French Fries in Chicago

35 restaurants in Chicago list french fries on their menus. The cheapest is Big Tony's Pizza II at $4.00. The typical price across town is $5.40, and the dearest we found is $12.00 at River Roast, so the two ends of the list are $8.00 apart, which is 200% more for the same dish. Of the 35 kitchens listed, 3 charge more than a dollar under the typical price, 24 sit within a dollar of it and 8 charge more than a dollar over.

We track french fries in 498 other areas and compare them all on french fries across United States. The typical price there runs $6.49 at the median, so Chicago is cheaper than most of them, with a lower typical price than 468 of the 498. The lowest best price anywhere we cover is $4.00 at Slice Deli in Las Vegas, NV, and the highest best price is $7.50 in Seaford, NY. The nearest area with it is Addison, about 16 mi away, where the best price is $5.00.

Where is the cheapest french fries in Chicago? Big Tony's Pizza II, at $4.00 on 3732 W 59th St. The same dish reaches $12.00 elsewhere in town, so where you order it changes the bill by $8.00.

What should french fries cost here? About $5.40 is the typical price across the 35 kitchens in Chicago that list it. Of the ones listed above, 3 are more than a dollar below that and 8 are more than a dollar above, so the typical price is a middle rather than a floor.

Is it cheaper nearby? The nearest area we track it in is Addison, about 16 mi away, where the best price is $5.00. That is $1.00 more than the best price here.

Why do the prices differ so much? We compare what each menu calls the same dish, and menus are not identical: portion, cut, sides and the kind of room you are sitting in all ride on the price, and none of that shows up in a number. Part portions and half sizes are kept out of this comparison, and a chain charging the same at several addresses is counted once, so the spread above is between genuinely different kitchens rather than the same one repeated.