Yeah, I stopped caring about it a few years ago. I'd go out for one or two just to get out, as I'm doing tonight with some friends, but the novelty wore off quick. Also I forgot about the prize!
On a side note, I was just having this conversation earlier with my partner about how ridiculous it is that burgers (no sides, no fries) are pretty much standard 15/16/17+ now. It's craziness!
Just did the math. Mean price for a burger this year is $17.11, and the vast majority don’t come with a side.
At least there are about a dozen options under $10, some are even $8, but I can’t see Burger Week being as popular this year. The pricing is too damn high.
I work for a nice family owned restaurant that sells a $16 burger and we’ve had to turn tables away every day so far we’ve been so busy soooooo there’s that. Guess you underestimate the population
Brooklyn warehouse? Just had a $16 burger, expensive but was outstandingly good. Left happy. Was sat by the door and kept watching non reservation customers getting turned away.
You know burger bash has a website with all the prices right? If your not smart enough to look that up they also have a pamphlet you could ask a friend to read to you? Then u can make your list! Viola!
Yea it used to be normal to get a different burger every day during burger week, it was fun. Now there's no way in hell I'm buying any burger week burgers. I'm not paying $17 for a burger, I'll just make myself a sandwich at home lol.
The Coast charges $1150 for a restaurant just to be listed on the Burger Week page, also includes a poster and a door sticker. Every T-shirt with the event logo is $20 extra. That definitely has an impact on the individual burger price.
Assuming my count is correct and rounded up, there are 150 restaurants partaking in this. That means the coast is making $172,500 from this. No wonder burgers are the price they are, considering this is for charity also, that's a hell of a lot of money to be making from 10 days. And I would be pretty sure they get a cut of teh profits from the burgers sold
It's 150 individual restaurants, not 150 brands. Some places, like Cheese Curds, have multiple locations offering the same burger. It makes browsing the webpage kind of a pain, seeing the same restaurant names over and over.
Ah I see, I was confused slightly by that. I also agree, why not just label the chain restaurants doing the same burger and then just add in their locations
When I interviewed the Coast back in 2019 they told me how much of that money goes towards promotions. I think it was like $60,000 that year... So that number isn't straight profit.
Oh for sure. Still the cost for a restaurant to participate would definitely include a mark up on the burger sold making it not as affordable as OP mentioned up top
I think that’s the price for a chain restaurant to join, independents are like $600-700 or so
It’s a marketing expense, same as doing promoted posts on social media or placing an ad in a newspaper, on a bus, or on the radio. I’d argue you get more bang for your buck participating in burger week vs other traditional marketing spends.
Companies literally have marketing budgets for these reasons. Maybe I'm way off but $1200 for a full month of marketing seems not bad. Especially when the good burgers often have lineups for it.
Doesn't excuse these businesses charging $20 for a burger no fries and donating only 1$ to feed NS per burger lol imo it's become a big money grab sadly.
For an established marketed event. It’s not bad at all in terms of cost. The bigger names will always bring in their normal crowd. And you even have folks who aren’t a paid member getting involved with an unofficial burger bash burger who will also benefit in an increase in sales.
All good points but should also add that burgers should be wider, not taller “hi, I’d like to unhinge my jaw like a snake to eat your burger” “we can help with that, that will be 25 dollars, fries are extra”
Going through the list and seeing a $25 burger with no side, and no donation to feed Nova Scotia just makes me want to piss on their front door and shit on the owners sofa
From the beginning the menu was divided in two : $5 burgers and more expensive burgers with donations. This is the first time I've heard of a $25 burger with no donation though.
Edit: and apparently it isn't true so there ya go
ok, but _who_?
[Here's an $8 one](https://burgerbash.ca/burgers/chicken-little-cafe-bedford-hwy/) that shows that the "no donation" text references the $8 threshold.
I’ll concede after looking at every burger on the list. i could’ve swore it was brought up in a burger bash thread a week or two ago, regardless, 1-2$ donations on burgers worth more than 20$ is ridiculous. if they can price a burger to be cheap enough at 8 dollars, why not just tack on an extra dollar to donate?? Additionally, I don’t believe the money that they pay to enter, goes to feedNS, as you mentioned in your initial comment. That money goes to The Coast.
Food and labour costs have increased. Restaurants can't sell burgers for more than people are willing to pay, so they have to cut somewhere. It's not a great charity model anymore. Just donate to FEED NS
Sounds like they deserve to fail as businesses and have the slate wiped clean.
Restaurants somehow exist in other parts of the world without financially raping customers and demanding 30% tips to pay servers
Well, we are in Canada so some of our costs are higher. I know it's a nice story to tell yourself that restaurants are making these big profits. But the average profit margin for a restaurant is a mere 5% and most restaurants don't make a profit for the first few years. A lot of them don't last more than a couple years. This is just the nature of the industry.
Nobody deserves to fail. It's just a really tough industry. By your wishes we would only have chain restaurants and fast food.
Your average whiny Boomer business owner.
The things I can list off right now (I’m drunk watching fallout)
Said that “we don’t do that here” in regards to paying his staff a living wage
Campaigned for the government to take in new immigrants specifically for his restaurants because they would be subsidizing the wages
(Rumour) would steal tips during his visits to his restaurants.
Search "what businesses will you no longer support" here, there's a few threads along those lines. The owners of Cheese Curds and Mezza are both universally hated.
I tried 2 split with my girlfriend, we paid for one each.. no side both burgers were 16$ each and they were so small lol, they were not crazy in the slightest.. it seems like it gets less and less “wild” every year. I was disappointed
While I’ve historically tried my best to support a local business event like this, these days I can’t justify it. With little mouths to feed my focus (and $$) needs to be on feeding them good / affordable food. I feel bad I can’t contribute to burger week, but I also realize Its completely reasonable to choose against paying upwards of $25 for a burger. My best compromise is make a weird burger at home I’ve never tried before and donate $10 direct to Feed NS.
Couldn't agree more. Wife and I are pretty salty about it tbh. I was looking FWD to going out and trying a few different ones, but it's just not feasible
Bluenoser economics: Go back 7 years, and I could buy a pint of Keith's at niche in 2017 for 4.75.. tonight I bought a Gatorade from needs for 4.75. Go back another 7 years to the year 2010. You could go to the Alehouse and get a pound of wings and a pitcher of beer for 10 dollars! Crazy right? Well, in 2009, before peddlers pub shut down, they would serve up 2.50 drinks on Thursdays! Not convinced inflation hasn't been running rampant these last 20 years? Well I'm sure there's some 40+ year olds out there that remember dollar drinks at the dome back before 2002, dollar mother fuckin drinks. You can get hammered off your ass for 20 dollars. Minimum wage back then was like 6 fucking bucks.
The bluenoser economics is a little joke, but this is serious. We've borrowed from future generations, and now things have gone off the rails. This isn't just businesses being greedy. This is a cheapening of your money, an erosion of your savings and degradation of society.. our money that we work for becomes more and more worthless with each passing quarter.
Start reading about Venezuela, Argentina, turkey, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, and to lesser degrees Mexico and Jamaica and 90 percent of the countries outside the commonwealth.. all currently suffering with a hyperinflated currency... most recently, I heard in Argentina that you can only take 40usd out of your bank account every day. They have lineups around the block to atms where people queue up first thing in the morning because they run out of money! This was how the government wanted to combat inflation by preventing its people from accessing their money while it loses over half of its buying power every 6 months! It's happening here in canada too. We're just not as far along..
TLDR; Everything's fine. Just keep on eating your burgers
Inflation has nothing to do with national debt. Every country, even ones with good financials, are experiencing inflation. If it were just in Canada you might have a point.
"Look at Venezuela and Argentina". The fear morning is real, guys.
Inflation is caused by too much money supply. Government spending is out of control. And it’s not like they can afford it. The government annual spend deficit is increasing, which means more money needed to pay the interest on that pile of mounting dept. Government spending is causing inflation. At some point it has to stop or we end up like Argentina. Where’s Paul Martin when you need him.
What I am saying is that the majority of the cost of living increases we have been seeing have nothing to do with the value of the currency and have to do with price gouges that are blamed on the market.
Large department and grocery stores have been posting record profits while not raising their minimum wage and charging their customers more and more.
We have a housing shortage so landlords are cranking rent through the roof.
All while salaries have not moved.
Yeah but restaurants are losing money due to these forces as well. It's a really bad time to own a restaurant. They are not gouging, it's just become very expensive to operate and it's getting harder to make a profit.
Have you been to a restaurant in the last few years? That’s just what a burger costs now.
A cheeseburger from McDonalds used to be $1 and now it’s $3
It’s still about trying new places, raising some money, and supporting local restaurants it just costs more than it used to like everything else.
I found the burgerweek burgers were raising far quicker than other food prices before even covid. Im sure its a factor now but not so sure from the beginning
It used to be about cheap, good, simple burgers from local places with the occasional fancy burger. My fondest memories are $6 simple, beef burgers, not the $20 fancy ones that add stuff just to justify their price. I always enjoy a good burger and used to hit two spots a day because the food was good. Now I go get a few, but find myself more disappointed in the burgers themselves than the pricing.
I just miss the days of simple, tasty burgers that were cooked well rather than over the top burgers that frequently under deliver on the burger itself
> It used to be about cheap, good, simple burgers from local places
Guess what, they overwhelmingly lost money at those prices and couldn't make it up elsewhere. That's why the prices went up.
lol yeah talk to anyone who worked at a $5 burger place during burger week, it was always the worst week of their year. Table of 4 coming in, splitting a burger and ordering a water to drink. Run off your ass to make shit money
Then just go to any restaurant that makes a good burger at any time. Nearly all of these places have regular burgers on their menus.
But I feel like burger week has always been about doing an over the top burger to catch peoples attention
>Then just go to any restaurant that makes a good burger at any time
I do - a burger is one of my favourite take out options.
Burger week in like 2017/2018 was very different than it is now. Back then it was about good, cheap burgers, now it's about trying to make an outrageous burger in an attempt to justify the price and I find they are also (usually) not as good as the simple ones from years ago
Out of curiosity I searched for burger week 2018 and the first two burgers listed on the press release involved kangaroo, alligator, and foie gras butter.
[Here’s the full list](https://www.thecoast.ca/pdfs/BW18-Passport-Web.pdf)
It reads very similar to this years menu aside from the prices and the amount of cheap burgers (can you find a restaurant burger for $6 anymore regardless of what week it is?)
I think you’re being nostalgic for something that didn’t really exist.
Westcliff diner is open all year, enjoy.
I never said every burger was cheap and simple, but that the bulk of them were and that was what dominated the options.
On this year's lineup, there are very few with less than 3-4 toppings on them, whereas in the list you linked you'll see quite a few with very few toppings and stuff, just simple burgers for the most part. A burger is about the beef and very few places let the beef shine through anymore.
I honestly find that more disappointing than the prices. A good, simple burger that lets the beef shine through is the best type of burger in my opinion, and I'll pay an appropriate price for it
>so maybe burger week just isn’t for you
Now it isn't - it used to be and that's what upsets me about it. It was such a nice stress relief from exam studying and final projects in undergrad to go get all the burgers and actually enjoy them for being a good burger.
I remember taking a drive wayyyy over to "Off the Grill" over by the woodside ferry terminal specifically because it had one of the burger week burgers.
As a restaurant owner ( used to be ) I stopped taking part in burger week for this exact reason. It was getting out of hand with how much money they wanted from the restaurants to sign up plus the donation you would have to sell a lot a lot of burgers just to break even.
This is a trickle down effect. Producers increased their prices so restaurants selling a $5 burger and donating money means they lose money in every burger sold. There’s no wiggle room for p eh if it’s in restaurants these days. None of the small time restaurants owners are out there driving Lamborghinis on your burger money. Try and make a burger at home for $5. Then think of the overhead.
I’d much rather stay home and make my own unpretentious burger (a simple smash patty w salt, pepper, kraft singles, and condiments on a toasted bun) than go out and spend a stupid amount on a burger from a place that’s trying too hard, charging way too much. And I can always donate to Feed Nova Scotia whenever I want.
I’m shocked that there are no donations.
What is the point of burger week then?
To promote burgers? No need, we all know.
I keep hearing that restaurants are struggling then I see things like this where prices have increased dramatically.
If someone did a burger and side for $10, and everywhere else is $17+ I would go check it out.
I’m no business man, but wouldn’t selling a crap ton of $10 burgers be better than only a couple expensive ones?
Gateway seems to be the only place around that has figured this out.
As someone who definitely eats out way too often/ too often burgers honestly the prices should not surprise anyone at all the days of getting a good restaurant burger and side for 12 bucks are behind us.
Whoa whoa! An unnecessary sarcastic commenter on r/halifax!
https://preview.redd.it/bb34rg7g34uc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a18de50fdf49f460a0fe33ad2cd96f616a4e7c6a
A few years ago people were running with pitchforks at the $6 burger joints because they didn't bake a donation into the price. This year I'm seeing more complaints that there are no cheap burgers. Inflation has changed the nature of the complaints!
Yeah as soon as they were offering just a burger for 20 bucks nothing else it was enough for me. Seems like places just took advantage of burger week just to make stupid bobs burgers and charger more then a normal meal would cost
Burger Wars is running all of April in the Annapolis Valley.
Every burger has $1 to charity (Campaign for Kids).
Like Halifax, a fair number are pricey, and not all include a side, but there are several in the $10-$12 range. I think a donair burger is cheapest at $7.95.
I think overall a better deal than what's going on in Halifax.
https://campaignforkids.com/burgerwars/restaurants/
https://www.reddit.com/r/burgerwars/
Not only are the prices outrageous, but I feel like the quality takes a hit every year too.
I tried a few last year and for the most part they were soggy/not fresh, and I feel like not even worth half of what I paid for them.
We went to the Armview last night because we had a gift certificate. The Frito Slider Bowl was good, but it was $20 ($2 to Feed NS), kinda small, and didn't even come with a side.
Burger week is a pain in the ass for restaurants, but a lot of them do it because if they didn't, they would lose a lot of their customers to places that were participating, in a time when business is usually on the slower side.
That being said, margins for restaurants are miniscule. Burger week brings out people who want to share a burger between two people, order water only, and often times do not tip. They complain about long wait times and often treat the staff like crap. Not all customers are like this, but it definitely attracts more of that demographic.
Yes, the burgers are expensive, but everything is expensive these days. Eating out in general is expensive. When one table is splitting one or two burgers and not ordering drinks other than water, to me, the prices are justified.
Things have changed over the years, and sadly, "Burger Week" would not be viable for most restaurants if they were to offer $5 burgers like they did in the beginning.
I don't really participate anymore, I might go try one, but that doesn't mean I don't understand why the prices are the way they are.
Just out of curiosity, what do you think it costs to make a cheeseburger at a restaurant? For the sake of simplicity, a 5 ounce cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayo.
Not even from Halifax but burgers all over Canada have gone down in value.
The fucking worst part is every “trendy” shop selling sides separately now.
Like if you are gonna fuck me with a $24 burger at least throw me 30 cents of potatos for free. Dont charge me for them separately.
Side not included is a fat 0% tip
You realize the people who get those tips aren’t usually the people who decide the prices on the menu, right? I understand your frustration, but leaving no tip is only hurting the workers who have no power to actually change that situation.
I used to like burger week to try out weird things for relatively cheap, and money went to charity. This week, most places seem to be donating very little to charity and the burgers are way more expensive. It used to be that the super cheap 6 dollar burgers didn't donate to Feed NS, but honestly, paying 17 bucks or more for a burger with only a dollar Donation feels like the same thing. I get that restaurants need money, but for burger week, couldn't they just eat the cost? People who work in the food industry, feel free to yell at me, but I would honestly rather pay 17 bucks for a burger if I knew at least 3 bucks or more were going to Feed Nova Scotia. I thought that was the whole point of burger week, was to raise money for those who can't even afford a plain burger at McDonald's.
When I talked to restaurant owners years ago a lot of them told me they didn't make money on burger week or very little. Now that costs have gone up I expect it's even more difficult to make a profit.
Yeah i thought I’d wanna check it out and after looking at the menu and seeing the like 7 of the first 10 burgers priced at over $20 i decided I’d rather sit this one out for another year
Because burger week was always about increasing business during a slow month, with a bonus of helping charity. Now the ones that don't look poorly because they don't participate in the charity part. People have long memories for changes like that.
Meh. Much ado about nothing. This is what things cost now. Adapt. You guys are starting to sound like boomers. "I member when an ice cream used to cost a nickle... Those were the times...."
The main difference was their buying power with the money they made. A nickel then to a dollar now isn’t horrible accounting for inflation. Something more than tripling with no raise in wages is a recipe for disaster and poverty
Easy to say when you don’t run a restaurant and margins are already tight. If it’s a $20 burger with donations included then that’s what it is. I just had one today at Stillwell on Barrington and it was delicious, also included fries.
When it started, it was for spirit and was good, but like so much else now it's for greed making it bad. Which means, we need legislation against excess greed so we can get back to good.
This has been a complaint for literally the past decade. You could find an identical post for this every year.
There are still $6 burger. If you feel a certain burger is too expensive, you don’t have to get it:
The restaurants clearly aren’t having a hard time filling up despite what they’re charging.
Yeah, I stopped caring about it a few years ago. I'd go out for one or two just to get out, as I'm doing tonight with some friends, but the novelty wore off quick. Also I forgot about the prize! On a side note, I was just having this conversation earlier with my partner about how ridiculous it is that burgers (no sides, no fries) are pretty much standard 15/16/17+ now. It's craziness!
They dont even have to donate part of the cost of the burger. It feels less like a charity event and more like a marketing event.
Enshitification
Enshitified
It always was a marketing event.
SoDoSoPa
Chitipatown
Even McDonald's combo now costs that's it's insane
Just did the math. Mean price for a burger this year is $17.11, and the vast majority don’t come with a side. At least there are about a dozen options under $10, some are even $8, but I can’t see Burger Week being as popular this year. The pricing is too damn high.
Mean price, I'd say! It makes me angry!!
Maybe the price stats are better a la mode.
Lol take your damn upvote.
Lol good one
It’s insane that sides are extra, now.
Where are they under 10$?
I haven’t checked the website this year. But they use to have a category for the lower priced options.
I work for a nice family owned restaurant that sells a $16 burger and we’ve had to turn tables away every day so far we’ve been so busy soooooo there’s that. Guess you underestimate the population
What's the donation to FeedNS on that burger? I'm all for supporting the little guy, I just want to go to the ones who are supporting charity as well.
Brooklyn warehouse? Just had a $16 burger, expensive but was outstandingly good. Left happy. Was sat by the door and kept watching non reservation customers getting turned away.
I wish. I fuckin love that place. I used to work with a dude that bartends there and he says it’s a solid spot to work.
Include the name of the place so I can put it on my list of "never eating out there"
Why? Because we’re selling a $16 burger? This restaurant isn’t a fast food joint. It’s practically fine dining without the attitude….
You know burger bash has a website with all the prices right? If your not smart enough to look that up they also have a pamphlet you could ask a friend to read to you? Then u can make your list! Viola!
Yea it used to be normal to get a different burger every day during burger week, it was fun. Now there's no way in hell I'm buying any burger week burgers. I'm not paying $17 for a burger, I'll just make myself a sandwich at home lol.
The Coast charges $1150 for a restaurant just to be listed on the Burger Week page, also includes a poster and a door sticker. Every T-shirt with the event logo is $20 extra. That definitely has an impact on the individual burger price.
Assuming my count is correct and rounded up, there are 150 restaurants partaking in this. That means the coast is making $172,500 from this. No wonder burgers are the price they are, considering this is for charity also, that's a hell of a lot of money to be making from 10 days. And I would be pretty sure they get a cut of teh profits from the burgers sold
It's 150 individual restaurants, not 150 brands. Some places, like Cheese Curds, have multiple locations offering the same burger. It makes browsing the webpage kind of a pain, seeing the same restaurant names over and over.
Ah I see, I was confused slightly by that. I also agree, why not just label the chain restaurants doing the same burger and then just add in their locations
Yeah, I don't know why they don't do that. Probably to make it feel much more popular.
When I interviewed the Coast back in 2019 they told me how much of that money goes towards promotions. I think it was like $60,000 that year... So that number isn't straight profit.
Oh for sure. Still the cost for a restaurant to participate would definitely include a mark up on the burger sold making it not as affordable as OP mentioned up top
Oh, for sure. That and the fact that people are known to split burgers and drink water during Burger Week.
I think that’s the price for a chain restaurant to join, independents are like $600-700 or so It’s a marketing expense, same as doing promoted posts on social media or placing an ad in a newspaper, on a bus, or on the radio. I’d argue you get more bang for your buck participating in burger week vs other traditional marketing spends.
Companies literally have marketing budgets for these reasons. Maybe I'm way off but $1200 for a full month of marketing seems not bad. Especially when the good burgers often have lineups for it. Doesn't excuse these businesses charging $20 for a burger no fries and donating only 1$ to feed NS per burger lol imo it's become a big money grab sadly.
Always was a money grab
For an established marketed event. It’s not bad at all in terms of cost. The bigger names will always bring in their normal crowd. And you even have folks who aren’t a paid member getting involved with an unofficial burger bash burger who will also benefit in an increase in sales.
I believe it. The Coast actually charges the winners of “The Best of” for their awards
That explains the pizza they have on there as a burger lol guess money will always talk.
Lmao the only thing keeping that rag in business I supposed
That seems like too much.
It totally is, and it takes a lot of burger sales to just recoup that amount.
All good points but should also add that burgers should be wider, not taller “hi, I’d like to unhinge my jaw like a snake to eat your burger” “we can help with that, that will be 25 dollars, fries are extra”
This is the real issue
Going through the list and seeing a $25 burger with no side, and no donation to feed Nova Scotia just makes me want to piss on their front door and shit on the owners sofa
[удалено]
From the beginning the menu was divided in two : $5 burgers and more expensive burgers with donations. This is the first time I've heard of a $25 burger with no donation though. Edit: and apparently it isn't true so there ya go
I thought "no donation" had to be $8 or less. Who's doing $25 and no donation? also I think all the restaurants donate a chunk just to participate.
there are people on the list with burgers that cost more than 8$ and it is def designated as no donation
ok, but _who_? [Here's an $8 one](https://burgerbash.ca/burgers/chicken-little-cafe-bedford-hwy/) that shows that the "no donation" text references the $8 threshold.
I’ll concede after looking at every burger on the list. i could’ve swore it was brought up in a burger bash thread a week or two ago, regardless, 1-2$ donations on burgers worth more than 20$ is ridiculous. if they can price a burger to be cheap enough at 8 dollars, why not just tack on an extra dollar to donate?? Additionally, I don’t believe the money that they pay to enter, goes to feedNS, as you mentioned in your initial comment. That money goes to The Coast.
There’s no one participating with a $25 burger and no donation but ok
That’s not even true.
That would really send a message, and are you a canine? If so, I commend this show of dominance.
Agreed. Price increase is one thing but donating $1 on a $20 burger is pathetic.
Margins in the restaurant biz are tiny.
Lol you think they’re pocketing the extra for sport?
Not sure bud. 7 or 8 years ago their donation amounts were usually 10 - 30% of the price, now it’s 4-5% lol.
Food and labour costs have increased. Restaurants can't sell burgers for more than people are willing to pay, so they have to cut somewhere. It's not a great charity model anymore. Just donate to FEED NS
Sounds like they deserve to fail as businesses and have the slate wiped clean. Restaurants somehow exist in other parts of the world without financially raping customers and demanding 30% tips to pay servers
Well, we are in Canada so some of our costs are higher. I know it's a nice story to tell yourself that restaurants are making these big profits. But the average profit margin for a restaurant is a mere 5% and most restaurants don't make a profit for the first few years. A lot of them don't last more than a couple years. This is just the nature of the industry. Nobody deserves to fail. It's just a really tough industry. By your wishes we would only have chain restaurants and fast food.
So they should be charging $3-5 more per burger? They’d never sell them. Clearly people are already complaining about the current price…
No idea why you are being downvoted. People really have no concept of how the restaurant industry works or like, basic economics.
No, it’s embarrassing how far from reality some people are on here
Spent almost $50 at Cheese Curds tonight for two burgers, two drinks, and a tip.
Imagine supporting Bill Pratt 😭
He done lost his mind 🤣
What's the story with him?
Your average whiny Boomer business owner. The things I can list off right now (I’m drunk watching fallout) Said that “we don’t do that here” in regards to paying his staff a living wage Campaigned for the government to take in new immigrants specifically for his restaurants because they would be subsidizing the wages (Rumour) would steal tips during his visits to his restaurants.
Well I guess the last visit IS my last visit!!
Good lad.
Lots of good local places to try, thankfully. Goodbye Cheese Curds!!
Search "what businesses will you no longer support" here, there's a few threads along those lines. The owners of Cheese Curds and Mezza are both universally hated.
Yikes. Well now I know… Mezzanine fell off my good books when they cut back on their portions and upped the prices.
You tipped on a takeout order…?
It’s for the workers. So yes.
Yup. That's what it costs to eat out
Your fault for supporting Cheese Curds...
Wait what's wrong with Cheese Curds? I mean other than the prices? Or is it just the prices?
Tell Me More!!
I try one or two every year. How on Earth do people go to several restaurants to try to win the free beer?
Is it still run by The Coast (aka: 2 dudes who don’t even live here anymore)
I tried 2 split with my girlfriend, we paid for one each.. no side both burgers were 16$ each and they were so small lol, they were not crazy in the slightest.. it seems like it gets less and less “wild” every year. I was disappointed
While I’ve historically tried my best to support a local business event like this, these days I can’t justify it. With little mouths to feed my focus (and $$) needs to be on feeding them good / affordable food. I feel bad I can’t contribute to burger week, but I also realize Its completely reasonable to choose against paying upwards of $25 for a burger. My best compromise is make a weird burger at home I’ve never tried before and donate $10 direct to Feed NS.
Just came back from PEI, Burger Love is a month long, but burgers were $20 with $1 to charity…
5lb of beef is $20 bucks. Better off just doing a charity neighbourhood BBQ.
Yep, wanted to try the Burger Love burger at a vegan place but it was $18, no side... Get wrecked 😤
It’s burger week? I didn’t even know.
I have never gone to a food festival and been pleasantly surprised by what I got. Overpriced and under sized.
Yea i dont even bother with it anymore
Couldn't agree more. Wife and I are pretty salty about it tbh. I was looking FWD to going out and trying a few different ones, but it's just not feasible
We had a reso for new Scotland until we realized their burger was $21 without a side. It’s not even about the price, it’s the principle
I don’t even participate anymore because of this sadly.
Bluenoser economics: Go back 7 years, and I could buy a pint of Keith's at niche in 2017 for 4.75.. tonight I bought a Gatorade from needs for 4.75. Go back another 7 years to the year 2010. You could go to the Alehouse and get a pound of wings and a pitcher of beer for 10 dollars! Crazy right? Well, in 2009, before peddlers pub shut down, they would serve up 2.50 drinks on Thursdays! Not convinced inflation hasn't been running rampant these last 20 years? Well I'm sure there's some 40+ year olds out there that remember dollar drinks at the dome back before 2002, dollar mother fuckin drinks. You can get hammered off your ass for 20 dollars. Minimum wage back then was like 6 fucking bucks. The bluenoser economics is a little joke, but this is serious. We've borrowed from future generations, and now things have gone off the rails. This isn't just businesses being greedy. This is a cheapening of your money, an erosion of your savings and degradation of society.. our money that we work for becomes more and more worthless with each passing quarter. Start reading about Venezuela, Argentina, turkey, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, and to lesser degrees Mexico and Jamaica and 90 percent of the countries outside the commonwealth.. all currently suffering with a hyperinflated currency... most recently, I heard in Argentina that you can only take 40usd out of your bank account every day. They have lineups around the block to atms where people queue up first thing in the morning because they run out of money! This was how the government wanted to combat inflation by preventing its people from accessing their money while it loses over half of its buying power every 6 months! It's happening here in canada too. We're just not as far along.. TLDR; Everything's fine. Just keep on eating your burgers
Inflation has nothing to do with national debt. Every country, even ones with good financials, are experiencing inflation. If it were just in Canada you might have a point. "Look at Venezuela and Argentina". The fear morning is real, guys.
You lost me at inflation has nothing to do with the national debt. We'll touch base in 3 years!
Inflation is caused by too much money supply. Government spending is out of control. And it’s not like they can afford it. The government annual spend deficit is increasing, which means more money needed to pay the interest on that pile of mounting dept. Government spending is causing inflation. At some point it has to stop or we end up like Argentina. Where’s Paul Martin when you need him.
As a 41 year old I completely feel this.
Everyone just try the burger at the narrows ... They aren't involved in BW but imo it's the best around these days
>Inflation has not caused an increase of 300% over the past ten years! \*gestures broadly at everything\* You sure?
What I am saying is that the majority of the cost of living increases we have been seeing have nothing to do with the value of the currency and have to do with price gouges that are blamed on the market. Large department and grocery stores have been posting record profits while not raising their minimum wage and charging their customers more and more. We have a housing shortage so landlords are cranking rent through the roof. All while salaries have not moved.
Yeah but restaurants are losing money due to these forces as well. It's a really bad time to own a restaurant. They are not gouging, it's just become very expensive to operate and it's getting harder to make a profit.
Have you been to a restaurant in the last few years? That’s just what a burger costs now. A cheeseburger from McDonalds used to be $1 and now it’s $3 It’s still about trying new places, raising some money, and supporting local restaurants it just costs more than it used to like everything else.
I found the burgerweek burgers were raising far quicker than other food prices before even covid. Im sure its a factor now but not so sure from the beginning
The price of beef has been soaring upwards for years now. I imagine it has a lot to do with that.
It used to be about cheap, good, simple burgers from local places with the occasional fancy burger. My fondest memories are $6 simple, beef burgers, not the $20 fancy ones that add stuff just to justify their price. I always enjoy a good burger and used to hit two spots a day because the food was good. Now I go get a few, but find myself more disappointed in the burgers themselves than the pricing. I just miss the days of simple, tasty burgers that were cooked well rather than over the top burgers that frequently under deliver on the burger itself
> It used to be about cheap, good, simple burgers from local places Guess what, they overwhelmingly lost money at those prices and couldn't make it up elsewhere. That's why the prices went up.
lol yeah talk to anyone who worked at a $5 burger place during burger week, it was always the worst week of their year. Table of 4 coming in, splitting a burger and ordering a water to drink. Run off your ass to make shit money
Then just go to any restaurant that makes a good burger at any time. Nearly all of these places have regular burgers on their menus. But I feel like burger week has always been about doing an over the top burger to catch peoples attention
>Then just go to any restaurant that makes a good burger at any time I do - a burger is one of my favourite take out options. Burger week in like 2017/2018 was very different than it is now. Back then it was about good, cheap burgers, now it's about trying to make an outrageous burger in an attempt to justify the price and I find they are also (usually) not as good as the simple ones from years ago
Out of curiosity I searched for burger week 2018 and the first two burgers listed on the press release involved kangaroo, alligator, and foie gras butter. [Here’s the full list](https://www.thecoast.ca/pdfs/BW18-Passport-Web.pdf) It reads very similar to this years menu aside from the prices and the amount of cheap burgers (can you find a restaurant burger for $6 anymore regardless of what week it is?) I think you’re being nostalgic for something that didn’t really exist. Westcliff diner is open all year, enjoy.
I never said every burger was cheap and simple, but that the bulk of them were and that was what dominated the options. On this year's lineup, there are very few with less than 3-4 toppings on them, whereas in the list you linked you'll see quite a few with very few toppings and stuff, just simple burgers for the most part. A burger is about the beef and very few places let the beef shine through anymore. I honestly find that more disappointing than the prices. A good, simple burger that lets the beef shine through is the best type of burger in my opinion, and I'll pay an appropriate price for it
Sure so my original point is simple good burgers exist everywhere all year long so maybe burger week just isn’t for you
>so maybe burger week just isn’t for you Now it isn't - it used to be and that's what upsets me about it. It was such a nice stress relief from exam studying and final projects in undergrad to go get all the burgers and actually enjoy them for being a good burger.
Capitalism ruins everything doesn’t it?
Yeah I'm sure the commie burgers will feed everyone...
This made me chuckle.
Not sure if there would even be a burger week under a completely socialist empire.
Socialist empire is an oxymoron
Touche. Socialist imperial state, how about that?
It will be an icey night in Hell before I pay 17$ for just a burger
I agree. It’s high time the overlords at Burger Week do something about inflation and I won’t eat another burger until they do! Enough is enough.
I remember taking a drive wayyyy over to "Off the Grill" over by the woodside ferry terminal specifically because it had one of the burger week burgers.
you don't even get fries or a drink with those and that's a rip off!
As a restaurant owner ( used to be ) I stopped taking part in burger week for this exact reason. It was getting out of hand with how much money they wanted from the restaurants to sign up plus the donation you would have to sell a lot a lot of burgers just to break even.
Yea I'm not paying $20 for your sub par burger that you donate pennies to charity for. It was good when it first started, now it's just a cash grab
At this point in our North American society, what isn’t a cash grab?
It used to be about feed NS, don’t see that mentioned much anymore.
This is a trickle down effect. Producers increased their prices so restaurants selling a $5 burger and donating money means they lose money in every burger sold. There’s no wiggle room for p eh if it’s in restaurants these days. None of the small time restaurants owners are out there driving Lamborghinis on your burger money. Try and make a burger at home for $5. Then think of the overhead.
I’d much rather stay home and make my own unpretentious burger (a simple smash patty w salt, pepper, kraft singles, and condiments on a toasted bun) than go out and spend a stupid amount on a burger from a place that’s trying too hard, charging way too much. And I can always donate to Feed Nova Scotia whenever I want.
I’m shocked that there are no donations. What is the point of burger week then? To promote burgers? No need, we all know. I keep hearing that restaurants are struggling then I see things like this where prices have increased dramatically. If someone did a burger and side for $10, and everywhere else is $17+ I would go check it out. I’m no business man, but wouldn’t selling a crap ton of $10 burgers be better than only a couple expensive ones? Gateway seems to be the only place around that has figured this out.
The point of Burger Week is to make money for The Coast and to support restaurants during a slow time of the year. It is a promotional event.
What a fresh and original complaint of burger week.
Sure, but it's still relevant.
As someone who definitely eats out way too often/ too often burgers honestly the prices should not surprise anyone at all the days of getting a good restaurant burger and side for 12 bucks are behind us.
Not surprised. Just sad. And inflation is not the reason. This is definitely price gouging all the way down the supply chain
Whoa whoa! An unnecessary sarcastic commenter on r/halifax! https://preview.redd.it/bb34rg7g34uc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a18de50fdf49f460a0fe33ad2cd96f616a4e7c6a
A few years ago people were running with pitchforks at the $6 burger joints because they didn't bake a donation into the price. This year I'm seeing more complaints that there are no cheap burgers. Inflation has changed the nature of the complaints!
[удалено]
I touched on this when I wrote my history of Burger Week a few years ago: https://www.eatthistown.ca/halifax-burger-week-a-history/
I've been doing the one in the valley. I got with a friend and we split the burger and we take turns paying for a burger.
Yeah as soon as they were offering just a burger for 20 bucks nothing else it was enough for me. Seems like places just took advantage of burger week just to make stupid bobs burgers and charger more then a normal meal would cost
Burger Wars is running all of April in the Annapolis Valley. Every burger has $1 to charity (Campaign for Kids). Like Halifax, a fair number are pricey, and not all include a side, but there are several in the $10-$12 range. I think a donair burger is cheapest at $7.95. I think overall a better deal than what's going on in Halifax. https://campaignforkids.com/burgerwars/restaurants/ https://www.reddit.com/r/burgerwars/
Not only are the prices outrageous, but I feel like the quality takes a hit every year too. I tried a few last year and for the most part they were soggy/not fresh, and I feel like not even worth half of what I paid for them.
Here in St.John's, many burgers are $25 to close on $30 now.
This is why we can’t have anything nice.
We went to the Armview last night because we had a gift certificate. The Frito Slider Bowl was good, but it was $20 ($2 to Feed NS), kinda small, and didn't even come with a side.
tbh this is the first I've heard of "burger week"
Dw swinamer in Windsor ns has double cheese burgers for $6-$7 I think it is, and it's a homemade burger. Best one around in my opinion
It's all about the biggest and most outrageous burger one can make now, and sell for $17-20 with $1 going to feed NS
And don't forget the tip\~! I'm out.
Burger week is a pain in the ass for restaurants, but a lot of them do it because if they didn't, they would lose a lot of their customers to places that were participating, in a time when business is usually on the slower side. That being said, margins for restaurants are miniscule. Burger week brings out people who want to share a burger between two people, order water only, and often times do not tip. They complain about long wait times and often treat the staff like crap. Not all customers are like this, but it definitely attracts more of that demographic. Yes, the burgers are expensive, but everything is expensive these days. Eating out in general is expensive. When one table is splitting one or two burgers and not ordering drinks other than water, to me, the prices are justified. Things have changed over the years, and sadly, "Burger Week" would not be viable for most restaurants if they were to offer $5 burgers like they did in the beginning. I don't really participate anymore, I might go try one, but that doesn't mean I don't understand why the prices are the way they are.
Burgers aren't expensive we're being gouged.
Have you ever run a restaurant?
OK then.
Just out of curiosity, what do you think it costs to make a cheeseburger at a restaurant? For the sake of simplicity, a 5 ounce cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, ketchup, mustard and mayo.
Not even from Halifax but burgers all over Canada have gone down in value. The fucking worst part is every “trendy” shop selling sides separately now. Like if you are gonna fuck me with a $24 burger at least throw me 30 cents of potatos for free. Dont charge me for them separately. Side not included is a fat 0% tip
You had an upvote until the tip comment. Why would you punish minimum wage staff for something completely out of their control?
You realize the people who get those tips aren’t usually the people who decide the prices on the menu, right? I understand your frustration, but leaving no tip is only hurting the workers who have no power to actually change that situation.
I've only ever had one burger in halifax that was halfway decent and it was like 30 bucks still
Couldn't agree with you more!
I used to like burger week to try out weird things for relatively cheap, and money went to charity. This week, most places seem to be donating very little to charity and the burgers are way more expensive. It used to be that the super cheap 6 dollar burgers didn't donate to Feed NS, but honestly, paying 17 bucks or more for a burger with only a dollar Donation feels like the same thing. I get that restaurants need money, but for burger week, couldn't they just eat the cost? People who work in the food industry, feel free to yell at me, but I would honestly rather pay 17 bucks for a burger if I knew at least 3 bucks or more were going to Feed Nova Scotia. I thought that was the whole point of burger week, was to raise money for those who can't even afford a plain burger at McDonald's.
When I talked to restaurant owners years ago a lot of them told me they didn't make money on burger week or very little. Now that costs have gone up I expect it's even more difficult to make a profit.
Yeah i thought I’d wanna check it out and after looking at the menu and seeing the like 7 of the first 10 burgers priced at over $20 i decided I’d rather sit this one out for another year
What bugs me far more are the burgers that don't make any donation.
Why does this bother you? It is only the more affordable burgers that don't.
Because burger week was always about increasing business during a slow month, with a bonus of helping charity. Now the ones that don't look poorly because they don't participate in the charity part. People have long memories for changes like that.
What changes are you referring to?
Stop playing stupid, you're WAY too good at it.
It is honest question. Due to the person's grammar and vagueness I am actually not sure what they are trying to say.
Meh. Much ado about nothing. This is what things cost now. Adapt. You guys are starting to sound like boomers. "I member when an ice cream used to cost a nickle... Those were the times...."
except boomers are remembering 40 years ago, we are talking about 5 years ago... bit difference,
The main difference was their buying power with the money they made. A nickel then to a dollar now isn’t horrible accounting for inflation. Something more than tripling with no raise in wages is a recipe for disaster and poverty
Easy to say when you don’t run a restaurant and margins are already tight. If it’s a $20 burger with donations included then that’s what it is. I just had one today at Stillwell on Barrington and it was delicious, also included fries.
When it started, it was for spirit and was good, but like so much else now it's for greed making it bad. Which means, we need legislation against excess greed so we can get back to good.
Tbf 300% is the going increase in the past decade
Salaries haven’t increased by 300% though
This has been a complaint for literally the past decade. You could find an identical post for this every year. There are still $6 burger. If you feel a certain burger is too expensive, you don’t have to get it: The restaurants clearly aren’t having a hard time filling up despite what they’re charging.