Shrimp Scampi in Manalapan Township

4 restaurants in Manalapan Township list shrimp scampi on their menus. The cheapest is Sal's Gourmet Pizza & Pasta at $16.95, listed as Shrimp Scampi Lunch. The typical price across town is $23.00, and the dearest we found is $24.95 at Coal Fired Pizza, so the two ends of the list are $8.00 apart, which is 47% more for the same dish. Of the 4 kitchens listed, 1 charges more than a dollar under the typical price, 2 sit within a dollar of it and 1 charges 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 Manalapan Township is about average, with a lower typical price than 133 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 Freehold, about 4 mi away, where the best price is $18.50.

Where is the cheapest shrimp scampi in Manalapan Township? Sal's Gourmet Pizza & Pasta, at $16.95 on 356 U.S. 9. The same dish reaches $24.95 elsewhere in town, so where you order it changes the bill by $8.00.

What should shrimp scampi cost here? About $23.00 is the typical price across the 4 kitchens in Manalapan Township that list it. Of the ones listed above, 1 is more than a dollar below that and 1 is 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 Freehold, about 4 mi away, where the best price is $18.50. That is $1.55 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.