Drew Dixon
The price of dining at a restaurant isn’t getting cheaper these days. But Florida actually stacks up as a state with reasonable prices when it comes to getting a bite to eat and Jacksonville leads the way.
A recent analysis from Sumup, a global company featuring financial technology tools for businesses and entrepreneurs, found that Jacksonville is the third most inexpensive city when it comes to eating out. The report comes as the U.S. Census Bureau found that the price for eating at a restaurant has doubled in the past decade.
Sumup used factors such as meal prices at inexpensive and expensive restaurants, the cost of domestic and imported beer, and the cost of coffee as a summary of determining the value for city rankings when it comes to eating out at restaurants. El Paso, Texas, and Indianapolis were listed as the No. 1 and No. 2 cities, respectively, that were most affordable for restaurant dining towns in the country.
Jacksonville was the only Florida city in the top 25 of most affordable dining scenes in the U.S.
The report concluded Jacksonville was ranked so high among the most affordable U.S. Cities for eating out due to “prices ranging from as little as $18 for a meal at an inexpensive restaurant to $80 for a meal for two at a more luxurious restaurant.
“The average coffee was found to be fairly priced at $4.66 while domestic beers cost just $5 and imported beers just $1 more” in Jacksonville, the report concluded.
Texas had six cities on the list of top 25 most affordable U.S. cities for eating out while California had four cities in the top 25. There were 13 other states that accounted for cities listed in the top 25.
Beyond the top listings, though, Sumup noted that some other Florida cities still offer some affordable restaurant prices. The analysis shows Tallahassee averaging $14.75 for a meal, St. Petersburg and Cape Coral both averaging $16.50 per meal, and Port St. Lucie and Tampa both averaging about $20 per meal.
Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Hialeah and Orlando all had average meal prices at affordable restaurants ranging from $21 to $25.50.
