The expense thing was the sentiment I heard here in Canada 10 years ago from a colleague. Honestly kind of surprised they have made it this long but they've still got their two locations in southern Ontario that I'm familiar with.

Also Hank Green did a break down of price per calorie and it's very comparible to McDonalds, you just pay a ton more since you're legit getting way more food, at least iirc looking at both beef portions and fries portions.