I don't ever eat breakfast. (I know that breakfast is touted as the most important meal of the day)
It’s just my wife and I at home now so we eat out more than we should. I also entertain customers while when travelling so I see a lot of restaurants and a good cross section of Quality from Morton’s to Applebees and I can tell you that dining out is waaaaaay down. My wife and I stopped in at an Applebee’s last Friday night about 8:30 and were the only people in the joint the entire time it took to eat our dinner.
It seems like restaurants have really jacked their prices since this past summer. If you mix in high gas prices and higher food prices something has to be cut?
You should eat your breakfast. Today, my breakfast consisted of a coke and a slice of Mrs. Smith’s apple pie.
The last time was when we had some company in from out of town and went to our local Diner.
While it was pretty full, it was during the "specials" hour, which gets you more for your money.
We just cannot afford to go out and eat like we used too.
I remember up until just a couple of years ago, any and every semi special occasion off to Red Lobster we would go.
Now we can't afford to go even for like Veterans day.
Thanks for that Ubama, making us like the rest of the world, I so wanted to live like they do in Chad. I hope you burn in hell.
No surprise. Maybe the public is finally realizing that the cost of dining out has gone sky-high over the past years. I have watched the casual restaurant check for two people over the past several years balloon from around $17 including tax and tip to around $32 to $36 today, here in California. Just in the past year alone, that check size has increased by at least $5 or more.
Every time I see what appears to be a brand new menu, I check the date printed (usually on the bottom of the back) to see if it recently was printed. If so, I look at the prices to see the increases. We are seeing new menus printed twice a year. End result is that we are dining out less and using discount coupons more.
I think this indicator is spot-on. We don’t eat out - at all - these days, unless otherwise unavoidable. I’d say less than once a month at a real, honest-to-goodness sit down at a table and order from a menu restaurant. Fast food and pizza less often than before, too.
And a huge part of that is the cost and a tight budget.
We haven’t eaten out since January. We do get takeout once a week or so, but that’s not nearly as expensive. My husband roasted a large chicken last week end, and then made soup with what was left over. Delicious and so inexpensive compared to a restaurant!
Four 20 ounce choice ribeyes at Costco = $40. Cut each in half and it is $5 per person. Rest of the meal is less than the cosr to drive to the local steak house and tastes better.
Depending on the tax impacts, I may be making even more adjustments to my dining habits.
What about second breakfast:)
everything is much more expensive . inflation is higher than the govt is telling us. go to a grocery now, see what $50 buys you.
A couple of these chains will survive and we will be like Europe where dining at a casual restaurant like Fridays is easily $100 or more.
Prices have been jacked through the roof, even for fast food and basic chain fare. Don’t even want to know what it costs to eat at a real restaurant these days. Eating out is now a luxury rather than a convenience for many of us.
Considering that basic food items just went up another 25 - 30 cents over the last few weeks (that’s at Wally World - it’s probably more at other stores), I can understand why eating out is so expensive - but it gets to a point where it’s just not worth it.