I've only been back to the US twice in the past two years, so menus without prices is a new thing to me, though the practice appears to have been going on for a while.

I noticed it in two chain restaurants (Hooter's and Chili's) and an airport bar (maybe opacity is more common in that market). Both the Hooter's and Chili's menus listed calories, but not prices (on drinks only for the latter). In the former case, the waitress said I could scan a QR code to view prices or ask her so she could check the POS computer. She said prices change frequently and they don't want to print new menus every week. I suppose this is marginally preferable to forcing customers to use cheap tablet computers (that often get stuck on a Windows home screen). Meanwhile, Chili's menus do feature food prices (along with calory counts), but not drink prices. Unlike Hooter's, there is no QR code option, and their tablet (that you can order from) doesn't list prices until after you add items to your cart. The waitress told me that margaritas cost between $6 and $21, and she didn't know specifics off hand. I also asked her about happy hour and she said that none of the menu items were happy hour items. I didn't press her further and simply settled on an iced tea.

I don't want this post to come across as a rant because my dining experiences were fine otherwise, and I felt the prices were reasonable, but I'm simply curious about how far and wide this trend is spreading. I mean, how volatile can the cost of Corona beer possibly be?