Nachos in Washington

11 restaurants in Washington list nachos on their menus. The cheapest is Americas Best Wingstop at $9.20, listed as Chicken Nachos. The typical price across town is $12.95, and the dearest we found is $20.00 at Fred & Stilla, so the two ends of the list are $10.80 apart, which is 117% more for the same dish. Of the 11 kitchens listed, 2 charge more than a dollar under the typical price, 4 sit within a dollar of it and 5 charge more than a dollar over.

We track nachos in 74 other areas and compare them all on nachos across United States. The typical price there runs $12.75 at the median, so Washington is dearer than most of them, with a lower typical price than 35 of the 74. The lowest best price anywhere we cover is $5.29 at Fat Cats in Westminster, CO, and the highest best price is $13.89 in Spokane, WA. The nearest area with it is Alexandria, about 8 mi away, where the best price is $11.99.

Where is the cheapest nachos in Washington? Americas Best Wingstop, at $9.20 on 1001 U St NW. The same dish reaches $20.00 elsewhere in town, so where you order it changes the bill by $10.80.

What should nachos cost here? About $12.95 is the typical price across the 11 kitchens in Washington that list it. Of the ones listed above, 2 are more than a dollar below that and 5 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 $11.99. That is $2.79 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.