Shrimp Scampi in Elizabeth

6 restaurants in Elizabeth list shrimp scampi on their menus. The cheapest is Victorinos Pizza and Restaurant at $15.00. The typical price across town is $20.95, and the dearest we found is $30.25 at Mario's Famous Pizza, so the two ends of the list are $15.25 apart, which is 102% more for the same dish. Of the 6 kitchens listed, 2 charge more than a dollar under the typical price, 2 sit within a dollar of it and 2 charge more than a dollar over.

We track shrimp scampi in 272 other areas and compare them all on shrimp scampi across United States. The typical price there runs $23.00 at the median, so Elizabeth is cheaper than most of them, with a lower typical price than 216 of the 272. The lowest best price anywhere we cover is $8.99 at Via Italian Table in Worcester, MA, and the highest best price is $32.00 in Red Bank, NJ. The nearest area with it is Linden, about 3 mi away, where the best price is $17.95.

Where is the cheapest shrimp scampi in Elizabeth? Victorinos Pizza and Restaurant, at $15.00 on 1033 N Broad St. The same dish reaches $30.25 elsewhere in town, so where you order it changes the bill by $15.25.

What should shrimp scampi cost here? About $20.95 is the typical price across the 6 kitchens in Elizabeth that list it. Of the ones listed above, 2 are more than a dollar below that and 2 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 Linden, about 3 mi away, where the best price is $17.95. That is $2.95 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.