Photo by Ivan Torres
The McCallister family in “Home Alone” treated themselves to a pizza feast the night before their Paris vacation – the same night they’d somehow manage to forget young Kevin at home. While they proved remarkably negligent with their son, their pizza budget was surprisingly generous, ordering a staggering ten pies without saving a single plain slice for Kevin.
As Joe Pesci’s character cases the house, we see a Little Nero’s delivery driver arrive with their massive order, requesting payment of $122.50 for the ten pizzas.
That price tag – $12.25 per pizza – seems like an absolute bargain compared to today’s inflated food costs. The McCallister clan included 19 family members (according to the film’s Wikipedia credits), which works out to roughly two slices per person. Of course, with many children in the mix who’d presumably eat less, some adults likely enjoyed extra helpings.
The McCallister Pizza Budget: Then vs. Now
A closer examination of the kitchen scene reveals at least seven of the ten pies clearly visible – three on the kitchen table, one in front of a cousin, two in front of Buzz, and another shown after Kevin’s outburst. Every visible slice is topped with something.
Despite Buzz claiming they ordered Kevin a plain cheese pizza, there’s zero evidence to support his statement.
The most revealing shot comes when soda spills across the counter during Kevin’s meltdown. We can clearly identify olives on the pizzas, along with what appears to be either sausage or meatballs accompanying the standard sauce and cheese base.
If we take Buzz at his word (questionable at best), the order included one plain pie, seven with olives and sausage, and two mystery pizzas. For calculation purposes, let’s assume those final two were pepperoni – a middle ground between plain and the olive-sausage combination.
Where would the McCallisters order from today?
The McCallister home at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois has several nearby pizza options. After eliminating chain restaurants and non-pizza-focused establishments, we’re left with Grateful Bites Pizza Shop as our most authentic comparison.
Using their current menu prices, here’s what the McCallister order would cost today:
- Seven sausage and green olive pies: $136.50
- Two pepperoni pies: $36
- One plain cheese pie: $16
That brings the pre-tax total to $188.50, or $205.50 with tax – a whopping $83 more than the 1990 bill.
This means the cost of the McCallister’s pizza extravaganza has increased by an average of $2.37 annually since the film’s release 35 years ago. However, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI inflation calculator, $122.50 in December 1995 should actually equate to about $296.75 in today’s dollars.
The reality is that in any major metropolitan or suburban area today, $122.50 would barely cover four or five pizzas – certainly not ten.
Then again, most families don’t live in homes like the McCallisters’, which sold in real life earlier this year for a cool $5.5 million. Clearly, pizza budgets weren’t a major concern for this family – just remembering to bring all their children on vacation.
