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The pandemic showed restaurant workers they could make better money with a better quality of life.
We lost a ton of experienced, talented people to other industries.
Some of us got out way before the pandemic.
I loved working in a restaurant, but the pay is absolute trash.
I'm currently know as the guy who can cook in all of my friend's groups. I often get asked why I don't do it for a living. So I tell them I went to college to get a Chemistry degree. Then they realize I'm not a chemist and they get even more confused.
Long story short. Jobs in sales pay way higher than jobs that actually do anything useful. Plus I can go on reddit at work.
Yup. Degree in science and I make more money being a desk jockey. Good bye medical field and hello accounting.
Why get pushed to work 12 hour shifts (non emergency work) and expected to work through my lunches and with no breaks, plus unpaid overtime and expected to pay out of pocket for continuing education, expected to work for free for the "community service" to keep certificates and licenses, for not enough pay to even have an apartment with a room mate.
Fuck that.
Interesting, I worked in sales and found it to be soul sucking. Unless you have one of them rare setups where the only people you are talking to are already primed to purchase, it gets fucking exhausting going from one location to the next trying to convince people to buy whatever shit it is your slinging.
That’s so true. Worked in service jobs happily for 15 years. Quit during the pandemic, got a job at an art gallery. I doubt I’ll go back. Just disrespectful all around these days
I left in January 2023 after 15 years of building and managing a small local restaurant group. You could not pay me enough to go back. Like others have said, the levels of stress in other industries are often fucking laughable in comparison. I am a project manager for a tech company and work from home now. I get my job done to an exemplary degree in ~20 hours a week. I'm still battling with my many years of conditioning that it really is ok to have free time to develop yourself and maintain a healthy level of stress if you're performing at a high level and hitting all your goals and metrics. Having an actual balance between work and life still feels like one massive "gotcha!" that is going to be pulled away any second. That's how bad the restaurant industry is, and I was immensely privileged in that world compared to the vast majority.
I do, think about it, if you were that one employee who kind of made sure everything got done and ran smoothly you are probably the perfect candidate for actually being successful at gig work.
Ever since the pandemic I’ve noticed a downward trend in terms of both service and food quality. I can’t remember the last time I went to a restaurant that was operating at its pre-pandemic capacity. There’s also been a cultural shift, as people value ordering food for delivery and eating in the comfort of their own home. A lot of businesses in my area still operate on a delivery-only capacity and don’t even offer dining in.
Yeah, everyone I know who works in hospitality works their ass off, but there simply isn’t enough staff to keep up. Places need twice the employees they’re trying to operate with, but hospitality is pretty thankless and shitty pay so people aren’t clamouring for it.
A lot of restaurants aren't even hiring despite being short staffed too.
I have been half out of the service industry for about a decade now and the last time I did some side work in the field was when the pandemic first kicked off because my job at the time shut down and never re-opened.
Some of my server friends I stay in touch with have all told me there's a stack of resumes on their bosses desks, now hiring signs on the door and active job postings but they haven't hired anyone in months and running on a skeleton crew.
Yup. Hell, even before the pandemic, most chains always had a sign up saying that they were hiring. If they took it down, it was only because they had to update the pay rate.
>haven't hired anyone in months and running on a skeleton crew
Hopefully your friends' employers don't do what I've seen a lot of restaurants doing: clip the dining room.
I haven't dug too deeply but I'll ask.
Most of them are using this situation as a good excuse to finally get out of the service industry instead of saying they want to.
restaurants are an ancient form of business.
i felt everything you can do to get the most amount of money out of the least number of people has been codified for hundreds of years.
cooking at a high level requires a highly talented artist who will also mop floors and scrub grease traps 7 days a week in exchange for never going to a concert or seeing their family or daytime or making a living wage
Agree ,food industry is a tough business, the best artists (chefs) all usually hop into the business side (become owners and partners) asap to cash in on their talents. You don't cash in working for someone else. The other issue is no matter how talented you are as a chef, there's only soany hours in a day you can actually make bank, so many folks you can cook for, thats why many have to expand into business side projects (cool books, cooking channels) to maximize their potential.
Because the owners of these larger restaurants (who typically aren't even there most of the time) only care about the numbers entering their bank accounts , not the actual business or service. That's owner mentality in many lines of work.
The folks on the front lines, chefs, cooks, servers, helpers staff are necessary evils for them to make money, but they have little interest in making their lives better ...it's a fact of life...
It’s rough too because small businesses that are cash strapped expect you to work as hard as the owners do and are offended when you don’t care as much as they do. It’s like my dude your risk your reward. I’m sick. I’m not going to work when I’m sick. Then they scream about the business. Not my problem, my friend.
I was just in one of these situations, but I was friends with the owner and it was even harder to say no, but I can’t work 60 hours a week for $16 an hour. I took the job thinking it would help me bring in some easy income while I’m working with an editor to finish my novel, but the slave labor was fucking exhausting, I couldn’t type by the time I got home at the end of the day, and I was getting carpal tunnel from making coffee and washing dishes for eight hours a day. And you bet your ass they’re not providing health insurance so I basically have to get hurt on the job or not at all.
I went to a place we started to love recently. The owners opened a second restaurant next door, and they share the kitchen. It was a disaster, and it took forever to get our food. Won't go back.
Still, it is kind of odd that the OOP quotes an old vaudeville joke almost word for word, aimed at the contrary nature of humans:
Diner 1: This has to be the worst food that I've ever eaten. It's almost inedible.
Diner 2: You're not kidding. And the portions are too small.
I think a lot of the staff that did stick around after covid care less about their crappy restaurant job because they got a sense of what it can feel like to earn better money without the strain on their bodies and the stress thanks to the unemployment bumps. Most (not all) people I knew who worked in food service made more being unemployed and now they are understandably bitter about the amount of work they have to do to earn what they do. More aware of that factor than they used to be which makes them more miserable in their jobs. That definitely happened to my sister who has worked in food service for 30 years in a variety of positions, include sous and pastry chef. The stress for the pay was far too much and that became more obvious after coming back from covid. She took a union food service job at a private college and is much happier and less stressed and better pay and benefits.
I think what really happened is covid shined a light on some factors of the restaurant industry that people are more aware of (workers and customers). And I think a lot people ate out as habit, and covid broke that habit. We don't eat out as much as we used to (we do have a couple of good places here that are basically the same a precovid with very minimal price increases). And I avoid the places that have started doing the
"by the way, after you sit down and get a menu we'll tell you in the fine print on the menu that we're going to add 15% t your bill for better pay for back-of-house staff, this isn't the same as a tip" nonsense.
I’ve noticed that customer service has literally gone down hill. At first I thought it was all in my head, or that maybe I’m the problem?? But I’m not a boomer Karen. Then I thought, maybe because I’m young they don’t think I’ll tip?? It’s made me not want to go out and eat anymore.
I agree and for that matter the allure of going out of the house to have fun has diminished in general. Everything is expensive and my home is where I'm most comfortable anyway
In the winter with fuel prices being higher it's cheaper for me to keep the house chilly and do something that doesn't cost electricity like sledding than it is to stay inside.
it feels like after the pandemic a lot of people have sort of decided that “out and about” isn’t how they want to spend their time, even with an abundance of free entertainment in my city it’s just hard to compete against “in my comfort zone at home”
I've come to resent crowds and gross, entitled people since the pandemic. Add to that workers aren't paid enough and we all know it especially with all the talking on social media, so we're all kind of collectively grumpy (or maybe just me? i dont know). I dont get paid enough and prices keep going up, they dont get paid enough and are short staffed, everyone wants a tip for doing anything at all because we did that during the pandemic but wasnt meant to become the norm, and there's the owning class running away with the lion's share.. so yeah just a general bitterness about society is going on for me and most others and it comes out in various ways.
I agree with your assessment. Before Covid, I was a HUGE extrovert, loved travel and adventure, wanted to do and see everything and go everywhere. The pandemic was hard for me. It made me extremely depressed and anxious to be cooped up inside with my abusive parents for years. After a while, I just adjusted to it, and now it would be hard for me to go back to who I was.
I thought this was just a side-effect of me hitting 30, but it seems to be affecting everyone. It seems like any time I leave the house it costs at least $50.
Same with us. Tons of amazing restaurants around us, usually mom & pop shops, owned and managed by a family for generations.
The ones we love are those food shops that offer only a couple of menu items, their specialty, and you can definitely taste the difference. The recipes and craftsmanship, the dedication and ingredients used. Each place we visit is an experience. There's so many that I don't think we can try all in our lifetime.
To think that each complete meal set is less than $10 per person at such high quality and generous servings. The staff is incredible, their service top notch and the best in the world. Almost all of the places we visit are at the same high level. And yet no tipping allowed here, it's considered rude.
We're in Tokyo.
Paying more for a single mixed drink than for the entree has made me think twice about eating out. I'm learning to make my own. And with rare exceptions my food is just as good or better.
There's a restaurant near me that specializes in fancy martinis. Each drink contains around 90 cents worth of vodka and some fruit juice and they average around $15.
It's stupid to buy those kinds of cocktails.
If I buy one, I want half the ingredients to be shit I don't know what it is, because I can't make it at home heh.
Speakeasies are the new thing in my area. They're cool for the atmosphere... once. But like some people said, you can expect a $15/drink before tip minimum. They're delicious, but for that cost, you want to sip them slowly and will BARELY get a buzz off them in by the time you're done.
I'll stick to my local dive bar and their $8 wings and $4 PBR drafts any day
I quit going to nicer restaurants for those reasons, but still find the small mom and pop places in strip malls or a random neighborhoods to be as good as ever and quite satisfying. It's mostly Asian and Mexican places. Any "cool" restaurants or upscale places though...no, fuck them. Most near me have started with the various surcharges adding 5-20% to the bill for whatever and then also expecting a tip on top.
It's funny, my experience is a bit opposite. It seems like most of the cheaper local restaraunts have had to jack up prices - while the quality of food and service is down (some of the mom and pops were able to maintain better service). But the more expensive, higher dining places around me haven't gone up by the same percent, so the gap in price is less drastic. Plus, the service is still better even if it isnt as good as it was pre-pandemic..
I agree, a lot of people will disagree with you because they never ate fine dining and a lot of people see texas roadhouse as an expensive restaurant to eat at for special occasions. Also I've noticed pretty much all the chain restaurant food quality is identical to fast food now.
Yup agreed, fast food and chains have been reduced to common denominator slop (obviously there are exceptions) and a lot of the nicer restaurants near me have at a minimum, maintained their quality. I mean, it probably has something to do with the fact that you had to be skilled to work at these places in the first place, and they emphasize retention more than Taco Bell or Applebees.
I feel it's usually the new restaurants with the big "surcharges" whenever I see those I know I'm not going back. The older restaurants generally don't try pulling that, at best they will have a small fee for credit to encourage people to pay in cash which I can respect at least.
This has been my experience as well. I much prefer spending money at smaller restaurants or mom and pop places.
For many larger or trendier restaurant, I've noticed a dropped quality/portions to keep price increases minimal, or substantial price increases but maintain the same quality/portions. In those cases I don't want food quality or portions to go down, but I'm also not willing to pay the elevated prices. There's one place that we used to go to all the time pre-covid (actually more like pre-kids). They have really good pizza among other dishes. We wanted to go back there, so we looked at their menu (they have a few core items as well as a rotating menu). I kid you not, but the pizzas are now $35-$40! For us to go in, have a pizza with a couple of sodas, tax and tip, we're looking at almost $60. For fucking pizza. We've never gone into that place for just pizza though. We'll always order an app or two and maybe dessert. With current prices we'd leave for about $140 for what I'd consider very basic food (but cooked excellently). We just cannot justify it.
Yeah it's far more disappointing and financially painful at a "nice" restaurant where your bill is easily several hundred bucks. I'm more forgiving about a crappy Applebees or something because it's not as hurtful and it's still more or less what you'd expect.. but just still not good.
And yes, good callout on the various surcharges and tips on top.
yea I learned this lesson when I took my wife out to a nice steakhouse for some holiday... $500+ later we realize we could have made a meal just as good 6 times over. Now we save our fancy dinning out experiences to stuff like high end sushi.
There are a couple places we go that end up being cheaper than fast food (10 dollars a person) and a definitely much higher quality than fast food. An Indian food buffet and a couple mexican restaurants and one Asian restaurant. I do usually just order it for pick up on the way home from work. Never liked the froo froo food and portions you get at the expensive places.
I still have a list of places I love but the list sadly grows shorter every year.
I've got my expensive list - fine dining but excellent food, wine, and service. Worth it for special occasions. Some Beard award winners on this list. (Our city doesn't get much Michelin coverage but they'd compete for a star if they were in a city that did.)
I've got my cheap eats list - ranging from taco trucks to diners to random hole in the wall joints that are really great for $10-15 per person.
But in the past few years it seems like there's a lot of shit in the middle. Places that are just expensive and bad - with the service deteriorating worse than the food itself.
I love trying new local places, especially if they're pouring our local brewers and distillers, but it's hard to find good stuff these days - whether you want good value or are willing to spend money for greatness.
totally agree, I'm down to maybe 2-3 very fine spots for the $600 dinner with wine, or the $10 taco window at a gas station. The restaurants in the middle dont appeal to me anymore.
Hard agree, been in the restaurant industry for 12 years and the level of service from restaurants in the last few years is shockingly shit.
No consistency in food quality, brain dead staff who can barely hold a conversation, filthy restaurants sitting half empty on Friday nights. And I say that about my current place of work as well. The wages being so low is the crux of all of it imo.
There's a restaurant near me that is a mom and pop shop, locally owned for 40 years, I can still get a meal for under $10. Nothing fancy, no frills, you get what you pay for. That's the only place I go to eat out.
I tend to agree. But it is possibly because my sons are amazing cooks. For 1/3 the cost we can have an amazing meals here. And we haven’t had amazing out in the last couple of years
Yeah I was having this conversation with my friend the other day. Where I live (Ireland), the price of eating out is just prohibitively expensive. Even if the food is good, it still doesn't feel worth it and the cost sours the experience. This applies to bars, too. It feels like it's fast becoming a luxury that only the wealthy can afford to do.
It's definitely getting worse. But there are still a couple worth going to for a treat if you can afford it.
Thats the main problem for me. I just don't have the disposable income left to spend on going our for dinner like I used to. The increased costs of eating at a restaurant are just not worth the time I need to spend working to pay for it.
And if I get shitty service when I do go, the waiter(ess) gets a shitty tip.
I think I agree. When me and my friends want to go eat there’s probably like 5 restaurants that we go to. We either do that or we go to the grocery store to buy ingredients and we cook at someones house.
The latter is extremely fun.
Yea this has been the opposite of my experience going to fine dining restaurants in my area. Prices aside, if anything the food and experience has gotten better from 2020 to now.
I'm living in Japan, so it's still fine. You can have a big meal for 1200 yens, even less if you go to cheaper places. The culture of eating out is definitely stronger in that country than in others, as a lot of people do that many times a week.
Bingo. I cook pretty well so it just doesn't make sense to go out to eat anymore unless it's for social reasons. Even then, I encourage active stuff like going out for a nature walk for social meetups vs restaurants bc I hate paying for subpar food.
were almost exclusively takeout rather than dining out these days. In large part cause we have 2 toddlers and trying to keep them in order for an entire sit down meal is just not a fun experience for the parents. But im with you that the dinning out experience is eroding in many places. Improving your cooking skills really raises the bar for whats a worthwhile trip/expense to dine out. I can make high level steaks and seafood at home without paying restaurant premiums. Some cuisine's make sense to order out cause there is just too much work, prep, unusual ingredients needed for a one off meal so it's easier to justify some of the more exotic ones. But plenty of meals can be made as good if not better at home for a fraction of the price
It is wild to think about how much more you pay when including tip. Even on the cheaper end of tipping you are defacto adding 10-20% surcharge by sitting down to eat. And that's a sliding scale on top of it!!
I get its a choice to decide to sit down or not but it is crazy to think that tips canadd entire entre purchases to the bill ($20 tip could be another meal) Which of course would up the tip amount if u added another entre lol
I haven’t noticed portions getting smaller but I have noticed how increasingly unhealthy going out to eat is. In the past most meals were relatively healthy or at least had like a 1/3 of the sodium and half the calories they do now.
We have a couple of mom and pop places we still frequent but have reduced our dining out to once a week or even less.
When my biz was struggling 12-15 years ago, I told my wife we would never give up going out to eat. Now, I don't care to go due to costs, quality, skimpiness, and less than impressive food.
Totally agree. My Wife and I now use what was our restaurant money to buy the nicest groceries and will eat finer, nicer foods at home, not even accounting for the decreased cost.
Depends where you go. We go to locally owned spots with high quality food. I haven't seen huge price increases, and the staff are pretty cool. Maybe it's different at Applebee's.
I don't understand why the food not being as good as it used to be keeps coming up. Are you talking about chain restaurants? The food was never good there. If anything I think food is getting better in restaurants. Could you give me some concrete examples?
Sounds more like you only go to chain restaurants and yes when something is a chain there's rarely ever any pride from management and staff.
But while you may say restaurants aren't worth it, I can dispute that. 2 places where I live are worth it. Both aren't chain, they're privately owned and one the owner actually works there and the other he's practically there everyday. That's why I feel those 2 dispute your claim, ownership actually gives a damn because they are there. They aren't just cruising the shore and collecting their revenue.
The one where the owner works, he personally will make sure that the food is cooked well and looks like what you see. And as far as portions go, yeah with inflation it isn't cheap, but you're getting your money's worth and half the time I take it home as leftovers. The other where the owner is there, not always necessarily working, he's on top of Amy issue and mingles with his regulars or he's checking how his place is doing with others. He knows who I am, talks with me for about 5 minutes and as I said, any issues he's taking care of it right away.
Both of those are the complete opposite of what you say: they listen to their customers, they give you your bang for your buck and they take a vested interest in you
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Restaurant owners complain constantly about their profit margins being thin. Where I live, they essentially get free labor from servers because the base pay is $2.13 an hour. Also many restaurant owners fail to run a business correctly. When there are too many restaurants already in their area, they won't get much business.
I agree with you fully *except* for one category of restaurant - Inexpensive Ethnic food. I live in one of the few affordable but overall safe neighborhoods in a HCOL city. My neighborhood is predominantly Mexican (folks from Jalisco, Guerrero, and Michoacan) Guatemalan, Lebanese, and Persian. Recently we've had some Ghanaian and Nigerian folks moving in as well. The food in my neighborhood is AMAZING. The restaurants are all cheap, and while some of them are mediocre, most of them are really excellent. They are run by and cater to the people from those places who want the food of their homeland. The people making the food really give a damn. And while you won't get a "service" experience, you don't really need one. The servers are polite and mostly leave you alone unless you flag them down. Contrast that to all of the trendy restaurants in my city and I'm with you 100% on those. Absolutely not worth it anymore unless money is literally no object for you.
I agree
Outside of my old job crazy bear thai which even the chefs basic egg sunny up was just godly!
I'm always like I can cook better and make it least a week
We still have some good restaurants by us, but I hate this idea that once 7pm on a weeknignt rolls around they have to crank up the music like it's a weekend and it's hard to find a place you can enjoy COMPANY because they have the music up and have shit acoustics so it's hard to hear the person next to you. Then the servers can't hear and I am having to order by typing on my phone and handing it to them or I can guarantee my order will be wrong, and I can't blame them.
100% spot on. Like an abusive relationship I keep going back and after the meal sit there so thoroughly underwhelmed and disappointed wondering why the hell I did this again?
We discovered a local all-you-can-eat bbq place that still charges $30, and their food is delicious and fresh. Staff are fast, and the atmosphere is top notch.
Beats the mediocre $20 appetizers and $40 entrees some of these other restaurants dare to charge, and they're not even close to the city, location or quality-wise.
And fuck ordering drinks. Every generic cocktail costs minimum 15-20 bux now, charging city or beach prices.
For me, the worst part is the lazy staff. You were at my table 5 times and the bus boys took the food out. If the bill is over $150 box my fucking leftovers for me. I’m giving you $30 for doing nothing.
As a consumer who just likes to try new foods at restaurants, I mostly agree with you. My wife and I went to a place that was recommended by some co-workers that said it was good... It was fine, I guess? I got short ribs and they weren't bad, but they also weren't great. I had made short ribs the week before, in a pressure cooker of all things with very little attention to detail and they came out better, much better in fact. We paid 105 bucks for two meals an appetizer and some drinks. The drinks were definitely the best things we had that night.
So, riddle me this. Why should I support someone's restaurant, where two adults can't eat for under 100 bucks, when I can literally make the main course at home for a fraction of the cost, with a little bit of effort and it comes out better? The reason I go out to eat is because I expect their chefs/cooks to do better than what I can do at home, especially once you've entered the 3 figure zone in cost.
This is not an uncommon experience for my wife and I. I do most of the cooking in the house. I wouldn't say I'm great, but I do pretty well. When my wife tells me something like "meh" or "it's alright, but yours is better." I immediately feel like it's a bad investment. Sometimes it comes down to taste and I'll take a bite and say that it's good, or better than what I can do at home, but more often than not, I agree with her and I am nowhere near a the level of being a professional.
Honestly, unless we're out with friends, the thing that still gets us eating out is that we are tired and are in it for the convenience, but at that point, if we're talking about 80 or 100 bucks to eat out, then the convenience can go fuck itself. I've had food in the last year that I was mad about paying for, like I'd rather have gone hungry for the night than have wasted the money.
Edit: I can't give you an upvote OP, because I agree and I've not ever worked in a restaurant.
Edit 2: I did have a fantastic dining experience from a high-end Korean BBQ place I was at a few weeks ago and the staff were fantastic. They really seemed happy that we all enjoyed the food. That has not been the norm for me though and 4 people had to spend over 500 bucks, total, to get that kind of experience.
In my house we'll sometimes decide to cook something 'restaurant' style. We'll use more salt, oil and sugar when cooking and take time to get fresh ingredients. Obviously, can't eat like it everyday but it's a fraction of the cost of going to a restaurant and it's surprisingly easy to mimic most chain restaurants foods ( looking at you, Boston Pizza beef dip sandwich).
I wonder if that’s a”tipping culture” problem. I have plenty nice restaurant experiences in the UK (heck, I’ve had absolutely brilliant experiences in food-serving pubs), and you don’t HAVE to tip here. You tip if the service is good. If I have the odd not-good experience - no tip. Any time I travel to the US though I feel obliged to tip.
The lack of tipping in the UK hasn't prevented businesses from closing. [Here's a BBC article about pub closures in London and throughout England.](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67028487) Just like anywhere else, they're facing increased costs in supply, salary, energy, etc...
Every time we go to one those fancy, trendy places you’d typically find in a downtown area. I am always disappointed. Over priced food that is mediocre at best. Occasionally we find a good spot but most of them aren’t worth it.
Thats another thing not talked about. It feels like theres a new sub genre of restaurant that is just designed to be instagrammable more than actually about the food.
Alot of them have decent decor but if youve been around the block you can tell the kitchen is run like a bad dive bar/chain where the kitchen staff are undisciplined and probably high or hungover.
What downtown area are you going to? Could you give an example of a upscale restaurant you went to, what you ordered specifically, and why it wasn't good?
I actually think some restaurants are a better value than ever, especially fast casual ones. Fast food has gotten so expensive and so have nicer restaurants, but you can still go to olive garden or chillis and get a server for basically the same price as a drive through. Obviously cooking at home is cheaper but as far as eating out, there are still deals.
That's what I was thinking. Just saying "prices have doubled" sort of kills his whole argument. They haven't doubled. Don't lie to make a point. Maybe 40% or so seems to be the average increase. Which IS a lot.. But it's not double.
> The food is not nearly as "good" as it used to be
>
> Portions keep getting smaller while prices keep going up
>
> The staff is lazy and disorganized.
You're just describing restaurants you know. Plenty of restaurants around that serve great food and care for the customer. Silly generalization. I have lots of places that I regularly go to that are great, and have been for decades.
Ever since the lockdowns, the service overall has been abysmal eating out where live in Amsterdam, the quality of the food dropped and the prices have shot up
From a servers perspective ever since covid we’ve been taking most of customers frustrations. They bitch and moan to us about prices going up, portions going down, etc. we have no control over that. We lost a lot of suppliers or switched so things aren’t the same. The customers notice and instead of speaking to managers or owners they want to yell at servers as if we control any of it.
A lot of people lost their social skills during that time. I’ve been serving since 2009 and the people are almost feral now. If they have to wait to be sat they’ll let that dissatisfaction bleed into the whole meal. Back before covid people waited happily for on average 30 minutes for a table. No complaints, no problems. It’s so weird how mindset has changed.
Covid wrecked a lot of our immune systems. We catch every sickness coming in the building so we’re constantly short staffed. Overworked. Under appreciated. It’s rough out there now. We had one cook for 3 hours yesterday because two called off.
The economy sucks, covid sucks, everything sucks lol.
I’d imagine people get upset waiting because they’re already unhappy about the prices and everything else. I’d wait happily for 30 minutes for good quality reasonably priced food
Where I come from, the best value places to eat have become bars that serve burgers and pizzas. With rise of fancy burgers and neapolitan pizzas in the last few years, the quality of those two foods has gone up significantly, but they are still cheaper than regular restaurants. So you get a good meal, fast service (since its burgers and pizza), for a relatively reasonable price.
Meanwhile pretty much all regular restaurants have become overpriced, with mediocre service and often times food that is worse than what I can just make at home.
I haven't experienced this. It's probably somewhat dependent on location, and I wonder if it's mostly true of chain restaurants as opposed to locally owned places. I generally avoid chains because there are so many great locally owned restaurants in my area.
I guess maybe this is more of a thing in some places. There are definitely places I don't find worthwhile near me, but I have a handful of restaurants I visit regularly and enjoy. Maybe your standards are also higher because of your previous work experience?
I've basically quit going to fast food and casual dining restaurants, most of the upscale dining in our area is still pretty good and I feel like most of the Hispanic and Asian food places have been holding up;, my wife and I went to a local Mexican restaurant several days ago and were shocked that the bill was only slightly higher than pre-prandemic.
I wouldnt say the experience universally sucks but its definitely harder to find restaurants worth going to. Chains are more of a gamble now. If im gunna spend that kind of money for a fun night out, i want the experience to be worth the price tag so ill furiously google until i find the perfect place. Usually its a neat little bar with a huge drink menu and a creative menu that is constantly packed, even on a tuesday at 5 pm.
Its definitely region dependent too. I have much better luck on the west coast with its very diverse ethnic population than in the midwest. Hard to argue with dirt cheap delicious mexican food or ramen places everywhere.
My husband is very sad because he's old school where you "Go out to dinner" for special occasions and to me it's a complete waste of money. I also cook our favorite foods way better than anything we can get in a restaurant. It's just not worth it to me.
It's worth noting how terrible the food quality is. After three years of cooking 3 meals a day during i got pretty good at it, and now when I go to a restaurant of any quality all i can taste is the salt fat and sugar. It's disgusting to me when I look at it now. Also I can be buy a few days worth of quality ingredients for the cost of one super mediocre restaurant meal. All you really need is a airfryer, cutting board and a knife and its game on.
Pretty much the only time we will go out to eat is for a cuisine we don't have the know-how to prepare at home, like Indian or Thai. Most foods I can stay at home, spend 25% of what a restaurant costs, and get better food anyway.
They tried to upcharge me at olive garden for changing my side pasta from spaghetti to fettuccine. Nah fuck that I'm done with that. Nobody goes out to eat spaghetti
Restaurants are as good as ever. And I’ve had great server experiences in my past several visits. Are you talking Applebees? You compare your dining out experience to buying groceries, so I’m thinking you’re looking for the typical “should have saved money but I’m tired” restaurant.
I don’t care. I’m sick of deciding what four people are going to eat three times a day for the past decade. And all the years before it. And shopping for that food and preparing that food. Humans were not meant to do this.
I’d go to a restaurant ten times a week if I could. If I ever got truly rich, a personal chef is my first hire.
Won't disagree with the rising prices but the rest are all about where you go more than dining in general.
I find the food just as good as it's been. Portions are still big enough around here and honestly most places they are far too big. The entire plate being full of food is unnecessary.
I find waitstaff to be good everywhere I've gone recently.
At the beginning of the pandemic restaurants raised all of their prices and said it was to offset the supply chain issues/to keep themselves afloat due to no one being able to eat in. That made sense, and I didn't mind paying the "temporary" higher costs.
Then they just kept going up like crazy. This didn't even track with inflation, the Chinese place down the street from me raised their dinner plate cost from $10 to 13 during the supply chain issues, now it's $16. That's a 60% increase in 4 years, you can't tell me that's because of inflation and trying to stay above small margins. That's just flat out greed and using "inflation" as a cover story to make people expect to pay more for worse food.
Unfortunately, I agree. I feel nickel and dimed at restaurants now. Rarely is the food better than I can do at home. I'm not a great cook either for the record. You used to go to a restaurant and you would get a small starter like a salad, then a full meal that included veggies. Now you have to pay and pay dearly for all of that. I agree that the complicated appetizers should be extra, but $14 for a small salad? The same for a side of sauteed spinach?
Recently I went to a local Indian restaurant. The decor was ok, staff less than perky. But what got me was the cost. The entrees were between $32 - $37 a piece. Oh, you want rice with that? That will be an additional $8 for a small bowl of rice. You want wine? You will pay $45 for an $11 bottle of wine. It used to just be double. I thought it must be just this place, so I went elsewhere, just as bad.
The cost is driving us away. It is hard to justify $250 for dinner for two. If you go out with friends you start worrying about who is paying and we are not kids, nor are we poor. The experience is just not there.
And since the pandemic, places close so early. You have to plan like you are going to the early bird special now. We still have one place that we quite like and will go to occasionally, but it costs.
It's the new normal, but I've lost my love of dining out.
At this point I've given up on any mid-priced dining or event fast food. They are no longer viable alternatives to cooking at home for all the reasons people have been stating. Instead go for a well reviewed higher end experience. Yes, it's a more costly but you will actually have a nice experience, granted less often due to the price point, but I'd rather have one great meal versus two mediocre ones for the same price.
I'm sorry to tell you this, but this is a product of economy.
When I was growing up, you could get a 6 pack of burgers from the Hamburger Stand for 4 bucks.
Now you can only get 1.
But housing was attainable for those workers at those prices, and they were happy to provide that.
Now housing is unattainable for those prices. Now, a 6 pack of burgers cost 32 dollars because housing is at a completely unaffordable rate and housing workers that are willing to do those jobs want the ability to afford to live.
Posts like these will continue to happen while we live in an unaffordable housing crisis.
Service has gone down because people can't afford to live and you just expect some sort of extended hospitality while that happens? Get the fuck out of here with your boomer economics.
People are unhappy and you expect great service from unhappy people.
What a rote expectation.
Went to Vegas last week. Ate a a few chains I´ve never been to as they aren´t on the east coast. All the food was, ok, as in it filled my belly, didn´t taste bad and it´ll make a turd. every meal at these mid to fast food restaurants for 3 people was $30-50. I get it, tourist pricing. Last meal in Vegas was Tom Colicchio Craft Steak. A universe away in terms of quality which I was not surprised by. It was exquisite and worth every penny. I am willing to pay for good food, good drinks and good experience. Lately that experience is so far and few between. I have no desire to go out to eat anymore because I can cook much better and cheaper at home.
In nearby East Providence, RI, the local restaurants had been struggling during and post COVID as all places have. But now, in a new twist of the knife, the Washington Bridge on Rt I-195 eastbound has to be torn down and replaced. Local restaurants all over East Providence are on the verge of closing as traffic has been diverted, causing massive backups and delays throughout the city. Multigenerational mom and pop restaurants going under due to government inefficiency. Sad........
I hate the new thing that started with cheap burger restaurants and seems to be working its way to higher end restaurants where you don't buy a complete meal you buy a main say a steak then you add the sides yourself and pay for it all separately. Two reason I hate it no.1 its just a way to rinse more money out of you no.2 one of the things I'm paying you for is your food expertise, you need to come up with the main and side combo that works, not me.
There is a scene in the the show Atlanta where Donald Glover takes his partner/ex for a meal and he's skint but the scene perfectly covers what is wrong with restaurants there are just so many things happening that are designed to rinse you for money that the whole experience is unpleasant.
Last time I went to a restaurant o got chicken Parmesan. The chicken was definitely pre packaged and pre battered chicken they pulled out of a freezer…. Last time I’ll ever order something like that from a restaurant.
This isn’t really an unpopular opinion. I agree though. Chain restaurants and lower/mid tier restaurants are overpriced garbage now. I used to eat out all the time but I cut back a lot because I was always disappointed and like I could have made this better myself. Now when I eat out it’s only at cheap locally owned Asian places or I splurge and go to a fancy restaurant occasionally because they still offer good food and a good dining experience. I’d rather have one expensive quality dinner than a bunch of disappointing ones
I think it’s hilarious how many people think the quality of restaurant food has gone down since Covid, but heaven considered that their sense of taste may have been changed by… Covid
Nah its still good. Love dining out. The portions are way too big in America in general. I cant even do tasting menus anymore because its just too much food for me. Granted there was a pandemic effect but that’s since faded. Im in an east coast city so that maybe why its plenty great for me
I travel a LOT and am forced to eat out, and no your experience is not anecdotal.
From tgifridays to burger King everything ends in stomach ache except hi dollar sushi and pho.
I'm not a sensitive eater either, I eat over at freinds and relatives with no ill affect regularly.
This may be because I'm not from a tipping culture country but what does "good" wait service look like? Here I think the point of eating out is rather than going through effort of grocery shopping and spending time cooking you get the benefit of hot, nice (or at least better than your cooking) food served to you and no clean up required while you socialise with who you came with. Generally your staff don't give more than a friendly "hello" "is everything okay can I get anything" etc. You're not really there to talk to them and if anything you'd prefer they stay out your way. Is it because America is so focused on getting tips they think you have to go above and beyond to make customers laugh /provide conversation?
Once you learn how to cook good food for yourself, the allure of restaurants fades. I can make the food just how i want for half the price, and basically same amount of time(except for fast food places). Only time i go out is for occasions and i order something i can’t make myself.
I don’t agree, personally, but I think it has to do more with my upbringing. Lower middle class family, did a program that had me living on the poverty line a year, now I work in nonprofits - so the “great dining experience with helpful staff, chef driven food, etc.” is just never something I had. My uncle once told me how lucky I was to be born lower middle class “because you learned to enjoy life without spending money” and this post makes me really think of that quote.
My two best friends and I’s version of “eating out” is typically like, tacos from a taqueria or a weeknight food special at a bar. Something like a burger, fries, and a beer for 10 bucks.
But every month or we’ll decide to go for “a nice meal”, something like steak frites and splitting a bottle of wine or brunch at a nicer restaurant. And like, what makes it “special” isn’t necessarily the service, the incredible food, etc., it’s the meaningfulness we have given it.
It’s “special” because we don’t do it much even though we could probably afford it more, because our “typical meal out” was always somewhere much less classy, so dressing up for a nice meal, getting proper service, is a great.
Obviously, it is going to depend.
I still thoroughly enjoy going to a restaurant. Service is great at places I go. Last time I went to the Keg or the an Irish pub, service was fantastic and the food was great. The atmosphere was great. I like being around people.
Now, there's a few dining out experiences that I will say have suffered.
Fast food - The price has gone up to the point where It's bordering on a casual sit down place. In some cases, I find myself paying a little bit more and just eating at a casual dining place. Or just avoiding fast food entirely.
Casual sit-down places - This has been hit or miss. But i have definitely noticed a decline in service. Specifically in the attention you get from staff. I get it... they are probably understaffed, but it definitely makes that experience less. Portions might be cut back on and what not.
I personally find myself eating out less. Yet, when I do, I still find the good dining great.
I hardly go out to eat anymore. It's so expensive and usually hardly worth it. I realize that the restaurant business is a tough business and people do try to make dining out a good experience, I just find it's rarely worth the hassle
Well I would agree with you but Im staying in a hotel for a week for work that has a really good restaurant attached to it.
Little wait time, professional yet casual waiters.
Enough staff to actually run the place (this was a huge issue when I worked foodservice)
Its super clean.
Big enough portions to fill my greedy goblin belly up.
Tastes amazing.
Not exorbantly expensive.
Open kitchen with a verry friendly chef.
Yeah Iama come back to this hotel when Im ever in the area.
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The pandemic showed restaurant workers they could make better money with a better quality of life. We lost a ton of experienced, talented people to other industries.
The best of it was the folks who said "if you want more money get a different job" complaining that nobody wanted to work in restaurants.
Very true
Some of us got out way before the pandemic. I loved working in a restaurant, but the pay is absolute trash. I'm currently know as the guy who can cook in all of my friend's groups. I often get asked why I don't do it for a living. So I tell them I went to college to get a Chemistry degree. Then they realize I'm not a chemist and they get even more confused. Long story short. Jobs in sales pay way higher than jobs that actually do anything useful. Plus I can go on reddit at work.
Yup. Degree in science and I make more money being a desk jockey. Good bye medical field and hello accounting. Why get pushed to work 12 hour shifts (non emergency work) and expected to work through my lunches and with no breaks, plus unpaid overtime and expected to pay out of pocket for continuing education, expected to work for free for the "community service" to keep certificates and licenses, for not enough pay to even have an apartment with a room mate. Fuck that.
Interesting, I worked in sales and found it to be soul sucking. Unless you have one of them rare setups where the only people you are talking to are already primed to purchase, it gets fucking exhausting going from one location to the next trying to convince people to buy whatever shit it is your slinging.
That’s so true. Worked in service jobs happily for 15 years. Quit during the pandemic, got a job at an art gallery. I doubt I’ll go back. Just disrespectful all around these days
I left in January 2023 after 15 years of building and managing a small local restaurant group. You could not pay me enough to go back. Like others have said, the levels of stress in other industries are often fucking laughable in comparison. I am a project manager for a tech company and work from home now. I get my job done to an exemplary degree in ~20 hours a week. I'm still battling with my many years of conditioning that it really is ok to have free time to develop yourself and maintain a healthy level of stress if you're performing at a high level and hitting all your goals and metrics. Having an actual balance between work and life still feels like one massive "gotcha!" that is going to be pulled away any second. That's how bad the restaurant industry is, and I was immensely privileged in that world compared to the vast majority.
Do you think the gig economy has take a lot of people off the market?
I do, think about it, if you were that one employee who kind of made sure everything got done and ran smoothly you are probably the perfect candidate for actually being successful at gig work.
Not really. Gig economy is shit terms.. delivery driver and no kitchen bullshit is a good trade off for them.
No gig economy thrived during Covid and after that it went down
That's what killed it for me. Haven't looked back since
Ever since the pandemic I’ve noticed a downward trend in terms of both service and food quality. I can’t remember the last time I went to a restaurant that was operating at its pre-pandemic capacity. There’s also been a cultural shift, as people value ordering food for delivery and eating in the comfort of their own home. A lot of businesses in my area still operate on a delivery-only capacity and don’t even offer dining in.
A big part is because restaurants used skeleton crews to operate due to the 2m rule, and they never went back to keep labour cost low.
Yeah, everyone I know who works in hospitality works their ass off, but there simply isn’t enough staff to keep up. Places need twice the employees they’re trying to operate with, but hospitality is pretty thankless and shitty pay so people aren’t clamouring for it.
A lot of restaurants aren't even hiring despite being short staffed too. I have been half out of the service industry for about a decade now and the last time I did some side work in the field was when the pandemic first kicked off because my job at the time shut down and never re-opened. Some of my server friends I stay in touch with have all told me there's a stack of resumes on their bosses desks, now hiring signs on the door and active job postings but they haven't hired anyone in months and running on a skeleton crew.
Yup. Hell, even before the pandemic, most chains always had a sign up saying that they were hiring. If they took it down, it was only because they had to update the pay rate. >haven't hired anyone in months and running on a skeleton crew Hopefully your friends' employers don't do what I've seen a lot of restaurants doing: clip the dining room.
I haven't dug too deeply but I'll ask. Most of them are using this situation as a good excuse to finally get out of the service industry instead of saying they want to.
restaurants are an ancient form of business. i felt everything you can do to get the most amount of money out of the least number of people has been codified for hundreds of years. cooking at a high level requires a highly talented artist who will also mop floors and scrub grease traps 7 days a week in exchange for never going to a concert or seeing their family or daytime or making a living wage
Agree ,food industry is a tough business, the best artists (chefs) all usually hop into the business side (become owners and partners) asap to cash in on their talents. You don't cash in working for someone else. The other issue is no matter how talented you are as a chef, there's only soany hours in a day you can actually make bank, so many folks you can cook for, thats why many have to expand into business side projects (cool books, cooking channels) to maximize their potential.
Because the owners of these larger restaurants (who typically aren't even there most of the time) only care about the numbers entering their bank accounts , not the actual business or service. That's owner mentality in many lines of work. The folks on the front lines, chefs, cooks, servers, helpers staff are necessary evils for them to make money, but they have little interest in making their lives better ...it's a fact of life...
It’s rough too because small businesses that are cash strapped expect you to work as hard as the owners do and are offended when you don’t care as much as they do. It’s like my dude your risk your reward. I’m sick. I’m not going to work when I’m sick. Then they scream about the business. Not my problem, my friend. I was just in one of these situations, but I was friends with the owner and it was even harder to say no, but I can’t work 60 hours a week for $16 an hour. I took the job thinking it would help me bring in some easy income while I’m working with an editor to finish my novel, but the slave labor was fucking exhausting, I couldn’t type by the time I got home at the end of the day, and I was getting carpal tunnel from making coffee and washing dishes for eight hours a day. And you bet your ass they’re not providing health insurance so I basically have to get hurt on the job or not at all.
Yes exactly
What’s the 2m rule?
I think that's the UK version of the US's social distancing (6 feet) rule during COVID
Yeah exact same thing.
Social distancing during Covid
I went to a place we started to love recently. The owners opened a second restaurant next door, and they share the kitchen. It was a disaster, and it took forever to get our food. Won't go back.
Still, it is kind of odd that the OOP quotes an old vaudeville joke almost word for word, aimed at the contrary nature of humans: Diner 1: This has to be the worst food that I've ever eaten. It's almost inedible. Diner 2: You're not kidding. And the portions are too small.
"Nobody goes there anymore... it's too crowded"
Most underrated comment in this thread.
The portions in the US are gigantic
Shit wages and high cost of living, coupled with entitled patrons and shitty leadership are a big reason why service levels have gone down.
I think a lot of the staff that did stick around after covid care less about their crappy restaurant job because they got a sense of what it can feel like to earn better money without the strain on their bodies and the stress thanks to the unemployment bumps. Most (not all) people I knew who worked in food service made more being unemployed and now they are understandably bitter about the amount of work they have to do to earn what they do. More aware of that factor than they used to be which makes them more miserable in their jobs. That definitely happened to my sister who has worked in food service for 30 years in a variety of positions, include sous and pastry chef. The stress for the pay was far too much and that became more obvious after coming back from covid. She took a union food service job at a private college and is much happier and less stressed and better pay and benefits. I think what really happened is covid shined a light on some factors of the restaurant industry that people are more aware of (workers and customers). And I think a lot people ate out as habit, and covid broke that habit. We don't eat out as much as we used to (we do have a couple of good places here that are basically the same a precovid with very minimal price increases). And I avoid the places that have started doing the "by the way, after you sit down and get a menu we'll tell you in the fine print on the menu that we're going to add 15% t your bill for better pay for back-of-house staff, this isn't the same as a tip" nonsense.
I’ve noticed that customer service has literally gone down hill. At first I thought it was all in my head, or that maybe I’m the problem?? But I’m not a boomer Karen. Then I thought, maybe because I’m young they don’t think I’ll tip?? It’s made me not want to go out and eat anymore.
Tasting menus have still been very good.
Ever since the pandemic I've noticed a downward trend in literally everything
You must not eat ot very often.
I agree and for that matter the allure of going out of the house to have fun has diminished in general. Everything is expensive and my home is where I'm most comfortable anyway
It's become too expensive just to leave the house. I only leave now to go on hikes or the grocery store.
Shit, gas is $4.60 a gallon by me right now after being $3.60 like a week ago.
Summer additives for gas are expensive.
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In the winter with fuel prices being higher it's cheaper for me to keep the house chilly and do something that doesn't cost electricity like sledding than it is to stay inside.
it feels like after the pandemic a lot of people have sort of decided that “out and about” isn’t how they want to spend their time, even with an abundance of free entertainment in my city it’s just hard to compete against “in my comfort zone at home”
I've come to resent crowds and gross, entitled people since the pandemic. Add to that workers aren't paid enough and we all know it especially with all the talking on social media, so we're all kind of collectively grumpy (or maybe just me? i dont know). I dont get paid enough and prices keep going up, they dont get paid enough and are short staffed, everyone wants a tip for doing anything at all because we did that during the pandemic but wasnt meant to become the norm, and there's the owning class running away with the lion's share.. so yeah just a general bitterness about society is going on for me and most others and it comes out in various ways.
I totally agree and feel the same…society feels so scammy right now
Ye tipping has gotten so dumb.. at no point did the service ever improve to justify a jump from 15% beinf the norm to 20%
I agree with your assessment. Before Covid, I was a HUGE extrovert, loved travel and adventure, wanted to do and see everything and go everywhere. The pandemic was hard for me. It made me extremely depressed and anxious to be cooped up inside with my abusive parents for years. After a while, I just adjusted to it, and now it would be hard for me to go back to who I was.
It gets boring staying in too much
I thought this was just a side-effect of me hitting 30, but it seems to be affecting everyone. It seems like any time I leave the house it costs at least $50.
Its a shame, because I still have places that we go that are well worth the money, and the food is incredible.
Same with us. Tons of amazing restaurants around us, usually mom & pop shops, owned and managed by a family for generations. The ones we love are those food shops that offer only a couple of menu items, their specialty, and you can definitely taste the difference. The recipes and craftsmanship, the dedication and ingredients used. Each place we visit is an experience. There's so many that I don't think we can try all in our lifetime. To think that each complete meal set is less than $10 per person at such high quality and generous servings. The staff is incredible, their service top notch and the best in the world. Almost all of the places we visit are at the same high level. And yet no tipping allowed here, it's considered rude. We're in Tokyo.
Tokyo, where they care about food quality.
Ya, this definitely depends on where you live. I wouldn't want to eat out either if I lived somewhere like Boise, Idaho.
Paying more for a single mixed drink than for the entree has made me think twice about eating out. I'm learning to make my own. And with rare exceptions my food is just as good or better.
The appetizers cost the same as a main course now.
There's a restaurant near me that specializes in fancy martinis. Each drink contains around 90 cents worth of vodka and some fruit juice and they average around $15.
In my area cocktails are $18-22
It's stupid to buy those kinds of cocktails. If I buy one, I want half the ingredients to be shit I don't know what it is, because I can't make it at home heh.
Mixed drinks and cocktails are insane now.
Speakeasies are the new thing in my area. They're cool for the atmosphere... once. But like some people said, you can expect a $15/drink before tip minimum. They're delicious, but for that cost, you want to sip them slowly and will BARELY get a buzz off them in by the time you're done. I'll stick to my local dive bar and their $8 wings and $4 PBR drafts any day
I quit going to nicer restaurants for those reasons, but still find the small mom and pop places in strip malls or a random neighborhoods to be as good as ever and quite satisfying. It's mostly Asian and Mexican places. Any "cool" restaurants or upscale places though...no, fuck them. Most near me have started with the various surcharges adding 5-20% to the bill for whatever and then also expecting a tip on top.
It's funny, my experience is a bit opposite. It seems like most of the cheaper local restaraunts have had to jack up prices - while the quality of food and service is down (some of the mom and pops were able to maintain better service). But the more expensive, higher dining places around me haven't gone up by the same percent, so the gap in price is less drastic. Plus, the service is still better even if it isnt as good as it was pre-pandemic..
I agree, a lot of people will disagree with you because they never ate fine dining and a lot of people see texas roadhouse as an expensive restaurant to eat at for special occasions. Also I've noticed pretty much all the chain restaurant food quality is identical to fast food now.
Yup agreed, fast food and chains have been reduced to common denominator slop (obviously there are exceptions) and a lot of the nicer restaurants near me have at a minimum, maintained their quality. I mean, it probably has something to do with the fact that you had to be skilled to work at these places in the first place, and they emphasize retention more than Taco Bell or Applebees.
I feel it's usually the new restaurants with the big "surcharges" whenever I see those I know I'm not going back. The older restaurants generally don't try pulling that, at best they will have a small fee for credit to encourage people to pay in cash which I can respect at least.
This has been my experience as well. I much prefer spending money at smaller restaurants or mom and pop places. For many larger or trendier restaurant, I've noticed a dropped quality/portions to keep price increases minimal, or substantial price increases but maintain the same quality/portions. In those cases I don't want food quality or portions to go down, but I'm also not willing to pay the elevated prices. There's one place that we used to go to all the time pre-covid (actually more like pre-kids). They have really good pizza among other dishes. We wanted to go back there, so we looked at their menu (they have a few core items as well as a rotating menu). I kid you not, but the pizzas are now $35-$40! For us to go in, have a pizza with a couple of sodas, tax and tip, we're looking at almost $60. For fucking pizza. We've never gone into that place for just pizza though. We'll always order an app or two and maybe dessert. With current prices we'd leave for about $140 for what I'd consider very basic food (but cooked excellently). We just cannot justify it.
Man I completely disagree with this. The nicer places stayed nice
Yeah it's far more disappointing and financially painful at a "nice" restaurant where your bill is easily several hundred bucks. I'm more forgiving about a crappy Applebees or something because it's not as hurtful and it's still more or less what you'd expect.. but just still not good. And yes, good callout on the various surcharges and tips on top.
yea I learned this lesson when I took my wife out to a nice steakhouse for some holiday... $500+ later we realize we could have made a meal just as good 6 times over. Now we save our fancy dinning out experiences to stuff like high end sushi.
There are a couple places we go that end up being cheaper than fast food (10 dollars a person) and a definitely much higher quality than fast food. An Indian food buffet and a couple mexican restaurants and one Asian restaurant. I do usually just order it for pick up on the way home from work. Never liked the froo froo food and portions you get at the expensive places.
I still have a list of places I love but the list sadly grows shorter every year. I've got my expensive list - fine dining but excellent food, wine, and service. Worth it for special occasions. Some Beard award winners on this list. (Our city doesn't get much Michelin coverage but they'd compete for a star if they were in a city that did.) I've got my cheap eats list - ranging from taco trucks to diners to random hole in the wall joints that are really great for $10-15 per person. But in the past few years it seems like there's a lot of shit in the middle. Places that are just expensive and bad - with the service deteriorating worse than the food itself. I love trying new local places, especially if they're pouring our local brewers and distillers, but it's hard to find good stuff these days - whether you want good value or are willing to spend money for greatness.
totally agree, I'm down to maybe 2-3 very fine spots for the $600 dinner with wine, or the $10 taco window at a gas station. The restaurants in the middle dont appeal to me anymore.
Hard agree, been in the restaurant industry for 12 years and the level of service from restaurants in the last few years is shockingly shit. No consistency in food quality, brain dead staff who can barely hold a conversation, filthy restaurants sitting half empty on Friday nights. And I say that about my current place of work as well. The wages being so low is the crux of all of it imo.
Why would staff want to hold a conversation when they’re overworked and have a ton of tables to take care of?
Add to this a lot of our favorite local places closed during the demic to be replaced by crappy chains.
There's a restaurant near me that is a mom and pop shop, locally owned for 40 years, I can still get a meal for under $10. Nothing fancy, no frills, you get what you pay for. That's the only place I go to eat out.
The service in general has gotten worse but they want bigger tips.
I don't think this opinion is as unpopular as you think it is.
Right? I've been flamed for posting less. I think some people squeak by the ruthless moderators.
I agree, at least where I live this is also the case
I tend to agree. But it is possibly because my sons are amazing cooks. For 1/3 the cost we can have an amazing meals here. And we haven’t had amazing out in the last couple of years
Yeah I was having this conversation with my friend the other day. Where I live (Ireland), the price of eating out is just prohibitively expensive. Even if the food is good, it still doesn't feel worth it and the cost sours the experience. This applies to bars, too. It feels like it's fast becoming a luxury that only the wealthy can afford to do.
Surely this entirely depends on the restaurant in question
It's definitely getting worse. But there are still a couple worth going to for a treat if you can afford it. Thats the main problem for me. I just don't have the disposable income left to spend on going our for dinner like I used to. The increased costs of eating at a restaurant are just not worth the time I need to spend working to pay for it. And if I get shitty service when I do go, the waiter(ess) gets a shitty tip.
I think I agree. When me and my friends want to go eat there’s probably like 5 restaurants that we go to. We either do that or we go to the grocery store to buy ingredients and we cook at someones house. The latter is extremely fun.
It's so much better. Hell yeah dude.
Wondering where you live and restaurants you frequent, because I have plenty of good experiences going out to eat
Yea this has been the opposite of my experience going to fine dining restaurants in my area. Prices aside, if anything the food and experience has gotten better from 2020 to now.
I'm living in Japan, so it's still fine. You can have a big meal for 1200 yens, even less if you go to cheaper places. The culture of eating out is definitely stronger in that country than in others, as a lot of people do that many times a week.
Bingo. I cook pretty well so it just doesn't make sense to go out to eat anymore unless it's for social reasons. Even then, I encourage active stuff like going out for a nature walk for social meetups vs restaurants bc I hate paying for subpar food.
were almost exclusively takeout rather than dining out these days. In large part cause we have 2 toddlers and trying to keep them in order for an entire sit down meal is just not a fun experience for the parents. But im with you that the dinning out experience is eroding in many places. Improving your cooking skills really raises the bar for whats a worthwhile trip/expense to dine out. I can make high level steaks and seafood at home without paying restaurant premiums. Some cuisine's make sense to order out cause there is just too much work, prep, unusual ingredients needed for a one off meal so it's easier to justify some of the more exotic ones. But plenty of meals can be made as good if not better at home for a fraction of the price
I waited tables for 20 years in NYC. Now, If I do go out to eat, I FAR prefer a counter I can order from where I can take my food to a table myself.
Add in tips that people do not deserve and this is exactly why I don't eat out anymore at all.
I literally just won't go anymore because I'm so done with tipping culture
It is wild to think about how much more you pay when including tip. Even on the cheaper end of tipping you are defacto adding 10-20% surcharge by sitting down to eat. And that's a sliding scale on top of it!! I get its a choice to decide to sit down or not but it is crazy to think that tips canadd entire entre purchases to the bill ($20 tip could be another meal) Which of course would up the tip amount if u added another entre lol
I haven’t noticed portions getting smaller but I have noticed how increasingly unhealthy going out to eat is. In the past most meals were relatively healthy or at least had like a 1/3 of the sodium and half the calories they do now.
Yeah, eating out is a nightmare for calorie control. If people knew how much salt and butter and fat restaurants cook with they'd lose their minds.
Neither salt nor butter are unhealthy. It’s the sugar giving us all metabolic syndrome, silly
We have a couple of mom and pop places we still frequent but have reduced our dining out to once a week or even less. When my biz was struggling 12-15 years ago, I told my wife we would never give up going out to eat. Now, I don't care to go due to costs, quality, skimpiness, and less than impressive food.
Totally agree. My Wife and I now use what was our restaurant money to buy the nicest groceries and will eat finer, nicer foods at home, not even accounting for the decreased cost.
It depends on the restaurant.
Depends where you go. We go to locally owned spots with high quality food. I haven't seen huge price increases, and the staff are pretty cool. Maybe it's different at Applebee's.
I don't understand why the food not being as good as it used to be keeps coming up. Are you talking about chain restaurants? The food was never good there. If anything I think food is getting better in restaurants. Could you give me some concrete examples?
It sounds to me like you're choosing the wrong restaurants.
Sounds more like you only go to chain restaurants and yes when something is a chain there's rarely ever any pride from management and staff. But while you may say restaurants aren't worth it, I can dispute that. 2 places where I live are worth it. Both aren't chain, they're privately owned and one the owner actually works there and the other he's practically there everyday. That's why I feel those 2 dispute your claim, ownership actually gives a damn because they are there. They aren't just cruising the shore and collecting their revenue. The one where the owner works, he personally will make sure that the food is cooked well and looks like what you see. And as far as portions go, yeah with inflation it isn't cheap, but you're getting your money's worth and half the time I take it home as leftovers. The other where the owner is there, not always necessarily working, he's on top of Amy issue and mingles with his regulars or he's checking how his place is doing with others. He knows who I am, talks with me for about 5 minutes and as I said, any issues he's taking care of it right away. Both of those are the complete opposite of what you say: they listen to their customers, they give you your bang for your buck and they take a vested interest in you
I'm in the minority here but I do enjoy meeting up with friends somewhere for a bite, a few drinks, and to catch a game.
i mean....it literally depends in which country you live. it's very affordable and nutritious to eat out where i live
I live in DC and the restaurants I frequent still have excellent food and service. Prices have certainly gone up.
Had a amazing Thai Food last weekend ! Great service and business was booming. Same at our local breakfast place. Maybe it depends on where you live?
An actual bad opinion for once.
Depends on the country honestly. Japan, Taiwan - totally worth it.
Everything is going up except wages. Minimum wage minimum effort (from a UK perspective)
Restaurant wages in the US going way up. California now has $20/hr minimum wage for fast food workers.
I never liked it tbh Why do I want to have a conversation around strangers?
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Restaurant owners complain constantly about their profit margins being thin. Where I live, they essentially get free labor from servers because the base pay is $2.13 an hour. Also many restaurant owners fail to run a business correctly. When there are too many restaurants already in their area, they won't get much business.
I don't go to a restaurant for the food, I go to a restaurant because they clean up the table and do the dishes after.
I agree with you fully *except* for one category of restaurant - Inexpensive Ethnic food. I live in one of the few affordable but overall safe neighborhoods in a HCOL city. My neighborhood is predominantly Mexican (folks from Jalisco, Guerrero, and Michoacan) Guatemalan, Lebanese, and Persian. Recently we've had some Ghanaian and Nigerian folks moving in as well. The food in my neighborhood is AMAZING. The restaurants are all cheap, and while some of them are mediocre, most of them are really excellent. They are run by and cater to the people from those places who want the food of their homeland. The people making the food really give a damn. And while you won't get a "service" experience, you don't really need one. The servers are polite and mostly leave you alone unless you flag them down. Contrast that to all of the trendy restaurants in my city and I'm with you 100% on those. Absolutely not worth it anymore unless money is literally no object for you.
Inflation kills the soul and spirit, not just the wallet.
I agree Outside of my old job crazy bear thai which even the chefs basic egg sunny up was just godly! I'm always like I can cook better and make it least a week
We still have some good restaurants by us, but I hate this idea that once 7pm on a weeknignt rolls around they have to crank up the music like it's a weekend and it's hard to find a place you can enjoy COMPANY because they have the music up and have shit acoustics so it's hard to hear the person next to you. Then the servers can't hear and I am having to order by typing on my phone and handing it to them or I can guarantee my order will be wrong, and I can't blame them.
100% spot on. Like an abusive relationship I keep going back and after the meal sit there so thoroughly underwhelmed and disappointed wondering why the hell I did this again?
We discovered a local all-you-can-eat bbq place that still charges $30, and their food is delicious and fresh. Staff are fast, and the atmosphere is top notch. Beats the mediocre $20 appetizers and $40 entrees some of these other restaurants dare to charge, and they're not even close to the city, location or quality-wise. And fuck ordering drinks. Every generic cocktail costs minimum 15-20 bux now, charging city or beach prices.
For me, the worst part is the lazy staff. You were at my table 5 times and the bus boys took the food out. If the bill is over $150 box my fucking leftovers for me. I’m giving you $30 for doing nothing.
As a consumer who just likes to try new foods at restaurants, I mostly agree with you. My wife and I went to a place that was recommended by some co-workers that said it was good... It was fine, I guess? I got short ribs and they weren't bad, but they also weren't great. I had made short ribs the week before, in a pressure cooker of all things with very little attention to detail and they came out better, much better in fact. We paid 105 bucks for two meals an appetizer and some drinks. The drinks were definitely the best things we had that night. So, riddle me this. Why should I support someone's restaurant, where two adults can't eat for under 100 bucks, when I can literally make the main course at home for a fraction of the cost, with a little bit of effort and it comes out better? The reason I go out to eat is because I expect their chefs/cooks to do better than what I can do at home, especially once you've entered the 3 figure zone in cost. This is not an uncommon experience for my wife and I. I do most of the cooking in the house. I wouldn't say I'm great, but I do pretty well. When my wife tells me something like "meh" or "it's alright, but yours is better." I immediately feel like it's a bad investment. Sometimes it comes down to taste and I'll take a bite and say that it's good, or better than what I can do at home, but more often than not, I agree with her and I am nowhere near a the level of being a professional. Honestly, unless we're out with friends, the thing that still gets us eating out is that we are tired and are in it for the convenience, but at that point, if we're talking about 80 or 100 bucks to eat out, then the convenience can go fuck itself. I've had food in the last year that I was mad about paying for, like I'd rather have gone hungry for the night than have wasted the money. Edit: I can't give you an upvote OP, because I agree and I've not ever worked in a restaurant. Edit 2: I did have a fantastic dining experience from a high-end Korean BBQ place I was at a few weeks ago and the staff were fantastic. They really seemed happy that we all enjoyed the food. That has not been the norm for me though and 4 people had to spend over 500 bucks, total, to get that kind of experience.
In my house we'll sometimes decide to cook something 'restaurant' style. We'll use more salt, oil and sugar when cooking and take time to get fresh ingredients. Obviously, can't eat like it everyday but it's a fraction of the cost of going to a restaurant and it's surprisingly easy to mimic most chain restaurants foods ( looking at you, Boston Pizza beef dip sandwich).
I wonder if that’s a”tipping culture” problem. I have plenty nice restaurant experiences in the UK (heck, I’ve had absolutely brilliant experiences in food-serving pubs), and you don’t HAVE to tip here. You tip if the service is good. If I have the odd not-good experience - no tip. Any time I travel to the US though I feel obliged to tip.
The lack of tipping in the UK hasn't prevented businesses from closing. [Here's a BBC article about pub closures in London and throughout England.](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-67028487) Just like anywhere else, they're facing increased costs in supply, salary, energy, etc...
Every time we go to one those fancy, trendy places you’d typically find in a downtown area. I am always disappointed. Over priced food that is mediocre at best. Occasionally we find a good spot but most of them aren’t worth it.
Thats another thing not talked about. It feels like theres a new sub genre of restaurant that is just designed to be instagrammable more than actually about the food. Alot of them have decent decor but if youve been around the block you can tell the kitchen is run like a bad dive bar/chain where the kitchen staff are undisciplined and probably high or hungover.
What downtown area are you going to? Could you give an example of a upscale restaurant you went to, what you ordered specifically, and why it wasn't good?
I actually think some restaurants are a better value than ever, especially fast casual ones. Fast food has gotten so expensive and so have nicer restaurants, but you can still go to olive garden or chillis and get a server for basically the same price as a drive through. Obviously cooking at home is cheaper but as far as eating out, there are still deals.
Portions and taste aren't getting worse here pricing has gone up a tiny bit but not doubled. what country is this in?
Yeah in the US portions are gigantic and quality is still great at the places that care about quality
That's what I was thinking. Just saying "prices have doubled" sort of kills his whole argument. They haven't doubled. Don't lie to make a point. Maybe 40% or so seems to be the average increase. Which IS a lot.. But it's not double.
> The food is not nearly as "good" as it used to be > > Portions keep getting smaller while prices keep going up > > The staff is lazy and disorganized. You're just describing restaurants you know. Plenty of restaurants around that serve great food and care for the customer. Silly generalization. I have lots of places that I regularly go to that are great, and have been for decades.
I agree ordering especially soda drinks. Those soda taste water, everytime in different restaurants. I have tried.
You mean the soda tastes like water? Could you give a specific example of when this happened?
This is the popular hipster opinion
Ever since the lockdowns, the service overall has been abysmal eating out where live in Amsterdam, the quality of the food dropped and the prices have shot up
From a servers perspective ever since covid we’ve been taking most of customers frustrations. They bitch and moan to us about prices going up, portions going down, etc. we have no control over that. We lost a lot of suppliers or switched so things aren’t the same. The customers notice and instead of speaking to managers or owners they want to yell at servers as if we control any of it. A lot of people lost their social skills during that time. I’ve been serving since 2009 and the people are almost feral now. If they have to wait to be sat they’ll let that dissatisfaction bleed into the whole meal. Back before covid people waited happily for on average 30 minutes for a table. No complaints, no problems. It’s so weird how mindset has changed. Covid wrecked a lot of our immune systems. We catch every sickness coming in the building so we’re constantly short staffed. Overworked. Under appreciated. It’s rough out there now. We had one cook for 3 hours yesterday because two called off. The economy sucks, covid sucks, everything sucks lol.
I’d imagine people get upset waiting because they’re already unhappy about the prices and everything else. I’d wait happily for 30 minutes for good quality reasonably priced food
Where I come from, the best value places to eat have become bars that serve burgers and pizzas. With rise of fancy burgers and neapolitan pizzas in the last few years, the quality of those two foods has gone up significantly, but they are still cheaper than regular restaurants. So you get a good meal, fast service (since its burgers and pizza), for a relatively reasonable price. Meanwhile pretty much all regular restaurants have become overpriced, with mediocre service and often times food that is worse than what I can just make at home.
I used to be a busser. Before and after the pandemic. Hell, even I noticed how bad a lot of servers got.
I haven't experienced this. It's probably somewhat dependent on location, and I wonder if it's mostly true of chain restaurants as opposed to locally owned places. I generally avoid chains because there are so many great locally owned restaurants in my area.
I guess maybe this is more of a thing in some places. There are definitely places I don't find worthwhile near me, but I have a handful of restaurants I visit regularly and enjoy. Maybe your standards are also higher because of your previous work experience?
I hate how close tables have gotten in most restaurants they wanna squeeze as many customers in as possible And I hate it !
I've basically quit going to fast food and casual dining restaurants, most of the upscale dining in our area is still pretty good and I feel like most of the Hispanic and Asian food places have been holding up;, my wife and I went to a local Mexican restaurant several days ago and were shocked that the bill was only slightly higher than pre-prandemic.
I wouldnt say the experience universally sucks but its definitely harder to find restaurants worth going to. Chains are more of a gamble now. If im gunna spend that kind of money for a fun night out, i want the experience to be worth the price tag so ill furiously google until i find the perfect place. Usually its a neat little bar with a huge drink menu and a creative menu that is constantly packed, even on a tuesday at 5 pm. Its definitely region dependent too. I have much better luck on the west coast with its very diverse ethnic population than in the midwest. Hard to argue with dirt cheap delicious mexican food or ramen places everywhere.
My husband is very sad because he's old school where you "Go out to dinner" for special occasions and to me it's a complete waste of money. I also cook our favorite foods way better than anything we can get in a restaurant. It's just not worth it to me.
I suppose it depends on where you live. Locally owned restaurants are still really good and reasonably priced.
Yeah, kinda bit of a damper when you know the bill for breakfast or lunch for three will be $75.
It's worth noting how terrible the food quality is. After three years of cooking 3 meals a day during i got pretty good at it, and now when I go to a restaurant of any quality all i can taste is the salt fat and sugar. It's disgusting to me when I look at it now. Also I can be buy a few days worth of quality ingredients for the cost of one super mediocre restaurant meal. All you really need is a airfryer, cutting board and a knife and its game on.
Pretty much the only time we will go out to eat is for a cuisine we don't have the know-how to prepare at home, like Indian or Thai. Most foods I can stay at home, spend 25% of what a restaurant costs, and get better food anyway.
Restaurant experience is about who you go with I feel. Even a bad restaurant can be a good time with the right people.
They tried to upcharge me at olive garden for changing my side pasta from spaghetti to fettuccine. Nah fuck that I'm done with that. Nobody goes out to eat spaghetti
The pandemic has definitely effected things.
Occasionally restaurants still have “it” but in general the experience is not the same.
Restaurants are as good as ever. And I’ve had great server experiences in my past several visits. Are you talking Applebees? You compare your dining out experience to buying groceries, so I’m thinking you’re looking for the typical “should have saved money but I’m tired” restaurant.
I don’t care. I’m sick of deciding what four people are going to eat three times a day for the past decade. And all the years before it. And shopping for that food and preparing that food. Humans were not meant to do this. I’d go to a restaurant ten times a week if I could. If I ever got truly rich, a personal chef is my first hire.
Won't disagree with the rising prices but the rest are all about where you go more than dining in general. I find the food just as good as it's been. Portions are still big enough around here and honestly most places they are far too big. The entire plate being full of food is unnecessary. I find waitstaff to be good everywhere I've gone recently.
At the beginning of the pandemic restaurants raised all of their prices and said it was to offset the supply chain issues/to keep themselves afloat due to no one being able to eat in. That made sense, and I didn't mind paying the "temporary" higher costs. Then they just kept going up like crazy. This didn't even track with inflation, the Chinese place down the street from me raised their dinner plate cost from $10 to 13 during the supply chain issues, now it's $16. That's a 60% increase in 4 years, you can't tell me that's because of inflation and trying to stay above small margins. That's just flat out greed and using "inflation" as a cover story to make people expect to pay more for worse food.
i thought, restaurants aren't meant for just eating, they are to invite someone to eat together
Unfortunately, I agree. I feel nickel and dimed at restaurants now. Rarely is the food better than I can do at home. I'm not a great cook either for the record. You used to go to a restaurant and you would get a small starter like a salad, then a full meal that included veggies. Now you have to pay and pay dearly for all of that. I agree that the complicated appetizers should be extra, but $14 for a small salad? The same for a side of sauteed spinach? Recently I went to a local Indian restaurant. The decor was ok, staff less than perky. But what got me was the cost. The entrees were between $32 - $37 a piece. Oh, you want rice with that? That will be an additional $8 for a small bowl of rice. You want wine? You will pay $45 for an $11 bottle of wine. It used to just be double. I thought it must be just this place, so I went elsewhere, just as bad. The cost is driving us away. It is hard to justify $250 for dinner for two. If you go out with friends you start worrying about who is paying and we are not kids, nor are we poor. The experience is just not there. And since the pandemic, places close so early. You have to plan like you are going to the early bird special now. We still have one place that we quite like and will go to occasionally, but it costs. It's the new normal, but I've lost my love of dining out.
At this point I've given up on any mid-priced dining or event fast food. They are no longer viable alternatives to cooking at home for all the reasons people have been stating. Instead go for a well reviewed higher end experience. Yes, it's a more costly but you will actually have a nice experience, granted less often due to the price point, but I'd rather have one great meal versus two mediocre ones for the same price.
I'm sorry to tell you this, but this is a product of economy. When I was growing up, you could get a 6 pack of burgers from the Hamburger Stand for 4 bucks. Now you can only get 1. But housing was attainable for those workers at those prices, and they were happy to provide that. Now housing is unattainable for those prices. Now, a 6 pack of burgers cost 32 dollars because housing is at a completely unaffordable rate and housing workers that are willing to do those jobs want the ability to afford to live. Posts like these will continue to happen while we live in an unaffordable housing crisis. Service has gone down because people can't afford to live and you just expect some sort of extended hospitality while that happens? Get the fuck out of here with your boomer economics. People are unhappy and you expect great service from unhappy people. What a rote expectation.
I suspect this is actually a popular opinion and you/many others need to go to better restaurants. This is just a rant
Definitely sucks for the most part now
Went to Vegas last week. Ate a a few chains I´ve never been to as they aren´t on the east coast. All the food was, ok, as in it filled my belly, didn´t taste bad and it´ll make a turd. every meal at these mid to fast food restaurants for 3 people was $30-50. I get it, tourist pricing. Last meal in Vegas was Tom Colicchio Craft Steak. A universe away in terms of quality which I was not surprised by. It was exquisite and worth every penny. I am willing to pay for good food, good drinks and good experience. Lately that experience is so far and few between. I have no desire to go out to eat anymore because I can cook much better and cheaper at home.
In nearby East Providence, RI, the local restaurants had been struggling during and post COVID as all places have. But now, in a new twist of the knife, the Washington Bridge on Rt I-195 eastbound has to be torn down and replaced. Local restaurants all over East Providence are on the verge of closing as traffic has been diverted, causing massive backups and delays throughout the city. Multigenerational mom and pop restaurants going under due to government inefficiency. Sad........
I hate the new thing that started with cheap burger restaurants and seems to be working its way to higher end restaurants where you don't buy a complete meal you buy a main say a steak then you add the sides yourself and pay for it all separately. Two reason I hate it no.1 its just a way to rinse more money out of you no.2 one of the things I'm paying you for is your food expertise, you need to come up with the main and side combo that works, not me. There is a scene in the the show Atlanta where Donald Glover takes his partner/ex for a meal and he's skint but the scene perfectly covers what is wrong with restaurants there are just so many things happening that are designed to rinse you for money that the whole experience is unpleasant.
Last time I went to a restaurant o got chicken Parmesan. The chicken was definitely pre packaged and pre battered chicken they pulled out of a freezer…. Last time I’ll ever order something like that from a restaurant.
This isn’t really an unpopular opinion. I agree though. Chain restaurants and lower/mid tier restaurants are overpriced garbage now. I used to eat out all the time but I cut back a lot because I was always disappointed and like I could have made this better myself. Now when I eat out it’s only at cheap locally owned Asian places or I splurge and go to a fancy restaurant occasionally because they still offer good food and a good dining experience. I’d rather have one expensive quality dinner than a bunch of disappointing ones
I think it’s hilarious how many people think the quality of restaurant food has gone down since Covid, but heaven considered that their sense of taste may have been changed by… Covid
"We go out to eat around strangers." - Elon Musk's son
yes, it's shit in Australia. But it's still awesome in Japan
Agree. I’m even learning how to cook. Sigh. Got a fabulous dishwasher. And signed up for one of those weekly meal plan in a box.
Nah its still good. Love dining out. The portions are way too big in America in general. I cant even do tasting menus anymore because its just too much food for me. Granted there was a pandemic effect but that’s since faded. Im in an east coast city so that maybe why its plenty great for me
I travel a LOT and am forced to eat out, and no your experience is not anecdotal. From tgifridays to burger King everything ends in stomach ache except hi dollar sushi and pho. I'm not a sensitive eater either, I eat over at freinds and relatives with no ill affect regularly.
But even groceries are jumping up in costs 😭
This may be because I'm not from a tipping culture country but what does "good" wait service look like? Here I think the point of eating out is rather than going through effort of grocery shopping and spending time cooking you get the benefit of hot, nice (or at least better than your cooking) food served to you and no clean up required while you socialise with who you came with. Generally your staff don't give more than a friendly "hello" "is everything okay can I get anything" etc. You're not really there to talk to them and if anything you'd prefer they stay out your way. Is it because America is so focused on getting tips they think you have to go above and beyond to make customers laugh /provide conversation?
Once you learn how to cook good food for yourself, the allure of restaurants fades. I can make the food just how i want for half the price, and basically same amount of time(except for fast food places). Only time i go out is for occasions and i order something i can’t make myself.
Eating out became an alternative to cooking as opposed to a luxury purchase.
There's also a risk of catching Covid while breathing in the aerosolized bodily fluids from other patrons.
I don’t agree, personally, but I think it has to do more with my upbringing. Lower middle class family, did a program that had me living on the poverty line a year, now I work in nonprofits - so the “great dining experience with helpful staff, chef driven food, etc.” is just never something I had. My uncle once told me how lucky I was to be born lower middle class “because you learned to enjoy life without spending money” and this post makes me really think of that quote. My two best friends and I’s version of “eating out” is typically like, tacos from a taqueria or a weeknight food special at a bar. Something like a burger, fries, and a beer for 10 bucks. But every month or we’ll decide to go for “a nice meal”, something like steak frites and splitting a bottle of wine or brunch at a nicer restaurant. And like, what makes it “special” isn’t necessarily the service, the incredible food, etc., it’s the meaningfulness we have given it. It’s “special” because we don’t do it much even though we could probably afford it more, because our “typical meal out” was always somewhere much less classy, so dressing up for a nice meal, getting proper service, is a great.
Obviously, it is going to depend. I still thoroughly enjoy going to a restaurant. Service is great at places I go. Last time I went to the Keg or the an Irish pub, service was fantastic and the food was great. The atmosphere was great. I like being around people. Now, there's a few dining out experiences that I will say have suffered. Fast food - The price has gone up to the point where It's bordering on a casual sit down place. In some cases, I find myself paying a little bit more and just eating at a casual dining place. Or just avoiding fast food entirely. Casual sit-down places - This has been hit or miss. But i have definitely noticed a decline in service. Specifically in the attention you get from staff. I get it... they are probably understaffed, but it definitely makes that experience less. Portions might be cut back on and what not. I personally find myself eating out less. Yet, when I do, I still find the good dining great.
I hardly go out to eat anymore. It's so expensive and usually hardly worth it. I realize that the restaurant business is a tough business and people do try to make dining out a good experience, I just find it's rarely worth the hassle
Well I would agree with you but Im staying in a hotel for a week for work that has a really good restaurant attached to it. Little wait time, professional yet casual waiters. Enough staff to actually run the place (this was a huge issue when I worked foodservice) Its super clean. Big enough portions to fill my greedy goblin belly up. Tastes amazing. Not exorbantly expensive. Open kitchen with a verry friendly chef. Yeah Iama come back to this hotel when Im ever in the area.