Thing you should keep in mind is that, at least in my experience, there are next to no businesses that only offer the federally mandated minimum wage. States have their own mandated minimum wage, and yes, many of them are also 7.25/hr, but many are significantly higher. I live in a state where the minimum wage is 7.25 but I’ve never seen a job posting that started there. It’s always higher, because it’s not survivable and no one is accepting that as a starting offer. I know that’s adjacent to your question but I still wanted to clarify that.

Having said all that, your estimations on what an average American spends on dining out are off. I can take myself and my son to a fast food place and feed us both for around $15. I can take us to a mid-tier restaurant (think a place like Applebees) and feed us both for about $40-$50. Family of four? $80-$100 at such a place. Yeah it’s not great - I can remember a family of four doing that for around $50-$60 not that long ago, but that still falls short of your estimations. Can you spend $500 or more dining out? Of course. But your average household isn’t doing that.

To more directly answer your question, the disproportionate increases in median household income and inflation have caused Americans to eat out less and be more frugal with their grocery shopping. Still got other bills to pay as you rightly pointed out. I’m a single dad and my monthly grocery bill is around $200 and I consider that manageable. I only eat out maybe 2-3 times a month, more for health reasons, as restaurant food is a massive warhead of carbs, calories, and sodium.

Thing to remember overall, is that the US is its own economy, just like any other country. And this is where things stand here currently. There will always be a proportional relationship between what people earn in a given country and what food costs and what they spend. It’s neither good nor bad the way I see it. It just is.

Sorry for the long winded answer. I just wanted to try and give you my perspective.