I'm on the west coast but the prices aren't much cheaper elsewhere if at all. It's way cheaper in Japan to get ramen, but probably much more expensive to get sushi, which is maybe the last value oriented quality meal I'm usually able to find. Canadian A&W and Popeyes are quite good as well (I found U.S Popeyes lacking flavor and juiciness), but never ever get combos at fast food places, only the burger. McDonald's is tasting more and more like cardboard while their prices rise.
Right around When "smash" patties started becoming the next millenial fad is when I first started seeing absurd prices like that. Sides stopped being included, and I ordered a double patty at a local place, paid $16 for just the damn burger, felt insulated, and then just left. I continue trying to keep an open mind, but I tend to be skeptical that I'll get anything worthwhile for my money. If only I'd had a huge amount invested in stocks when the value of money halved.
I agree regarding the West Coast in general. Seattle and Los Angeles are also similarly expensive, and even Sacramento (my hometown) isn’t much of an improvement. A few months ago I was floored to see a $13 burrito at a place that was just $8 pre-pandemic. Sacramento is not inundated with rich people like the Bay Area, so what gives? The average Sacramento resident can’t afford those prices.
I went to St. Louis, Missouri on a business trip two years ago and was pleasantly shocked by the food prices there. I felt like I entered a time machine to 2016 California.
Regarding sushi in Japan, prices run the gamut from cheap conveyor-belt sushi chains (like Hama Sushi and Sushiro) and grocery/convenience store sushi (which is surprisingly good here) to ultra-expensive, reservation-only restaurants with sushi served by world-renowned chefs, and everything in between. I’m not an expert on sushi, but I find that $5 grocery store sushi in Japan often beats what costs $20 back in the Bay Area. To be fair, though, the Bay Area has many excellent sushi restaurants, and while it’s more expensive in the Bay Area than Japan for the same quality, the counterargument is a meal at a Bay Area restaurant is much cheaper than a flight to Japan. I just happen to be fortunate enough to go to Japan twice a year, so I just wait until I’m in Japan to have sushi.