Anyone Else Soured on Dining Out?

[Mr. Tightwad]

We're doing it less just because of the price increases, though we can well afford it. Even lunch, no alcohol, is $35. Really, a meal in a restaurant should not be a BTD experience.

Another factor is the expanding "fast food" ordering system where you order at a counter instead of being seated and ordering from a menu. A close variant is where they want you to figure out their iPad system to enter an order yourself. Both of those, right out of the box, make the dining experience unpleasant.

Old Shooter, on another thread you mentioned the amount of "figures" you have at Vanguard. With that level of investments, why would a lunch bill of $35, $55 or $75 matter?

My net worth keeps rising no matter where I dine. I'm going to enjoy the food because I might not wake up tomorrow. My kids are going to inherit enough no matter the dining bill.

 

[Music Lover]

Old Shooter, on another thread you mentioned the amount of "figures" you have at Vanguard. With that level of investments, why would a lunch bill of $35, $55 or $75 matter?

My net worth keeps rising no matter where I dine. I'm going to enjoy the food because I might not wake up tomorrow. My kids are going to inherit enough no matter the dining bill.

For us, it's the perceived value. We can afford to eat out more but don't feel that the cost is worth it.

 

[skipro33]

Actually, just recently been turned off by restaurants. Pre-COVID, I would probably walk out of 1 out of 3 establishments because of unclean conditions; bathrooms, tabletop, menus, floor, silverware and glasses. Seemed I could not find a place that didn't seem disgusting on one or more of those points. With COVID came a whole lot of cleaning, disinfecting and wiping down. Single use menus, bathrooms spotless, floors even cleaned under the tables between guests. But now all that is gone as if COVID was over and we can all get back to our filthy, unwashed past. UGGG!!
We dined recently for our anniversary at an establishment we've been going to for this occasion for over 30 years. I always order the pork chops. 2 on the plate and over 1" thick each. Always took one home, so much good eating. My wife aways orders the filet mignon. This year, no filet mignon, not just out, not even on the menu. So she ordered the salmon. For me, there was one pork chop and it was maybe 3/4" thick, over grilled to the point it had char on it. Dinner for two with cocktails was $120 plus tip. Previous years it was $100 with a very generous tip. The waitress was poor skills, barely able to speak English, unable to bring me coffee when requested, cream or refill either. Past years, it was always the owner who recognized us and waited on us. This year, she sat us, then we didn't see her again until the check came.

So lack of cleanliness after proving they were capable of providing clean dining, as well as reduced menu selection, food quantity and prices about 50% above last year has us very sad and disappointed.

The one meal we can endure to dine out is breakfast. Seems the first seating of the day at least starts out with a clean floor, tables and toilets. The food is fresh and it's usually much less crowded.

I forgot, went to a Mexican place last week, dined outdoors on wrought iron patio table so it was clean inasmuch as food falls through and not just smeared around with a dirty dishrag that's been unrinsed all day. The food was served HOT enough to know no bacteria survived if the plate wasn't sanitized. They didn't give us the stink-eye for splitting a main course either. We added some ala carte to the main entree. The wait staff was polite and fast.

 

[Koolau]

Old Shooter, on another thread you mentioned the amount of "figures" you have at Vanguard. With that level of investments, why would a lunch bill of $35, $55 or $75 matter?

My net worth keeps rising no matter where I dine. I'm going to enjoy the food because I might not wake up tomorrow. My kids are going to inherit enough no matter the dining bill.

For us, it's the perceived value. We can afford to eat out more but don't feel that the cost is worth it.

Two sides of the coin: Lots of things we can afford but don't do because of perceived value. Classic example: 1st class air travel. We could do it, but just can't seem to pull the trigger because it's still just getting to our destination. BUT, we spent a couple of hundred extra this time to fly economy plus. About 4 extra inches of room but worth it! YMMV

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I’m one of those people who never enjoyed eating in a restaurant. I did it for family get togethers and work obligations but I always hated it.
I order online and pick up to bring home and eat. I hope that never changes.
Usually I fix something easy at home though. It’s typically healthier.
I do like to go out for coffee or ice cream though.

 

[CO-guy]

We rarely ate out pre-pandemic. Now we eat out even less. There's a small family-owned Mexican restaurant in town (one of five) where we go for some guisado every week or so. They know us so service is never an issue if there's a table available. We often don't even order. They just bring us food.

When traveling outside the country before the pandemic, we ate out daily. I expect to do the same now.

 

[audreyh1]

Anytime we travel into Houston we try to time our "dine-in" lunch/dinner between the hours of 2 and 4pm... Seems to be the best times to be seated quickly and get okay service.... Seems it's always been that way even when we lived there.

By the way, the one good thing about Houston/Woodlands are the restaurants. Man, what a selection. My favorite is Chuy's but there' a lot of good ones. "Almost" worth the drive.

OMG so many decades of Chuy’s!

But it’s not the same as it was in the 90s and early 2000s when we were regulars. We tried a few times traveling through in the early 2010s, but got discouraged.

When we lived in Austin we had no idea how blessed we were with the restaurants. Good thing we took full advantage anyway - eating out was a major hobby!

I still miss Fonda San Miguel and Manuel’s.

 

[Ready-4-ER-at-14]

Prices seem to be affecting nicer places here in Chicago. Think with 20%+ tip meal for two at lunch was $78 had tea and coffee, fresh fish special, cheese curds, and another entrée. No alcohol. The parking lot that had been packed 1 and 2 months ago at lunch was quite sparsely populated. Service was good.

Funny how gas prices also affect desire re going out to eat. I was going to catch lunch a couple miles from home and do an exercise class at cost tomorrow, but decides at gas prices approaching $7 a gal I'd just go to a lesson at closer gym and eat at home or walk a block to store and get deli chicken breasts.

 

[Walt34]

I’m one of those people who never enjoyed eating in a restaurant. I did it for family get togethers and work obligations but I always hated it.

I'm in this camp, although it's a bit of a stretch to say I hated dining out; it's more that I've always just disliked it and thought it overpriced and a bit pointless. I've often said I'd rather have hamburger at home than filet Mignon at a restaurant. Gimme a backyard family burger anytime over white glove service in a restaurant; I'm just more comfortable there.

 

[Ncc1701]

No more eating out for us unless we're on vacation. Nowadays I pick up and take it home. The stickler is the tip. I refuse to pay $20 in tips every time we go out. There is no way I'm getting $20 in value.

And I don't go to movie theaters either. I have Dolby Vision/Dolby Atmos, a 77" OLED and spend 50 cents per movie from Redbox.

 

[Koolau]

No more eating out for us unless we're on vacation. Nowadays I pick up and take it home. The stickler is the tip. I refuse to pay $20 in tips every time we go out. There is no way I'm getting $20 in value.

And I don't go to movie theaters either. I have Dolby Vision/Dolby Atmos, a 77" OLED and spend 50 cents per movie from Redbox.

Yes, but do you have a DVD of the new TOP GUN?

 

[Ncc1701]

Yes, but do you have a DVD of the new TOP GUN?

Lol...No, but everytime I see a new release coming, I just mentally add two months to the release date. Us FIRE folk are used to delayed gratification...

 

[CO-guy]

I’m one of those people who never enjoyed eating in a restaurant. I did it for family get togethers and work obligations but I always hated it.

Agreed! I used to get guilted into going out to eat for family get togethers and for work. Now I just say, "no."

 

[38Chevy454]

Maybe a little less for DW and me. More just busy around the house than an actual decision to go out less. It has gotten more expensive at out favorite local places, all just casual dining. No high end or even middle, mostly places with owner working on site and can go in dressed however I want; shorts and t-shirts most likely.

Fast food or deli type is more by convenience than a main choice. Such as out during the day for some lunch without taking a bunch of time.

 

[harllee]

I have just about quit eating out in restaurants too because I have some serious food allergies and even though I talk the waiter and usually even the cook they just cannot handle the allergy thing correctly. I have recently had a bad allergy reaction from food in a high end restaurant even though I had been promised the food was safe for me to eat. With the staff shortage it is even harder to get food prepared in a manner I can eat.

 

[jollystomper]

My Quicken stats tell me:
- in 2020, after the pandemic, we ate in a restaurant once, in December.
- in 2021, we went to restaurants 20 times.
- So far in 2022, we have gone to restaurants (including on vacation and private graduation dinners) 33 times.

We have not soured on the experience. We are cautious and tend to go when there are less likely to be crowds. This weekend we went on a date night to a dinner theater, there were 25 customer there, well spread out (pre-pandemic they would get around 100). The most crowded was on Mothers' Day. DW wanted to go to an Asian buffet; we went later in the evening, it was somewhat crowded at first but, we arrived when many folks were finishing up, so it was so maybe half capacity and we had empty tables around us.

We have not noticed the quality of the food any different than before the pandemic. Prices of course are up. Help is less, and service is slower, but we are patient. I really do not blame the restaurants for this. Our worst experience was a lunch in a mall in San Antonio in June 2021. The sandwich place had one person working the register, preparing sandwiches, and bringing the food out to tables, and one person restocking the food. That was a long lunch .

We have felt very safe. We do notice a lot more cleaning occurring. In most of the restaurants, most of the food servers are masked. More restaurants are providing online ordering options (either via a tablet at the table or your smartphone) you have less interaction with them. The online options is one way some of them are addressing staff shortages.

I would say 90% of the restaurants we have gone to have "Help Wanted" signs in their window. At one restaurant, when the server found out we were both retired, she asked if we wanted part time work we should consider working at the restaurant (she was also honest and told us the workers got bonuses if someone they referred was hired). We cannot blame her for trying...

 

[athena53]

BF and I are probably dining out a little more although we've noticed the price increases of 20-25%. Our usual place is a local Mexican restaurant, owned by a couple in my neighborhood and they seem to have good continuity of staff. We go relatively early in the evening and it's rarely crowded. Every once in awhile BF gets a craving for biscuits and gravy so we go to Denny's for brunch (fortunately they have healthier options for me). They're understaffed but they have one VERY good waitress and when the food gets to the table it's piping hot so we know she's not letting it sit in the kitchen when it's ready.

On road trips we have avoided any place that looks crowded or not properly cleaned but have been able to find middle-of-the-range places that are acceptable, sometimes choosing takeout instead.

I've taken DS, DDIL and the 3 kids (8, 5 and almost 3) to a couple of good high-end Italian restaurants in the Kansas City area now that the youngest is a little more manageable. DDIL always brings card games and small toys to keep the kids amused and if the youngest gets restless one of us will take him for a walk around the place (keeping him by the hand so he doesn't interfere with anyone else's meal). Staff have been wonderful and kid-friendly and food has been excellent. But yeah, prices are up.

 

[Midpack]

Not at all soured. I have never frequented big chains though, usually prefer places where the owner is on site most nights.

We have continued going to our regular sushi place, sitting outside during most of the pandemic, but will go inside when the weather requires it. Though we did have a super cold snap in January, during peak Omicron, so we did take out that night and neither in nor out were a good idea.

For me dining out has been far less about actual food and more the overall ambiance, service, and a break. A date night. Yes I can eat mostly as well at home, and do more than not, but that's far from the point for me.

+1. We go out for dinner three times a week, breakfast a couple times a month, and we did takeout three times a week during the pandemic - because we did not want local restaurants to fail. We still eat outside more often than not.

Like Aerides, we have never and still don’t go to big chain restaurants - they lost their appeal with us years and years ago. Our many regular restaurants have handled the labor shortage by shortening hours or day open, instead of letting service suffer too much. As long as they do their best to maintain food-service-atmosphere - we’ll support them. If any of them don't maintain repeatedly (three strikes?), they’ll drop from the rotation. Our pre-pandemic favorite pizza place didn’t take Covid seriously, we dropped them, and we’ll never go back. It wasn’t hard to replace them among our regulars.

And the OP sounds like someone who very rarely goes out - “I think this was our first proper "dining out" since the pandemic shutdowns.” You have one bad experience after several years and you’re “soured on dining out?” Seems a little unfair, but your choice.

 

[Dtail]

Mixed bag here.
We both had enough cooking over the years and thus will be trying some delivered cooked meals 2x weekly, pick up very healthy "Balanced Foods" meals 2x weekly and then figure out the other 3 days.
Overall, the quality of service here has gone down, although not drastically and prices are up.

 

[Katsmeow]

Well, it depends. During the pandemic, we went to takeout only for a long period of time. It was the first time we had really gotten food from a "real" restaurant and eaten it at home. And, we enjoyed doing it. We are still doing that usually once a week.

That said, I still enjoy restaurants. Unlike many here, I prefer chains because I want them to have nutritional info and most non-chains don't have it. I record everything I eat in MyNetDiary and it is a PITA to figure it out if you don't have nutritional info.

What I like about dining out are a couple of things. I don't enjoy cooking so I get to eat food from restaurants I would not otherwise have. Of course, in most cases, take out will give me this (some foods don't work well for take out).

But, I also enjoy DH and I being able to go somewhere and just have the opportunity to concentrate on talking to each other while someone else does all the work and there are no interruptions.

We usually go out once a week and I go out to lunch with a friend once a week.

Honestly, if I could afford it monetarily and healthwise I would eat out every day. I do feel that most restaurant meals have way too much sodium and eating out every day is probably not a good idea unless we are really careful.

On the other hand, we are planning to soon move and are leaning toward Las Vegas right now. One "pro" for Las Vegas was the many dining choices and I suspect we will eat out more once we get moved.

 

[Chuckanut]

I tend to eat out for one or more of three reasons:

1. Socializing with friends
2. Far away from home and no kitchen to cook a meal (ie. vacation)
3. Eat something that I could not or would not prepare at home. It might require special skills, special tools, or special ingredients that are expensive and not easily obtainable.

With the increase in dining costs, justifying any one of the above is getting tougher. Often there are substitutions: a picnic instead of lunch, invite friends to my place to eat, skip the unusual food I can't prepare myself. That said I still enjoy being served and not having to clean up afterwards.

Covid is on the rise out here West of the Rockies, so I will be avoiding more crowded indoor spots for a while, and that includes dining indoors. Thanks to unusually cool weather eating outdoors is still iffy unless you want to wear a coat and eat cool food.

 

[travelover]

I don't consider the pandemic to be over and have not been to a sit in restaurant since February 2020. I do miss the occasional meal out, but have made peace with takeout..

 

[Souschef]

This thread hit a nerve for me. I have eaten many times at a local restaurant that has a patio next to the tiedown area for light aircraft and a view of the runway (I'm a pilot)
The last time I was there I placed my order for a sandwich and a beer. The beer came right away, and I waited for my sandwich, and waited, and waited.
I finally got up and left. I have never done that before.

 

[sweetana3]

We are in a big city and are very careful about where or if we go out to eat. I check Yelp reviews and note whether recent reviews are trending up or down and if there are comments about service. There are excellent places out there from small to large.

First Watch is our #1 favorite consistent breakfast and lunch spot even if we travel.

I never eat fast food or cheap mass produced food. And it should be something I do not make at home.

We recently went to a 5 course gourmet meal with five different champagnes. Lovely meal over 3 hours but the chair was so uncomfortable that I will refuse to sit in them anymore and request different seating.

 

[skyking1]

I started to answer yes, but we have had good Thai food right in my sister's building a couple of times now. It is not crowded at all and the prices are fantastic, less than $14 per entree typically.
Hanging around a crowd of unmasked strangers is a complete downer now. Places without crowds are OK.