkets.I think eating in SF is no more or less expensive than most places, it is more a perception based on tourists who come here and go to places like Gary Denko, Fleur de Leus, Acqua, Tommy Toys, and other high end restaurants without realizing that people who live in the city don t visit those places every week.
That s because the expense is actually a myth. Sure, on average, it s much more expensive in San Francisco, but you also have your share of cheap places like everywhere else.Fast food is basically the same as everywhere else, and I ve actually gone to San Francisco (from the East Bay) to grab a few cheap eats that are extremely delicious (see chinatown). I ve filled myself with some extremely yummy food for less than $5.Similarly, even if you venture into a nice restaurant (suitable for a romantic date), the prices are still reasonable - $20/person.The problem is the availiability of fast food - it s almost non-existent in San Francisco compared to Dallas or Houston. Yeah, you ll see a McDonalds or Chipotle here and there, but they re few and far between due to the antiestablishmentism here.And of course - taxes! They re at 9.75% right now. Keep that in mind :)
San Francisco has a lot of upscale restaurants where you can easily end up over $50 per person, sometimes $100s per person if you go crazy on the wine. Sometimes prices are higher at fast food, especially at franchised restaurants, because minimum wage is $9.79 in SF. Chipotle happens to have the same prices in SF as elsewhere, but keep in mind that California sales tax is near 10%, probably higher than Texas. In terms of groceries, there simply aren t very many places like Walmart in SF. Mostly just ordinary grocery stores or corner produce shops. To leave the city you often have to pay bridge tolls, so add in $5 plus gas over $3 per gallon. And if you drive to a store within the city, you are going to shell out major money to pay for parking, if you can even find parking.
The nearest Walmart is in Oakland. Activists in SF have fought the establishment of Walmart (and even Home Depot) tooth and nail. Apparently, they just want to have boutique stores in SF. The cost of living in SF is high. But you can find bargains. Fisherman s Wharf is considered a big tourist trap (along with most of the restaurants there). OTOH, you can find good deals in Chinatown, on Fillmore Street and even in Macy s Union Square-- in the basement, they have a food court. If you can eat Chinese food, Clement St offers good deals there, both take out and sit down restaurants; ppl say that the service on Clement St is better bc they want your business and it does take a little more effort to get there. Clement St is considered a local secret and most of the ppl who eat there are San Franciscans.If you like Tex-Mex food, you can find some good restaurants on Mission St.BC rent in SF is high, only restaurants bring in enough cash to pay the rent so there are a lot of restaurants to chose from. Just look at the menu (and the prices) and decide for yourself.
It s expenisive, b/c it s in the pier area or union sq.. but they do have cheap places to eat.. There s no walmart in San Francisco, but there s Target which is fairly the same price. Go to Yelp.. San Francisco.. there s tons of cheap and good places to eat. Chinatown food is hecka cheap, you just need to do some research.. Like Taco Trucks are cheap. Chipotle will probably cost extra $1 or 2. Subway is still $5 footlong.. haha.. If you wanna try different food and on a budget, try happy Hours- go to Yelp San Francisco and type in happy Hours..
There are no Walmarts in San Francisco, and very few supermarkets (Safeway, Lucky, etc.). Mostly it s just small independent markets, which tend to be mroe expensive. Large chains like Chipotle or Burger King tend to have the same prices nationwide. But San Francisco has a lot more upscale restaurants, and a lot less fast food, than other parts of the US.
It s like any place else, you get what you pay for.You can order a $3 mini meal at McDonalds or get a nice French dinner for over $100.What you want and how much you want to spend for it is up to you.
Take a walk along the wharf and buy food from the street vendors. They have anything and everything reasonably priced, unique and delicious.
First of all, there is no Walmart in San Francisco.Anyway, it s varied. As for eating out, chains like Chipotle are the same price. However, there are a number of family owned restaurants that are cheaper than Chipotle (including places you can get a burrito, bigger than Chipotle s bowls, for less than $6). There are also a number of upscale restaurants where the same amount of food (albeit typically prepared to much higher culinary standards than Chipotle) will cost you $30. It entirely depends on where and what you eat. If you eat fast food it ll be the same price. If you eat burritos, pirogi, and cheese fries the odds are you can find such things for cheaper in San Francisco (if you search for and find particular neighborhood restaurants), and major cities in general, than you can in suburban areas with only chains. Groceries (judging on the overall bill, not individual items) aren t necessarily anymore expensive as long as you make an effort to buy cheaper items. Some things are actually cheaper here. SOME!The myth that San Francisco is freakishly expensive to eat in comes from tourists and business travelers who, well, don t adventure outside of tourist areas and inevitably eat at expensive restaurants. But for every insanely expensive restaurant you ve heard horror stories about, there are 10 hole in the wall places that are even cheaper than Chipotle.PS: Don t know what the above poster is talking about, but Mel s Drive-In is NOT cheap and is definitely NOT an example of a cheap place to eat in SF. In Out is reasonably cheap, but it s also just fast food (and compared to McDonald s, etc... it s not cheap at all!). There are many neighborhood dives that are significantly cheaper (see: veggie burritos for $3 - about $5.50 for meat, huevos rancheros for $2, sushi rolls for $3, very large dim-sum buns for 60 cents, etc...). Just explore the non-touristy areas and you ll find tons!
Fast food restaarants should usually be ABOUT the same price. What I mean by this is that the company will not hike the price just because you re in San Francisco, however the sales tax within the city and county are higher than most CA areas, and California already is a fairly high taxer, so your bill may be a bit higher than at home. It shouldn t be so much though that you should be concerned with affordability, with fast food just add on something around 50 cents to a dollar at most.What your friend might have meant is that dining in the city is more expensive. Depending on where you eat, some restaurants can be pricey, and being in the city setting nice places to eat in general will be way more expensive than you d expect. Plenty of places that appear to be cheap burger shacks can end up serving $20 burgers. But that s not to say every restaurant in the city is expensive, you just have to know where to go. There are plenty of budget-mided guides out there for travel and also just for city folk here. I would reccommend you check out Mel s Diner down town by the Metreon or In-n-Out on Fisherman s Warf. Both are burger places (Mel s being a 50s themed sit-down place, In-n-Out being more of a fast food place with a 50s spin as well). They re pretty cheap, and what s great about them is they are VERY Californian. Both can only be found here, and are soooooo good, it s a treat to get out to one but again affordable. If cheap eats are what you want and you want to get a real Californian experience in some of the best spots in town, those two may be your top choices.