Posted on 09/22/2023 7:08:43 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Retirees have lost their appetite for Cracker Barrel and Olive Garden since the pandemic — and it’s not clear when they’ll come back, according to the chains’ top brass.
No amount of biscuits and gravy or unlimited pasta refills seems to be enough to entice the 65-and-older crowd as they continue to pinch pennies amid high inflation and duck the coronavirus, according to Rick Cardenas, chief executive of Darden Restaurants, which owns Olive Garden.
“I do believe that they were a little bit more spooked on the COVID side,” Cardenas told analysts on a Thursday conference call. “We’d love to see them come back more frequently.” Indeed, seniors are heading to the budget-friendly pasta chain less often than they had before the pandemic, added chief financial officer Raj Vennam on a conference call on Thursday with Wall Street analysts.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
I can’t get enough of ribs at Longhorn. May be the local chef just is specially good. Meat falls off the bones and the sauce is really delicious.
The Olive Gardens food IS CRAP.
If your that into pepperoncini peppers buy them from Goya in the 1 gallon jar, they are great.
The VERACRUZ MEXICAN RESTAURANT on Imperial Hwy in Downey, Ca.
For the best damn Mexican food north of the border, and if you prefer Chinese the Golden Palace Restaurant on Telegraph Rd. just off Lakewood Blvd.
I ate at those places a couple of times about 30 years ago. Thought the food was lousy and overpriced.
The food at Olive Garden has gotten worse the chicken parm is always burnt and the music is so loud you can’t hear and the salad quality has declined. We now have a pot luck with friends on Sunday. Much cheaper and better food. And you can talk.
Also because they’ve both gone woke.
Besides that, both restaurants’ food quality has greatly diminished over the past 3 years (if not longer). Olive Garden used to serve several hearty meat and ravioli dishes but now have pared back to pasta combinations and a subpar lasagne.
Cracker Barrel still has its mainstays for breakfast but has dropped its sandwiches and other items for a reduced dinner menu.
Now both are arguably doing that from a supply chain standpoint but they’re also following the subpar taco bell model - where they have one or two main ingredients and then mix them up in combinations to make it look like they have a wide menu when it’s beef, beans and a combination hard and soft taco shells/wraps.
Why eat out?
And seniors going to breakfast at fast food chains — used to be a big deal for koffee klatch daily get togethers — has virtually ceased in my area. Empty dining room until lunch time and even then not so busy.
Before our bug-out my Mom and I visited Cracker Barrel regularly, and regularly made purchases from their store. That was 18 months and a lifetime ago.
It used to be that you'll get a much better meal at a chain restaurant. But at this point, you're better off at going to Chick-fil-A. They're consistent. And they're not trying to rip you off.
>>Butter isn’t fattening.
Pasta, however, is....and, causes inflammation. As do the flour and potatoes in your Tuscan Zuppa. Not to mention the bread.
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True, butter is not fattening.
Just recently I have been hearing about how if pasta, bread, and potatoes are chilled overnight, the starch turns into something called “resistant starch”, sort of like the starch in beans, which is different from what is thought of as traditional “carbs”, and thus doesn’t affect one’s weight as much.
I don’t know if this is actually true or not, but it sure would be nice : )
and tax and tips, too.
however, we are making a concerted effort to support local restaurants not chains....
hey we went to a Pizza Ranch during our summer travels, I think somewhere near Sioux City or Sioux Falls....not bad...
👍🏻
I am a senior and I NEVER eat out it is way to expensive AND the staff lately has a whole lot to be desired!! I can make food at home a whole lot cheaper and not deal with RUDE, LAZY, staff members!! If I want a Pizza Dejourno is great most of the time if I cook I make enough for the next day!! My appetite has changed enormously so going to an Olive Garden with all you can eat salad, soup and bread sticks doesn’t sway me anymore!! As you get older your appetite is so small that you just eat so much less with the price in restaurants it is not worth it anymore to go out and eat it has become a waste of money for seniors!
Seniors NO LONGER have expendable income SO these little things they could afford before are no longer affordable!! This economy SUCKS!!
Olive Garden has always vastly been super ridiculously overrated. We don’t really have many crackhead barrels out where I live, so I don’t know much about them, though I have eaten at them before. In general, I have learned over time to avoid restaurants frequented by old people as they always seem to be terrible.
They spent the prior years gorging themselves on crap. Now they have type II diabetes and can’t eat the carbs.
Excellent comment!!! So true.
I’m glad you realize that fact. They truly are a gift from God. My son was 41 and took his own life in a haze of alcohol and antidepressants following a traumatic event that in reality was a minor issue. He wasn’t thinking clearly when he made his decision, which we take some solace in. He never intended for his family and loved ones to suffer like this.
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