Calamari in Ronkonkoma

6 restaurants in Ronkonkoma list calamari on their menus. The cheapest is Maria's Pizza & Bistro at $14.35, listed as Fried Calamari. The typical price across town is $18.27, and the dearest we found is $22.95 at Mama Mia's Pizza, so the two ends of the list are $8.60 apart, which is 60% more for the same dish. Of the 6 kitchens listed, 3 charge 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 calamari in 495 other areas and compare them all on calamari across United States. The typical price there runs $15.45 at the median, so Ronkonkoma is dearer than most of them, with a lower typical price than 50 of the 495. The lowest best price anywhere we cover is $4.50 at French Quarter Grille in Austin, TX, and the highest best price is $19.75 in Harwood Heights, IL. The nearest area with it is Farmingville, about 3 mi away, where the best price is $15.95.

Where is the cheapest calamari in Ronkonkoma? Maria's Pizza & Bistro, at $14.35 on 2060 Ocean Ave. The same dish reaches $22.95 elsewhere in town, so where you order it changes the bill by $8.60.

What should calamari cost here? About $18.27 is the typical price across the 6 kitchens in Ronkonkoma that list it. Of the ones listed above, 3 are 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 Farmingville, about 3 mi away, where the best price is $15.95. That is $1.60 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.