Is It Expensive? What a Meal Actually Costs

"Expensive" depends on what you order, and the spread on this menu is wide enough that the same restaurant can produce a $13 dinner or a $45 one.
Below are four worked examples, all before tax and tip.
One person
Minimum viable: Country Veg Plate at $10.99, tap water, free bread. Total $10.99.
Typical: 6oz Hand-Cut Sirloin at $13.49 with its two included sides, plus a soft drink at roughly $3.50. Total around $17.
Comfortable: 12oz Ft. Worth Ribeye at $22.99, drink, and a shared starter contribution of about $4. Total around $30.
Two people
Value approach: one 16oz Hand-Cut Sirloin at $22.99 split between two, one extra side at $2.99, two drinks at $7. Total around $33, or $16.50 each — and each person gets 8oz of steak, more than an individual 6oz order.
Standard: two 8oz sirloins at $15.99 each, two drinks. Total around $39.
With a starter and dessert: add a Cactus Blossom at $7.99 and a shared dessert at $6.99, taking the standard version to around $54.
The value approach delivers more steak for less money than the standard one. That is the per-ounce effect in practice.
Family of four
Two adults on Early Dine at $11.99 each and two kids meals at $4.99 each comes to $33.96 before drinks. With four drinks, roughly $47.
Two adult steaks at $15.99 and two Ranger Meals at $8.99 comes to $49.96 before drinks, roughly $63 with them.
The gap between those two is about $16, and the main lever is Early Dine availability rather than anything about what the family ordered.
- One person, minimum — $10.99
- One person, typical — around $17
- Two sharing a 16oz sirloin — around $33
- Two ordering separately with extras — around $54
- Family of four on Early Dine — around $47
What moves the number most
Drinks. Four soft drinks add roughly $14 to a table, which is more than an entire kids meal. Tap water is the single largest saving available at any table.
Starters. A Cactus Blossom at $7.99 is most of another entrée.
Location. City-centre and airport restaurants run above suburban ones, and delivery apps run above both by a wide margin.
Frequently asked
How much for two people typically?
Around $39 to $54 before tax and tip, depending on drinks and whether you order a starter or dessert.
What is the biggest single saving?
Sharing a large steak rather than ordering two small ones, followed by drinking tap water.
Do the prices here match my local restaurant?
Approximately. Locations set their own prices, so expect a dollar or two either way, and more in a city centre.
Keep reading
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Why Prices Differ Between Restaurants
The same steak carries different prices forty miles apart, and the reasons are more structural than most people assume.
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Feeding a Family: Where the Money Goes
The bill for four is moved less by which entrées you pick than by three decisions most people make without noticing.
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