Anyone Else Soured on Dining Out?

[aja8888]

For the cheapskates here like me, Subway is giving away 1 million 6" subs on 7/12, starting at 10am. First 50 people in each store.

We ate at Cracker Barrel for lunch yesterday and I like their meatloaf, wife got the chicken and dumplings. Tab was only $15+tip, can't beat that.

My friends and I stop at C.B. after every golf outing that ends around lunch time. The $7.49 (which were $5.99 last year) lunch specials are hard to beat!

 

[MichaelB]

Last night one of our favorite restaurants gave us a substandard take out meal. The food prep and cooking showed measurable decline. This is the second restaurant we have experienced this. Both times I’ve sent email feedback. The first time the owner responded, not acknowledging the problem. Hopefully with this latest occurrence the owner will react in a positive way and improve the food quality.

 

[W2R]

We are so amazed and impressed with how our local restaurants are dealing with these inflationary times. The ones we go to, have raised the prices of maybe two or three of their meals, but only by a dollar or two and the rest remain the same price as always. Or, in one case, we had the option of accepting a cheaper ingredient to keep the price down to where it was, but they told us about it when taking our order and let us choose.

We are expecting their prices will have to go up significantly at some point, but so far so good. Chefs and restauranteurs have a special place in the hearts of New Orleanians.

 

[John Galt III]

Oh, wow, that sounds delicious!

Farmers markets have joined the list of places we never go any more.

Around here, they're no longer a place for farmers to sell above wholesale, and customers to buy below retail. At those rare stalls which do sell actual, local farm products, the prices are way above retail, and the quality is no better than the supermarket. Most of the stalls are overpriced arts and crafts.

I'm out in Pa Dutch country and my local Farmer's Market is way overpriced. Except for one restaurant that has awesome Reuben sandwiches. I can't remember exactly, but I think they were $4.99. The fish stand has outrageous prices, like $25 a pound (or something ridiculous) for flounder. But it stays in business somehow. Why? Money laundering for a drug ring? Ha ha.

 

[RobbieB]

Have you tried it? If not how do you know?

 

[Koolau]

In the past two days, I've had two disappointing restaurant lunches. The big difference between the two is that yesterday's lunch was $9 but today's lunch was $19. I noticed that my disappointment was "enhanced" by the higher price. I guess old habits die hard. YMMV

 

[Lewis Clark]

I know of a pizza restaurant that has a cheeseburger pizza with pickles and mustard on it.

My wife found a recipe for cheeseburger pizza, including make-it-yourself crust that is not too labor intensive. It's become one of the favorite new recipes we've tried in the past couple of years.

 

[audreyh1]

We had an unsatisfactory experience yesterday. We were out on South Padre Island, and tried to order takeout from a decent local restaurant online. Their order online website service said they were not accepting orders online at that time. So I called, got a fairly prompt answer, and the lady said she’d be back to take our order right away. After 7 minutes on hold we gave up. It was pretty clear they were just too swamped to take orders. Oh well. This was around 5:00 pm on a Sunday evening, I had hoped the kitchen wouldn’t be that busy then.

I have a feeling this happens a lot these days.

We had brought some food with us and had that instead.

 

[spirit]

Cheeseburger pizza? That sounds interesting. Can you post a recipe? Thanks

 

[Chuckanut]

I know of a pizza restaurant that has a cheeseburger pizza with pickles and mustard on it. It's their top seller.

Call me crazy but I like pineapple on pizza.

That is clearly a case of cultural appropriation and the the perpetrators should be brought to justice ASAP!

Now excuse me while I make an Italian burrito for dinner.

 

[John Galt III]

Have you tried it? If not how do you know?

Tried what? The flounder? No. The Reuben? Yes. The Reuben was a good deal.

 

[N02L84ER]

We ate a Mod Pizza today. It was delicious.

 

[mojavesue]

We have several places we like to go for lunch. We were up in Santa Fe Monday and had lunch at a Mexican place and the food was great! So was the service. I do have an addiction to green chile!

 

[disneysteve]

We ate a Mod Pizza today. It was delicious.

We love Mod pizza. Great choice of toppings and all for the same price. They have a good rewards program too.

 

[gayl]

Just went to Panera for a quick lunch. Was $50 a few weeks ago but $90 now. The Pick 2 now prices both halves separately. So sandwich with 1/2 salad is $17. Not going back for anything other than weekly bread.

 

[Chuckanut]

Just went to Panera for a quick lunch. Was $50 a few weeks ago but $90 now. The Pick 2 now prices both halves separately. So sandwich with 1/2 salad is $17. Not going back for anything other than weekly bread.

Beverage included in the $17? I hope.

 

[W2R]

We went to our favorite Italian restaurant today for lunch. We split a large Caesar salad with chicken. I also got a diet Coke, for the first time in months since I have been avoiding caffeine. But due to the thunderstorm it was dark and rainy outside, and I felt sleepy so I made an exception.

Prices were the same as before the pandemic. With tax, and tip, my share was $12. It would have been about $9 without the diet Coke. This is not gonna break the bank! At least not yet. Also it was pleasant and not very crowded, and they were softly playing some delightful oldies on the sound system.

Still not soured on dining out! We only do this about once a week, though, and get take-out the rest of the time. I'm still a little nervous about Covid and Frank senses that so he doesn't push for us to eat inside the restaurant every day like we once did.

 

[ElizabethT]

Those Panera prices are way beyond the somewhat mediocre quality of their commercialized product.

Last night we went to Happy Hour at a stand alone restaurant in our local SoCal beach community (meaning NOT a franchise). Craft beers $5.50 each, two fresh, large blackened grilled fish tacos for $6, so $11.50 per meal, including good quality beer, $23 for two before tax and tip. Great music, great energy, great ocean views.

Maybe the lesson here is that some restaurant franchises have completely lost touch with reality due to the layers between those in corporate who make the pricing decisions and the actual buying customer.

 

[W2R]

Those Panera prices are way beyond the somewhat mediocre quality of their commercialized product.

Last night we went to Happy Hour at a stand alone restaurant in our local SoCal beach community (meaning NOT a franchise). Craft beers $5.50 each, two fresh, large blackened grilled fish tacos for $6, so $11.50 per meal, including good quality beer, $23 for two before tax and tip. Great music, great energy, great ocean views.

Maybe the lesson here is that some restaurant franchises have completely lost touch with reality due to the layers between those in corporate who make the pricing decisions and the actual buying customer.

Great prices, especially with music and an ocean view! I completely agree with you about restaurant franchises. Also their food is worse, at least here it is. When online people ask me where to eat in New Orleans, I tell them to find a little non-franchise restaurant, like maybe a mom'n'pop somewhere off the beaten path.

 

[jollystomper]

Friday night we joined friends at a winery to listen to some music and enjoy their property. A BBQ food truck was available. DW and I paid $32 for a half rack of ribs, brisket sandwich, and 2 orders of both hush puppies fries. The servings were so large that we brought home more than half the food and it was lunch and dinner for Saturday.

Lots of tables around and spread out, we could also walk the property (200+ acres), so we were very comfortable.

 

[CardsFan]

Went out Friday to a local place, $19.89 for fried walleye, salad (really nice spring mix,), fries, slaw and dessert (bread pudding was great).

Same price as pre-covid, but you have to order before 6 to get the salad and dessert included at no charge (which is also the same as before).

 

[milford]

Just went to Panera for a quick lunch. Was $50 a few weeks ago but $90 now. The Pick 2 now prices both halves separately. So sandwich with 1/2 salad is $17. Not going back for anything other than weekly bread.

How Panera stays in business I have no idea. Quality of its food is average, price is 20-30% more than your average fast food joint, quantity of food is paltry. The pick 2 portion is similar to a kids meal (the half sandwich is good for 3 bites). I used to grab it every now and then since there was one near my office, but realized I would be hungry after like a couple hours whenever I got the pick 2.

 

[Badger]

How Panera stays in business I have no idea. Quality of its food is average, price is 20-30% more than your average fast food joint, quantity of food is paltry. The pick 2 portion is similar to a kids meal (the half sandwich is good for 3 bites). I used to grab it every now and then since there was one near my office, but realized I would be hungry after like a couple hours whenever I got the pick 2.

+1 Not a fan of Paneras either. I just don't see the attraction to their average baked goods especially their breads. I also have no interest in their small, overpriced, average tasting sandwiches. For the cost of 1 of their scones I can make 8 that are better tasting. It's like comparing subway subs (i don't understand the attraction here either) to a mom&pop deli sub in NJ.

Cheers!

 

[JoeWras]

+1 Not a fan of Paneras either. I just don't see the attraction to their average baked goods especially their breads. I also have no interest in their small, overpriced, average tasting sandwiches. For the cost of 1 of their scones I can make 8 that are better tasting. It's like comparing subway subs (i don't understand the attraction here either) to a mom&pop deli sub in NJ.

Cheers!

You missed our big thread on subs.

Looking at Panera is like looking at a frog that boiled in water, slowly. 20 years ago, Panera was a fantastic value with good fast casual quality. 15 years ago, portion size and quality was still good for fast casual, but pricing was only average. 10 years ago, they started shrinking all the bowls and plates. Portion size went below average. About 8 years ago, they had the salmonella scare, and they went "clean" (a market term that baffles me). The food started not tasting very good. 5 years ago, they changed the way they price You-Pick-Two. Pricing became really poor.

We stopped going at this time. Sounds like all of the above problems have continued to boil them into the abyss.

 

[athena53]

How Panera stays in business I have no idea. Quality of its food is average, price is 20-30% more than your average fast food joint, quantity of food is paltry.

I think smaller portions are a good thing- I just object when prices aren't reduced accordingly. Take a look at the calories, etc. on a typical NJ Mom-and-Pop deli sandwich and it's WAY more than the average person should be eating in a meal. Restaurants have been increasing portion sizes for years (and increasing prices by a bigger %, of course), which is why so many people are overeating. If you're traveling, boxing up half and taking it home isn't an option and some things such as fried foods aren't as good served as leftovers.

The only way to get smaller portions was to order "Senior" portions at some places and that was usually from a limited menu and only during early-bird" dinner hours.

Panera has giant cookies at the counter with calorie counts listed- really awful numbers.. I once remarked that I couldn't burn up those calories in a 30-mile bike ride. The clerk replied that "Those are for sharing". Uh-huh. I'm sure most people share them.