Justify $40 lobster rolls [View all]

[jmowreader]

For our readers who have never heard of such a thing as a lobster roll, this was invented when New England lobsters were cheap. The basic drill is to boil a small lobstah, pull all the meat out of it and stuff it in a hot dog bun. There are two approaches to this: put chunks of warm lobster in a hot dog bun and pour melted butter over it, or mix cold lobster with mayo and treat it like a tuna sandwich on weird bread.

I find myself in Boston tonight, having gone to yesterday's Red Sox-Dodgers game. Today I went out in search of a lobster roll, which is mandatory every time I'm up here.

Every lobster roll I came across was $35 to $40. These aren't "gourmet" lobster rolls served in five-star restaurants or anything served at Fenway, but basic utility-grade lobster rolls sold at the same places that were charging $15 for one when I was up here in 2018.

So...is it tariffs, global warming, trade fluctuations or just the idea that Trump might show up at their lobster shack looking to dine on a lobster roll and they want to preemptively cut him off?