Restaurateurs at all price points are coping with higher food costs by substituting ingredients, serving smaller portions and offering daily specials based on what's cheap that day.

McDonald's has been wrestling with what to do about the lynchpin of their dollar menu -- the double cheeseburger. Many stores were complaining that they lose money on every double cheeseburger they sell for $1.

So the company is rolling out the McDouble. It will still be two patties, but it will only have one slice of cheese -- in order to keep the price at $1. Dropping the second slice of cheese saves 6 cents per sale, according to The Chicago Tribune. Some stores are going even more extreme by doing a double hamburger -- which cuts the cost by 12 cents.

McDonald's knows it's important for customers to feel that they're getting value for a dollar. Of course, restaurateurs of all stripes must be careful not to go overboard. There is, after all, a saying that goes: It's possible to make a pizza so cheap that no one will ever want to eat it.

The trick is to give the customer a perception of value while not reducing the quality too greatly.

Clark is fine with the McDouble. But he knows a man at the studio who is so cheap that he takes cheese with him to fast-food restaurants, orders a hamburger and creates his own cheeseburger!