> The index for food was unchanged in September, as the index for food away from home increased 0.2 percent and the index for food at home fell 0.1 percent.

Restaurant prices are absolutely out of control. My local Chickfila is no longer wrapping cars around the parking lot. They might still be putting up good numbers via expansion but there is no way the per-store economics are trending well.

I remember when it was arguably cheaper (especially once you factor in your time) to go buy off the Taco Bell value menu. You could get a bag of burritos filled to the top for like $12. This will hardly purchase a single menu item today.

It feels like we are in some kind of fast food death spiral right now.