Here's How Much A Prime Rib Dinner Actually Cost In The '60s

The 1960s saw the JFK presidency, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Cuban Missile Crisis, "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests," and "Gilligan's Island." It was an era of major change — a wave that even struck the cultural institution of the American prime rib dinner. At home, the 1960s culinary scene was dominated by trends, like French cuisine, fondue, frozen TV dinners, and the rise of "hippie food." But when foodies were dining out, they could chow down on a slow-roasted prime rib roast dinner with less than $5 in their pockets.

A Facebook post shared a photo of a New Jersey steakhouse menu from the 1960s, with a prime rib dinner costing only $4.35, including all-you-can-eat salad, baked potato with butter, vegetable side dish, dinner rolls, baked Yorkshire puff, and a pitcher of coffee. As one apparent inflation-weary commenter on the post wryly quipped, "You could buy a townhouse in the sixties with a pack of chewing gum and a nickel." 

Another post shared a photo of a 1960s menu for the Chalet on the Lake restaurant, which was serving prime rib dinner for $4.50, complete with side salad and soup. Elsewhere on social media, a Redditor shared a 1960s menu for the restaurant at the Raleigh Hotel in Washington D.C. offering a prime rib dinner with baked potato, side salad, and buttered rolls for just $4.00. And in 1965, The Prime Rib in Baltimore, Maryland, offered its signature dinner for $4.95.

$4.50 in 1965 has the purchasing power of about $47.00 today — and $47 for a prime rib dinner with all the bells and whistles included is a good deal. This can be found in some areas; The Angry Bull in Huron, Ohio, for instance, serves a boneless, two-pound prime rib dinner with choice of side for $46.99 and The Cherokee Grill in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, features a 12-ounce slice with sides on its menu for $36. However, it's a different story at high-end steakhouses in major U.S. cities. At Lawry's The Prime Rib steakhouse in Beverly Hills, California, prime rib dinner currently costs $72 to $111. At Chicago Cut Steakhouse, the 32-ounce bone-in prime rib sets guests back $104, side dishes sold separately.

In the past six decades, many factors beyond inflation have caused a rise in prime rib prices. According to the USDA, in April, average retail beef prices hit a record-high $9.64 per pound, a whopping 13% year-over-year increase from 2025. As discretionary budgets shrink, more and more omnivores are turning toward value-centric chains like Texas Roadhouse and LongHorn Steakhouse, both of which saw significant sales increases from 2023 to 2024. Even the cost of buying meat for a prime rib dinner at home has been stricken by rising grocery costs and shrinkflation. The cultural tradition of the prime rib dinner as it was once known may be fading into the out-of-reach background along with that five-cent townhouse.