Restaurants in the west don't move enough product to gain the benefits of scale, because the only way to serve enough customers to profit at low prices is to have masses and masses of foot traffic, as a place that people normally just walk to can serve a dozen more people at a time than a place that relies on parking, because a car takes up the space of close to a dozen people, plus needs the parking lot to leave the car as you go get your food. This is why hot dog venders are still cheap in the west, because they presume that cars aren't customers and cater entirely to pedestrians that make up 100% of their base, and end up moving tens of times as much product that is larger, tastier, yet far cheaper than even McDonalds is lately. Last I checked, a jumbo sausage and drink is more filling than a big mac meal, yet sold at a third of the cost.
Restaurants in the west don't move enough product to gain the benefits of scale, because the only way to serve enough customers to profit at low prices is to have masses and masses of foot traffic, as a place that people normally just walk to can serve a dozen more people at a time than a place that relies on parking, because a car takes up the space of close to a dozen people, plus needs the parking lot to leave the car as you go get your food.
This is why hot dog venders are still cheap in the west, because they presume that cars aren't customers and cater entirely to pedestrians that make up 100% of their base, and end up moving tens of times as much product that is larger, tastier, yet far cheaper than even McDonalds is lately. Last I checked, a jumbo sausage and drink is more filling than a big mac meal, yet sold at a third of the cost.