Publicado el 2026-10-12
The most expensive fast food in Italy: a KFC Classic Original for €7.70 in Bergamo, 31% above the chain's median
As fast food pricing becomes more data-driven, Drive Thru Index looked for the most expensive fast food in Italy, comparing each of 1 chains only with its own national prices, on 12 October 2026.
Datos del .
Datos clave
- Milano, Lombardy: fast food costs 1% more than the Italian typical priceDrive Thru Index 101, across 37 restaurants; each chain is compared only with itself.
- Lombardy is the most expensive region (index 102)Lazio is the cheapest (index 98); 100 is the national typical price.
- KFC Classic Original: €7.70 in Bergamo, Lombardy31% above KFC's Italian median of €5.90.
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.
Among cities with at least 10 restaurants, Milano, Lombardy is the most expensive: its Drive Thru Index is 101, meaning its restaurants charge 1% more than their own chains' national typical prices, on average.
Next come Torino, Piedmont (100) and Roma, Lazio (98).
By region, Lombardy is the most expensive (index 102) and Lazio the cheapest (98).
KFC's most expensive Classic Original costs €7.70, at the KFC in Bergamo, Lombardy: 31% above the chain's Italian median of €5.90. Its most expensive basket of 5 items is €38.40 in Bergamo, Lombardy, 37% above its median of €27.95.
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 IT, 87% of KFC locations, the biggest chain tracked there, charge within 10% of its typical Classic Original 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.
Frases para citar
The most expensive KFC Classic Original in Italy costs €7.70, in Bergamo, Lombardy.
Imágenes
Los datos de la nota
Cada cifra procede de nuestros precios del 2026-10-12, con la página de este sitio que la muestra.
| Cifra | Valor | Dónde verla |
|---|---|---|
| Milano, Lombardy: fast food costs 1% more than the Italian typical price | Drive Thru Index 101, across 37 restaurants; each chain is compared only with itself. | Ver la página |
| Lombardy is the most expensive region (index 102) | Lazio is the cheapest (index 98); 100 is the national typical price. | Ver la página |
| KFC Classic Original: €7.70 in Bergamo, Lombardy | 31% above KFC's Italian median of €5.90. | Ver la página |
| KFC Classic Original más caro (restaurantes) | €7.70 (1) | Bergamo, Lombardy |
| Pedido más caro (restaurantes) | €38.40 (+37%) | Bergamo, Lombardy |
Metodología, quiénes somos y contacto
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 12 October 2026, in euros. The Drive Thru Index of a place averages each chain's own index there, where 100 is that chain's typical price nationally, so chains are never compared with each other; cities need at least 10 restaurants. Each chain's most expensive restaurant leaves out airports, stadiums and similar sites, which are reported separately. 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
Fuentes de contexto
No forma parte de la nota: información que respalda su única frase de contexto, para preguntas de periodistas.
- 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.