Eating out used to feel like a treat. A reward. Something you did when you wanted to enjoy yourself without cooking, without cleaning, without thinking too hard. These days? That feeling is rapidly turning into buyer’s remorse before you even finish your meal. Since 2019, restaurant prices have increased 34%, outpacing the overall growth of inflation during that same period, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. That’s not just a little bump. That’s a seismic shift in what it costs to sit down and eat somewhere familiar.
Millions of diners are now voting with their wallets, and the verdict is brutal for some of America’s most recognizable chains. The numbers don’t lie, and customer reviews are even more blunt. So which restaurants are landing on the “no-go” list? Some of the answers might genuinely surprise you. Let’s dive in.
1. Red Lobster – The Shrimp That Sank the Ship
Red Lobster was once a genuine occasion-worthy restaurant. A place you went to celebrate, to treat the family, to feel slightly fancy without a dress code. That reputation has taken a serious hit.
Red Lobster was driven into bankruptcy by mismanagement under a former owner, global shrimp supplier Thai Union. Thai Union cut Red Lobster’s longstanding suppliers, pushed out veteran employees and infamously made $20 endless shrimp a permanent menu item for the first time, hurting its profit margins. It sounds almost cartoonishly misguided, but it happened.
After Red Lobster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy following that disastrous “Endless Shrimp” promotion, the chain continued its contraction. While new ownership works to stabilize the brand, dozens of underperforming restaurants across the country have permanently closed their doors throughout 2025. The company is focusing on a smaller, more profitable core of locations, but for many towns, the local Red Lobster has simply vanished.
Among the 50 biggest chains, Red Lobster’s bankruptcy dragged its sales numbers down by 22.7%. For a chain that once defined the casual American seafood dinner, that is a staggering fall. Diners say the food quality and value simply haven’t justified the price tags, especially when better seafood alternatives exist at similar or lower costs.
2. TGI Fridays – The Party Ended Years Ago
TGI Fridays was essentially invented to make weeknights feel festive. Casual drinks, loaded appetizers, sticky booths, and that warm buzz of a restaurant that genuinely felt fun. Honestly, it’s hard to reconcile that memory with what the brand has become.
To say that TGI Fridays has had a difficult stretch is an understatement. The chain was once one of the most beloved restaurants in the country, but over time, it began being viewed as a somewhat outdated place to eat. As new competitors came in and began taking over, TGI Fridays struggled, facing a lack of enthusiasm and eventually a bankruptcy claim in November 2024.
TGI Fridays confirmed it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 and has continued shuttering restaurants in 2025. According to its website, only 85 remain open. That is a shell of what this chain once was. In early 2025, the company announced the closure of 36 locations in a single move. The brand has struggled to connect with younger diners and faces stiff competition, forcing it to shed its less profitable restaurants.
Customers who still visit report inconsistent food quality that rarely matches menu prices. For a brand that charges casual-dining rates, the experience increasingly fails to deliver even basic satisfaction, and consumers are noticing.
3. McDonald’s – The Golden Arches of Sticker Shock
Here’s the thing about McDonald’s: it built its entire identity on being affordable. Fast, cheap, dependable. The kind of place a family of four could eat for under $20. That identity is now under serious threat.
The average cost of a McDonald’s menu item jumped 40% from 2019 to 2024, according to a company fact sheet. Think about that for a moment. A chain famously known for its value has raised prices nearly as dramatically as some sit-down restaurants. A report from The Street showed an average price increase of 141% across several popular menu items from 2019 through 2024. The highest single increase was a 215% bump on a Cheeseburger, from $1 in 2019 to $3.15 in 2024.
McDonald’s recently experienced the worst quarter since the 2020 pandemic, with U.S. same-store sales falling 3.6%, the largest three-month drop since Q2 2020. That tells you something important: customers are pushing back. McDonald’s CEO Christopher Kempczinski warned analysts that traffic among low-income customers had fallen “nearly double digits” across the industry. When your core customer base is walking away, the price-value disconnect has become undeniable.
4. Applebee’s – Neighborhood Grill, Neighborhood Disappointment
Applebee’s has always positioned itself as the everyman’s restaurant. Neighborhood vibes, familiar comfort food, nothing too pretentious. A solid concept, in theory. The execution, though, has been sliding.
Applebee’s domestic same-store sales have decreased for three consecutive quarters, with a 0.5% drop in the fourth quarter tied to declining traffic. Meanwhile, sales at Applebee’s are dropping and the chain is shuttering hundreds of restaurants. The brand’s parent company, Dine Brands, has been candid about closing underperforming locations as part of what they are calling a strategic right-sizing.
According to a Chatmeter study that analyzed over a million customer reviews, Applebee’s scores low on menu satisfaction. New menu items like the Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwich saw barely any mentions, implying they may not be exciting to consumers. Sentiment around cocktails also dropped by 4%, and there is also inconsistency with portion sizes, with customers describing them as both huge and tiny.
Diners increasingly feel that Applebee’s is charging mid-range prices for food that feels more like a budget meal. That gap between price and satisfaction is exactly what sends people looking elsewhere for their casual dining fix.
5. Subway – The $5 Footlong Is Long Gone
Subway’s entire brand mythology was built on one idea: affordable sandwiches, made your way, at a price that made sense. The iconic $5 Footlong made Subway one of the most visited fast-food destinations in America. That era is firmly over.
Subway, formerly home of the Five Dollar Footlong, is now the major sub chain that gives you hardly any bang for your buck. Customers on social media have shared their disbelief. Out of all the sandwich chains, Subway has been steadily called out for pricey subs. “I bought a Subway Sandwich for 21 bucks,” one fan wrote on Reddit, adding a skull emoji for emphasis.
Subway lost a net of 631 U.S. restaurants in 2024, continuing a years-long slide. The sandwich chain finished the year with 19,502 domestic units, marking the first time the brand has been below 20,000 in about 20 years. It reached a peak of more than 27,000 stores in 2015, and the declines have persisted ever since. The price-quality equation simply no longer adds up for enough customers to sustain that footprint.
6. KFC – Falling from Its Throne
KFC occupies a strange place in the fast-food landscape right now. It still carries enormous brand recognition. It still has the Colonel’s face on every bucket. Yet actual paying customers are leaving, and in meaningful numbers.
KFC shows the steepest decline of any restaurant in the last year in the ACSI’s quick-service table category, falling from 81 in 2024 to 77 in 2025, a 5% drop. ACSI also reports KFC U.S. sales were down 5.2% in 2024. That is not a blip. That is a trend. Customers who say the chain has declined most often talk about its budding inconsistency, including chicken that is not as crisp, flavor differences compared to long-held recipes, longer hold times, and sides that feel hit-or-miss.
According to Circana’s Definitive U.S. Restaurant Ranking 2025 report, chicken chains including Raising Cane’s, Wingstop, Chick-fil-A, Zaxby’s, Bojangles and Popeyes all saw consumer spending increase in 2024, while KFC saw consumer spending fall by 4% to $4.34 billion. With so many better-value chicken competitors out there, KFC’s pricing no longer convinces enough customers that it’s worth the trip.
7. Starbucks – Luxury Prices Without the Luxury Feel
I’ll be honest, ordering a Starbucks drink used to feel like a small but justifiable indulgence. These days, it can feel more like a financial commitment. A single specialty drink regularly crosses the $7 or even $8 mark, and the experience doesn’t always justify it.
Starbucks’ performance during the first few months of 2024 was described as “disappointing” by its own CEO. The coffee chain saw a rare drop in customer traffic and sales during the period, reporting a 4% decline in global same-store sales and a 6% decline in global transactions. Same-store sales and transactions declined by 3% and 7% in North America, respectively.
Starbucks has been shifting away from loyalty discounting for several quarters, which has frustrated its most dedicated customers. Loyalty programs are an important component of the value matrix at a time of high consumer price sensitivity. New ways to foster a sense of value may be especially important for Starbucks, which has struggled to replicate positive value perception among its customers. When people feel they are paying premium prices for what amounts to a sugary drink made by a tired employee on a rushed shift, the brand’s premium positioning starts to feel hollow.
8. Outback Steakhouse – A Bloomin’ Problem with Prices
Outback Steakhouse carries the promise of a big, satisfying steak dinner at a price that isn’t going to hurt too badly. The reality, for many diners, has drifted pretty far from that promise.
Outback lost customers as it relied too heavily on promotions to draw diners and cut costs, while simultaneously hiking prices. Outback’s check average was $29 last year, which was $6 above rival Texas Roadhouse and $2.50 more than LongHorn Steakhouse. That is a meaningful gap when you consider that both competitors are widely seen as delivering better value.
Sales at Outback Steakhouse are dropping and the chain is shuttering hundreds of restaurants. Throughout the past year, Outback Steakhouse has simplified its menu, which improved sentiment scores by 29%, and mentions of healthy options grew 226% while references to affordability improved 30%. It’s a chain actively trying to course-correct, but it has a long way to go to win back the diners who feel they can get a better steak dinner elsewhere for less money.
9. Denny’s – The All-Day Diner Running Out of Time
Denny’s holds a special nostalgic place for a lot of Americans. The 24-hour diner, always open, always there with a plate of pancakes and a bottomless coffee. That sense of dependable value is precisely what Denny’s seems to be losing.
Denny’s experienced a terrible 2024 and has been struggling to stay in business. Toward the end of the year, it announced it was closing 50 of its restaurants in just a few months, citing underperformance. This shuttering followed a difficult period during which a large number of its restaurants stopped operating round-the-clock in a bid to save money.
Denny’s also stated it was closing 100 further restaurants throughout 2025, and then, just a few months later, it said it was pressing ahead with closing dozens more. In total, 180 restaurants were due to close in just 24 months, a huge proportion of its remaining locations. Denny’s CFO Robert Verostek specifically pointed to inflation as the reason for the company’s financial struggles. When a diner famous for cheap, hearty food loses its price advantage, there is very little left to keep customers coming back.
10. Shake Shack – The Burger That Costs Like a Restaurant Entree
Shake Shack is a genuinely interesting case. Its food is, by most honest accounts, a step above most fast-food burgers. The atmosphere is nicer. The ingredients are better. Still, customers have drawn a line, and that line has something to do with paying fifteen dollars for a burger and fries.
In a recent study, language-learning platform Preply analyzed over 57,000 Google reviews of more than 10,000 restaurants in the top 50 major U.S. cities, zeroing in on language reviewers used to describe overpriced restaurants. The analysis looked at how often words like “pricey,” “expensive,” “overpriced” and “rip-off” appeared to determine which restaurants are perceived as overcharging and underdelivering.
According to Preply’s study, Shake Shack received the most complaints of any national chain about its food being overly expensive. This came after two price hikes in 2024. Customers across America are calling it overpriced. The cost of a single ShackBurger typically falls between $6.99 and $7.99 depending on the region, and an order of fries runs around $4.49, bringing a basic meal to at least $11.48 before any drink. For fast-casual pricing, that is a tough sell when comparable burgers are available at lower cost elsewhere.
The Bigger Picture: A Dining Industry Under Pressure
These ten chains don’t exist in a vacuum. They are all operating inside a restaurant industry that has been hammered by inflationary pressure, shifting consumer habits, and the lasting shadow of the 2020 pandemic. The Technomic Top 500 report, covering 2024 performance, showed just how badly the volatile economy and stubborn inflation are affecting the U.S. consumer. Sales across the Top 500 chains grew by just 3.1%, the worst showing in the past 10 years aside from 2020, and a full percentage point short of the 4.1% inflation rate.
Casual dining chains typically cater to lower and middle-income families looking for a sit-down meal, but diners are abandoning these companies as their disposable income shrinks. These restaurants have been hiking menu prices at the same time their customer base has been squeezed by the rising cost of living. It is a self-defeating spiral, and the chains that refuse to adapt to it are paying the price.
The prevailing theme of 2024 was value, driven by persistently high inflation. Many chains began offering meal deals midway through the year, and this value competition continued to 2025. Notably, nearly half of the top 50 restaurants provided a value meal deal in 2024, achieving varying degrees of success. The chains that figure out how to deliver genuine value will survive. The ones that don’t will keep shrinking until they vanish entirely.
The restaurant industry is going through a reckoning. The chains on this list aren’t necessarily serving terrible food across the board. Some of them have proud histories and loyal pockets of fans. The problem is simpler than that: diners don’t feel they’re getting what they’re paying for. In a world where every dollar counts a little more than it did a few years ago, that feeling is everything. What would you be willing to pay for a meal that feels worth it? Tell us in the comments.
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