Inflation Watch -- Airlines, Tacos, Fast Food -- April 28, 2024

Locator: 47082INFLATION.

DFW to Portland, OR:

• last year, 2023 -- $425.
• last week, April, 2024: $350
• coming up, June, 2024: $265.
  

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Restaurants

1. It's getting very, very expensive to dine out. Period. Dot. 

But that doesn't mean you can't find bargains. #1 mistake: expensive drinks. Seniors (generally, "55+" ) get very, very good deals. Often the "kids eat for free" does not apply when the adult is a senior ordering from the "55+" menu but often (?) the wait staff will over look that, especially if one is a regular.

1a. Restaurants defy predictions of a recession. Link here.

2. Bargains: iHop -- generally speaking, kids under the age of 10 years, eat free, if one adult orders one entree. Drinks are not free. Beware. I assume if iHop is offering this deal, so are others. Recommendation: iHop on weekday afternoons: never on the weekends for breakfast.

3. McDonald's: I still find McDonald's an incredible bargain. 

At the Portland, Oregon, airport yesterday, a Big Mac combo with medium fries, $9.25, total, no tax. That was at the airport, with medium diet Coke. I no longer have a big appetite and that was way more than I needed. Next time: regular hamburger and small fries. I doubt this meal was much less expensive a year ago. Even if only $7.50 last year, a jump from $7.50 to $9.25 is inconsequential when that's your only mean while traveling that day. Stop at the bar, however, waiting for your flight, and one drink -- and who orders just one drink? -- would set you back about $10. That's where the real problem lies.

4. California: sticker shock. Link to WSJ. I might come back to this. From my perspective: a lot of whining. The $20-minimum wage is only fair. Remember: fast food employees are not tipped.

5. Is "taco" the next "pizza"? Link to Texas Monthly. This tells me sit-down restaurants are doing just fine, thank you. 

We have both Torchy's Tacos and Velvet Taco near where we live. We can walk to Torchy's. A five-minute drive to Velvet Taco. We've never been to Torchy's. Will go today to see what it's all about. Velvet Taco is our favorite. Our oldest granddaughter introduced us to Velvet Taco. Tacos went replace pizza for home delivery; they still haven't figured out home delivery for tacos. Someone will. Just a matter of time. But my hunch: pizza is home delivery; tacos are alternative to McDonald's, Wendy's, and Chick-Fil-A. Though adding "Chick-Fil-A" in that last sentence is probably a stretch.

Velvet Taco: founded in Dallas; home-based in Plano, just north of Dallas now.

Torchy's: founded in Austin.

6. Investing: I've removed MCD from my Big Cap "bucket." It was a binary decision. MCD vs CAT? I'm staying with CAT. No recommendation. See disclaimers.