“This meal just cost me $728 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible.”
–David Brooks Matthew Klint
I had lunch at Newark Airport’s swanky new Terminal A at an eatery called Mediterranean Grill and could not believe how much my modest lunch cost.
My Pricey Newark Airport Lunch
Lunch was a decision between Shake Shack or Mediterranean food and the falafel and lamb gyro won out. I found a place right below the security checkpoint and ordered lunch.
With my side of falafel and the oblgiatory 3% “employee work benefit,” the bill came out to $28.
$28.28 for this?! This is why Americans think the economy is terrible.
Lest the outrage machine accuse me of attacking Trump, let me make clear…this is a joke, with David Brooks as my inspiration.
> Read More: David Brooks’ Whopper About His Newark Airport Hamburger
Brooks made headlines around the world for complaining about his “$78 cheesburger” at 1911 BBQ in Newark Airport, but it was later revealed that 80% of his bill was from the alcohol he ordered with it!
1911 BBQ was nearby and I did considering going there and ordering the David Brooks special (cheeseburger, French Fries, and a double shot of whiskey for $17.78), but no, I wanted my gyro and falafel fix instead…
Without alcohol or even water, this was an expensive lunch…it’s the sort of thing that might cost less than half that at a take-away restaurant outside the airport and a great example of why I just prefer to eat at home.
But the food was delicious and it was nice to tank up before my six-hour flight in economy class to LA without a meal. Still, I think that I could have made that meal for a small fraction of the price I paid at home and it would have tasted even better.
Did I make a good choice for lunch?
That is absurd pricing. But the 1911 Smoke House deal is pretty fair – $18 for burger, fries, and double of liquor.
Oh wait, i didn’t see the ‘more at the airport’ disclaimer on the 1911 price
The receipt mis-spells benefit .
Shake Shack would have been the wise choice . ===
“Benifit”.
Hey, Matthew — I am surprised that you did not submit a photograph of your receipt to be highlighted in the What Is Wrong With This Photograph series of articles…
Of course that’s one thing I did not notice. Help yourself to it for your what’s wrong feature.
That place isn’t too bad but is expensive. I personally think Beecher’s has the best value to quality ratio at terminal A, although it too is expensive.
Those kind of airport prices makes me eat before going to JFK, LaGuardia, or Newark airports. What will happen if they start having to pay $30/hour wages like Los Angeles wants for hotel workers?
Well, actually, what makes dining out ever more unaffordable us tips steadily rising along with core restaurant prices…now already at MINIMUM “ recommended” of 20% with maybe 25% for “better service, within likely but a few years before these are 25 and 30% as Trumpflation adds another 10-20% to the underlying bill, Do the math…say TODAY a simpler meal is maybe $20…tack on taxes and 20% tip, and one is closer to $30. Then within a few years, this will be $25 for the base meal, and another $10 for tips and taxes, and POOF, folks will cease buying sit down meals.
Who says that the the minimum tip? That plays on people’s bad math skills. I never use the tip calculator. I do the math in my head and enter my own figure, which is usually rounded to the nearest dollar.
“With my side of falafel and the oblgiatory 3% “employee work benefit,” ”
Looks more like a “benifit” to me
You made a wise choice for lunch. It looks tasty and airports are fundamentally expensive places to execute meals. I live 4 miles from DCA and would hate to have even it in my commute. I cannot imagine what wage I would demand to work at IAD or EWR.
Meh, it’s the airport. That’s like 14.99 anywhere else.
The real scandal is flights with a six-hour block time that don’t offer a meal in economy class.
It’s always better and less expensive at home but at Newark, pricing was not over the top for a reasonably healthy meal. At a great Mediterranean lunch spot near me ( falafel $6 gyro $14 and seven homemade sauces $ 2. each) ) . For the circumstances, you chose well.
LAX is just as bad, if not worse – had to fork over $57 for a pizza and a hummus plate at Sammy’s in T5 a couple weeks back. Not even a soft drink, just those two items and the tip. One of several reasons I’ve started going through ONT instead of LAX when visiting my wife’s family, where at last we have plenty of time to eat at her mom’s before leaving.
Did you tip?
Eat at home before the flight or upon arrival at the destination city
What does this have to do with the economy?
Read the Brooks tweet. It was a joke. Unbelievable that people don’t read past headlines.
Oh for [DELETED – we don’t use the Lord’s name in vain] sake. You paid twice as much in an airport than you would have on the street. And pretend that Americans are wailing about the economy due to your poor decisions and airport prices.
Give it up. I paid three times that for the same meal in HNL years ago.
Who do you think you’re fooling?
Why can’t you do some research and report some actual facts- at least once in a while?
And get off your America is doing terrible under Trump BS? At least for a few days?
Do you actually think Cackles would have lowered that price? How stupid are you??
Hey Ka-Bar cairn. Watch your language and quit stomping your doc martens. This is about the economy. Not you. Try to keep the discussion relevant.
Cairns, are you stupid?
This is parody.
I wasn’t complaining about the price, I was making fun of David Brooks.
I even said that if you read beyond the headline. Why that headline? Read the embedded tweet.
This is unbelievable even coming from you.
These are the people who think David Brooks is a Republican and that the Sydney Morning Herald is an un biased down the middle media source.
Why don’t you fess up that you didn’t read that part where I said, “Lest the outrage machine accuse me of attacking Trump, let me make clear…this is a joke, with David Brooks as my inspiration.”
The economy is resilient, even with the uncertainty around us.
Matt last month I did CLT-JFK-CPH with a 4-hour connection & looked at what they were charging for food at T4 and T1, so I got on the airtrain and left JFK. I got off at Jamaica Station, walked 2 blocks to an absolutely outstanding Caribbean restaurant & paid a fraction of what I’d have paid at the airport, for excellent food. With the New York airports, that’s the way it has to be…
$28 for a meal at the airport sounds like a better deal than having lounge access due to having a credit card with a $595 AF. I look forward to a $19 salad at IAH this week before my flight to AMS lol. After taking the new non stop bus from downtown to the airport for $4.50. No more $70 Ubers or $88 parking spot while I’m away.
It’s so absurd the Port Authority still claims to have a pricing regulation that is max street price + 15%
Dude, if the economy was bad, you would not be able to afford this meal & you would not have bought it.
Duh
Read past the headline to see that I was making fun of David Brooks, not complaining about a bad economy.
I realize now more than ever that people won’t read beyond headlines. Sobering indeed.
Takes me back to similar situations and something we used to say in the newsroom: “Why do we call them readers?”
I like the occasional MLB game. I know they will charge me ridiculous amounts for food and beverage. I discovered if I start with the attitude “I just won’t sweat it,” I actually have fun. I use that attitude at airports now, too. It isn’t going to be a good deal. Still, I would have avoided the place you chose, knowing it would test my patience.
EWR, enough said.
That garbage is the fuel terrorists order while dreaming of killing humans.
What white person would eat that?
A terrorist. Like the Syrian leader, that used to be a member of Al Qaeda, that Trump just met with and describes as “young, attractive guy, tough guy, strong past”.?
That kind of terrorist?
As long as people pay it they will charge a high price. At the airport, I use my Priority Pass or lounge access.
Airports are expensive places to buy food, for sure. But at least there are generally better quality options than 20 years ago. Personally, I’d rather spend time in a lounge working and snacking. One thing that has not changed in 20 years is how slow the airport restaurant service is.
I like the David Brooks joke. He’s an interesting writer to read, but everything he has written, going all the way back to Bobos in Paradise, has turned out to be a completely inaccurate reading of the zeitgeist. A better blog might have more discussion of why that is and less partisanship, but then it would not be an unmoderated travel blog. On to read about the MUC FCL. (I wonder what Brooks would say about LH F.)
I don’t like it, but that is where we are today. The Trump tariffs have provided an excuse for everyone to raise their prices. I live in Venice Beach and the going price for a sandwich by itself is now over $26. Outrageous and why I rarely eat out.