Anonymous wrote:Restaurant food is not inexpensive. How do people afford to eat out all.the.time? We might get carry-out once a month. My friend burned through her first stimulus check getting specialty meals, and the money was gone almost immediately. I mean, I'll buy a nice filet mignon steak every couple of weeks and we'll make a delicious dinner with a baked potato with all the trimmings. It's totally an easy dinner doing a reverse sear, it's delicious, and it costs way less than a take-out meal.

Now a steak is something I won't buy at a restaurant anymore. Not every time, but still too many times I have been disappointed with the cut of meat I received or how done it was. I know I could send it back, but it's an annoyance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A. Because I have cooked over 5000 meal potions for my family this pandemic
B. To support local restaurants
C. Alcohol to go

How do you count cooking? Do you include, for example, making PJ or ham/cheese with chips for lunch as "cooking meal"?? Or do you only count the ones you actually have to "prep" like dinner?? Just curious.

Fair question. We don’t do a lot of sandwiches or cereal breakfasts, but I guess I meant “prepare” rather than cook. And it’s true that we generally eat at home so the number would possibly be the same in a non-pandemic year. But the strain of working full-time in the same space as remote schooling the kids, we extra appreciate a night where we just didn’t have it in us to cook and we could get a meal and support a local business at the same time.

Anonymous wrote:All of the above, plus I don’t have to eat what my kids are eating. I can get tofu or Brussels sprouts or one of the other many things they refuse to eat. Once a week or so, it’s really nice to just eat what I want, instead of some compromise solution of what everyone will tolerate.

I think this is a really underrated aspect of restaurants, and - in COVID times - takeout.

Also takeout makes people happy, and happiness is good

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/27/science/study-happy-save-money-time.html

Anonymous wrote:All of the above, plus I don’t have to eat what my kids are eating. I can get tofu or Brussels sprouts or one of the other many things they refuse to eat. Once a week or so, it’s really nice to just eat what I want, instead of some compromise solution of what everyone will tolerate.

+1

No one in my family likes lasagna as much as I do, so making a pan of it is a waste (I like it, but I don't want to eat it for lunch every day for the rest of the week, and it's a lot of work for something no one else likes). The Italian place down the street makes good lasagna. So we get takeout, everyone gets what they like, and I get one portion of a food I otherwise don't make. Ditto for really spicy food -- my kid can't tolerate the level of heat that my husband likes, which is even too spicy for me. We get Thai, and everyone gets to pick something that is right for them. I cook 6 times a week, trying to balance nutrition and everyone's taste preferences and not wasting ingredients, etc., so it's nice to have one day where I can just get exactly what I want without worrying about any of that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Restaurant food is not inexpensive. How do people afford to eat out all.the.time? We might get carry-out once a month. My friend burned through her first stimulus check getting specialty meals, and the money was gone almost immediately. I mean, I'll buy a nice filet mignon steak every couple of weeks and we'll make a delicious dinner with a baked potato with all the trimmings. It's totally an easy dinner doing a reverse sear, it's delicious, and it costs way less than a take-out meal.

Most people who are eating out all the time don't qualify for stimulus checks.

+1. Good for your friend though. She used her check the way it was supposed to be used.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone getting so much take out? What is the appeal?

I get that people are sick of cooking. But still. My takeout experiences, except for pizza and Chinese, have been disappointing at best.

By the time I call, wait on hold, drive, wait for pickup turn, get home- more than enough has elapsed to cook something myself. And by the time I go to eat the takeout, it is lukewarm and soggy. Is anyone really loving their takeout experience? Share what you do and where you like to order

That is your problem right there! Order from better restaurants!

I have! My point was except for pizza and chinese, the restaurant takeout is disappointing. Even at restaurants we typically enjoy. Unless you time things perfectly and are there for the hand-off as soon as it is ready and live nextdoor, your food is still sitting in a closed styrofoam container at least 20 min before you actually get to eat it. It just is not appealing to me.

Not my experience.

Because it’s convenient and supports restaurants.

Anonymous wrote:Restaurant food is not inexpensive. How do people afford to eat out all.the.time? We might get carry-out once a month. My friend burned through her first stimulus check getting specialty meals, and the money was gone almost immediately. I mean, I'll buy a nice filet mignon steak every couple of weeks and we'll make a delicious dinner with a baked potato with all the trimmings. It's totally an easy dinner doing a reverse sear, it's delicious, and it costs way less than a take-out meal.

Most people who are eating out all the time don't qualify for stimulus checks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone getting so much take out? What is the appeal?

I get that people are sick of cooking. But still. My takeout experiences, except for pizza and Chinese, have been disappointing at best.

By the time I call, wait on hold, drive, wait for pickup turn, get home- more than enough has elapsed to cook something myself. And by the time I go to eat the takeout, it is lukewarm and soggy. Is anyone really loving their takeout experience? Share what you do and where you like to order

That is your problem right there! Order from better restaurants!

I have! My point was except for pizza and chinese, the restaurant takeout is disappointing. Even at restaurants we typically enjoy. Unless you time things perfectly and are there for the hand-off as soon as it is ready and live nextdoor, your food is still sitting in a closed styrofoam container at least 20 min before you actually get to eat it. It just is not appealing to me.

But your aren't because if you were you wouldn't have those problems. We don't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone getting so much take out? What is the appeal?

I get that people are sick of cooking. But still. My takeout experiences, except for pizza and Chinese, have been disappointing at best.

By the time I call, wait on hold, drive, wait for pickup turn, get home- more than enough has elapsed to cook something myself. And by the time I go to eat the takeout, it is lukewarm and soggy. Is anyone really loving their takeout experience? Share what you do and where you like to order

That is your problem right there! Order from better restaurants!

I have! My point was except for pizza and chinese, the restaurant takeout is disappointing. Even at restaurants we typically enjoy. Unless you time things perfectly and are there for the hand-off as soon as it is ready and live nextdoor, your food is still sitting in a closed styrofoam container at least 20 min before you actually get to eat it. It just is not appealing to me.

Then cook. I'd rather use that time to make money but you do you.

One of our local restaurants, a favorite from the before times, has changed their menu to accommodate the different business streams and their new chicken piccata is ridiculously good. The beurre bland is amazing and they pair it with this salty, lemony parsley and arugula salad. My husband is out of work so we’ve only done takeout when someone has given us a giftcard, but I love the break from cooking, OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone getting so much take out? What is the appeal?

I get that people are sick of cooking. But still. My takeout experiences, except for pizza and Chinese, have been disappointing at best.

By the time I call, wait on hold, drive, wait for pickup turn, get home- more than enough has elapsed to cook something myself. And by the time I go to eat the takeout, it is lukewarm and soggy. Is anyone really loving their takeout experience? Share what you do and where you like to order

That is your problem right there! Order from better restaurants!

I have! My point was except for pizza and chinese, the restaurant takeout is disappointing. Even at restaurants we typically enjoy. Unless you time things perfectly and are there for the hand-off as soon as it is ready and live nextdoor, your food is still sitting in a closed styrofoam container at least 20 min before you actually get to eat it. It just is not appealing to me.

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone getting so much take out? What is the appeal?

I get that people are sick of cooking. But still. My takeout experiences, except for pizza and Chinese, have been disappointing at best.

By the time I call, wait on hold, drive, wait for pickup turn, get home- more than enough has elapsed to cook something myself. And by the time I go to eat the takeout, it is lukewarm and soggy. Is anyone really loving their takeout experience? Share what you do and where you like to order

That is your problem right there! Order from better restaurants!

I love to cook, it's usually my "me" time between work and evening family time - especially now that I don't have a commute most days! But some days, I'm just crunched for time, or have my mind on other things, and just can't get into it. When cooking starts to feel like a chore, I take a break for a night. That's my opportunity to order things that I wouldn't normally make on a busy weeknight: multiple Indian dishes with fresh naan, or an assortment of kebabs, or our favorite 3-4 Chinese dishes.

I usually order delivery, or if I'm at work that day, I'll arrange it to pick up on the way home. Or DH picks it up on his way home. So there's very little time involved.

And, I like supporting local restaurants. Win-win-win.

Anonymous wrote:I just get sick of cooking. Most of the takeout and restaurants near the area we can afford to live are mediocre at best, so we will occasionally drive to Rockville or bethesda for takeout.

I really don't get it either OP. If I ate out or had takeout more than once a week, I would weigh 50 pounds more than I do right now. I know--because I used to be exhausted at the end of the workday and gained that much from dining out.

You are out of step with most DC professional 20-something and 30- something couples. They always had delivery pretty much 3-4 nights a week and went out to eat the rest. Now 7 delivery.