Updated: October 2026
Menu Price Wise exists to give you a clear, honest picture of what eating out in the United States tends to cost. This page explains how we research our pages, how we check our work, how often we update it, and how you can help us fix a mistake. We believe you should be able to see how a guide like ours is put together before you trust it.
We are an independent guide. We are not owned by, run by, or affiliated with any restaurant, restaurant chain, franchise, or delivery company. No restaurant pays us to be listed, and no restaurant pays us to change how its prices are shown. That independence matters to us, because it is the reason you can trust that a page is written for readers first, not for a brand.
How We Research Menu Prices
Our prices are researched from public sources. That usually means the restaurant’s own official website or app, its published menu, and publicly available delivery listings where menu prices are shown to customers. We look at what a typical customer would actually see when checking a menu, and we aim to reflect the regular menu rather than a one-day deal or a special promotion, unless a page clearly says otherwise.
When a restaurant has many locations, we try to give prices that are representative of what most customers encounter, and we note on the page that prices may vary by location. That note is important. A burger, a family meal, or a drink can cost a different amount in New York, Texas, or California, and it can differ between a busy city location and a smaller town. Taxes, delivery fees, and local charges are also separate from menu prices, so the total you pay may be higher than the menu price alone.
How We Check Our Work
Before a page is published, we review it for the basics that matter most to readers:
- Are the menu items named correctly, in a way that matches how the restaurant presents them?
- Do the prices look consistent with the public sources we checked, rather than copied from a guess?
- Is it clear which items are part of a meal, a combo, or a standalone order?
- Does the page carry its location-variation disclaimer and a freshness date?
- Is the writing in plain, helpful language, without exaggeration or promotional hype?
We do not copy text from restaurant websites or from other guides. Each page is written in our own words, based on the facts we found. Where a menu is long, we focus on the items readers ask about most, such as popular mains, sides, drinks, desserts, and family or value options, so the page stays useful instead of becoming an endless list.
Keeping Pages Fresh
Menus and prices change, sometimes without much notice. That is why every price page carries an “Updated: October 2026” style freshness note showing when it was last reviewed. We revisit pages on a rolling basis, with popular pages checked more often, and we update a page when we find that its prices or menu items have changed in a meaningful way.
Even with regular updates, we cannot guarantee that every price is exact at the exact moment you read it. A restaurant may raise a price, remove an item, or test a different price in one region. If you are planning a visit and the exact cost matters to you, please double-check the restaurant’s official menu or call the location before you go. The restaurant’s own current price always takes priority over our guide.
Corrections Are Welcomed
We would rather fix a mistake than leave it up. If you spot a price that looks wrong, a menu item that no longer exists, or a page that feels out of date, please tell us through our Contact page. A short note with the restaurant name, the item, and the price you saw — and where you saw it, such as the official menu or a location you visited — helps us check it quickly.
When a correction checks out against a public source, we update the page and refresh its date. We do not remove a correction request simply because it is inconvenient, and we do not change a price because a business asks us to unless the change matches what customers can publicly verify.
Advertising Does Not Shape Our Content
Advertising on this site, including ads served through Google AdSense, helps keep the site running, but it does not influence which restaurants we cover, which items we list, or what prices we show. Our editorial choices are made for readers, not for advertisers. You can read the full details in our Advertisement Policy.
Our Promise to Readers
In short, we aim to be independent, transparent about our sources and limits, careful with facts, and quick to correct errors. If we ever fall short of that standard on a page, we want to hear about it — because a price guide is only useful if readers can rely on it.