Did the pandemic shift my tastebuds or are restaurants and coffee shops worse?

[Anonymous]

Restaurant food is disgusting now. The amount of dollops of plain sour cream on things is appalling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ingredients are more expensive so to keep from raising their prices too much they sacrifice quality. And it’s hard to find and keep good experienced employees. That’s it.

This

Restaurants cut back on fresh veggies and herbs that use to make their food non-bland. Higher prices and smaller servings means not too many rest. visits. This is why fast food is popular now. You know what you get, prices not too high and at least you get your protein fix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ingredients are more expensive so to keep from raising their prices too much they sacrifice quality. And it’s hard to find and keep good experienced employees. That’s it.

Agree. It is pretty clear most restaurants are just serving up Gordon/Sysco crap, frozen/canned ingredients, lots of packages pre made stuff they just plate and heat. But to be honest, this is how the restaurant industry largely is, pandemic or not. It is just much more apparent once you’ve been cooking your own food from scratch for many months/years. Once you are used to real homemade meals, restaurant food is gross.

Except for the the few higher end/niche/craft type restaurants or cafes. There are some gems out there. But you really have to seek them out

[Anonymous]

I totally agree! I think it's a mix of things -- more people got used to cooking at home, and inflation and poor staffing is making it harder for restaurants to cook at high levels.

[Anonymous]

It's also harder to get good cocktails, and I think it's because it's almost impossible to keep good bartenders and they're too busy.