Outrageously Expensive Fast Foods Slideshow
Created by: The Brentwood
Location: Los Angeles' Westside
Price: $28.50
The Brentwood restaurant has served the culinary needs of Los Angeles' Westside clientele since 1999. Its menu includes every comfort food conceivable, from burgers and fries to macaroni and cheese, and everything in between. However, just because they serve comfort food, don't expect to be presented with a $10 check from your server when you're done eating.
The Brentwood is located in one of the most upscale areas in the U.S., so the food is priced accordingly. On the menu, a $28.50 fish taco sits alongside a $24.50 plate of fried chicken and a $16.50 shrimp cocktail. At one point, the restaurant offered a filet mignon taco sold for $38.50, but sadly it no longer appears on their menu.
Hot Dog
Created by: Stephen Bruce
Location: Serendipity 3, New York City
Price: $69
Serendipity 3 has been a New York City institution since 1954. It's a popular tourist attraction that was frequented by such legends as Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and Andy Warhol, and served as the setting for multiple films, most notably the 2001 romantic comedy Serendipity, starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsdale.
Owner Stephen Bruce has always known the value of a good publicity stunt, so on June 23, 2010, otherwise known as National Hot Dog Day, the restaurant offered the "Haute Dog," a foot-long frank grilled in white truffle butter and covered in black truffles and foie gras. It sold for $69, earning the Guinness World Record for the most expensive hot dog in the world.
Macaroni and Cheese
Created by: Melisse
Location: Santa Monica, Calif.
Price: $95
Melisse is a French restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, Calif. It specializes in seasonal entrées, and in the time that it's been open for business it's won two Michelin Star Awards. It's also been rated the number one restaurant in Los Angeles by Zagat.
One of the seasonal delicacies that Melisse offers is a white truffle, which is only available from October through December. During those months, the restaurant serves it in a macaroni and cheese entrée that costs $95 a plate.
Coffee
Created by: The Asian Palm Civet
Location: Southeast Asia
Price: $600 a pound
Today's coffee drinker has more options than ever before. The most demanding caffeine connoisseur can find the exact one-pound blend of espresso-roasted, half-French, quarter-Colombian, quarter-Ethiopian beans his or her heart desires, simply by handing the Starbucks barista $2 for a cup. However, only the true sophisticate knows about civet coffee, the rarest variety on Earth, which can sell for as much as $600 a pound.
Civet coffee's outrageous price tag is due to its rarity and its unorthodox harvesting method. It comes from a coffee cherry that only grows in Southeast Asia, and the tree is inhabited by a weasel known as the Asian Palm Civet. The animal eats the cherries, digests them, and then excretes the hard centers . Harvesting the undigested portion, though highly unappetizing, yields a final product that can sell for as much as $50 a cup.
Bagel
Created by: Frank Tujague
Location: The Westin New York at Times Square, New York City
Price: $1,000
Few foods are as heavily identified with New York City as the bagel. Other cities have their own variations on it, all profitably sold and happily consumed. However, no other U.S. city has ever come close to capturing that certain je ne sais quoi particular to the New York bagel.
Although the bagel is readily available at any time of day or night to anyone with a dollar to spend, Frank Tujague, executive chef at the Westin New York at Times Square, decided to deviate from its standard business model in 2007. He fashioned the world's most expensive bagel by topping it with white truffle cream cheese, goji berry jelly, and gold leaves. The price for this creation was $1,000 and all proceeds from its sale were donated to the Les Amis d'Escoffier Scholarship, a charity benefiting impoverished culinary students.
