Is Bill’s Bait Shop too expensive? It’s an interesting and difficult question today. I used to write more about value and pricing, but everyone defines affordability differently. When I went to the soft opening for Bill’s, I left feeling it was quite inexpensive. But two reviews mentioned pricing in a disparaging way, and it made me want to examine this.
RacketMN and Heavy Table both talked prices. HeavyTable dreamed of a sub-$10 burger, writing “push comes to shove and you’ve spent nearly $25 a plate of forgettable fast food,” calling it a “lousy value.” Value is a complex thing to quantify—because a $25 plate of exquisite bar food is exquisite. No one’s mad at the $19 five-piece fried chicken at Bull’s Horn with the $8 French fry basket. It’s $27 well-spent.
Both reviews pointed to the $19 Tacklebox snack with summer sausage, trout dip, vegetable crudite, cheese dip, cubed cheese, pickles, grapes, and crackers. Racket also singled out the Smoked Trout Dip (a small ramekin of dip) for $14 as expensive. On the Trout Dip photo a friend sent, Racket said “I mean, you’d laugh, if you weren’t so mad about being robbed.”
Heavy Table also pointed to the burger prices, so I took a closer look:
Bill’s Bait Shop: Double Cheeseburger (with fries) is $16.
Bull’s Horn: Double Cheeseburger is $16.50, add fries for $3.50; total $20.
Matt’s Bar: Double Cheeseburger is $11.50, and a half order of fries is $5.95; $17.45 total.
We also ordered Deviled Eggs—and Bill’s is in the wheelhouse of nearby Bull’s Horn:
Bill’s Bait Shop Deviled Eggs: $9
Bull’s Horn Deviled Eggs: $10
Cocktails are around $12 at Bill’s, and that may have made an outsized impact on my perception of affordability; you just don’t see cocktails very often at that price point in the city, the land of the $18 Old Fashioned.
So, is Bill’s affordable? A value? Expensive? It’s clearly not expensive, based on the neighborhood and the wider neighborhood. Also, calling Bill’s Bait Shop’s double smash a “$16 cheeseburger” is part of why so many places don’t include a side or fries anymore. We liked our burger and particularly liked the $20 smoked thick burger, but objectively the pricing, including fries, is only noteworthy for being relatively low.
Value is a different question. If you’re not executing, a $10 cheeseburger isn’t a good value. It’s personal. Is it too expensive for you? Maybe so, but I’ve been struck by how many people’s expectations for restaurant pricing are in line with what we paid for things in 2015. Wages are up, online ordering costs restaurants money, and rent is up, too. Doesn’t mean you should suck it up and pay more—it does mean you should be reasonable when looking at cost.
