The food is often secondary. Sometimes I want to sit in nice surroundings with interesting people and know that someone else is going to think about presenting me with good food I might not have thought to try myself, and a staff exhibiting a high degree of professionalism will bring it to me. Often, that place is in a location with high rent (for the restaurant, and the staffs' landlords), so it's not cheap.

Sometimes I want pizza and beer, and that can be 100% as good, too. Usually cheaper if only because it's more efficient, though.

With a normal developer salary in Bay Area (assuming ~$100/h), your claim is equivalent to a statement, that you'd be able to make that meal for 4 people in 12 minutes. And I assume that's just your time to prepare it, not including ingredients, cleanup, and equipment maintenance and replacement.

You are making a number of unrealistic assumptions: I'm paid hourly, that my boss has approved me to work overtime, and that I would actually be working instead of the time used to prepare a meal.

Working hourly is a reasonable thing, though in my case I'm not. The other two are completely unrealistic. Working my job for that extra hour or two just leads to burnout.

When I'm at home preparing a meal my family is there, sometimes helping (watching your 5 year old cut something for the first time with a knife is a scary moment you don't want to miss), sometimes singing in the next room. Either way I make far more than $100/h when I make a meal for my family even though the only money exchanged is what I pay for groceries.

It does not matter if you are paid hourly. Many people here can choose exactly how long they work for the same salary.

Your second point is, basically, that you like the work (on meal prep). But that is completely besides that point.

The way you should look at this is: would you agree to serve meals for $12 for a neighboor's family of 4? And I bet the answer is no, you would not.

This is about me and my meals though. My family is getting ripped off when I spend a sum of money on food that isn't very good. I've spent $40/person for meals that were as good as I could make at home in an hour, even though I'd be saving money doing the work myself it was still wroth it because I didn't feel like cooking.

If my neighbors decide that the meals they can buy are good enough that is their choice. I won't enforce "my good taste" on them. I find the value is not there.

All I was saying, is that you can not claim, that they are trying to rip you off just because you like to cook at home.

You’re assuming prices would need to remain high.