Calamari in Washington

29 restaurants in Washington list calamari on their menus. The cheapest is Sanphan Thai at $10.50, listed as Fried Calamari. The typical price across town is $16.95, and the dearest we found is $26.00 at RARE Steaks & Seafood, so the two ends of the list are $15.50 apart, which is 148% more for the same dish. Of the 29 kitchens listed, 12 charge more than a dollar under the typical price, 5 sit within a dollar of it and 12 charge 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 $15.37 at the median, so Washington is dearer than most of them, with a lower typical price than 124 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 Alexandria, about 8 mi away, where the best price is $11.95.

Where is the cheapest calamari in Washington? Sanphan Thai, at $10.50 on 653 Pennsylvania Avenue Southeast. The same dish reaches $26.00 elsewhere in town, so where you order it changes the bill by $15.50.

What should calamari cost here? About $16.95 is the typical price across the 29 kitchens in Washington that list it. Of the ones listed above, 12 are more than a dollar below that and 12 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 Alexandria, about 8 mi away, where the best price is $11.95. That is $1.45 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.