How Much I Spent Eating Out in NYC!

Added: 2026-05-26

[00:00:00]Hi everyone, it's Sarah Todd. Welcome or welcome back to my YouTube channel. So, I was recently in New York City for a week and I ate out for every single meal that I had while I was in New York.

[00:00:14]Because of my physical disability that limits my movement in my arms and hands, cooking is incredibly difficult for me.

[00:00:21]There are very few things that are relatively easy for me to cook for myself. I'm still kind of figuring it out, getting better at it. But given that cooking is very difficult for me at home, it is especially difficult for me when I am out of town, not in my usual element. So, I thought that it would be fun to show you all some of the things that I ate while I was in New York City, cuz I definitely had some good food, made some good memories while eating as well with my friends, and talk about how much I spent on the food. Because I think something that a lot of people don't fully realize is that disabled people like myself and so many others end up spending much more money than non-disabled people do on things because we literally have no other choice. This concept is referred to as the disability tax. It's a hypothetical tax. It is not a real tax and essentially just refers to the idea that disabled people end up spending more money than non-disabled people do on things because of inaccessibility, increased costs for things that we need, etc. So, eating is a great example of that because I have to eat out a lot cuz it's just so much more accessible for me, but it's super expensive. So, let's get right on into it. We're starting at Burgdorf Goodman.

[00:01:36]I love going to Burgdorf Goodman. It's so fun to look around at all the fancy clothes and not actually buy anything, but just like see what they have and then go up to the seventh floor and go to their cutie little restaurant. My mom and I love coming here and so I felt it was fitting to take my friends to this restaurant cuz it's kind of a tradition I have whenever I go to New York. I always go to Burgdorf Goodman for brunch. I was there with my best friend Jen who I've known since I was 10 and our friend Teresa who has no arms. She is also a disabled content creator. And then her friend was with us as well. So, we had a cute little girl brunch. I had a crocosure. That's French. I hope I'm saying that right. I do my best. And I love when I see a crocosure on the menu because it's kind of rare. I feel like I don't see them very often. And they are so good. It's basically like a ham and cheese sandwich, but it's so cheesy.

[00:02:31]They put the cheese like on the outside of the bread as well. It's warm. It's so good. So, whenever I go to Burgdorf Goodman, I get the crooks for lunch. So, I had that and I had a Coke because I am a big Coca-Cola girly. It's my favorite soda. And the cost for this lunch was $45. So, that includes the cost of my crocosur, my Coke, tax, and tip. And honestly, for a very fancy brunch place, I don't feel like that's that bad.

[00:03:02]Especially given we were also in New York. So, starting off pretty strong with that $45 lunch. It certainly was scrumptious. Okay, moving on to location number two. So, I really wanted to treat my friend Shian that I stayed with for the first two nights of my trip because she welcomed me into her home. She picked me up from the airport. She invited me to speak on a panel that she was hosting at the Real Abilities Festival. She did so much for me, so felt like it would be nice to treat her to a nice celebratory evening. So, we went to the Boug Champagne Bar Plaza Hotel and I got a cheeseburger with fries. I loved how they put the Plaza logo on the bun. That was just such a nice fun special touch. So, I had that cheeseburger with fries. I also got a Coca-Cola, of course, and we ordered one dessert to share, but our server was super nice, and he actually brought us another dessert to have, so we got to have one free dessert as well. So, it was really fun to have both. So, because I treated Shion, I paid for this entire meal. It was at a very expensive bar, but it was very fun to treat ourselves.

[00:04:16]We were having a blast. This meal cost $130, including tax and tip. So yeah, super expensive, but totally worth it for treating my friend to a fun experience celebrating our panel we did together and just having a fun girls night out in New York City. Okay, this next meal that I had, this was like a breakfast meal. I went out to the Smith with my friend Mia, Allergies with Mia.

[00:04:45]You may have seen her content. She posts content raising awareness about food allergies and how she advocates for herself at restaurants, on airplanes, etc. So, we went to Smith and I got a bowl of yogurt and berries and a side of bacon and that's it. Because it was breakfast. This meal, including tax and tip, cost me $30, which I was like, "Wow, that's absurd for literally just yogurt and bacon. That's all I ordered."

[00:05:11]But for one thing, that's New York for you. Also, that includes the tax and the tip. And once again, this was about having that fun experience with my friend. So, paid $30 for that. But I was also very proud of myself for actually eating breakfast because that is something I am not very good at. And my dietician would be very proud of me as well for eating breakfast because that is something that I have been working on with my dietitian. So, I am so thrilled to be partnering with Nourish for this week's video. Nourish is an easy way to meet with a dietitian and have it almost always covered by insurance. 94% of Nourish patients pay 0 out of pocket.

[00:05:54]And I touched on this a little bit earlier, but because of my physical disability, cooking is super difficult for me. I often rely on food delivery, eating out, or assistance from others for my meals. And these limitations can be honestly quite stressful for me because then I end up spending a lot of money on food. And I really struggle with planning my meals ahead since I'm not typically preparing them myself. So lately, I've been meeting with a nurse dietitian to come up with creative and more accessible ways for me to nourish myself. And one idea she came up with is for me to drink a pre-made protein shake for breakfast so that I don't have to make anything in the morning and I won't really have to plan ahead because I know, okay, this is what I'm having for breakfast every morning. And so that way I'm not having to stress about planning ahead. I'm not having to stress about making something. I'm not having to stress about asking for help and I can still get the nourishment that I need.

[00:06:48]My dietitian and I have also gone over blood work that I had done a couple months ago. And I feel like this really helps me chat through my health with my dietitian more holistically in terms of like my A1C level, my cholesterol level, my iron level, etc. And so what's really nice is nourish dietitionians can order labs for you and then go over the results with you if that's something that you find helpful. In my opinion, it feels much less intimidating and more personal than going over lab results with a doctor. So, I really like this.

[00:07:20]Another thing that I love is Nourish has an app that is super easy to use. I personally love being able to make appointments with my dietitian and message my dietitian via the app. It's much better for me than having to use a website or make a phone call. It makes it so I can more easily do these things on the go. And so, in that way, it's just more accessible for me. And I meet with my dietitian via Zoom rather than in person, which is also more accessible for me because I don't have a car and I'm not driving yet. So, anything I can do over Zoom, I'm always very happy about. Nourish also has what they call the quote nourish guarantee. So, this basically means that there's no surprise billing. So, for me, every Nourish appointment that I have done has cost me 0 because my insurance has completely covered the cost of the appointment. And as a disabled person, I am accustomed to spending a lot of money on my health.

[00:08:09]So, it's honestly a relief to not have to worry about the cost when I am meeting with my nourished dietitian. If you're interested in meeting with a nourished dietitian, you can click the link in the description and the pinned comment down below to sign up and book an appointment. Okay, now we're headed to dinner in New York City. And one of my favorite places to eat dinner in New York City is John's Pizza. It's so good.

[00:08:33]The vibes are just immaculate. I went there with my friend Shian. We went to a show. We saw two strangers carry a cake across New York on Broadway. And then we went to John's Pizza afterwards. We got garlic rolls and we shared a cheese pizza and I had a Pepsi. They didn't have Coca-Cola. I will succumb to having Pepsi if I have to, but Coca-Cola is just that is what I want. I want Coca-Cola. But anyway, the Pepsi was still good. And this meal cost $30, which honestly is not horrible. I feel like for having the Pepsi, garlic rolls, and half pizza. I feel like that's pretty good. And it was just so good.

[00:09:11]Absolutely loved it. I discovered John's Pizza pretty recently because one of my other friends had been there, and now I want to go every time I'm in New York.

[00:09:18]It's just so good. I also had a few little smaller stops on my trip. My bestie Jen and I were exploring and we stopped in Rockefeller Center to get just a little brunch and a coffee or a tea or something and we found this place and I got a croissant with salmon locks and a matcha lemonade. And oh my gosh, this meal was actually so yummy and I really enjoyed the matcha lemonade. I wasn't sure if I would like matcha with lemonade, but it was so good. An amazing flavor combo. I really enjoyed it. So yeah, $15. I feel like that's not bad. I would spend that amount on a lunch at home, too. So, given New York City prices, feel like that wasn't bad. And finally, I had been really eager to try Ralph's coffee because everybody has been hyping it up so much. And I had a feeling that it was maybe overrated and that it wasn't as good as people make it out to be. So, I was like, I need to try this for myself and see what I think.

[00:10:13]So, Jen and I went to Ralph's Coffee. I got an iced vanilla latte with whole milk decaf because I cannot do exorbitant amounts of caffeine in coffee. I can do caffeine in sodas, but coffee is just like way too much for me.

[00:10:26]So, I always get decaf. And I thought it was okay, but I wouldn't get it again.

[00:10:31]I've had way better coffee than this.

[00:10:33]So, I don't know. I mean, I think the branding is fun. I love the Ralph Lauren store. I love their clothing. Their coffee I was just like, eh. And this coffee was $10.80.

[00:10:43]I did tip, so that did add to the cost.

[00:10:46]But yeah, so I don't know. I wouldn't do that again. I know of other coffee places in New York that I would return to before getting coffee again at Ralph's Coffee. Okay, so obviously I ate more meals than just these meals while I was in New York City for 7 days, but I felt like these were the highlights and some of the more interesting foods and meals that I had. The total cost for all six of these combined is $260.80.

[00:11:12]So yeah, that's quite a lot, but a few of these were more like special occasion meals like the Burgdorf brunch and the champagne bar dinner. And I feel like it's so worth it to have those special moments with friends because it's not very often that I go to those places or do those things. So, it's worth it to me for the experience. So, I'm very excited to continue exploring, trying new foods, figuring out things I might be able to cook for myself. One of my goals for 2026 was to spend less money on food.

[00:11:40]And I do think that I actually have done that because I have been cooking a few more things at home. So maybe there will be cooking content to come. We shall see. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this fun, more lightigh-hearted, easygoing video, and I know that for some it can be very difficult to talk about food.

[00:11:57]So, there are some resources in the description below if you might find those helpful for you. And if you enjoyed this video, please give it a like and subscribe to the channel. post a new long form video every Monday at 12:00 p.m. Pacific time, 3:00 p.m.

[00:12:10]Eastern time. I hope to see you at the next video. Bye, everyone.