The 10 Chain Restaurants Most Often Called Overpriced in America

Let’s be honest. Americans love eating out, but lately that simple pleasure feels more like a luxury than a convenience. Over the past few years, diners have watched menu prices climb faster than wages, and many restaurant chains that once promised affordable meals now leave customers questioning whether their hard-earned dollars are getting them fair value. From viral social media rants to actual research analyzing customer reviews, it’s become clear that certain chains have earned reputations for charging too much while delivering too little. The frustration is real, and people aren’t staying quiet about it.

Shake Shack

Shake Shack received the most complaints of any national chain about its food being overly expensive, according to a study by language-learning platform Preply that analyzed over 57,000 Google reviews from more than 10,000 restaurants. This comes after the burger chain raised prices twice in 2024. When a single hamburger runs somewhere between roughly seven and eight dollars depending on your region, and fries cost around four and a half bucks, you’re looking at nearly twelve dollars before adding a drink or shake. The analysis found that Shake Shack has the most customer complaints about overly expensive fast food in America in 2024, and the chain raised prices again in October by 1.5% to offset inflation. What stings for regular customers is that even at premium prices, you’re essentially getting fast food served on plates rather than an elevated dining experience.

Five Guys

Right behind Shake Shack sits Five Guys, a chain that customers describe as having prices that are completely out of control, with Five Guys and Sugar Factory following Shake Shack as the chains with the second and third most overpriced food complaints. Some customers are paying as much as $20 at their local Five Guys for a basic cheeseburger, regular fry, and regular-sized drink. Sure, the company touts its fresh-never-frozen ingredients, generous fry portions, free toppings, and premium peanut oil for cooking, but that’s a tough sell when similar meals at competitors cost half as much. At Five Guys, burgers with two beef patties cost between roughly $9 and $13, depending on where in the country you dine – and that’s before you add the famous Five Guys fries.

Waffle House

Here’s where things get shocking. Waffle House reportedly took the top spot with a staggering 96 percent price hike from 2020 to 2025, followed by IHOP. The national inflation rate during those five years was only 22%, and various studies have tracked chain restaurants from 2020 to 2025, finding that many raised their prices above the national average inflation rate. This beloved Southern institution built its reputation on being accessible to everyone from truckers to college students, but when your signature hash browns cost more than an entire meal used to cost, something has gone terribly wrong. Waffle House prices have reportedly increased around 96% since 2020, with menu items going up substantially.

IHOP

IHOP and Waffle House have increased prices substantially more than the national inflation rate of around 22%, according to FinanceBuzz reports. The International House of Pancakes once marketed itself as a family-friendly destination where parents could afford to take their kids for weekend breakfast treats. Prices at IHOP have risen substantially since 2020. Customers complain that they get upcharged for items that used to be complimentary at the restaurant, and considering that IHOP has been hit by inflation like so many other restaurants, they’re paying a premium for food that tastes a lot worse than it once did, with some suggesting IHOP is likely to go out of business because of this discrepancy in price and quality.

Applebee’s

According to FinanceBuzz, Applebee’s raised their prices by 28% from 2020 to 2024, with the Quesadilla Burger going from $10.49 five years ago to $14.99, perfectly illustrating how a once-reasonable meal has crossed into expensive territory that many families simply cannot justify. The neighborhood grill has priced out a significant chunk of its actual neighbors, creating a vicious cycle of higher prices and fewer customers. Sales at US Applebee’s locations open at least a year slumped 4.6% in the first quarter, and in that period, customers who earn $50,000 a year or less visited less often and spent less when they did, with that demographic making up about 45% of Applebee’s customers. The chain is losing exactly the customers it was designed to serve.

The Cheesecake Factory

The Cheesecake Factory’s giant menu and giant portions typically come at a giant price. Everybody knows the Cheesecake Factory’s giant menu and giant portions, which also typically come at a giant price, and its cheesecakes remain popular, but the Cheesecake Factory’s non-dessert foods are often seen as underwhelming and mediocre, making their price points difficult to justify. Customers question why it has to be so expensive, noting that all the meals are just plain overpriced, with one family reporting that 3 adult meals, 1 kids meal, and 2 cheesecakes cost over $100. Menu prices at The Cheesecake Factory were reportedly around 10.5% higher in the second quarter of 2025 than a year earlier, but same-store sales rose just 1.5% as customers visited less and ordered less food when they did.

Starbucks

Starbucks is the leading coffee shop chain in the world with more than 38,000 stores globally, but its steady price increases are starting to turn away customers, with the company reporting a rare decline in sales and guest traffic in the latest quarter, marking its first negative performance since pandemic-related store closures in 2020. Customers have noted that Starbucks seems to be raising prices every month since January 2024, with one customer’s go-to order (an iced triple shot latte with soy milk, cold foam, and added syrup) increasing three times since January, going from $5.40 six months prior to $6 by April 2024. The inflation rate increased 31% from 2014 to 2024, while prices at Starbucks went up 39% on average, which may feel excessive to the average consumer, even for the devoted Starbucks enthusiast. Even Starbucks workers are getting fed up, with some saying they can’t afford their drinks even with employee discounts.

Chipotle

Chipotle found itself in hot water throughout 2024 for a different but equally frustrating reason related to value. After a recent swirl of videos and Reddit posts alleged that Chipotle workers were skimping on fillings for its normally hefty burritos and bowls, CEO Brian Niccol addressed shareholders, revealing that workers at about 10% of the restaurants needed to be re-trained to make sure bowls and burritos are consistently correct in size, and the company re-emphasized generous portions across all restaurants. Wells Fargo analysts ordered and weighed 75 identical burrito bowls from seven Chipotle locations in New York City, concluding that Chipotle’s portions varied widely, with some restaurants selling bowls with identical orders that weighed roughly 33% more than other outlets. When customers are paying nearly eight dollars for a burrito bowl and filming employees to ensure they get adequate portions, trust has clearly eroded.

Olive Garden

On a June 2024 earnings call, executives from Darden Restaurants, the company who owns Olive Garden and other chains, predicted a 2% to 3% price increase for 2025, and loyal Olive Garden customers have expressed their frustration since the quality of the food hasn’t matched the increase in cost. The Italian-American chain finds itself in an awkward position of being expensive compared to home cooking but still cheaper than true upscale dining. Over time, customers felt less comfortable with the restaurant’s expanding menu, inconsistent quality, and aversion to competitive prices, and while a difficult turnaround paid off after investment firm Starboard Value gave a public presentation of parent company Darden Restaurants’ many problems in 2014, consumer trust has never fully recovered. The once-signature service quality has also become so uneven that staff complaints and incidents have gone viral online.

Texas Roadhouse and TGI Fridays

Texas Roadhouse, TGI Fridays, Applebee’s, and other American-style restaurants raised prices by around 40 percent from 2020 to 2025. These casual dining chains that once promised hearty American fare at reasonable prices have pushed their menus into territory that makes customers think twice. TGI Fridays is prominent among the restaurant chains that struggled through 2025, going from peaking at about 600 locations and billions in annual business to now limping through chapter 11 bankruptcy with fewer than 80 locations remaining. When your prices climb by roughly half over five years while your food quality stagnates or declines, diners will absolutely notice and vote with their wallets.