Calamari in Watchung

3 restaurants in Watchung list calamari on their menus. The cheapest is Marino's Trattoria at $13.50, listed as Fried Calamari. The typical price across town is $16.99, and the dearest we found is $19.00 at Grano Pizzeria & Italian Tavern, so the two ends of the list are $5.50 apart, which is 41% more for the same dish. Of the 3 kitchens listed, 1 charges more than a dollar under the typical price, 1 sits within a dollar of it and 1 charges more than a dollar over.

We track calamari in 493 other areas and compare them all on calamari across United States. The typical price there runs $15.42 at the median, so Watchung is dearer than most of them, with a lower typical price than 119 of the 493. 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 North Plainfield, about 2 mi away, where the best price is $12.95.

Where is the cheapest calamari in Watchung? Marino's Trattoria, at $13.50 on 475 Watchung Ave. The same dish reaches $19.00 elsewhere in town, so where you order it changes the bill by $5.50.

What should calamari cost here? About $16.99 is the typical price across the 3 kitchens in Watchung 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 North Plainfield, about 2 mi away, where the best price is $12.95. That is $0.55 less than the best here, though whether that is worth the journey is your call.

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.