Anything more than $25 is a ripoff

Price of the boat, insurance, fuel, crew (labor cost), ice and other supplies, and lobster pots (traps) have all gone up. Getting the live lobster to market is not cheap, labor to crack and clean the lobster and make the lobster salad, the pay of servers, the cost of the restaurant or shack, again, the rent, the insurance, labor cost of the resturant. Nothing is inexpensive when it comes to lobster.

$25. My son paid. Delicious 🤤 probably higher now.

real strawberry preserves were priceless...

We had f'd over the planet so much that real strawberries were out of the price range of ordinary people.

Much like lobster ( and crab ) will be very soon ( if not now ).

After Sol told Thorne strawberry preserves were $150 per jar, Thorne realized Fielding, a lowly security guard, would have to be on the take from some exceptionally rich people.

The question that arises is why Thorne didn't realize Fielding was being bought off after meeting Fielding's "furniture." This lady was WAY too classy for a poor slob like Fielding.

victims. Grapes too costly for street women, ergo someone of some means the killer!

They have been around that price for several years.

A few weeks ago we visited kids again, who now live in the North End and went to a terrific Italian seafood restaurant The Daily Catch, owned by my friend’s sister and brother-in-law. 2 1/2 lb lobster was one of the specials and I ordered it. It was $95. Absolutely fabulous and it came with two tails. It was so big, I was full and didn’t touch the claws, so took them home and had them the next night.

My kid went to college in Maine and lobster in some form (like Mac and cheese, for example) was served a few times a year. Graduation has a lobster lunch for all grads, parents and guests every year.

4.2 ounces, $9.49. I thought it was $4.99, but this super doesn't put prices on most of its specialty cheeses. I didn't fight them, I can't find it anywhere, this is the first time, but will be more vigilant.

And got clipped on an item listed at .99 ... it was 1.99 at checkout.

So to answer the OP, I think they're all pushing prices for all they can. There are scarcities of product, labor, everyone's examining what costs are actually involved in bringing a product to market.

It's probably even cheaper outside of CA. Check it out. I am on a super strict, poverty level income and I never buy anything without reading labels and doing the math. It takes a long time to shop but I pay at least 30% less than everyone I know (seriously, I ask them what they pay and my mouth drops open in disbelief).

However, I have not bought ANY clothes, furniture, household items since 2020. If I do it is with a gift card. I can not eat out at all unless someone treats my or I only eat appetizers. I have not seen a movie, gone to any entertainment, bar, club, etc since then. I am used to it.

Most people would be seriously depressed living every day like it is the Great Depression but I am used to it. For me to act differently at this point would be very difficult. I would have "spender's guilt". Spending money on anything other than rent, insurance and utilities is an extravagance in my mind. I'm still reusing the same plastic grocery bags from 7 years ago!

On the plus side I recycle EVERYTHING...food, clothes, tiny pieces of this and that, etc. I rarely throw anything away. The planet likes me.

and live a disciplined frugal life as well. I will check out some NJ sources. Some purchases even out, last month I got 3 packs of sheep's milk cheese, from France, on closeout, 2.5 ounces each for 50 cents! Flavor very similar to pecorino - salty! I am so done with this supermarket's cheese kiosk. Few price stickers, I should have known. I'm beginning to think it's stocked and serviced by an outside vendor. I've complained about no prices on things before. I'm going to stick to Grocery Outlet.

it costs about 30% more than Trader Joe's and the quality sucks. The thing is is that both stores are about 20' apart. Who would buy cheese at the supermarket?

If not at a supermarket, where pray tell?

compared to Ralph's. It's very tiny and you can't have 2 carts in one isle or you won't fit. I just stopped by today and their Romano and Parmesan blend is $9.99 a pound. Their other cheeses are excellent and my dad was a cheese lover and their blue cheese was about $7 a pound and it's really good.

I was there Saturday. Parmesano Reggiano was a couple bucks cheaper.
Got both, but they'll last us a long time.

Manager of a department may be trying to pad his profit margin or gross ... to meet a quota to get his bonus. I overheard such chat in a Wally's one day. Someone worried about their bonus. So in this case, in the cheese aisle manager pulls overpricing some scarce item. It may not be a company level problem. There is a link to complain on a receipt, but nothing happens.

I think you'd only get action if you bring it up with the store manager, on the store floor.
Funny story: the supermarket by my house had 16-20 count shrimp for $7.99/lb wuth the digital coupon.
When I bought it, the had 1# bags of 31-40 count, which I like for alfredo or Thai curry because they're one bite.
There were 2 sales tags in the freezer. One said $8.99 per pound, the other $5.99.
Now, I'm not paying more for smaller shrimp, but if the $6 is right, I'll get that too.
I went over a got the assistant manager. He comes over and sees it. All he says is "Huh? That's not right."
He told he would figure out which was the right price, but I would pay $5.99 no matter what. I told him just to leave it at the service desk.
Turns out $5.99 was the right price. When I went by again to get to checkout, there was only one tag.

Obviously a lot of people like lobster. Count me out. Feel like it is just a huge ocean cockroach.

Way overrated for the price, even at pre-inflation prices.

Been YEARS since I've had one (in New England trip,) and no such price. Thought gonna find some here in MD, but they disappeared.)

Justify factory poultry and egg farming. I’m a vegetarian.

I hope Yankee fans don't have to pay the increased price. That would be criminal.

That is terrible. I went grocery shopping today, and the cashier said she was sorry how expensive food is.

That's how markets work.

Otherwise forget about it.

I live in Southeastern MN……A tiny corner of MN….And our local grocery has both crab and lobster patties. They’re both breaded and one is with crab, and one is with lobster. I do enjoy the lobster patties the best. But they are fake right???

All I know for sure is the drive in lunch lines are packed. Restaurants are busy. New cars are everywhere.

And … everyone is broke.

I rarely eat food not prepared by myself and my diet is low sodium, I actually keep it under 2000 and on those rare occasions I do visit a restaurant all I can taste is salt.

I sit at the watering hole drinking a beer and people will door dash a burger to the bar … for $30.

$40 is nothing to those who eat out everyday.

*shrug

My theory is everyone is living on their credit cards, and one of these days all that credit is going to be impossible to pay back.

Read...
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20520552

Majority of cars on the road I see are less than 5 yrs. old. Restaurants at dinner time are packed 7 days a week. Large grocery stores busy. Literally any time I go to Sam’s Club it’s very busy and crowded. I avoid that place like the plague right before a holiday.

I guess you could say that just the well-heeled are out spending their money and the not so well heeled are staying home.

I had one a few weeks ago, lobster roll, ffs, Cole slaw and a 16 ounce IPA- $32. That was a good deal, thank you Lasses.

The lobster fishers want to be paid for their catch, enough to cover their time as well as the cost of maintaining their boats and pots (and insurance, and maybe something set aside for a rainy day). The stores selling the lobster have their own expenses, as do the restaurants who do the preparation and serving. All these costs add up. Plus, the population has gone up a lot since I was able to get a lobster dinner in NYS for $5, and a lot of those people want lobster, too.

East Coast lobsters are very expensive here on the Left Coast (unless you like them frozen), but prices of local Dungeness crabs have gone up to $15/lb, when you can find them - we've had crab seasons recently that either had low catches or were outright cancelled. Supply and demand: the planet's population keeps going up, and seafood catches can't match it.

A place near me had them for $19, but they aren't selling them right now.

pinged my ex. he says $8-9. that’s more than i thought. i think we ate them every day for a week.

at less than $10, 20 years ago. But they were thin on the lobster and on a shorter bun. Not a full meal.

I never much cared for the lobster, I do like shrimp however...

It was cheap. Hubby was grossed out and so was I once I tasted it.

It's only $2.35 for a 1 pound can at HEB

See Monty Python...

I've never had the cojones to taste it, because it sure as heck smells like cat food to me.

Last edited Tue Jul 29, 2025, 07:59 PM - Edit history (1)

9 miles from Maine, 9 miles from MA. And they were a ripoff then, at home or north/south. Some lump meat in a split-topped hotdog bun. Hot with butter or cold with mayo.

I usually got the fried clams or fish and chips instead. One can only be disappointed so many times….

If you go to some of the seafood/meat shops, they often will steam/crack the lobster whole for you and you can make your own. It’s much more satisfying. Not easy if you are just visiting of course.

Hmm . . . now I'm thinking about defrosting some tails, boiling water on the grill and having lobster rolls for dinner tomorrow. My husband likes the "weird tuna salad.

BTW - in Boston over the 4th, ate at the pier - $27.

Anything more than that is a bigger rip off. The biggest problem with them is that they aren't that filling for the money. And they don't taste good enough for that money either. A donut is cheaper, tastes better, and is more filling.

But they're really rock lobsters. You can buy one just caught out of the ocean for about $150-$200 (NZ) at a seaside shack in Kaikoura on the South Island. Worth every penny.

That's all the reason they need.

And there's a line to buy them. That's why they get away with charging that much.

Picture of the tiny thing at the link: https://www.bostonherald.com/2024/06/26/scouting-massachusetts-for-great-lobster-rolls/#:~:text=Perfection.,that%20feels%20like%20a%20value.

We could replace the pig farms in Iowa with lobster ponds.

No, not the same species, but something close enough.

stopped at a place on Friday to grab their fish fry. They do steaks, cocktails etc. Decent place but not really fine dining. Independent place and more like a step up from a chain. A 6 ounce filet mignon was $51.99 and a 16 ounce rib-eye was $56.99. All it came with was a single side and choice of soup or salad. No salad bar. I don't drink but I'm pretty sure that given the look of the place 2 cocktails would be the end of at least a $20 bill and that would be for rail booze rather than premium stuff.

The fish fry was $12.99 and it was 3 breaded cod fingers, a small dab of coleslaw, small dab of tartar sauce, 2 very small potato pancakes about the size of a jar lid and a half slice of marble rye bread.

If a person wanted to go with a lower priced meat entree you can have a single pork chop, vegetable and 1 side for $30.99.

This is why I don't go out to eat much anymore.

I buy three of them at a time for Sparkly and me. I microwave them (google it), pull out the meat, cut them up then toss them in melted butter and make two rolls.

$21 for lobster
$1 for a half stick of butter
$1 for 2 split top hot dog buns

$11.50 each for two lawbstah rolls (sluuuurp)

they've been in a long time. You should easily be able to make a couple of good-sized lobster rolls for under $20. I prefer the traditional version with lobster chunks, a tiny bit of chopped celery and onion and mayo. Less is more when it comes to lobster.

I think it's about $8 at present.

used to be an inexpensive summer staple.

No longer....

We were in DC 2 years ago and I had a lobster roll in a cute restaurant in Georgetown - it was amazing, bursting full of lobster and was $20.