Restaurant pricing - English vs Spanish

[gopbroek]

That's very interesting, the phone ap version will translate a picture?

Yes, it will translate live video.

 

[bsppc]

Casa Mission has two menus and plays the tourist game. That is why I will not return there........

 

[El Graduado]

the wallpaper fish has me stumped

poisson en papilote

 

[DandyDon]

Casa Mission has two menus and plays the tourist game. That is why I will not return there........

Which one? I'm guessing it's more in line with this tho...

Given how the rate is fluctuating, I imagine restaurant owners have a hard time keeping menu prices current when they list in US$ (which most English speakers would probably want).

And the best solution...

I always pay in pesos though.

 

[mmmbelows]

Kind of interesting the denial that this goes on. Yeah prices fluctuate, what's that got to do with a Spanish menu and an English menu that the English menu is consistently higher? If fluctuations in the currency is the game and historically for quite a long time the Peso and dollar have been much closer in value than they have in the last couple of years what explains the two differences in prices from before the dramatic rise in the dollar? To think that rip offs of tourists doesn't go on in tourist zones is a bit naive or you're one of those travelers who has avoided every business that has tourists making up a large part of their business and all of your dealings have been with local businesses well off the tourist paths. You might think those Cuban cigars they sell to tourists in the square are really from Cuba?

 

[El Graduado]

As far as the different prices in restaurants for tourists and non-tourists, I like to think of it not as "ripping-off" the tourists, but rather "discounting" the locals. How many locals can afford a 13 dollar hamburger? For a typical American or Canadian, the prices for meals in Cozumel may be on the high side of what they pay at home, but it is a resort destination, after all. During the low season, these restaurants have to scrape by with greatly diminished sales, but must pay the same overhead. Many of them have formalized their "local discount," offering between 10 and 25 percent off to people who show their local ID. Others do it in a less formal way, putting the prices in the Spanish menu a little lower than in the English menu.

The "Cuban" cigars and the ersatz silver are another matter!

 

[DandyDon]

As far as the different prices in restaurants for tourists and non-tourists, I like to think of it not as "ripping-off" the tourists, but rather "discounting" the locals. How many locals can afford a 13 dollar hamburger? For a typical American or Canadian, the prices for meals in Cozumel may be on the high side of what they pay at home, but it is a resort destination, after all. During the low season, these restaurants have to scrape by with greatly diminished sales, but must pay the same overhead. Many of them have formalized their "local discount," offering between 10 and 25 percent off to people who show their local ID. Others do it in a less formal way, putting the prices in the Spanish menu a little lower than in the English menu.

The "Cuban" cigars and the ersatz silver are another matter!

That really sounds like white-washing the rip-off: "They're tourists, so charge more." Granted, it is an artificially created resort destination, and some visitors like that aspect. I'm not one of them.

 

[lionfish-eater]

Don, if you look on the bright side of life, you could see it as a way to reward loyal local customers who give repeat business.

 

[ReefHound]

As far as the different prices in restaurants for tourists and non-tourists, I like to think of it not as "ripping-off" the tourists, but rather "discounting" the locals. How many locals can afford a 13 dollar hamburger?

Six of one, half dozen of the other. Why does it have to be a 13 dollar burger? It's not like they are paying their cooks $13/hr with benefits. The reason is simple - they charge what the tourist market will bear. And because the locals cannot bear that price, they charge them less. One may justify for this or that but the point is, don't pretend it doesn't happen.

And what you'd like to think notwithstanding, it really is more of a tourist surcharge than a local discount because if there were no tourists there would still be restaurants (but not as many) like there are in non-tourist locations in Mexico charging "local" prices to everyone.

 

[mmmbelows]

Are there restaurants in let's say Orlando Florida a very touristy city in the US that have one menu priced for tourists and one for the locals? Maybe there are, I don't know, I'm just asking because maybe this is more prevalent than I realize.

I gotta figure the currency exchange rip off that restaurants do to tourists is probably really just the result of giving locals a loyalty repeat customer discount too then? Or do they have some unwritten lines they don't cross? Where it's okay to rip off a tourist for $10-$15 dollars with the exchange rate on a meal but the higher priced English menu is not a rip off, they draw the line there?