It varies from restaurant to restaurant as well. This weekend we were on the road and at one McDonald’s, chocolate milk was a penny cheaper than a kids’ soda or apple juice. In general, I’ve found that if the price of milk is higher than juice/pop on the menu board, you’ll be charged extra for the milk.

I wonder if Burger King, Wendy’s, or other fast-food chains do this same thing.

Linda

The bottom line is it cost me $10.00 for 2 happy meals which is beyond ridiculous, considering I could have gotten (2) 4 piece McNuggets and 2 apple dippers for a total of $4.00 if I ordered them from the dollar menu. I can’t believe what a rip off or scam this is. Is their a shortage of chocolate I don’t know about?? I went to the McDonalds website and sent in a complaint. Don’t know if it will do any good, but I wanted to let them know that paying $5.00 per Happy Meal is not an affordable meal, and that I will probably be going to the local Burger King if my kids want a chocolate milk with their meal. They do not charge extra. Also, they need to tell these franchise owners that they need to dislose the extra cost prominently if they charge extra for something that is part of a meal.

But it’s happening and so, what you noticed is real.

We don’t buy Happy Meals – or any other kid meal – at the fast food places we visit. My kids don’t particularly like Hamburgers. They actually like the fish sandwiches. I’ve taken to making sure their waters are filled and just ordering the sandwiches and fries a la carte. If I get a couple of sandwiches and a couple of large fries, I can feed all four for the price of less than two Value Meals.

They are aware of the concept of children’s meals and toys, but they know they will not get them. They are happier with (to them) yummier food. Full stomachs beat a nasty toy.

We have an extra drive-through tax here on top of the regular sales tax. I’m not sure we have an eat-in tax. I think that depends on your local government.

Great new site, BTW!

It’s more expensive to buy milk everywhere! Oh and get this, there are lots of places where milk isn’t on the menu. My children don’t drink any kind of coke. We just never introduced it to them so when they can’t have milk they just opt for water. Great post!

1) We are traveling and need to pee AND eat. Otherwise, I pull out our cooler from the back that is pre-packed with sliced turkey, whole grain bread, cheese sticks, yogurts, peanut butter, jelly, water, and ice.

2) If Mama is going postal and needs to put the headphones in and read while the kids play on the giant treehouse at the McDonald’s down the street.

3) If there is one last toy needed to complete a set and the series is about to end. Case in point, the current Wizard of Oz. We still need Glenda and The Wicked Witch. I’d rather pay for these. Anyone got ‘em?

If we do go to McD, we switch to apples and milk to go with our chicken-ish nuggets or cardboard and cheese on a bun. For me, I get one of those bbq chicken snackers and diet Coke. The rest of the menu is BAD for the WW Points.

What a farce! We need a mainstream media expose.

The thing that is really irritating though is that they aren’t upfront with their pricing! I don’t like to think that hard to place an order!

Andrea, you’re right about some of the a la carte prices. The 10 pc McNuggets were $4 on the menu today. Value menu had 4pc for $1. Even I figured out the math on that one!

I think it has gotten sneakier in the past several years as well. For quite a while, when you bought a value meal, you were basically paying for the sandwich and fries and getting the drink free. Not so any more.

Jessica, I agree that I’d rather see it up front and make an informed decision. At Subway, the kids’ meals are a decent value, and they don’t charge you more for the apples in the meal even though the cost more than the raisins a la carte. At Subway, the milks are HUGE, and even with the $5 footlongs it comes out pretty close to the kids’ meal prices as opposed to a la carte. At least last time I checked…

Texasholly, check it out next time you’re at McD’s and post back here, if you don’t mind. I’m wondering how regional this is.

courtneyluv75, there’s definitely a difference between restaurants. Hibbing’s Happy Meals were about $.50 cheaper than Hinckley’s this weekend. (Yes, we were at 2 McD’s in four days. Such is life sometimes.)

Sandra, interesting about the Chik Fil A upgrade fee even on free nights!

Michelle, let us know about Wendy’s if you have time to “research” it. Our closest Wendy’s (35 miles, if you call that close) closed last year.

Christina, I’d never noticed the eat-in tax before. Is it tax free for to-go or drive-through? In Ohio, there’s some trick with getting a drink or ordering water that affects the tax, or so I’ve been told.

What surprises me the most is that our total today for the six of us was $23.75. Four Happy Meals, one Big Mac combo, one Big Mac. If we eat at Famous Dave’s, which we love, before 5 p.m., we all get more than enough food, with free drink refills including milk (at most locations, some charge for the refill) for just a few dollars more than that, including tip. Fast food certainly doesn’t mean cheap food any more.

Gone are the days of the $.59 hamburgers and the reusable cup with $.25 refills that I used for three years of college (in the 90′s, not really that long ago).

Any more thoughts? Keep ‘em coming!

What irritates me most is that If I wanted to get a chicken sandwich, a SMALL fry, and a SMALL soda, it would cost me MORE than if I just got the extra value meal. I’ve repeatedly asked McDonalds to give me the value meal price and just give me less food (I don’t want the tempation!) but they refuse to. It’s ridiculous!

To courtneyluv75 – Yes, the prices DEFINITELY vary around town. A steak bagel (bkfst) at our nearest McD’s is $3.49, but it’s $2.99 at the other 3 McD’s within 5 or so miles of us! (And how sad is it that we have at least 4 McD’s within 5 miles of us? If only there were so many healthy options!)

~ Michelle (MotherNatureMI on twitter)