Anyone Else Soured on Dining Out?

[CaptTom]

I do not enjoy the noise of the restaurants and the waiting for the server to take your order, bring you your food and bring you the bill. I would much rather be home enjoying other things.

Thanks, I was trying to think of a way to say that, but mine kept getting too long-winded.

That whole ritual, all the waiting between steps, never made sense to me. We try to place our food order when the server comes to take the drink order. Fail that and you won't see the server again for a half-hour!

 

[Time2]

I'm soured on expensive restaurants. My wife and I don't go out much, and when we do, it's not an expensive restaurant. However when we visit my daughter and her husband, they always want to go to some new fancy expensive place. And because we can, we pay. This weekend was a celebration, we went to my daughters graduation from Dental school. She lives 400 miles away so we went for the weekend. Friday, 5 of us we went to a Korean BBQ restaurant, Food was good, but I didn't like the format. The bill was just over $400, Korean restaurant, no tips. Then on Saturday we went for ramen (noodle soup), I liked the broth, but I would have enjoyed a hamburg and fries more. That was only(?) $150. On Sunday they wanted to go to a Colombian Restaurant, I got a Ribeye steak with yellow rice and green beans with carrots. The steak had good flavor but was tough. I ate 20% of the rice, 1/2 the beans 1 carrot slice and 75% of the steak, We had Sanguine and that was good. Oh, and the salad was very good! The bill for the 5 of us was $410 with the tip.
My wife and I have had a discussion, we are done with that, we will spend $150 for 5 of us, but there is no need to go to expensive restaurants, for food. Period. The food is really not any better, and and the ambiance, it was just a noisy restaurant, It was the same at the Korean BBQ noisy. No meal matches up to a steak my son in law can do on the grill. Rant over for now.

 

[FlaMariner]

The hassle and the cost has us cooking at home more and more....Except for a fun morning breakfast visit to the Waffle House, we just do not get "going out" to eat anymore.

 

[Midpack]

I'm soured on expensive restaurants. My wife and I don't go out much, and when we do, it's not an expensive restaurant.

We came to the same conclusion re: very expensive restaurants. We've been to The French Laundry, Chez Panisse, Charlie Trotter's, TRU, Alinea, Topolobampo and several other "tasting menu" places over the years - glad we had the experience but we'd never go back to that kind of $$$$ dining again, just not worth it. I still wanted to try Le Bernardin, but [-]I think[/-] we're done with conspicuous dining. We'll go out for a world class steak a couple times a year, but otherwise we're satisfied with great (Neapolitan) pizza, BBQ, burgers, Italian, sushi, seafood, Mexican, deli or breakfast. YMMV

 

[scrabbler1]

My ladyfriend and I eat out at Applebee's every few months, and we find it a pleasant dining experience. We also buy our meals off the 2-for-$2x menu which means it costs me around $40 with tax and tip, and she gets some leftovers for another meal, all a good deal. One of the managers there knows us from previous visits over the years, so he makes sure we are treated well if there any problems.

My dad and I eat out every few months when I go see him. We go to a diner or to Ben's Deli, both a little pricier, even for lunch (between $45 and $50).

Not having to wear a mask any more at these places has been a big help in making our dining experiences better and more like what they were prior to early 2020.

Besides these few times I eat out, the only other times I eat out are the occasional pizza pie, where I buy one at a nearby place and bring it to my nearby LF's place to eat and pack up the uneaten slices to take home and freeze for further meals, and after I go to one of my doctor's offices - it's near another great pizza place and a Shake Shack, so I schedule my appointments in the late morning to time well with lunch afterward.

My LF was out of town for 2 weeks last month, so I did take-out a few times. Once, I bought a burger from this great burger place but cooked the fries at my place because mine come out better than theirs! Keeping the burger warm was a minor challenge.

 

[Boose]

Having lived in several major cities and currently in a very small one, I've been spoiled. DH and I like to go out for inexpensive ethnic food at mom & pop restaurants, but the spices are muted here to appeal to local palates. At "American food" restaurants/bars and grilles, much of the food seems to have been delivered in a refrigerated Sysco truck and thrown in the fryolator. So even on our recent road trips through the U.S., we've eaten a quantity of frozen entrees and supermarket salads in our hotel room. However, if the local food is a cultural experience we won't get at home (like Southern "meat and three"), we'll go out to eat. Interestingly, we rarely complain about the service!

 

[athena53]

I never order a glass of wine in a restaurant--the mark up is just too much. I wait and have a glass of wine at home if I want one (although I have not been drinking any alcohol for a while now). One time when I worked in a restaurant (long time ago) it was common knowledge that the way many restaurants made a profit was from the sale of alcohol, wonder if that is true.

I think it is. One of the reasons I like taking DS and DDIL out to nice places is that they're teetotallers and usually order water!

At "American food" restaurants/bars and grilles, much of the food seems to have been delivered in a refrigerated Sysco truck and thrown in the fryolator. So even on our recent road trips through the U.S., we've eaten a quantity of frozen entrees and supermarket salads in our hotel room.

Yeah I've done that. Nothing screams "Sysco" like the restaurant salad of iceberg lettuce, a few shreds of carrots and radicchio and some tasteless croutons. That is NOT a salad.

 

[JoeWras]

I like food. I can eat almost anything. A "fancy" restaurant is lost on me. My BIL took us out once and he encouraged me to order the Waygu beef. Tasted like rotten eggs to me. No thanks.

One of our favorite fast places is MOD Pizza. I'm a deep dish Chicago boy, but I got really fond of these fast fired pizzas in a casual environment. MOD has an interesting story in that they try to employ a lot of people who need a second chance.

 

[travelover]

..........One of our favorite fast places is MOD Pizza. I'm a deep dish Chicago boy, but I got really fond of these fast fired pizzas in a casual environment. MOD has an interesting story in that they try to employ a lot of people who need a second chance.

I love Mod Pizza. They don't nickel and dime you on additional items and their pizza is quite good, especially the thick crust, to my liking.

 

[Katiek]

I was never a big fan of eating out at fancy places (maybe because most of the time I ate at fancy places it was for work), but I'm also not a cook and don't like entertaining at home. So if I want to treat a friend for a birthday or just get together, it's probably going to be at a restaurant. I also have noticed that my relatives who are the ones who do all the cooking for their families seem to appreciate an opportunity to relax and try something different (without having to do all the shopping and cooking for it).

 

[Time2]

I like food. I can eat almost anything. A "fancy" restaurant is lost on me. My BIL took us out once and he encouraged me to order the Waygu beef. Tasted like rotten eggs to me. No thanks.

One of our favorite fast places is MOD Pizza. I'm a deep dish Chicago boy, but I got really fond of these fast fired pizzas in a casual environment. MOD has an interesting story in that they try to employ a lot of people who need a second chance.

In my post above I said we ate at a Korean BBQ restaurant, my son ordered a piece of Waygu steak for all of us to try. We all agreed it was great tasting, except my wife, she said to much fat, but everyone else said the fat is great! She has been indoctrinated that fat is evil.

We split the steak 5 ways, so we each got a piece at $15 for 1-3/4 square inches of Waygu. At least I got to try it. The steak was $75.

 

[Koolau]

Speaking of ethnic food, I'd never even heard of Korean BBQ until moving to the Islands. Best places I've found for it are the little hole in the wall take outs or the small family run restaurants. Our favorite is Kim Chee in Kaneohe. I always said I disliked kim chee (the food) but I tried it at Kim Chee (it comes with every meal) and I loved it. Service is never a problem 'cause Momma cooks and the kids serve. Inexpensive, good, fast, and service with a smile. Just the way it should be. Too bad we moved across the mountains and have to drive quite a way for it. YMMV

 

[Toast]

Up until about 6 years ago we would eat out 5-6 times a week at casual dining places. Then, we relocated to a new state for work and just don't have many options available. Prices are much higher, quality is lower, and service is poorer. Fortunately, we are good home cooks and actually enjoy preparing our own meals. That said, we sure do miss TexMex and good BBQ.

 

[audreyh1]

If people on this Forum (including myself) are typical of the population I don't see how most restaurants are going to survive. In fact, they haven't. Several of our favorite restaurants have already permanently closed.

We had already cut way back on restaurant dining before the pandemic mainly due to an increasingly strict high quality food and health focus on what we eat.

The pandemic pretty much terminated eating out for us.

In the meantime our culinary skills improved even more. Fine dining at home is routine for us, and easy! It’s really hard for restaurants to exceed our home dining quality. So our motivation to eat out or order out is almost 0.

I expect we are extreme in this. But I also expect that many have some degree of our experience/attitude.

 

[audreyh1]

I was never big on eating out.

We probably get Chinese take-out once a week or so from our favorite Chinese place. I reheat mine in the microwave, since I like my food hot.

I do not enjoy the noise of the restaurants and the waiting for the server to take your order, bring you your food and bring you the bill. I would much rather be home enjoying other things.

Not to mention the annoying lack of mobile credit card readers that they could bring to your table. But US restaurants have very much resisted this major customer convenience (and higher customer security too).

 

[audreyh1]

I never order a glass of wine in a restaurant--the mark up is just too much. I wait and have a glass of wine at home if I want one (although I have not been drinking any alcohol for a while now). One time when I worked in a restaurant (long time ago) it was common knowledge that the way many restaurants made a profit was from the sale of alcohol, wonder if that is true. I am one of the ones that use to eat out at least a couple of times a week, now it is more like a couple of times a month and the main reason is that the service is so awful.

We rarely had a glass of wine in a restaurant even though I very much enjoy wine with food.

The biggest obstacle to me: the wine lists IMO are almost always uninspiring! Very limited by the glass, and frankly I have a much more extensive selection already at home that matches my tastes. This is above and beyond the ridiculous markups.

Completely different experience in Europe where options are usually great. So is dining in general.

 

[audreyh1]

Up until about 6 years ago we would eat out 5-6 times a week at casual dining places. Then, we relocated to a new state for work and just don't have many options available. Prices are much higher, quality is lower, and service is poorer. Fortunately, we are good home cooks and actually enjoy preparing our own meals. That said, we sure do miss TexMex and good BBQ.

Ha ha, I solved the BBQ issue by becoming proficient at using my smoker.

 

[scrabbler1]

Not to mention the annoying lack of mobile credit card readers that they could bring to your table. But US restaurants have very much resisted this major customer convenience (and higher customer security too).

Before the pandemic, Applebee's had those portable CC readers at the table. I remember using it once to pay with a CC but it was a nuisance, so I had the server process my CC. I have paid with cash all other times, including after the pandemic began in 2020 when those readers disappeared. I had no patience to tangle with one of those things for 10 minutes only to get nowhere.

Any other restaurants have those devices at the table pre-pandemic? and have they returned lately?

 

[harllee]

Very few restaurants in my area have the portable credit card readers but I wish they did. I refuse to let a server take my credit card away--2 times in the last few years I have had my credit card stolen and I was able to trace it back to a time in a restaurant when then server took my card away. I don't like carrying a wad of cash to pay the restaurant bill.

 

[aja8888]

Very few restaurants in my area have the portable credit card readers but I wish they did. I refuse to let a server take my credit card away--2 times in the last few years I have had my credit card stolen and I was able to trace it back to a time in a restaurant when then server took my card away. I don't like carrying a wad of cash to pay the restaurant bill.

Wad of cash? Two thin $100 bills should cover a inexpensive dining trip for you and DH!

 

[audreyh1]

Before the pandemic, Applebee's had those portable CC readers at the table. I remember using it once to pay with a CC but it was a nuisance, so I had the server process my CC. I have paid with cash all other times, including after the pandemic began in 2020 when those readers disappeared. I had no patience to tangle with one of those things for 10 minutes only to get nowhere.

Any other restaurants have those devices at the table pre-pandemic? and have they returned lately?

I used one similar at a Chili’s many years ago and it worked just fine and was convenient.

It’s seamless in Europe - they bring you the terminal, you use ApplePay from your phone or watch, or stick in your CC, a receipt prints out and you sign if needed (not needed for ApplePay or if you have a CC with PIN).

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

Not to mention the annoying lack of mobile credit card readers that they could bring to your table. But US restaurants have very much resisted this major customer convenience (and higher customer security too).

What I find kind of odd is that while the US seems to have a lot of Fintech innovations that we struggle to get in Canada, credit card tech seems to lag a few years behind like chip and PIN, mobile credit card machines, tap to pay, etc.

 

[milford]

Before the pandemic, Applebee's had those portable CC readers at the table. I remember using it once to pay with a CC but it was a nuisance, so I had the server process my CC. I have paid with cash all other times, including after the pandemic began in 2020 when those readers disappeared. I had no patience to tangle with one of those things for 10 minutes only to get nowhere.

Any other restaurants have those devices at the table pre-pandemic? and have they returned lately?

I used one similar at a Chili’s many years ago and it worked just fine and was convenient.

It’s seamless in Europe - they bring you the terminal, you use ApplePay from your phone or watch, or stick in your CC, a receipt prints out and you sign if needed (not needed for ApplePay or if you have a CC with PIN).

Having worked in the hospitality industry most restaurants will be phasing out those portable CC readers as they are clunky and do not have chip technology. One of the mega chains I know has been working on allowing customers to pay via their app, this saves them money from purchasing those devices too, but not sure when they will roll this out though.

 

[harllee]

Since most U.S. restaurants do not have the portable credit card readers or a payment app how do most people on this Forum pay their restaurant bills? Carry cash? Let the server take your credit card and hope for the best? (I will not do this any more). Quit going to restaurants that do not have a way to pay other than the server taking your card? (This is pretty much what I have done.)

 

[braumeister]

After too many frauds caused by restaurant servers, I started always paying in cash over ten years ago. Haven't had a problem since, simply because I haven't let a credit card out of my sight. It's easy to get used to carrying a few 50s.