I stopped eating out and I don't think I'm going back

[Anonymous]

^ and the warming process is deep frying or shallow frying in cheap nasty oil.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm actually enjoying dining out again. Service is getting better (it was horrible immediately after the pandemic and started improving last year). I don't like to dine out more than 2-4x a month as a rule, and I never get fast food. We only do table service.

Same here. We don't do uber eats or carry out but we do go out for nice dinners, probably about once a week. We are picky about the restaurants and generally have good experiences. The one thing we have cut back on at restaurants is drinking. DH usually gets a non alcoholic beverage and I will get one cocktail or glass of wine (unless it's something like a 4-5 course meal that takes a long time). The alcohol is what drives the price up - those prices have gone up much more than the food prices.

[Anonymous]

I’m on the run so much we’ve been eating out a little more than normal. It’s such an unbelievable waste! Incredibly expensive for take out.

[Anonymous]

Take out is not the same as dining out. Take out is *rarely* good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take out is not the same as dining out. Take out is *rarely* good.

This is OP and, for me, food quality and service quality have both not bounced back to pre-Covid levels, even at high-end, fine dining restaurants. Not quite fine dining, but a friend and I went to Le Diplomate in September and the waiter was rude, dismissive, and inattentive; when I asked for descriptions of the cheeses on the cheese plate, he basically said "They're just cheese!"

I worked for nearly a decade in restaurants from my late teens to my late twenties and am appalled at how terrible service has gotten - and I'm just in my thirties. And then to pay $20 for a hamburger and $15 for a glass of wine? Ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

I love eating out- ordering a nice cocktail and a meal. I love having no clean up- so nice to come home and kitchen is as when I left it in the morning. That being said, I also like to cook, spend less and cut back on my calories (restaurant foods use so much fat/butter/salt...that's why they taste good) and try to make meals 4 or 5 nights a week and dine out the other 2 nights a week.

[Anonymous]

We still do chick FIL a occasionally for the kids playground mostly but all the other places are just out of hand-Starbucks is $5 for a plain croissant, mezeh is $20!! Those were splurges for me that aren’t worth it anymore. Just not worth it anymore. I think wfh will sink a lot of these places because it’s easier to cook now thank goodness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have no eaten out at all since 2020 not even fast food. I don't miss it one bit and I feel healthier too.

My last meal out was Feb. 2020 then covid hit then we realized we could cook better, eat healthier and have much more energy. We've kept it going. Just like the another PP said too we pack lunches and snacks for the car. We can still do better than gas station snacks and junk food or even worse fast food. Saves money and our health. I keep hearing over and over again how its terrible eating out these days glad I'm not part of that group!

[Anonymous]

yes!!! every since service and quality have gone down while prices have gone up we have entirely stopped going out unless with friends. we even got an ooni pizza oven and still do friday night pizza, we just all make our own.

[Anonymous]

we stopped eating out because we leave disappointed most of the time. Only thing we do is Omakase about 2xs a year and that cost is around $1000+ each time for our family of 4. i refuse to eat garbage sushi at the usual spots.

we do spend a hell of a lot on food though. All meat comes from the farmers market and if we are in the mood for whole branzino, or crabcakes I go get it and make it. We’ve gotten really good at shucking oysters this winter.

i’ve also got really into yogurt, pasta and bread making.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For January, I wanted to eat exclusively at home, which I mostly accomplished save a couple of small things while traveling and a very lavish dinner for a friend. Otherwise, all meals for the family have been prepared and eaten at home, and my wallet is fatter, I'm slimmer and SO much happier. I don't see myself going back to takeout/eating out multiple times a week anytime soon. Anyone else?

Translation: I can’t afford to dine out.

This thread is a cope. Sure, some meals out are clunkers. Who cares. I doubt every meal you prepare is amazing.

NP- spouse is a great cook. I got to the point where I’d rather eat his cooking than go out. Going out is for a break after a hard work day/week or because we heard some place has especially good food. Eating out is not part of a routine meal plan I want.

[Anonymous]

11:32 again
Most restaurants work on small margins. I do not begrudge them charging more when so many costs have gone up in the last two years. If incomes don’t match that inflation, would-be patrons balk. Not the restaurants fault and we’ll probably lose restaurants.

[Anonymous]

This thread and the countless others like it are just a circle jerk of shut-in misers. Okay, you win, dining out and enjoying food & cocktails with colleagues, friends and family is for suckers. Feel better now? Enjoy catching up on your reality TV, podcasts and audio books Thurs-Sat nights. Zzzzzzzzzz.

[Anonymous]

Food quality has suffered. Our favorite Chinese restaurant is not as good and twice as expensive. The last time we went to our favorite seafood restaurant , I opened the bathroom stall door and found the restaurant manager very anxiously waiting in front of the door. She brushed past me to rush into the stall, looked around a moment, and rushed out with a fake excuse. Bizarre. I'm not spending $400 to get creeped out, or to eat crappy food, or to be overcharged. We had filet mignon with broccolinni for dinner tonight. I'd rather make a very nice (and easy) dinner at home than suffer what amounts to micro-indignities at restaurants these days.

[Anonymous]

This must be a DC thing. We no longer live in the DC area and we eat out frequently and the service is usually great. It did suffer a bit during Covid, but had definitely bounced back. We don’t repeat at restaurants where the food is not good, but there are plenty of options. The restaurants here are busy, so we’re not the only ones going out.