Veröffentlicht am 2026-10-12
Same chain, different price across Austria: Subway's Italian B.M.T. sub varies by 50% between restaurants
As fast food pricing becomes more data-driven, Drive Thru Index compared what five chains charge at each of their own restaurants in Austria, on 12 October 2026. The gap between a chain's cheapest and most expensive restaurant is at most 50%; in the US, the price of a McDonald's Big Mac varies by 125%.
Daten mit Stand vom .
Die wichtigsten Fakten
- Burger King Whopper: €6.40 to €7.20A 12% spread across 55 restaurants; 35% charge €6.60.
- L'Osteria: €11.90 for the Pizza Margherita at all 18 restaurantsThe same basket of four items costs €38.20 at every one.
- Nordsee Classic Fish Burger: €6.99 to €8.99A 29% spread across 16 restaurants; 44% charge €7.99.
- dean&david Caesar chicken salad: €13.45 to €14.95A 11% spread across 13 restaurants; 92% charge €13.45.
- Big Mac in the US: 125% from the cheapest restaurant to the dearestAcross 13,657 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.
Across its 55 restaurants, Burger King's Whopper costs from €6.40 (26 restaurants) to €7.20 (4 restaurants): the most expensive charges 12% more than the cheapest, and 35% charge the typical €6.60. The same basket of five items costs from €24.30 to €28.30, a spread of 16%.
Every one of L'Osteria's 18 restaurants charges €11.90 for the Pizza Margherita. The same basket of four items costs €38.20 at every one of them.
Across its 16 restaurants, Nordsee's Classic Fish Burger costs from €6.99 (6 restaurants) to €8.99 (3 restaurants): the most expensive charges 29% more than the cheapest, and 44% charge the typical €7.99. The same basket of four items costs from €24.96 to €29.56, a spread of 18%.
Across its 13 restaurants, dean&david's Caesar chicken salad costs from €13.45 (12 restaurants) to €14.95 (Salzburg): the most expensive charges 11% more than the cheapest, and 92% charge the typical €13.45. The same basket of four items costs from €45.30 to €48.80, a spread of 8%.
Across its 11 restaurants, Subway's Italian B.M.T. sub costs from €3.99 (4 restaurants) to €5.99 (Salzburg): the most expensive charges 50% more than the cheapest, and 18% charge the typical €4.49. The same basket of four items costs from €13.56 to €18.46, a spread of 36%.
In the US, by contrast, the most expensive ordinary McDonald's charges 125% more for a Big Mac than the cheapest, across 13,657 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 AT, 100% of Burger King locations, the biggest chain tracked there, charge within 10% of its typical Whopper 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.
Zitierfähige Sätze
Burger King's Whopper costs 12% more at its most expensive restaurant in Austria than at its cheapest.
Every L'Osteria restaurant in Austria charges €11.90 for the Pizza Margherita.
Nordsee's Classic Fish Burger costs 29% more at its most expensive restaurant in Austria than at its cheapest.
dean&david's Caesar chicken salad costs 11% more at its most expensive restaurant in Austria than at its cheapest.
Bilder
Die Fakten hinter der Mitteilung
Jede Zahl stammt aus unseren Preisen vom 2026-10-12, jeweils mit der Seite dieser Website, auf der sie zu finden ist.
| Kennzahl | Wert | Zu finden auf |
|---|---|---|
| Burger King Whopper: €6.40 to €7.20 | A 12% spread across 55 restaurants; 35% charge €6.60. | Zur Seite |
| L'Osteria: €11.90 for the Pizza Margherita at all 18 restaurants | The same basket of four items costs €38.20 at every one. | Zur Seite |
| Nordsee Classic Fish Burger: €6.99 to €8.99 | A 29% spread across 16 restaurants; 44% charge €7.99. | Zur Seite |
| dean&david Caesar chicken salad: €13.45 to €14.95 | A 11% spread across 13 restaurants; 92% charge €13.45. | Zur Seite |
| Big Mac in the US: 125% from the cheapest restaurant to the dearest | Across 13,657 McDonald's restaurants; percentages only, prices are never converted. | Zur Seite |
| Burger King Whopper, am günstigsten (Restaurants) | €6.40 (26) | Amstetten, Lower Austria |
| Burger King Whopper, am teuersten (Restaurants) | €7.20 (4) | Eiseentratten, Carinthia |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | €28.30 (4) | Eiseentratten, Carinthia |
| L'Osteria Pizza Margherita, am günstigsten (Restaurants) | €11.90 (18) | Graz, Styria |
| L'Osteria Pizza Margherita, am teuersten (Restaurants) | €11.90 (18) | Graz, Styria |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | €38.20 (18) | Graz, Styria |
| Nordsee Classic Fish Burger, am günstigsten (Restaurants) | €6.99 (6) | Graz, Styria |
| Nordsee Classic Fish Burger, am teuersten (Restaurants) | €8.99 (3) | Salzburg, Salzburg |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | €29.56 (3) | Salzburg, Salzburg |
| dean&david Caesar chicken salad, am günstigsten (Restaurants) | €13.45 (12) | Graz, Styria |
| dean&david Caesar chicken salad, am teuersten (Restaurants) | €14.95 (1) | Salzburg, Salzburg |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | €48.80 (1) | Salzburg, Salzburg |
| Subway Italian B.M.T. sub, am günstigsten (Restaurants) | €3.99 (4) | Linz, Upper Austria |
| Subway Italian B.M.T. sub, am teuersten (Restaurants) | €5.99 (1) | Salzburg, Salzburg |
| Teuerste Bestellung (Restaurants) | €18.46 (1) | Salzburg, Salzburg |
Methodik, über uns und Kontakt
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. A chain's spread is how much more its most expensive 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
Hintergrundquellen
Nicht Teil der Mitteilung: Berichte, die die eine Zeile Kontext darin belegen, für Rückfragen von Journalistinnen und Journalisten.
- 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.