Mardi Gras is very good if you want a little spice. The funny thing with all of the price increases is the large disparity between home cooked meals. For example, my local Italian restaurant used to charge $45 for a large tray of baked ziti. Now it’s $140! For our last gathering, I made a big tray myself, even kicked it up with chopped sausages, and my all in cost was under $25 for the same large tray. It tasted better than the restaurant version. Same thing with home made pizza. Some poster mentioned over $45 for a large pie and a few root beers at Pizza Hut. If you have a good pizza stone and make your own, it’s under $10 all in with a better pizza. Same for a good steak. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this large a disparity between home cooked and the restaurant pricing, but people seem to be ok paying for it. Not me. We’ve cut back on outdoor dining considerably. Not because we can’t afford it but because it’s offensive when we can make it ourselves for so much cheaper.
Not to mention (but I will...), how bad restaurant food is compared to what it was before Covid, especially pizza!