Why on earth would I worry or spend my money to subsidize restaurants? I have a small business- will restaurant workers be banding together to purchase services from me and fund my lifestyle? I dont think so. It's a ridiculous idea, and frankly, as someone who lives in Europe half the year, I find the American guilting of "you have to tip so restaurant workers can pay the bills!" to be a ridiculous mindset. It's like Americans are constantly scolded and morally herded into taking responsibility for basic payroll/budget issues of the restaurant industry, which is extremely bizarre

No.

Anonymous wrote:No, I'm sorry. I will take care of myself. Restaurants are not a special category that need my special protection.

I feel like I got convinced to view restaurants as having a special status during Covid. I wound up donating to mutual aid fundraisers to support servers and we did lots of takeout and tipped extra during Covid. Then all these businesses got Covid loans they never had to pay back. Meanwhile my family struggled in a variety of ways and no one ever cared. These restaurants I was encouraged to help opened for business long before my kids were back in school. No one helped us with childcare. We had to just figure it out.

So others can figure it out. I'll do what works for me and my family.

Good luck.

and don't forget all the extra "service/COVID/worker safety fees" they added during COVID that were never removed. and increased tip /percentage now starts at 20% and up. no more 10-15%.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should say many of those types of places have an in house pastry chef or partner with a local bakery so don’t skip dessert.

OP here. I think you’d be surprised. Even at nice local places like Italian or French. I have to ask about dessert ingredients due to allergies, and many times someone will offer to “bring me the label.”

Yes, I think most places buy these from distributors or Costco.

I was in a group that planned a high end benefit dinner. Two different caterers suggested serving slices of Costco chocolate cake with some raspberry sauce on it. We went with a local baker.

Anyway, I like your idea but how is it linked to tariffs?

anyone? higher cost of ingredients perhaps? labor too? anything else?

It’s already been explained. Read the thread. I don’t get what you get about avocados and tomatoes going up in price by 25% won’t be passed on as a cost from the restaurant who buys the produce and prepares the food to the consumer who orders the dishes and pays for them. I don’t get what you don’t get about the fact that immigration crackdown = no workers will work, or not enough will work = vegetables and fruits left to rot on the vine = not enough fruits and vegetables at the store.

They can buy local and hire local too right? So nothing like the impact from Covid lockdown. They’ll be fine.

Who’s growing local tomatoes in the dead of winter? Even by MAGA intellectual standards this is something else.

then just update menus/recipes and use ingredients that're available? not something they've never done before. they'd be fine.

Very stable genius you are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should say many of those types of places have an in house pastry chef or partner with a local bakery so don’t skip dessert.

OP here. I think you’d be surprised. Even at nice local places like Italian or French. I have to ask about dessert ingredients due to allergies, and many times someone will offer to “bring me the label.”

Yes, I think most places buy these from distributors or Costco.

I was in a group that planned a high end benefit dinner. Two different caterers suggested serving slices of Costco chocolate cake with some raspberry sauce on it. We went with a local baker.

Anyway, I like your idea but how is it linked to tariffs?

anyone? higher cost of ingredients perhaps? labor too? anything else?

It’s already been explained. Read the thread. I don’t get what you get about avocados and tomatoes going up in price by 25% won’t be passed on as a cost from the restaurant who buys the produce and prepares the food to the consumer who orders the dishes and pays for them. I don’t get what you don’t get about the fact that immigration crackdown = no workers will work, or not enough will work = vegetables and fruits left to rot on the vine = not enough fruits and vegetables at the store.

They can buy local and hire local too right? So nothing like the impact from Covid lockdown. They’ll be fine.

Who’s growing local tomatoes in the dead of winter? Even by MAGA intellectual standards this is something else.

then just update menus/recipes and use ingredients that're available? not something they've never done before. they'd be fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should say many of those types of places have an in house pastry chef or partner with a local bakery so don’t skip dessert.

OP here. I think you’d be surprised. Even at nice local places like Italian or French. I have to ask about dessert ingredients due to allergies, and many times someone will offer to “bring me the label.”

Yes, I think most places buy these from distributors or Costco.

I was in a group that planned a high end benefit dinner. Two different caterers suggested serving slices of Costco chocolate cake with some raspberry sauce on it. We went with a local baker.

Anyway, I like your idea but how is it linked to tariffs?

anyone? higher cost of ingredients perhaps? labor too? anything else?

It’s already been explained. Read the thread. I don’t get what you get about avocados and tomatoes going up in price by 25% won’t be passed on as a cost from the restaurant who buys the produce and prepares the food to the consumer who orders the dishes and pays for them. I don’t get what you don’t get about the fact that immigration crackdown = no workers will work, or not enough will work = vegetables and fruits left to rot on the vine = not enough fruits and vegetables at the store.

They can buy local and hire local too right? So nothing like the impact from Covid lockdown. They’ll be fine.

Who’s growing local tomatoes in the dead of winter? Even by MAGA intellectual standards this is something else.

Anonymous wrote:During lockdown, there were restaurants that remained open, held in person meeting, as nd protested. I made a list. I have not returned to any of them. I feel like many restaurant and gym owners were the most vocal in complaining and fed into the lies tromp was spreading. I blame them in part for where we are now. Gyms and restaurants.
I will seek out businesses owned by the Nepali refugee community instead.

THIS.

I used to go to a fitness facility (not a gym but a place with fitness classes) and during Covid they regularly emailed all their regular clients to do things like continue monthly payments even though they were closed and to donate money to a support fund for their employees. I did both because I did like the business and wanted to support them. But later I found out they got a sizable Covid loan from the fed and it was forgiven. I also learned that they got a huge rental discount and basically didn't pay rent from April 2020 until January 2021. I genuinely thought that when that happened, they would offer some kind of compensation to customers who propped them up through their closure in 2020 by continuing to pay monthly fees. I also now question with the donations for their employees were necessary and where that money went -- it turns out they had the funds to make payroll due to their loan and the rent pause, plus apparently half their staff quit and left the area anyway (lots of young staff who likely moved home with parents in other areas). Some of us gave hundreds of dollars because we thought it was going to help people who weren't being paid buy groceries. Instead I now believe the money was spent on staff social events that violated the city's social distancing regulations, as I've since learned there was a lot of that in the summer of 2020.

I felt completely swindled. Cancelled my membership and have never gone back. They've since moved locations and changed ownership but it's still the same people involved (new owners all were in management during Covid) so I still won't return. During this time that I was giving them a membership fee despite them being closed and supporting their staff, I had my own hours cut from full time to 30 hours and had a 2 year old at home because our daycare closed completely and it took us months to find another placement. It was a really, really hard time for my family. No one paid for my groceries or made any effort to support me. I didn't qualify for a Covid loan and no one gave me a break on my mortgage or rent.

I think a lot of small businesses used Covid as an excuse to guilt trip and wheedle funds out of their customers and I have so much less trust now. I will happily go to Starbucks or a chain restaurant where at least I know what the terms of our arrangement are -- I give them money and they give me goods and services, and no one is pretending they are actually a charity or that I owe them something special because they are a service business and I work in an office.

I hate Trump but I am not falling for this again. No. Find a way to make your business work and use your industry associations/lobbying efforts to advocate for yourself to government. I'm just a customer and I don't actually owe you anything, not even my business. You have to earn it.

Nope, a lot of the ones where I live were upset about covid restrictions and I'm pretty sure they voted for Trump, cause payback you know?

I'm good with cooking and eating at home. Their quality had declined anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should say many of those types of places have an in house pastry chef or partner with a local bakery so don’t skip dessert.

OP here. I think you’d be surprised. Even at nice local places like Italian or French. I have to ask about dessert ingredients due to allergies, and many times someone will offer to “bring me the label.”

Yes, I think most places buy these from distributors or Costco.

I was in a group that planned a high end benefit dinner. Two different caterers suggested serving slices of Costco chocolate cake with some raspberry sauce on it. We went with a local baker.

Anyway, I like your idea but how is it linked to tariffs?

anyone? higher cost of ingredients perhaps? labor too? anything else?

It’s already been explained. Read the thread. I don’t get what you get about avocados and tomatoes going up in price by 25% won’t be passed on as a cost from the restaurant who buys the produce and prepares the food to the consumer who orders the dishes and pays for them. I don’t get what you don’t get about the fact that immigration crackdown = no workers will work, or not enough will work = vegetables and fruits left to rot on the vine = not enough fruits and vegetables at the store.

They can buy local and hire local too right? So nothing like the impact from Covid lockdown. They’ll be fine.

If you think that's what's going to happen you are a MAGA moron as suspected.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should say many of those types of places have an in house pastry chef or partner with a local bakery so don’t skip dessert.

OP here. I think you’d be surprised. Even at nice local places like Italian or French. I have to ask about dessert ingredients due to allergies, and many times someone will offer to “bring me the label.”

Yes, I think most places buy these from distributors or Costco.

I was in a group that planned a high end benefit dinner. Two different caterers suggested serving slices of Costco chocolate cake with some raspberry sauce on it. We went with a local baker.

Anyway, I like your idea but how is it linked to tariffs?

anyone? higher cost of ingredients perhaps? labor too? anything else?

It’s already been explained. Read the thread. I don’t get what you get about avocados and tomatoes going up in price by 25% won’t be passed on as a cost from the restaurant who buys the produce and prepares the food to the consumer who orders the dishes and pays for them. I don’t get what you don’t get about the fact that immigration crackdown = no workers will work, or not enough will work = vegetables and fruits left to rot on the vine = not enough fruits and vegetables at the store.

They can buy local and hire local too right? So nothing like the impact from Covid lockdown. They’ll be fine.

No - I will be committed to eating at home. My financial situation changed over the summer so I’ve been almost exclusively cooking at home. My son and I have had a lot of fun recreating our favorite restaurant meals at home.

I don't know. I'm not "committed" to this as a moral issue. My only "commitment" right now, as far as spending goes, is to try to protect myself and my family. But yeah I usually prefer local restaurants. I try to spend money at them so that they will stay in operation and I can keep enjoying their food.

But no, I don't feel the need to spend at any restaurants to counteract Trump. I would imagine as food prices go even higher, we'll be eating out less than we do now. So any commitment I express now could be out the window soon anyway.

Good times.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Contractors who do home renovations and the like should also be worried. My husband and I (not feds or contractors) just decided to hold off indefinitely on a kitchen remodel because we are cutting spending in anticipation of what is to come.

True.

Lots of trumpers in construction. We are also holding off on a major project. Might never get done at this point.

We've cancelled all plans to do any work to our house or yard. Also stopping all eating out of any sort, to try to save an emergency fund.

Private industry staff in the DC area will have to step up to save the restaurants.

Private industries are seeing cuts too. Its no one's responsibility but the owner's to save their restaurants. If they price themselves out of the market that's on them. We cut back as the prices went up and quality went down. I'm not paying more than $20 for a meal for a sit down except a rare occasion out and I'm not spending $15-20 for fast food.

We had people saying this for years on DCUM in response to inflation and endless posts by people who said they'd stopped eating out. And yet at the same time endless posts also wondering how restaurants are still packed and busy. I don't know what the real situation is but I've learned to stop paying much attention to what people say on DCUM about what's going on. I'm sorry for the fed employees whose future just became massively uncertain but these posters wishing for an economic crash won't be getting what they wish for. Just do what you need to do for yourself and your family.

This is different. The DC area has always been insulated from economic downturns. Not this time. It will hit everyone hard like we’ve never seen. Buckle up.

The DC area is not the entire country.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should say many of those types of places have an in house pastry chef or partner with a local bakery so don’t skip dessert.

OP here. I think you’d be surprised. Even at nice local places like Italian or French. I have to ask about dessert ingredients due to allergies, and many times someone will offer to “bring me the label.”

Yes, I think most places buy these from distributors or Costco.

I was in a group that planned a high end benefit dinner. Two different caterers suggested serving slices of Costco chocolate cake with some raspberry sauce on it. We went with a local baker.

Anyway, I like your idea but how is it linked to tariffs?

anyone? higher cost of ingredients perhaps? labor too? anything else?

It’s already been explained. Read the thread. I don’t get what you get about avocados and tomatoes going up in price by 25% won’t be passed on as a cost from the restaurant who buys the produce and prepares the food to the consumer who orders the dishes and pays for them. I don’t get what you don’t get about the fact that immigration crackdown = no workers will work, or not enough will work = vegetables and fruits left to rot on the vine = not enough fruits and vegetables at the store.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should say many of those types of places have an in house pastry chef or partner with a local bakery so don’t skip dessert.

OP here. I think you’d be surprised. Even at nice local places like Italian or French. I have to ask about dessert ingredients due to allergies, and many times someone will offer to “bring me the label.”

Sysco is a distributor. They sell products from small businesses. I know. My family owns a bakery that sells to Sysco and other distributors. Don’t skip dessert.

Make a cheesecake on-site and I will order it. If I wanted frozen cheesecake, I’d get a Sara Lee from the grocery store and cut out the middle man.