So when do people stop going out to eat?
 

I have a customer who owns 5 Mexican Food Cafes here in the Phoenix area. The past few years we've reprinted their menus 6 times...always to accommodate higher prices. Their typical cost now is about $18.00 per entree...Mexican food.

On a personal note I stopped by a McDonald's today and paid $4.96 for a large order of fries. There's got to be a breaking point for most folks.

I'm aghast at the prices of most restaurants these days. I'm in a touristy area right now, and I paid something like $28 for a burger, Dr. Pepper, and sweet potato fries yesterday.

My breaking point is about where we're at now. I'm actually eating out a bit less these days purely due to prices. I still go out semi-frequently, but I'm actually thinking about budget impacts these days whereas it's never been an issue in the past.

I don’t go to restaurants anymore but I still eat out your mom on the reg

Grocery store prices are up to, we're all just gonna starve.

1) Fast food is for suckers these days.

2) American portion sizes are too large.

3) Recently bought a nice toaster oven. Total game changer. Just eat half the portion of something reheatable and double up.

Its a really good question. I live in a touristy area, and a lot of places (bars, restaurants, taprooms , grills etc) are closing... because the costs of their supplies keep going up, and they can't afford to sell the food without making a profit...and yet no one wants to pay 22$ for a burger


The other part of the problem is labor. If you can find someone worth a damn, you're gonna have to pay them decent money even to flip a burger. I think even burger flippers get like 17-22$ an hour where I am at.


The 10 years of insanely low interest rates also made rents skyrocket because property values went up WAY higher than they should. If you look around and house prices have doubled in the last few years, then rent has also doubled.


Your question is a very good one, but if you see restaurants closing, you'll have your answer. Unfortunately that has already started happening here. Tourists are still coming, but a lot of local places are under extreme pressure.

Very generous of u!

We will all eat shit and die..

I know the majority here can't relate but don't even get me started on the price of a haircut these days.

I've noticed this strategy in a few restaurants where I'm a repeat customer. They're holding the line somewhat on prices but reducing the portion sizes.

My initial reaction is to frown at smaller portion sizes, but then I realize that past portion sizes were way too big. I'd much rather get smaller portions for the same price in most American restaurants, than to pay more for the previous large proportions.

I might make an exception for reheatable food like Thai food or Italian. But in those cases I know that I'm buying two meals at once.

Bon appetit. Nice to see you serve a purpose.

We have already cut way back, not so much because of the prices (although that certainly is a consideration) but simply because of the hassle. Everywhere we go, there’s staffing and quality issues. It’s really just not worth it anymore, especially since the cost has gotten ridiculous. I don’t find it enjoyable to pay 100 bucks for a meal when I’m just disappointed the whole time.

Much more enjoyable to cook at home. I’ve really expanded from just smoking/grilling to making a lot of meals on the stove the old fashioned way. We’ve been getting into some deep frying too which has been delicious.

Seems to me $18 for an entree at a genuine restaurant in a large metro area is extremely reasonable, but yeah $5 for a McD fry is a disgrace

And its basically the same here, fast food prices are COMPLETELY out of control, I can easily spend $20 at Taco Smell or wherever else if I really wanna stuff myself with crap

Yet if I just plan ahead a little bit and call ahead, I can go to our best Mexican joint and get a monstrous chimichanga, fajita platter etc with rice, beans, sour, guac, salsa and a large bag of fresh made chips for $15-16

Good hearty real food, its two meals if you want it to be... I wouldn't be complaining too much about $18 in the city

$1 any size fries on the MCd's app, fam.

My wife told me yesterday her favorite fast food is mcd's. After 24yrs I could have saved myself a fortune.

That's gotta be temporary, right?

LMAO I'd pay just about anything to get a haircut again

We only eat out on date nights or birthdays, etc.

My wife is an excellent cook, and I enjoy helping her prep.

Profit.

Yeah, big city but big prices for Mexican food? What, some rice, beans, a couple of tortillas, low grade beef/chicken and some salsa and sour cream adds up to $18.00? Good thing the chips are free. A while back they tried charging $1.00 for a chips and salsa refill and the customers practically burned the place down.

$15

barber, small town..

I'm hoping it isn't.

Pretty much the same here; when we ARE able to go out it's only a few times a year so I snatch the check before my wife can obsess about the bill.

I have to look into that. How long you been using it?

Nope. Lifetime guaranteed.

Gotta throw in the labor too, if I lived in Scottsdale I wouldn't think twice about $18 if the food was solid

Even our only good Chinese place here in my one horse town has raised their prices through the roof, and its STILL a far better value in terms of freshness, consistency and quantity than anything in the fast food realm

Outside of that your best bet is to cook at home, and I do love cooking so it helps keep food costs down... but sometimes one simply doesn't wanna dick around in the kitchen

Used it for about a year. Been worth it for the cheapo shit.

:LOL:

I'm struggling to find any type of decent razor fade under $40 here.

First place I tried timed the session so ol girl flew through it. Didn't even get my ears or eyebrows. I'm in my 40s, I need my barber looking out for my ears and eyebrows :cuss:

I'm driving further to a chollo place on Friday so we'll see. At least they'll be cool and know what they're doing.

hopefully in 3-5 years food will be too expensive for the average person to afford. That seems to be most people's goal.

:eek:

sweeet! good luck!

Rule of thumb in a new town:

barber
mechanic

There’s a sizable portion of the going out to eat consistently crowd (fast food mostly) that prices really have always priced out yet they still go.

The mrs and I like going out for breakfast. We used to go out 4-5 times a week, but cut back to 1-2 times a week now. We're paying $10-$15 more per visit now vs pre 2020.

The last haircut I got, probably a dozen years ago, was getting my head shaved by a wickedly cute woman with a barber's license. She had a full sleeve tattoo, which was horrific, but other than that any future haircut would be a letdown in terms of small talk and leaning in over me. I'll just keep using my skull shaver.

I know it's getting pretty tight for a lot of people I know with families.

For myself, well, I don't eat a lot of breakfasts during the week, unless you count protein bars and coffee. I make and take about 3 lunches/week (usually just remixed leftovers) and cook dinner most of the time. But I've been doing that since before COVID, so the cost is the only new thing. And groceries have certainly gone up. A dozen eggs were about $3 before COVID, now they're around $7? Chicken went through the roof, and even pork is almost twice what it was.

Took my mom to Freddy's Steakburgers last Saturday for lunch, and I think I spent over $30. Went to a good Italian place, not fancy, but a really good mom and pop place, and that was over $80 for two. Didn't even order any adult beverages.

FYI: historically, the most common cause of war/civil war is famine/starvation.

A $50 bill in 2000 would be $88 today just accounting for inflation. :shrug:

I don’t think I have ever considered prices at a sit down restaurant. Part of why I go is to not cook or clean the kitchen and just be out of the house doing something so I’m fine with prices as long as the food is at least good. In that regard we are not the most adventurous when it comes to going out to eat. We need to have either been or just heard good things.

But fast food is another story. I do avoid them mostly completely because prices definitely don’t reflect what you get. I have made many decisions to just eat whatever is at home when driving home as opposed to picking up fast food. The Wendy’s deals are decently priced but they have become very much more hit or miss than in the past. Freddy’s is really the only one I find reliable and worth the price and never mess up orders.

Ur welcome

From what I've searched if you make a minimum purchase of $1.00 you get the fries free...?

By 2030, we are supposed to own nothing and like it. And eat bugs.

We rarely go out to eat. Probably haven’t gone out except for close family birthdays in 3-4 years. Save as much money as I can for vacations. I can buy beef filet at the store for both of us for the price of a single steak no sides at Outback. Factor in alcohol etc and it’s a good chunk of cash when leaving.

A certain mod on this website rejoices

I hate that old POS.

15 years ago when I still had hair I was bitching about paying $12 (and to be fair I was bitching about having to sit and wait for an hour for the opportunity to spend $11 on a haircut.

Wife bought some clippers and I never looked back

Free. Bought a pair of clippers right before covid shut everything down. Haven’t gone to a barber since.

On a bright note , Boar semen prices are relatively unchanged.

http://www.piggene.com/IBS/semen_prices.htm

Here they are selling 1 lb of grasshoppers for $1. Equal protein to a mid size steak. I haven't figured out the correct recipe yet:(

I assume you de-wing and leg 'em first. They say the head is the most nutritious. Dunno.

I am learning to cook more at home though. I am doing a lot of stuff that I never have done before. It is a challenge.

Gonna make this tonight.

https://sweetsavoryandsteph.com/wp-c...255-scaled.jpg


I have drastically increased my cooking skills in the last 4 yrs. In my mind, it is like a science chemistry project. I find if the dogs won't eat it, it turned out bad.

Take a grasshopper and catch a 2 pound fish. Profit

Good point

Was it full of freaky symbols like flowers and birds?

The tattoo or the barber shop?

The barber shop was kind of old school. The tattoo was very brightly colored, but I don't remember what the pictures were. I kind of want to guess that there were some dragonflies and suns, but I could be wrong.

Coy is not your color Apricot man.
Her horrific tattoo?

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I use horse shears from down at the barn.

I hear that. I'm lucky. My wife is also an excellent cook.

We celebrated a B-day with some friends at a place in Lees Summit. My wife and I shared a chicken tender dinner with fries. I got a bud light, and she ordered a mixed drink.

Tab was $29.56 plus an automatic 20% gratuity, plus tax.

It was generally a look like this, but this isn't the person or the exact tattoo.

My apologies if you have a full sleeve tattoo. I'm sure it looks great on you.

https://www.bardadim.tattoo/wp-conte...54771171_n.jpg

I eat breakfast and dinner at home now, and scoot a mile down the road to pick up 2 Sonic junior cheeseburgers for $3.88 for lunch. Might go to a local place for brunch once a month and get some breakfast tacos for $9.50 if there's live music, and that's my splurge. I honestly spend more money each month on alcohol than I do food. You can shove your judgey eyes up your ass.

The first thing Noah did after hitting dry land, was grow a vineyard... God understands

Get used to it. We're going through a hellacious period of self inflicted inflation and food prices aren't going to come down.

I eat out almost every single meal (lunch and dinner) since I dont really eat breakfast. $18 seems like a good deal. I get the steak and chicken fajita at most Mexican places and its like $26.

Chipotle is a place Ive really noticed the increase.

Tip 10%

Problem solved

Wow this is cool.

Restaurants are out of the picture now. I was fine paying 2-3X the price of making something at home. It seems we're approaching 6-7X now.


I will occasionally find a decent deal or coupon, but that's becoming rare, too.

Come on man...

Wife has been cutting mine since the Pandemic started. Saved about 30 every 3-4 weeks.

Get yourself a blackstone flat top and start cooking at home. Not very much clean up and it will save you loads of money

I would say we are a little bit more mindful about eating out but it is an experience we enjoy and there are so many good places in the area.

I think my focus is being smarter and thinking more long term when at the grocery store.

The haircut thing resonates...it used to be cheaper when I would get that done in a smaller town or the suburbs but I have enjoyed finding a place and people I like in the city also having a reservation system so I don't have to sit around with a bunch of old dudes wasting time. Though it is certainly a price hike.

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Prices at 5:39

Been looking into this it is really tempting.

Already have the air fryer its just like a convection oven on steroids does a great job with protein like chicken and salmon. Would love something to make a solid steak or burger.

re: making it at home... I've been setting that bar for a while of not buying something in a restaurant that I could mostly make at home. I've never really bought chicken entrees because it's just freakin' chicken, and have cut out most burgers, pizza, etc.

Mostly narrowed down to seafood, like ahi tuna or sushi, or ordering KC Joe's. I've definitely gotten a lot more picky in recent years, prices or not.

I was having this discussion with someone the other day. They mentioned "when prices come back down" and my response was "prices will never come down. Businesses are not going to lower their prices once people pay the high prices. The battle now is to keep them from going up more."

This is my general rule as well. You'll almost never see me in a sandwich shop, because I can slap some turkey between two slices of bread and get 80 percent of the enjoyment that I would get from a sandwich shop. And 300 percent of the enjoyment that I would get at Subway.

It's hard being so good looking like us.

I have a neighbor who owns a salon and who charges me $25 if I pay cash or $30 if I pay card. I am still unsure if this is a nice neighbor discount or actually what she charges. Pre-pandemic I was already paying $25 at a barber shop I liked though, so I'm thinking she's cutting me a deal.

Honestly, I’m the opposite of most of you. I would much rather they charge me more money than they sneakily reduce the portion size. You don’t know they have done that until your plate comes and then you’re underwhelmed. If they charge me more but give me the same thing at least they’re being upfront about it. And we’re not in the habit of eating out all the time so when I go out I want to be satisfied.

Instead of eating that stuff, get a nice steak and a bag of salad. Grill steak medium rare, slice thin and put on salad. Dinner for two. After so many bad experiences at fast food, I just don't even bother. Wendy's slogan: No Fry is Too Cold to be Sold! YuckDonalds? No thanks. BoogerKing? Riiiiight. What's the chicken place? $13 for a chicken sammich and fries? What a ripoff! I don't want to combo meal with the soda yet buying off of the menu is more expensive.

I was paying $25 in Chicago for a good precision cut.

The pandemic hit and they closed for a bit so I went for the Game of Thrones look and just let it go.

Step back in the game and it’s up to $40. So now I just go 8 weeks between cuts and don’t turn my work camera on for the last 2-3 weeks of it.

Was the second half of this post you just trying out a tight 10 min set of an 80s standup act?

I'll add one thing. The mom and pop Chinese restaurant near me hasn't raised prices too much. Their dinner combo that I like has gone from $8.99 pre-pandemic to $10.99. Same portion size.

$15 every few years to get a new trimmer. Having short, thinning hair has it's advantages. Every once in awhile, if I'm nice, I even get to sleep with the barber (my wife).

Thats exactly what my Chinese place is doing

Raising prices is fine if it keeps the old standard, but please don't raise prices then cut back on the proteins... people will accept one, but not both

Portion size is generally huge at most places. Most of the time the Mrs. and I just get a couple of appetizers and split a main course. It's not so much the cost but we don't really like wasting food, so this works for us. I did do a double take the other day when I took my two boys to Five Guys and the tab was $60 for 3 burgers, 3 fries and 3 shakes.