Eating Out Considerations

[MarieIG]

1) No bugs or rodents;

2) Clean utensils, glasses, plates, etc.

3) Comfortable seating;

4) Little or no wait;

5) Tasty food;

6) Decent prices;

7) Polite wait staff.

I have a vague recollection that when I was single I enjoyed going out to eat. Now, aml w$orking (a lot) and frankly am very tired and don't really look forward to going out to eat. It seems like a lot of work to me. Maybe when I retire I'll enjoy it more.

 

[MRG]

1) No bugs or rodents;
..snip..

Other than apps or entrees?

 

[travelover]

Price is important to me because I want to brag, to anyone who will listen, about how much I paid for dinner and drinks. The more expensive, the better.

 

[NW-Bound]

At the above steak houses, at least you get a steak for $50, albeit with no trimmings. It could be a lot worse.

My wife told me once a coworker of hers got a comp to stay at a luxury hotel in NYC. He made the mistake of having breakfast there. Once he sat down and opened the menu, he knew he was in trouble: there were no prices listed.

So, he ordered what he thought should be the least expensive. Still ended up paying $75 or something like that. And this was 20 years ago. That was quite a story to tell.

 

[NW-Bound]

I asked my wife again. She remembers that incidence, but not what the guy ordered. Could be a simple sunny side up or something, and it was around $100. And she remembers the hotel: Four Seasons.

 

[flintnational]

Type of food first. Do I want Italian? Chinese?
Quality next.
Value third.
Unless I'm traveling, then usually type the reviews.

+1. We also look at the "atmosphere" particularly when we are travelling. Does it have a view, rustic interior, charm factor etc. Now I am hungry and want to go on a trip.

FN

 

[flintnational]

A run down hole in the wall is fine for us since we are usually paying more attention to each other and the food, than to our surroundings.

"hole in the wall", some of our favorite places! Now I want a Po boy! I don't think I can make "Mother's" for breakfast. I know, its for the tourists. But, hey I am a tourist when in NO.

 

[flintnational]

Most upscale steakhouses like Ruth's Chris, Fleming's, Morton's, or local non-chain restaurants now charge $50-60 for a steak without trimmings. A side dish of potato for $10-15 is the norm. The meat is good, but eating out like that every week costs a lot, plus it gets boring too. So, I do not do that often.

It gets pricey at the steak houses. We went to one in Atlanta for an anniversary earlier this year. It was around $350 for 2 steaks, two apps, 1 side, a moderate bottle of wine, and tip. Definitely not a once a week place! At least not for us unless we decide to bump the SWR.

FN

 

[audreyh1]

We don't go out to eat at steakhouses because it's so easy to fix excellent steaks at home, and we've also got the sides down, and we have a great selection of wine in the cellar.

 

[Midpack]

When you go out to eat how do you choose a restaurant to eat at? Is it because of one favorite dish or because the quality across the board? Food type (nationality)? Location? Parking? Value? Reviews? Special occasion?
Price? Perhaps this should be a poll, and I ask for help with this if so agreed.

All those factors plus service. We eat dinner out at least twice a week. Sometimes, quality is our top priority, other times value is a priority. We won't accept bad service twice from any place. We enjoy a lot of "food types" including seafood, steak, sushi, American, southern, burgers, breakfast, Chinese and Cajun, but Italian, Mexican and artisan neapolitan pizza are our overall favorites. I read a lot of reviews, but there are so many fake or unqualified reviews you have to take them all with a grain of salt. I always want to try every new restaurant and every dish while DW likes to go back to favorite dishes/restaurants - so that's a mix for us.

 

[flintnational]

We don't go out to eat at steakhouses because it's so easy to fix excellent steaks at home, and we've also got the sides down, and we have a great selection of wine in the cellar.

Agreed. We get great steaks at Costco. Ours carries prime beef. But we rarely even get that. The meal out, that I mentioned above, can be prepared at home for around $60 including the better wine (the apps were both lobster). It was $350 out. Normally steak at home and a glass or two of the daily wine would run less than $20. Two of us can split 8 to 10 oz. of steak.

And, at home I get the choice, sear the steaks and finish in the oven or fire up the Big green Egg.

FN

 

[Nemo2]

"hole in the wall", some of our favorite places!

2006, Boston, Kentucky......serendipity brought us to Grandma's.....sign said closed, but the owner opened up for us, (then, when the phone rang a few times as we were eating, told other prospective patrons to "come on down").

I've stressed (incessantly?) that we are not Foodies and never eat out when we can eat in....but this was, without a doubt, the best food we have ever had.

So much so that, when we were in the area a couple years later, found the place unoccupied, and were advised by a local store owner that they had relocated, (we actually went around asking people), we drove twenty miles out of our way in pouring rain in an unsuccessful quest to find their new place.

 

[Red Badger]

We don't go out to eat at steakhouses because it's so easy to fix excellent steaks at home, and we've also got the sides down, and we have a great selection of wine in the cellar.

+2.

DW and I are both fairly handy around the kitchen and don't see the fun factor of frequent dinners out. (BTW - learn to dry brine and reverse sear a steak [or a chop] and you'll never want to pay fine dining prices ever again).

We'll go to an upscale restaurant a few times a year for special occasions. Also, when travelling, we'll mix upscale and value.

On Saturdays, we often go to our local diner for breakfast. We like it there, and can get out (stuffed) for under $20 all in.

 

[IMATERP]

Fast and Cheap, but NOT fast food. Places that my wife and I gravitate to on regular outings would include:

Panera - where we usually split a pick two (usually a salad.)

A trendy Diner (comfort food w/ a level above a Cracker Barrel.)

First Watch - Fru fru healthy breakfasts

Hibachi - fresh and fast $6.95 chicken & Vegetables w/rice.

Special Occasins = Bonefish or a local Steakhouse.

M

 

[Midpack]

DW and I are both fairly handy around the kitchen and don't see the fun factor of frequent dinners out. (BTW - learn to dry brine and reverse sear a steak [or a chop] and you'll never want to pay fine dining prices ever again).

We'll go to an upscale restaurant a few times a year for special occasions. Also, when travelling, we'll mix upscale and value.

On Saturdays, we often go to our local diner for breakfast. We like it there, and can get out (stuffed) for under $20 all in.

We're also pretty adept cooking and baking, so admittedly we should follow your (and others) example, but preparing 3 good meals/day, 7 days a week gets really, really old (leftovers help). Maybe one day we'll conclude mid to fine dining is only warrranted on special occasions.

But there are places that can prepare reasonably healthy, flavorful meals at prices that are competitive with home cooking like Panera Bread, Noodles & Co, Corner Bakery, McAlister's Deli and several others locally. If you're careful there are healthy options at many fast food places, though not as tasty, so we only eat there in a pinch despite the lower prices.

 

[pj.mask]

We avoid chain restaurants. One off places - there is a Korean friend chicken place that is to die for (spicy, sweet, crunchy). Stone oven pizza, there is a health food store that makes Tex-mex (healthy and tasty). We do go to a chain burger place every now and again for the shot of cholesterol.

For steaks/ribs it's always better to cook at home. Not even considering price - never had a steak at a fancy restaurant I thought tasted better than what I could make for $20 at home.

We also do a lot of china town restaurants since its nearby.

Edit: forgot to mention I think you can get big discount cards for flemings and the like at Costco. Sometimes we will do a thing like that for date night just to get away from the kiddos.

 

[Rustic23]

Type of food first!

After that, it petty much decided, unless it is Mexican. Choice is limited. Ok, I guess to some extent quality might step in, but it really is "a place you would eat in, and 'I would not got there if the paid me!' " Small town's don't give you a lot of choice.

 

[Chuckanut]

Generally, I eat out for one or more of these reasons:

1. Traveling and I have done my fair share of picnic lunches and dinners.

2. Socialization over food (the most common reason).

3. Eat food that I enjoy but for various reasons (usually complexity and cost) I would not prepare at home.

 

[NW-Bound]

We both like to cook, but there are some dishes that are too much troublesome to make for two. One example is the shredded-beef Chimichanga, which if I were to make it would be too much for one meal, and eating the left-over for a few days is no fun. And think of the hassle to set up a deep fryer to do just a few. It is easier to head out to Garcia's or Abuelo's to satisfy the craving. I usually ask them to hold the bean and to give me double rice.

See photo from the Web.

Another dish is the Chinese Roast Duck Noodle soup, which I have a craving for about once a year or two. Dunno about roasting a whole duck to make this dish, so a few bucks at a decent Chinese joint will get me satisfied.

See photo from the Web.

 

[audreyh1]

I went through a period of over a year where my diet was quite restricted, and I had to prepare my own food at home. During that year I got used to home cooking all the time, and got pretty creative with meals. We were eating super, super well at home. After the dietary restrictions were eased, I was no longer motivated to eat out locally because almost none of the restaurants came close to the quality of the food at home. There are really only a couple of exceptions, and we eat out maybe once a month now.

I still observe gluten free when not in Europe, and that limits eating out options.

 

[Katsmeow]

When you go out to eat how do you choose a restaurant to eat at? Is it because of one favorite dish or because the quality across the board? Food type (nationality)? Location? Parking? Value? Reviews? Special occasion?
Price? Perhaps this should be a poll, and I ask for help with this if so agreed.

I am actually sitting here getting ready to go out to lunch with DH and thinking about where to go. There are a number of factors. We usually go out to eat for lunch every Saturday and Sunday. Occasionally we will go out another day of the week. And, we usually go out for special occasions.

I start with thinking about what kind of food I'm in the mood to eat. Sometimes, I will just get an urge to eat a particular food. Let's say I get the urge to eat fajitas. I live in an area with many, many restaurants that serve fajitas. But, 90% of the time we go to one particular restaurant. They serve a variation of fajitas that we like, the restaurant is fairly close, it is on the lake and has a nice view. And, we like the food. Occasionally, we will get an urge to try a different place and we do, but usually the place we try isn't better so we go back to the old standby.

Often with DH and I one of his will suggest 2 or 3 restaurants and the other picks. Yesterday, DH mentioned going to either Sweet Tomatoes (salad buffet) or to a lunch breakfast buffet. (We were going on before noon). I wasn't in the mood for salad but picked the buffet. But, if I hadn't been in the mood for either I would have said so.

A big factor for us that we keep in mind is calories. We actually prefer chain restaurants in many ways because they have nutritional info available. We do go to several non-chain restaurants but have to estimate calories (I track my food on MyFitnessPal). I like it when I don't have to. Both DH and I have lost a lot of weight and are lifetime members of Weight Watchers at our goal weights and we want to stay there.

I classify restaurant meals into 3 categories. Green - under 800 calories, Yellow - between 800 and 1200, and Red - over 1200. I figure that I can always eat out at a restaurant that has abundant green meals (or, at least, that I usually order a green meal at). I can fit that into any day. An example of a green restaurant for me is Panera. I could eat at Panera every day and fit it into my calories easily. A yellow restaurant is one that is usually fine. I can fit it into most days. But, if I am planning to have a large dinner I wouldn't have a yellow meal for lunch. There is a Middle Eastern buffet we go to that is always a yellow lunch for us. The thing is that I couldn't have a yellow meal every day of the week. If I do it on Saturday and Sunday and we go out again on Tuesday then I would make Tuesday a green meal. Red meals are more occasional. Last weekend, I had a real meal at Red Robin. Because I did that on Saturday, on Sunday I had a green meal when we ate out and the two balanced out. I usually won't have a red meal more than once or twice a month.

I do pay attention to cost. While it isn't a huge factor for individual meals, this is an area of budget where I do feel tempted to go over budget. When I do I will then spend a couple of weeks where we either eat out less or I prioritize eating at lower cost restaurants such as Panera.

 

[jjquantz]

Noise level is the number one consideration for me. The Washington Post food critic notes the noise level in all of his reviews, anything that is "Must speak with raised voice" or louder is off the list. I never raise my voice in my daily life, why would I go somewhere that required this in order to communicate?

Any cuisine is good for us, we love to try different types of food. Having said that, we don't eat out all that often because we do enjoy eating at home and have found that it is not that difficult to make restaurant quality meals at 1/3 or less of restaurant prices. And at home I can listen to Cole Porter tunes at dinner and not have to raise my voice to be heard.

 

[ABQ2015]

Like Cobra, I have my list of restaurants for each type of food and tend to frequent those and stick to certain dishes. Quality is the priority but all the restaurants are inexpensive since I favor ethnic and small family restaurants, never chains. And I eat out only once a week so price is not a factor. My favorite food type is New Mexican and for my recent birthday meal, I had fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and collard greens at a soul food place. I found most of these restaurants through recommendations but also through reviews (e.g., local newspapers or foodie websites, Yelp, Tripadvisor). My favorite local steakhouse was featured on Triple D.

I admit I'm in a rut and I plan to start experimenting with some new places once I retire and to eat out more often. Many of the restaurants in my casual city that I want to try based on their good reviews are lunch only, often just weekdays, and were not close to my workplace.

Where I splurge is on business and vacation travel. I read reviews and favor a mix of local hole in the walls and upscale restaurants, especially when I travel to a foodie city such as Las Vegas.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We tend to stick to places that are reasonably priced or ones where I have a coupon or gift card - usually local mom and pop kind of places for Thai, Indian, Mexican or some other kind of ethnic food we can't easily make at home. Sometimes we'll get dim sum or taqueria carry out. Once in a while we pack a fancy picnic lunch and eat it at scenic locations like a winery (some allow outside food if you buy wine), a garden with bay views or a Redwood park, so it feel like eating out even though we brought the food from home. When we we have special occasion meals it is usually a Hibachi restaurant. Sometimes I get rush tickets for fancy food and wine tasting events / benefits in the city or wine country. DH would actually rather go out for burgers than sample foods like pureed peas with chopped scallops and pansies on top or fusion tacos with Asian fillings and nasturiums, but I think the foodie events once in awhile are fun.

 

[jazz4cash]

Most upscale steakhouses like Ruth's Chris, Fleming's, Morton's, or local non-chain restaurants now charge $50-60 for a steak without trimmings. A side dish of potato for $10-15 is the norm. The meat is good, but eating out like that every week costs a lot, plus it gets boring too. So, I do not do that often.

Years ago we went to Ruth's Chris. DW was in the powder room when waiter delivered our steaks. He refused to serve them and waited until she returned to bring two freshly cooked ones. I think we paid around $120 w/ two sides that we shared and drinks. That was many years ago.