Since I arrived to this city, I could realize that I spend much more money in food that when I was living in Spain. In New York (overall in Manhattan) the price is very high because of the expensive price of the rentals. While in Spain you can buy a kilo of chicken with 4-5 dollars, in the USA (especially in NYC) you will pay around 10 -12 $ per kilo. But if you go to a market out of the city, or in other state you can find it for 8$.
So at the end the offer/demand makes the rentals very expensive making also the food around 200-250% more expensive than in Spain. I was also worried at the beginning when I used to go to a restaurant with friends (here the final check is divided in the same amount for everyone) and I was paying 50$ per dinner. This is something that concerned me when we arrived to NY because even in the Christmas dinner I use to pay much less.
After some time in the city, I got used to it. The salaries use to be also the double or even more, so I always say, who cares, let’s enjoy while we can do it!