Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, one never needs to cook as deli and take-out food is everywhere, delivery services abound, and fast-casual eateries are opening up every week.
I love to cook, and cost is no object. But time and effort is, which means I also love to dine out and do it often. No shopping, no prep, no clean-up, no fuss. I can have Filet Rossini and my spouse can have Yuzu Glazed Black Cod, and we're both happy.
Supporting local businesses is important to us, and dining out is one of our three major expenditures. The pandemic and long lockdowns were very hard on the independent small restaurants of all types, so there's been much adjusting of menus.
We tend to go out on weekdays, and often at lunch. Many places are no longer open every day, and/or have reduced hours as well as staff. We try to be understanding, and have recently noticed staffing and days open are showing some improvements.
Costs have risen for everything - whether I drive my car to the grocery store or to a restaurant. Looked at any hotel prices lately? Those have gone through the roof. I don't object to higher restaurant prices. Inflation, supply chain issues, and higher labor costs have created the perfect storm for the restaurant industry. It's not like any chef WANTS to price a dish so high no one can afford it!
I personally detest QR codes and don't pay for anything through my phone, but that's just me, LOL. Have no problem using CC or "tap to pay"; you're always covered for fraudulent charges and nobody's going to steal our IDs, since we froze our credit reports so long ago you didn't even need PIN #s in those days.
I do have to say I would never use a debit card again for purchases. That's the one time our card # was stolen, and the checking account was emptied within literally minutes. It took 18 months for us to recover the money from our bank. Since these days we run 7x that much through the account on a monthly basis, there is no way I will risk using a debit card again for purchases.
BTW, if any of you come visit the SFBA you need to be aware many small businesses no longer even accept cash. A funny anecdote: a couple of years ago we drove to one of the smaller suburban cities for lunch, and parked the car on the street. Went to put time on the meter, and were flummoxed that it only took coins! No credit cards! We had to rummage through the console storage to find enough quarters, LOL.
