The fries.wtf value report · live data · updated Sep 13, 2026

What $10 really buys at the drive-thru

The menu board shows you a price. It doesn’t show you what that price buys. We collect real prices straight from each chain’s ordering system and pair them with published nutrition — so here’s where your dollar actually goes furthest, no estimates, no guesses.

31 chains 2,624 priced items 435,638 price checks Cheapest 30g protein: $1.25^*

Finding 01 · The protein spread

How much protein does $10 buy?

Median grams of protein per $10 spent, by chain. If you eat to hit a protein target for the least money, this is the whole game.

23× more protein for the same ten bucks — Costco Food Court^* vs Panda Express.

Costco Food Court^*Best

145g

88g

48g

47g

43g

43g

42g

42g

41g

36g

35g

Chipotle Mexican Grill

35g

34g

33g

33g

31g

30g

29g

27g

27g

26g

24g

23g

21g

17g

17g

16g

15g

10g

grams of protein per $10 · median item · bar to scale

Finding 02 · Peak protein efficiency

The cheapest way to get 30g of protein

Every priced item scaled to a 30g-protein serving at its own price-per-gram — the most efficient protein sources in all of fast food.

1
Whole 18" Cheese Pizza
Costco Food Court^* · $9.95 · 239g protein

$1.25
2
Cheese Pizza (Slice)
Costco Food Court^* · $1.99 · 40g protein

$1.49
3
Combo Pizza (Slice)
Costco Food Court^* · $1.99 · 34g protein

$1.76
4
Pepperoni Pizza (Slice)
Costco Food Court^* · $1.99 · 33g protein

$1.81
5
Hot Dog & 20 oz Soda (Combo)
Costco Food Court^* · $1.50 · 24g protein

$1.88
6
ExtraMostBestest® Pepperoni
Little Caesars · $8.74 · 136g protein

$1.93
7
HOUSE-MADE GUACAMOLE
Buffalo Wild Wings · $1.09 · 16g protein

$2.04
8
Large Classic Pepperoni
Little Caesars · $7.74 · 112g protein

$2.07
9
Chicken Bake
Costco Food Court^* · $3.99 · 52g protein

$2.30
10
Slices-N-Stix® Bacon
Little Caesars · $8.99 · 116g protein

$2.33

cost to reach 30g of protein · bar = efficiency vs the leader

Finding 03 · One pick per chain

The best-value item at every chain

The single highest value-score pick at each chain — the one thing to order if you care what your dollar buys. Value blends protein-per-$, calories-per-$ and nutrition quality.

Little Caesars Detroit-Style Deep Dish Cheese

92 $11.75 · 10.0g protein/$

Costco Food Court^* Cheese Pizza (Slice)

91 $1.99 · 20.1g protein/$

Del Taco Crunchtada® Tostada

89 $2.19 · 5.5g protein/$

Pizza Hut CYO 1-Top Pizza

89 $12.29 · 9.1g protein/$

Chipotle Mexican Grill Chicken Burrito

88 $9.15 · 6.3g protein/$

El Pollo Loco 3 Tacos al Carbon Combo

88 $6.99 · 6.6g protein/$

Panera Bread Asiago Bagel

87 $2.19 · 6.4g protein/$

Taco Bell 3 Cheese Chicken Flatbread Melt

87 $2.29 · 8.7g protein/$

Arby's Chicken Slider

86 $1.99 · 6.0g protein/$

Papa John's 16 Inch New York Style Philly Cheesesteak Pizza

86 $23.89 · 6.6g protein/$

KFC Mac & Cheese

85 $3.94 · 7.6g protein/$

Wendy's Jr. Hamburger

85 $1.89 · 6.3g protein/$

Whataburger Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich Jr.

85 $4.00 · 7.0g protein/$

Burger King Rodeo Burger

84 $2.94 · 5.1g protein/$

Carl's Jr. Big Cheeseburger

84 $4.54 · 6.2g protein/$

McDonald's McValue, The McDouble $5 Meal Deal

84 $6.00 · 5.7g protein/$

Sonic Drive-In Cheesy Baja Crispy Tender Wrap

84 $1.99 · 6.0g protein/$

Jack in the Box Two Tacos

83 $1.99 · 6.0g protein/$

Wingstop Chicken Sandwich

82 $5.79 · 5.5g protein/$

Culver's Pork Loin

81 $6.29 · 4.9g protein/$

Panda Express Chow Mein

81 $4.60 · 4.8g protein/$

Chick-fil-A Hash Brown Scramble Burrito w/ Spicy Chicken - no hash browns

80 $4.85 · 7.4g protein/$

Hardee's Hand-Breaded Chicken Biscuit

80 $4.79 · 6.3g protein/$

Subway Baja Chicken Protein Pocket

80 $3.99 · 6.0g protein/$

Dunkin' Chicken Biscuit

79 $3.59 · 5.8g protein/$

Qdoba Chicken Queso Burrito

78 $11.65 · 4.7g protein/$

Buffalo Wild Wings 10 BONELESS WINGS LUNCH COMBO

77 $12.00 · 7.2g protein/$

Jersey Mike's #2 Jersey Shore's Favorite (Mini)

74 $6.95 · 4.6g protein/$

Steak 'n Shake Western BBQ 'n Bacon Steakburger Combo

66 $10.29 · 3.6g protein/$

Shake Shack Chicken Shack

62 $8.99 · 3.8g protein/$

Domino's 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese

58 $8.74 · 3.4g protein/$

Finding 04 · The inflation watch

Are fast-food prices actually rising?

Since Jul 19, 2026 we’ve logged 56 real US price changes across 771 tracked items — 15 up, 41 down.

▼ $0.69

Cinnamon Twists · Taco Bell

$1.69 → $1.00 (-40.8%)

▼ $0.44

Nacho Cheese Sauce · Taco Bell

$1.29 → $0.85 (-34.1%)

▼ $0.90

Black Beans & Rice · Taco Bell

$2.99 → $2.09 (-30.1%)

▼ $0.60

Cinnabon Delights® 2 Pack · Taco Bell

$2.89 → $2.29 (-20.8%)

▼ $0.50

Black Beans · Taco Bell

$2.59 → $2.09 (-19.3%)

▼ $1.00

Cantina Chicken Burrito · Taco Bell

$6.29 → $5.29 (-15.9%)

See every price move →

* Costco Food Court figures are the posted menu prices. Eating there requires a Costco membership (from about $65/year), which these per-item prices don’t include — worth remembering when the warehouse tops the value charts against no-membership drive-thrus.

Get the next move before the crowd

Prices are sticky until they aren’t. We’ll email you the moment one drops — at most one digest a day.

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