Two months ago, my fiancé and I grabbed lunch at our local greasy spoon. I had a no-frills patty melt with fries. He ordered a breakfast plate with scrambled eggs, sausage links and buttermilk pancakes. With two soft drinks, the meal set us back nearly $40 — and that was before a 20% tip. It wasn’t an unreasonable sum, but for what it was, it felt steep.