Published 2026-10-05
Irish fast food chains charge almost the same everywhere, unlike America
As fast food pricing becomes more data-driven, Drive Thru Index compared what five chains charge at each of their own restaurants in Ireland, on 5 October 2026. The gap between a chain's cheapest and dearest restaurant is at most 1%; in the US, the price of a McDonald's Big Mac varies by 125%.
Data as of .
Key facts
- Supermac's: €9.25 for the Snack Box at all 106 restaurantsThe same basket of five items costs €28.90 at every one.
- KFC: €7.95 for the Zinger Burger at all 36 restaurantsThe same basket of five items costs €29.40 at every one.
- Burger King: €6.95 for the Whopper at all 10 restaurantsThe same basket of five items varies by 6%.
- Eddie Rocket's: €11.95 for The Classic at all 8 restaurantsThe same basket of four items varies by 1%.
- Big Mac in the US: 125% from the cheapest restaurant to the dearestAcross 13,649 McDonald's restaurants; percentages only, prices are never converted.
Fast food chains are collecting more and more data about their customers through mobile apps and loyalty programmes: accounts with their details, and what they order and when. They are also experimenting with AI and data-driven pricing. Meanwhile the same item can cost very different amounts from one restaurant to the next, and customers cannot see why. Drive Thru Index publishes every restaurant's real price, every day, so anyone can check.
Every one of Supermac's 106 restaurants charges €9.25 for the Snack Box. The same basket of five items costs €28.90 at every one of them.
Every one of KFC's 36 restaurants charges €7.95 for the Zinger Burger. The same basket of five items costs €29.40 at every one of them.
Every one of Burger King's 10 restaurants charges €6.95 for the Whopper. The same basket of five items costs from €28.65 to €30.25, a spread of 6%.
Every one of Eddie Rocket's 8 restaurants charges €11.95 for The Classic. The same basket of four items costs from €30.20 to €30.40, a spread of 1%.
Across its 5 restaurants, Popeyes' Classic Chicken Sandwich costs from €7.95 (2 restaurants) to €7.99 (3 restaurants): the dearest charges 1% more than the cheapest, and 60% charge the typical €7.99. The same basket of four items costs €29.35 at every one of them.
In the US, by contrast, the dearest ordinary McDonald's charges 125% more for a Big Mac than the cheapest, across 13,649 restaurants. Only the percentages are compared: prices are never converted between currencies.
Anthony Gherghetta, an Australian software developer who built Drive Thru Index, started it after reading some of the buzz about AI being used to set fast food prices: he wanted to see whether it was true, and how big the price differences between restaurants really were. Prices bear out the contrast he noticed. In Australia, 97% of McDonald's restaurants charge within 10% of the typical Big Mac price; in the US, 53% do. The gap between the cheapest and the dearest tenth of restaurants is 10% of the typical price in Australia and 33% in the US. In Ireland, 100% of Supermac's locations, the biggest chain tracked there, charge within 10% of its typical Snack Box price.
“I kept reading that fast food chains were starting to use AI and customer data to set prices, so I wanted to see if it was true and how big the differences really were. In Australia, where I’m from, a Big Mac costs much the same wherever you buy it. In the US the price changes from one restaurant to the next. Fast food apps now know what you order, when and where, but customers can’t see how prices are set. So I built Drive Thru Index to check every restaurant, every day,” said Gherghetta.
Quotable lines
Every Supermac's restaurant in Ireland charges €9.25 for the Snack Box.
Every KFC restaurant in Ireland charges €7.95 for the Zinger Burger.
Every Burger King restaurant in Ireland charges €6.95 for the Whopper.
Every Eddie Rocket's restaurant in Ireland charges €11.95 for The Classic.
Images
The facts behind the release
Every figure is from our prices of 2026-10-05, with the page on this site that shows it.
| Figure | Value | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Supermac's: €9.25 for the Snack Box at all 106 restaurants | The same basket of five items costs €28.90 at every one. | See the page |
| KFC: €7.95 for the Zinger Burger at all 36 restaurants | The same basket of five items costs €29.40 at every one. | See the page |
| Burger King: €6.95 for the Whopper at all 10 restaurants | The same basket of five items varies by 6%. | See the page |
| Eddie Rocket's: €11.95 for The Classic at all 8 restaurants | The same basket of four items varies by 1%. | See the page |
| Big Mac in the US: 125% from the cheapest restaurant to the dearest | Across 13,649 McDonald's restaurants; percentages only, prices are never converted. | See the page |
| Cheapest Supermac's Snack Box (restaurants) | €9.25 (106) | Athenry, Galway |
| Most expensive Supermac's Snack Box (restaurants) | €9.25 (106) | Athenry, Galway |
| Most expensive order (restaurants) | €28.90 (105) | Athenry, Galway |
| Cheapest KFC Zinger Burger (restaurants) | €7.95 (36) | Athlone, Westmeath |
| Most expensive KFC Zinger Burger (restaurants) | €7.95 (36) | Athlone, Westmeath |
| Most expensive order (restaurants) | €29.40 (36) | Athlone, Westmeath |
| Cheapest Burger King Whopper (restaurants) | €6.95 (10) | Ballycoolin, Dublin |
| Most expensive Burger King Whopper (restaurants) | €6.95 (10) | Ballycoolin, Dublin |
| Most expensive order (restaurants) | €30.25 (2) | Ballycoolin, Dublin |
| Cheapest Eddie Rocket's The Classic (restaurants) | €11.95 (8) | Athlone, Westmeath |
| Most expensive Eddie Rocket's The Classic (restaurants) | €11.95 (8) | Athlone, Westmeath |
| Most expensive order (restaurants) | €30.40 (6) | Athlone, Westmeath |
| Cheapest Popeyes Classic Chicken Sandwich (restaurants) | €7.95 (2) | Naas, Kildare |
| Most expensive Popeyes Classic Chicken Sandwich (restaurants) | €7.99 (3) | Dublin, Dublin |
| Most expensive order (restaurants) | €29.46 (3) | Dublin, Dublin |
Methodology, about and contact
Drive Thru Index reads every restaurant's menu from each chain's own ordering app every day; these are the latest pickup prices collected on or before 5 October 2026, in euros. A chain's spread is how much more its dearest restaurant charges than its cheapest, as a share of the cheapest price, for its signature item and for the same basket of items; chains with fewer than 5 restaurants priced are left out. Airports, stadiums and similar sites are left out, and so are prices below 40% or above 250% of a chain's typical price, which are almost always menu errors. Each chain is compared only with itself, and another country is compared by percentages alone: prices are never converted between currencies.
About Drive Thru Index: Drive Thru Index (drivethruindex.com) publishes the menu price of every item at every restaurant of the biggest fast food brands, collected each day from the chains' own ordering apps. As pricing becomes more data-driven, it exists so that customers can see what each restaurant really charges and how it compares with others nearby. It covers the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Mexico and the Netherlands. Brands are only compared with themselves, and prices are never converted between currencies. Its figures are free to quote with attribution: "Source: Drive Thru Index".
The images with this release are free to use with the credit "Image: Drive Thru Index (drivethruindex.com)".
Media contact: anthony@drivethruindex.com
Background sources
Not part of the release: reporting that backs up its one line of context, for questions from journalists.
- How restaurant loyalty programs can drive more traffic and improve experiences Restaurant Dive, 2024-08-15
Restaurant loyalty apps pull in customers' ordering history and preferences, to personalise offers and recommendations (the intro's apps and loyalty programmes). - Wendy's backtracks on dynamic pricing Restaurant Dive, 2024-02-28
Wendy's told investors it would test dynamic and AI-enabled pricing on digital menu boards from 2025, then said after a backlash that it would not raise prices at the busiest times (the intro's experiments with data-driven pricing). - Inside McDonald's push to have AI price your Big Mac CNBC, 2026-09-29
Reports a Reuters investigation into an AI tool that recommends menu prices to McDonald's restaurants; McDonald's says franchisees remain free to set their own prices. Not quoted in the release text; the page could not be fetched to check its wording, only its search listing.