MetaChat - You're buying an egg salad sandwich for $3.50,

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29 November 2007

You're buying an egg salad sandwich for $3.50, →[More:]you decide to get avocado with it (for some reason). The deli guy cuts four thin avocado slices and puts them on your sammy. Assuming it's local to you, how much would you expect to pay for the entire sandwich?

post by: Hellbient at: 14:50 | 43 comments

By the way, I don't recommend putting avocado on your egg salad sandwich.

posted by Hellbient 29 November | 14:51

4 dollars, probably? avocado or guac usually costs 50 cents extra.

posted by muddgirl 29 November | 14:52

$4.50?

posted by seanyboy 29 November | 14:52

Avocado is good in anything (ever tried avocado cake frosting?), but I've never had it in egg salad. I guess the textures might be too similar, which would make it weird. I'm guessing you were charged an extra buck.

posted by Atom Eyes 29 November | 14:57

$4.50, agreed.

posted by Miko 29 November | 14:58

$5.00. Manhattan.
I started walking away and he reduced it to $4.50, so I bought it.
But $1.50 extra. That's almost half the price of the sandwich.

I'm Andy Rooney.

posted by Hellbient 29 November | 14:59

Hmm... maybe we could correlate the price of an avocado to the relative distance from Mexico, which produces 1 million tonnes of avocados each year (according to Wikipedia).

posted by muddgirl 29 November | 15:04

The hell I am!

posted by eamondaly 29 November | 15:05

Chicago gives eamon his sandwiches gratis.

posted by crush-onastick 29 November | 15:08

I'd pay $10. But I'd pay $10 for any sandwich, so I'm no guide in these matters.

posted by mullacc 29 November | 15:12

My first thought was: I'm buying an egg salad for $3.50? That's gonna be a crappy sandwich! But, to answer your question: I'd expect a buck or possibly less for the addition of avocado. (Which, no, does not sound like a good idea on your egg salad.)

posted by Specklet 29 November | 15:12

Hmmm, yes, muddgirl. Unless it's an illegal avocado, in which case the deli is making a fortune in avocado toppings. Boy would that burn my britches!
I work in a very business-oriented area of town, where the cost of a banana can range from $.25 to $.50, sometimes even in the same store. That's another thing that really grinds my gears!

posted by Hellbient 29 November | 15:18

I'm not buying an egg salad sandwich, period. Blech.

posted by gaspode 29 November | 15:23

Which avocados are illegal? They sound delicious!

posted by mullacc 29 November | 15:23

Speckles - egg salad is generally pretty cheap. There's a place around here that once tried to charge me $6.50 for one. His explanation? All of our sandwiches are $6.50.

Mullacc - you are part of the problem. No wonder you never know what time it is. Talkin' 'bout can't afford a watch, buying all those $10 sandwiches.

posted by Hellbient 29 November | 15:27

Yeah, that's too rich for my blood, but it's not too surprising. Avocado is the low-end equivalent of truffle shavings. Having been charged $5 ten years ago for a small side of gaucamole with our $3 basket of chips, now I always ask how much the extra avocado will cost.

Mmm, avocado. I like an avocado sandwich with a slice of cheese and a bit of chile sauce. Maybe some cumin.

Or an egg salad sandwich. Ooo! Thanks, now I know what to have for my belated lunch. Here I go to cook some eggs right now!

posted by Elsa 29 November | 15:27

yeah mullacc - they taste better when they're illegal. Ask for it.
My only problem with them is that they're slimy. And lazy.

posted by Hellbient 29 November | 15:32

Well, avocado in the Northeast is always imported from at least a couple thousand miles away, making it more expensive to start with, and it's even more expensive out of season. An avo in the grocery store costs me $1, unripe, unless it's in season and there's a sale, in which they might go down to 2 per $1 for a short time.

It's an expensive addition in restaurants because of the factors above, but also because the ripeness window is very very narrow. The restaurant usually has to order them unripe, have them sitting around in the way while ripening, then make sure they get used before getting too mushy. There's a lot of built-in waste to carrying avocados and I think that's one reason they're priced accordingly.

Around here, adding veggies and cheese to a sandwich usually costs .50 per add, while avocado and bacon cost $1.

posted by Miko 29 November | 15:49

I carry my own personal avocado. Everywhere I go.

I owe nothing.

posted by stavrogin 29 November | 15:50

Oh yeah, and the other thing is that you don't use a whole avocado on a sandwich - just a quarter to a half. So then you have a half avocado sitting around. Even if you wrap it well, it will turn brown soon and be less pleasant looking - more waste. So basically, the first person to buy the avocado topping is paying for a whole avocado. If the restaurant happens to be able to get another serving or 2 out of it, then they are seeing a profit from it.

posted by Miko 29 November | 15:51

I know folks who will turn you into guacamole for that, stavrogin.

All good points, Miko. You are indubitably a thorn in Andy Rooney's side. Or should be.

posted by Hellbient 29 November | 15:56

If I die, I die.

posted by stavrogin 29 November | 15:58

Like Andy needs more thorns.

posted by Miko 29 November | 16:06

Oh yeah, and the other thing is that you don't use a whole avocado on a sandwich - just a quarter to a half.

Unless you are me. One summer, I went through an average of 1.5 avocados daily for a couple of weeks. Fatty, yes, but it's almost all I could bear to eat in the heat. By the end of the two-week stretch, I was eating them straight from the half-shell with a spoon, sprinkled with salt and lemon juice.

Try this sandwich, discovered some years ago when the cupboard was nearly bare: pita or foccaccia, split open, smeared thickly with smashed avocado, sprinkled with salt, chile powder, oregano, and chopped raw walnuts, then drizzled with just a few drops of olive oil. Tiny shreds of cheddar optional. Toast under the broiler until it crisps.

posted by Elsa 29 November | 16:32

Restaurant guac in Massamachusetts is a bajillion dollars per teeny little tub, whereas west coast it's far, far, far, cheaper. If it were an add-on here, I'd expect it to be +$2 at a minimum. Add on west coast: $0.50.

posted by plinth 29 November | 16:38

sounds good, Elsa.

I'm convinced, we should acquire Mexico.

posted by Hellbient 29 November | 17:08

damn, that sounds delicious, Elsa.

posted by Miko 29 November | 17:13

The recent fires in the San Diego area reportedly burned about 25% of the American Domestic Avocado crop. Avo prices are going up and should peak around the time of the Super Bowl (due to guacamole dip demand). In my area, San Luis Obispo County (midway tween SF and LA), we have some local avocado growers and some roadside stands where you can get some bargains (but I haven't checked them out recently).

And the best avocado sandwich experiences are IMO:
BLT&A (sexist initials aside)
Turkey & Avo (t-day leftover help... yet, I also love adding a slice of Cran-Jelly Sauce to a Turkey San, and do NOT recommend mixing the two)
Tuna Salad & Avo (better than it sounds, much preferred to Egg Salad & Avo... also a great place for a splash of Lemon Juice)
ANYTHING that already has the awesomeness of Bacon

Side tip... Avocado & tomato? Try dumping some well-drained Pico de Gallo on top instead of the tomato slice - like putting dip in your sandwich, and you can double-bite.

posted by wendell 29 November | 17:17

I like egg salad sammiches.

Avo on turkey or BLT is really good.

I like food, and now I am hungry.

posted by theora55 29 November | 17:21

Wait a minnit,

avocado cake frosting?

!!!!! I can't imagine the color would be appealing on a cake. More research is needed.

posted by theora55 29 November | 17:24

maybe we could correlate the price of an avocado to the relative distance from Mexico

Data point: here in Alaska, avocados are $2.50 when on sale. And they are usually hard and terrible and more yellow than green. Yet we gobble them anyway.

I'm constantly amazed at the cheapness and yummygoodness of fruits and veggies when I visit the lower-48.

posted by rhapsodie 29 November | 18:21

Ooh, here's something I love to do with avocados:

baguette sliced into 1/2" slices
spread each slice with a teaspoon of pesto
one slice of tomato
one slice of avocado
sprinkle generously with shredded gruyere cheese
broil for a few minutes until the cheese is melty
make mmmmmmm sounds

posted by rhapsodie 29 November | 18:25

Cheap, plentiful tasty avocados are the only thing I miss about living in southern California; the lack thereof is the only thing I dislike about living in Chicago.

posted by crush-onastick 29 November | 18:40

No, no avocado on ANYTHING, thanks.

And $2.50 for the egg salad sandwich. That's my final offer.

posted by BoringPostcards 29 November | 18:52

Theora55, more research has been done. Voila!

Avocados are grown just a few miles away, so I wouldn't expect to pay more for avo, just as I wouldn't expect to pay more for butter or salt and pepper. 50c maybe, if it looked good.

posted by GeckoDundee 29 November | 18:59

Grilled cheese. With a roasted poblano. Nice avocado. Pepperoncinis.

The end.

posted by mudpuppie 29 November | 19:00

Quoth Wendell

And the best avocado sandwich experiences are IMO:
BLT&A (sexist initials aside)
Turkey & Avo (t-day leftover help... yet, I also love adding a slice of Cran-Jelly Sauce to a Turkey San, and do NOT recommend mixing the two)
Tuna Salad & Avo (better than it sounds, much preferred to Egg Salad & Avo... also a great place for a splash of Lemon Juice)
ANYTHING that already has the awesomeness of Bacon

Side tip... Avocado & tomato

Something on your mind, Wendell?

posted by plinth 29 November | 19:01

This is what you do. Toast a multigrain bagel to your liking. top with slices of ripe avocado, mash slightly so that it is spread evenly. Add salt and pepper. Eat for breakfast. Avocado is way hella better than cream cheese, I have this for breakkie about once a week. Delish.

posted by SassHat 29 November | 20:44

plinth, I already acknowledged the T&A in the BLT&A. As for the other T-foods that I brought up as being awesome with the Avo, it's pure coinkidink. I do have a disproportionately large number of favorite foods starting with the letter "T", including tea, toast, tortillas, tamales, tortellini, tater tots, Triscuits, Toblerone, Twizzlers, terriyaki and tartar sauce (but NOT tofu, trail mix or Tabasco). But if I were really obsessing over something, wouldn't I have specifically written "Turkey Breast"???

I resent the insinuation, plinth, and consider you a boob and an ass. (Mmmmmmm...)

posted by wendell 29 November | 21:09

God my mouth is watering.

posted by Miko 29 November | 21:18

I resent the insinuation, plinth, and consider you a boob and an ass. (Mmmmmmm...)
posted by wendell 29 November | 21:09

God my mouth is watering.
posted by Miko 29 November | 21:18

Hee hee hee ...

posted by muddgirl 29 November | 21:21

This may explain it.

posted by wendell 29 November | 21:33

Oh, Sasshat, I waaaaant that. For non-vegans, top it with a lightly fried egg and a slice of cheese. 'vocado McMuffin.

Oh god I'm hungry again.

posted by Elsa 29 November | 22:36

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