How Much A Steakhouse Dinner Cost In The 1970s
As restaurant costs continue to trouble Americans, diners increasingly reminisce about tabs in the past. Escalating beef costs are especially concerning. The price change for McDonald's Big Mac over 25 years is remarkable, not to mention the uptick in cost of a barbecue outing. Want an especially stark glimpse into a prior era? Examine the price of a steakhouse dinner in the 1970s through the lens of two now-defunct restaurants.
First in line, The Barn Steakhouse, formerly located in Old Mystic, Connecticut. Operating during both lunch and dinner, the restaurant sold a $6.95 aged sirloin steak, $6.50 prime rib roast, and $5.95 surf and turf special — which consisted of both cubed steak and shrimp. To accompany, a salad is complimentary, while a cup of clam chowder is only $0.65. Along with a $1.95 carafe of wine and $2 (or less) seafood apps, a dinner for two would have landed right around the $20 mark, tip included.
Further West was Chicago's Flame Prime Steaks, which served a larger variety of cuts. Swing by, and you could grab a $7.50 ribeye, $9.95 extra large prime sirloin steak, or $12.95 large lobster tail — the most expensive item on the menu. An accompanying large salad bowl as well as potatoes (hash brown or baked) came free, while the appetizers — primarily seafood options — all landed under the $3 mark. The vino alongside? A generous selection under the $8 mark. Add it all up, and a dinner for two here climbs into the higher $20s, but it's seemingly much more affordable than today.
Food costs, purchasing power, and dining culture have all changed since the 1970s
Step back decades in time, and a $20 steak dinner certainly sounds enticing. However, to appropriately contextualize such prices, it's first necessary to adjust for inflation. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator, $25 spent in June of 1975 offers the same purchasing power as $152.42 in February of 2026. For added context, a Big Mac in 1974 listed for $0.65 — making a steakhouse dinner a steep splurge in comparison. While it's easy to romanticize 20th-century food prices, it's crucial to remember that the average American wage was much lower at the time.
Nevertheless, there's still more to the story of why steakhouse dining is so expensive today. Especially in recent years, the meatpacking industry has faced a smaller supply and rising costs, increasing the price of beef. Whether a ritzy independent steakhouse or Texas Roadhouse's affordable steaks, the cost has risen drastically in only a few years. Furthermore, dining prices have escalated across the board — an average of 31% per menu from February 2020 to April 2025, according to the National Restaurant Association. Since the 1970s, the entire restaurant culture has changed, making deconstructing the value of a steak complicated.