Went out to Great American Restaurant first time in 2 years, disappointed by $ and quality

[Anonymous]

The various Great American Restaurants were our go-to place before covid. We could get a high quality reasonably priced meal for our family.

I went to one last night for the first time before covid, and it was a bit of a letdown. They replaced many of the items in my goto meal with lower priced, e.g. devilled eggs with hard-boiled, you have to pay for bread and things were out. And the price was 108 for two people without dessert, which we could pay for our family of 4 before. It was also super busy, so I felt like I was chasing down the waiter all the time for straws, a refill, wrong type of soda and felt like I was annoying.

I've been let down by dine-in restaurants since covid, especially with price, I don't find restaurants to be enjoyable anymore because I think it's too expensive. So I just take out from a fast-casual place or cook at home. I do this because I can avoid paying the tip on top of the already elevated price.

We did our taxes and made a combined 500k/year, and still feel like eating out is not worth it. We've always made this amount before covid so it's not like our income has increased proportionally to the costs around us.

Is anyone in the same boat, or should I get over the new norm of expensive and lower quality?

[Anonymous]

We go to Great American restaurants all the food is always good. I think we had an issue once but they gave us a gift card and free dessert.

[Anonymous]

Well yes I feel this way but I think it’s mostly from just getting old and becoming much more picky. Plus my older body is much more sensitive to over salted and over fattened food which so many restaurants rely on.

[Anonymous]

Eh in typical food chain fashion, it's mediocre with a feeling of being slightly upscale.

It's not really meant to be a place where you get a lot of food for your buck.

[Anonymous]

Yes, inflation is real. Prices at the grocery store are higher, prices at restaurants are higher. Paying for bread at Coastal Flats was a bit annoying. Oh well. Still good food.

[Anonymous]

I still like Artie's.

[Anonymous]

OP here, any older folks here that went through a time of high inflation, did you get used to it or become jaded and put off? LOL this is my first round of high inflation.

[Anonymous]

Similar experience at patsys. Drinks took forever to come because the bar was “backed up” and once my drink was out, they didn’t offer another. It’s not just you. However, we eat out 2-3x a week and it’s everywhere. Service is awful at most restaurants. I did have great service at Lyon hall the other day, but the bill was over $400. That would when been a very nice dinner out pre covid.

[Anonymous]

Serice is bad because there are fewer servers

[Anonymous]

$108 and no alcohol, apps, or desserts? I've been to their places recently, and the entrees that I go for are usually around $20-$25 and I've been happy with them. My faves are the smoked salmon or the pasta jambalaya.

[Anonymous]

Name the restaurant. Our go to is Sweetwater in Sterling and they haven't changed much. Prices are a bit higher (not 50%) and the bread costs $1, but that goes to their charity, so I don't mind paying for it.

[Anonymous]

You haven’t eaten out since COVID? Wtf

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You haven’t eaten out since COVID? Wtf

To a great American restaurant

[Anonymous]

I feel the same way about eating at mid range restaurants now. We just had lunch at Clydes this weekend, and the food was underwhelming, it was more expensive, smaller portions, and on top of it, we’re charging a restaurant recovery fee.

The restaurant recovery fee was most annoying to me, because it seems disingenuous when they have reduced portions and increased prices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The various Great American Restaurants were our go-to place before covid. We could get a high quality reasonably priced meal for our family.

I went to one last night for the first time before covid, and it was a bit of a letdown. They replaced many of the items in my goto meal with lower priced, e.g. devilled eggs with hard-boiled, you have to pay for bread and things were out. And the price was 108 for two people without dessert, which we could pay for our family of 4 before. It was also super busy, so I felt like I was chasing down the waiter all the time for straws, a refill, wrong type of soda and felt like I was annoying.

I've been let down by dine-in restaurants since covid, especially with price, I don't find restaurants to be enjoyable anymore because I think it's too expensive. So I just take out from a fast-casual place or cook at home. I do this because I can avoid paying the tip on top of the already elevated price.

We did our taxes and made a combined 500k/year, and still feel like eating out is not worth it. We've always made this amount before covid so it's not like our income has increased proportionally to the costs around us.

Is anyone in the same boat, or should I get over the new norm of expensive and lower quality?

+1. Covid forced me to learn how to make many of our casual favorites in a fast and easy way. Now that I know how easy it is to make so many of the things we like, we don't really dine out unless it's to eat something i can't make myself.