Restaurants mostly suck now

Stay home. I had the same experience. Family dragged me to a once favorite restaurant we ate at for years. Not only was the food just not as good, I suffered from terrible heartburn after the meal. Not worth the price or risk of exposure to covid.

Last “nice” restaurant I ate at made me sick for three days. On vacation.

Agreed, OP. I'm tired of wasting money on mediocre meals.

[quote] What can be done about this?

Learn to cook. It's easy.

My favorite sushi place near my house has done the same. It's always been lovely, creative, wonderful sushi, very well-made and unique cocktails. Now the sushi slices are paper thin, the service is just blah.

Yep. I've even stopped using DoorDash over the past 6 months. I'm sick of subpar food at exorbitant prices. i can throw together food quickly that tastes a million times better than the shit that i get in person or for delivery. It helps that I get SNAP benefits, so now i can have more fresh fruit and vegetables in the fridge, and that has opened up a whole avenue of meals for me.

Cook your own delicious meals at home. It is not the life sentence many pretend it is, and your savings are considerable.

Cooking quality meals isn't hard. I live alone and generally cook 2- 3 days a week and prepare everything I need to put fast meals together fo the week.

That's why I just get drunk alone in my apartment now

Food tasted better in the 2000s.

I took that avenue for a few years, r8. My body is done with drinking now so I'm occupying my time with other pasttimes, and cooking/eating is one of them. I shudder to think of some of the drunken "creations" i made while soused, if I even ate at all.

Agree OP. Have noticed it across a variety of types of restaurants and price points. Every once and a while there's still good service and good product, but there's a lot of degradation of the business overall. And a place that is consistently great, not just great one might and meh other times, is increasingly rare.

I sent a $24 hamburger and fries back to the kitchen because the fries were stone cold and the burger was too rare for me. The chef brought the new order back, and basically threw it on the table and stood there stone faced waiting for me to take a bite and say it was good or something. It made me very uncomfortable and I couldn’t help but wonder if he spit on it or something. I ended up not eating it and leaving. I complained to the manager on the way out and he created a scene. He told me to wait and I thought he was going to get the chef again. Instead he came back and gave me $24 and told me to get out and never come back. I was stunned. It’s like the lunatics are running the asylum. This is a neighborhood place I went to frequently. All I can think is that they are really struggling and will probably be shutting down soon. I noticed their Yelp reviews are increasingly negative.

Stay the fuck home.

I cook at home.

No rudeness, no packaging, no Plastic.

I'm gonna get yelled at but honestly, how can you afford DoorDash while being so poor that you're on SNAP?

DoorDash prices are higher than ordering direct from the restaurant AND their delivery charges are extortionate.

That sounds horrible, R12. Sorry that happened to you. You were smart to not eat that hamburger.

I'm fortunate to live in a foodie paradise with many local farmers and ranches of all sizes providing fresh food, along with many talented chefs in the kitchens.

Many places are suffering from staffing shortages as the workplace has changed. The best are doing well. One place opened just a few months ago and because the food is fantastic and word is out, the place is filling up and people want to work there. Competition is stiff, though, and many of the mediocre places are even more ordinary now.

One bakery/restaurant, usually very popular, had only two people covering the floor during the busy lunch shift and they had to limit the number of customers admitted. Once seated our service was very slow. It's not the restaurant's fault, it's the current labor market.

This is why you don't hire teenagers.

Took some friends for fresh seafood lunch at the port. I'd patronized the restaurant since I moved here four years ago. Ordered my favorite Mahi Mahi fish tacos. Shocked when my normal serving of huge fresh fish fillets in three large shells had been replaced with two stale tortillas filled with measly fish scraps in bed of wilted lettuce. The "sides" of salsa and rice were literally in shot glasses. All for $26.50 + tip.

I cook now. My cooking was evolved to the point of ditching many restos in my price range pre-pandemic; now it's just burning money to eat out. Aside from the whole going out "to socialize" aspect, there is no benefit. Even then I prefer to entertain at home.

As I said, I stopped ordering DoorDash 6 months ago. I lost my job several months ago when our entire division got laid off as a result of mortgage interest rate raising through the roof.

I have SNAP because I have no income. When you have no income, you can qualify for SNAP. I have no income. I qualify for SNAP.

You're right, R20, it's just burning money to eat out.

I think it’s better if you eat locally. I have not experienced any problems at non-chain restaurants.

I thought this exact same thing just a few hours ago. I stopped off at a local restaurant and got a cheeseburger and fries to go for $18. The burger itself was small & took up about 70% of the bun. The french fries were greasy and undercooked. I ate about half of the burger and a few fries and threw the rest away. I’ve had it up to here with shitty overpriced food from restaurants! But sometimes I’m too tired to cook & and clean up.

Oh, dearing myself at r21 for my grammatical/spelling errors.

Don't come to Wisconsin then r23 because you will.

We've basically stopped going to restaurants. High prices and mediocre food. I long ago figured out that I can recreate our favorite dishes at home for a fraction of the cost - and frankly, my cooking is so much better.

The only part that sucks is cleaning up afterwards. I should just pick up a hot day worker from the Home Depot for $20 and bring him home to do the dishes. It would still be cheaper than going to a restaurant.

The London restaurant scene in the 80s was dire. Somehow we are returning to that in present day America.

This all sounds so dreadful. I'm so sorry to hear it. Fortunately Le restaurant de l'Hôtel de ville de Crissier has been in top form throughout 2022.

How can America “return” to the restaurant scene in another country from 40 years ago?

That’s a good question. If you see wine in baskets, head for the door.

I think labor and food prices have increased by more than they can pass on. And they are short staffed. Because even I have noticed it and I am embarrassingly unsophisticated about food and dining.

Definitely a labor issue. The staff at restaurants lately seems to largely completely undedicated and lacking basic customer service skills, let alone any product knowledge. Asking a question about a menu item is often met with a surprising lack of awareness. The cost does not match the experience.

We decided it was worth our health paying more for higher quality food rather than medical bills. Also, we swore off buying any meat from stores like Walmart or Publix, loaded with chemicals now. We go to a high end supermarket that serves hot food and take away prepped meals.

It winds up being the same you would’ve paid in a restaurant anyways., if there’s a Nordstrom near you, I’ve never had a bad meal from their “Basille” chain of restaurants- anywhere I’ve traveled throughout the nation. It is pricy for what it is, service is great because the attentive staff enjoy full corporate benefits of working for Nordstom, not a mom and pop restaurant joint.

I work for a salon corporation as well because many independent business owners simply cannot afford to be as generous and have scaled back on food and consumables quality because of rent and minimum wage increases. For many, the volume simply isn’t there to hire more people. Hair color has doubled in price and they cannot afford to stock everything they need.

I gave up with eating chicken from most fast food restaurants. It has changed significantly since the shutdown and tastes like gamy cardboard.

Alright R21

Not the case here in Japan (I am visiting). Food is tasty and serving is on point.

I also discovered take away from upscale supermarkets and traiteurs. And I can enjoy a meal of quality tinned food, some fresh vegetables or fruit, good bread, good cheese, wine, dessert, etc.

The great resignation didn’t only happen in the workplace: It happened in people’s heads, too. Nobody wants to put in any effort anymore.

[quote]many independent business owners simply cannot afford to be as generous and have scaled back on food and consumables quality because of rent and minimum wage increases

If businesses were only surviving in the U.S. because they were allowed to pay poverty wages to employees who by right deserved a living wage, then their problem isn't really minimum wage increases.

I usually make my own lunch but decided to get take-out at a local pub chain that's known for good food. I got a burger (without a bun) and mashed potatoes, and salad. It cost something like 22 bucks. I hadn't eaten out for about 4 years, before that (due mostly to digestive issues). I thought: I can buy a head of fresh lettuce for $1.50, a pound and a half of hamburger for $7.00, and some potatoes for...whatever. The meal was fine but why waste money like that?

True, OP. Restaurants in Philly were very good before the pandemic. Now many are deeply disappointing. Waiters don’t know how anymore to pour wine (no tasting, glasses too full).

[quote]Not the case here in Japan (I am visiting). Food is tasty and serving is on point.

That's because they take pride in their work.

Good responses. Glad others are seeing this. We’re definitely cooking more than we used to, but we both have demanding jobs and often there’s just not time.

I will say, we had an excellent meal out last week, at a newish place by one of our town’s star restauranteurs. The food and service were excellent, the whole experience top notch. No QR codes, paper menus only. No tipping, a service surcharge instead (which I prefer). It’s probably no surprise this place is known to pay their staff a living wage. It matters.

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

Why don't middle class - 2 income no kids - and richer folks just hire help, like in the old days. Apparently wages are low. Lower costs than restaurants and expensive food deliveries, expensive ironing and what not. Was Hazel a good cook?

Yes some problems- bring ironed out in NYC where dining out is for the most part as enjoyable as always. Kind of a silly post.

I thought it was only me who thought restaurant food was getting more mediocre. Yesterday I went to Mexican and each bite was completely boring.

I can't afford to eat out more than once in a blue moon anyway; need to get my savings up. Restaurant prices have definitely skyrocketed, and it's not hard to make something good at home.

Stephen Starr’s Parc on Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia has become a joke. Pre Covid we had so many work lunches there we called it the cafeteria. The food was reliable and the service was quick enough for a working lunch.

Like other big city restaurants they built long outdoor dining sheds on both Locust Street and 18th Street facing the park. And they stilll have all the regular outdoor seating.

So at any busy time - and Parc is almost always busy - the kitchen and wait staff are constantly working on an additional 80 meals that the kitchen wasn’t set up to fulfill. The last two times I went we waited for 45 minutes to get a drink. And yes, the quality of the food had suffered. Cities should make all the restaurants with additional covered outdoor seating remove them. No one’s wearing a mask and no one is social distancing. It’s become a cash grab for popular restaurants.

The mandatory tips ... the attitude...the mediocrity

I put money in a tip jar, if the counter server is professional or courteous.

I hate “we suggest ordering for the table.” What used to be a private decision is now a negotiation.

Everybody’s struggling with staffing, inflation, and supply chain issues. I look at eating out as an investment in these businesses surviving to easier times, even if the value isn’t there as much—our communities would be very dull without restaurants.

That said, I had some memorably fabulous restaurant meals in 2022: ABCV in New York, Brassica in Boston, Central Provisions in Portland, Maine.

You, true for me, too. I dine out only sporadically and don't go anywhere super-expensive. But the last few times at even tried-and-true restaurants, the service was either really inept/bitchy/spotty/overweening, and the food was so-so. Going out for dinner will be a lower priority for me I. 2023. Except it seems like the best/most convenient way to meet up and catch up with friends is at a restaurant. It will be interesting to see if COVID roars back in a new form after this shitshow holiday season and dining out becomes a moot point. I hope not, but . . .

Myriad OF, OP, myriad OF.

Did you ask to speak with the manager?

People are sitting outside in Philadelphia in December?

I have reason to wonder if post-covid has dulled people's taste-buds, mine included.

R57, between today moving through the next 12 days the high temps will be between 45° and 60°. The sheds at most restaurants are enclosed on 3 sides and have a roof. And of course they all have standing heaters strategically placed berween diners. The picture below is, in fact Parc in Philadelphia. There are many days throughout late fall and early spting when the outdoor seating is available.

I had two memorable meals last year: Laser Wolf and Frevo. But so many others were utter disappointments.

One thing I’ve noticed: charging $20 for a spritzing of wine in a giant glass. I’ll pay the money gladly, if it’s a proper pour. But so many restaurants are chintzing out. I actually said something recently at a Thai place we used to love. They were serving nothing more than a generous sip as a full glass of wine. When asked about it, they smiled and lied, saying their pours hadn’t changed.

Stay home, cook, get wine from your local wine shop. Parties at home can be super-fun and you save so much money.

[quote]Laser Wolf

Congratulations on your engagement to Tzeitel.

So true R60. I only drink wine at home but I’ve given up getting a proper pour at restaurants. My solution: I order a double Dewars neat and a glass of ice. I continue mixing my drink through dinner and enjoy a little glow while eating.

R60 next time, bring your own measuring cup and pour the wine into it and show them that they are being fraudulent!

R62 does the Dewar’s make the food taste any better?

The Dewars doesn’t harm most meals, R64. Mixed with ice and slowly diluted it doesn’t have a flavor profile any more intense than a Pinot Noir. I also ask for a tall glass of water along with the drink. Even with wine I always have water on hand as part of a meal.

[quote]Yes some problems- bring ironed out in NYC where dining out is for the most part as enjoyable as always. Kind of a silly post.

So Charlie, because the problems are being ironed out in NY, it's a "silly post"? Are you aware that most people don't live in NY and conditions might be different elsewhere? Or do you just not care about the *provinces*?

Restaurateurs have been in a bubble, and that says a lot in an already volatile business. Banks had been willing to give loans to any shop from scam "shakes" to your local fine dining place no one or everyone goes to. Budding Caplitalists never realize that all investment is a risk. Small businesses are the first to feel it, and then corporations follow. Some small places will survive lean times because they take care of their employees. Check your exposure to retail restaurants.

Taco trucks have increased 30 to 40 percent. I’ll pay It. I absolutely refuse to eat at FF chains. The cost of doing buisness as a brick and mortar joint are unending. Regulations force the small guys out and leave Burger King an Mickey dees. Similar in case to what we see with gas stations. The independents are unable to comply with the codes. Law is used to promote the corporates and punish the independents. Capitalism has captured the regulators.

I loooooove a good taco, in Chicago, Mexican food remains delicious and enjoyable.

Wow the olds **really** hate QR codes.

R70, I don't like QR Codes and I'm 39

What this "old" hates, r70, is reading a menu on my phone. All that scrolling. All that embiggening. Ugh.

I hope someone is this much of a cunt to you when you're my age. You **really** deserve it. I hope you can't walk, either.

R72, calm down, I’m not that poster, I am old too — it’s ok. We were the same way, they have no wisdom yet, but it will come.

QR codes are a minor complaint. Most of us are turned off by the increased expense and the degraded quality of the food. Some of the responses noted poor service, I didn't because the staff is usually on point.

[quote]embiggening

FAIL.

I eat out once a week and it's fine. Some of the Karens here never stop finding things to complain about

R68, it's not regulations punishing small businesses, it's having to compete with big businesses that does them in

I won't order a hamburger in a sit down restaurant because it is a dish that requires no skill to prepare and one I can easily make at home.

If I am not up for frying French fries in hot oil and stinking up my place with grease, I use the ready made French fried potatoes in a bag and bake the fries in the oven. A friend of mine is obsessed with his air fryer and uses it for everything, including preparing fries.

I will order pizza in a restaurant because I don't own a pizza oven at home and can't make it at home.

I rarely eat pizza because I ate too much of it growing up and tired of it.

Embiggen your mind, r75.

Sure, cooking at home is cheapier, possibly healthier, faster, etc.

But the whole idea of dining out, for me at least, is to have an experience. Just got back from a dinner: Nothing bad, but nothing special either. And very, very expensive.

What did you order?

R80 how can you have an “experience” nowadays with them rushing you out the door after an hour? They need to turn those tables!

I also wonder if many of us have reached the 'been there, eaten that' phase of gastronomy...

It depends a little on the restaurant, R80, and I feel this is more prevalent in the US and in very touristy areas in European countries — but there was absolutely no rush to get us out tonight.

The noise of the restaurant bothers me in my dotage, too fucking loud. At least cigarette smoking is banned!

Nowadays I always keep a frozen pizza on hand. Ordering a pizza from the restaurant is at least $25 for pick up around here. I find that a quality frozen pizza will hit the spot for only $10. Here’s one of my favorites.

Yep I've noticed it too. I stick to a drink and an appetizer and maybe dessert if I HAVE to go out. A $30 entree for mediocre food isn't worth it to me. Others may disagree, obviously.

And fast food is a joke now. Not cheap and at an all time worst in terms of taste and quality.

I’ve been in the States this month for the 1st time since Spring 2017, in the Midwest. The restaurants all suck.

The worst thing is that it appears to be perfectly acceptable, five minutes after the food is served, for the server to come around and ask, “Boxes? Does anybody want a box (for leftovers)?” It’s like I’ve barely had a chance to fucking eat. Rudest thing ever.

[quote]So Charlie, because the problems are being ironed out in NY, it's a "silly post"? Are you aware that most people don't live in NY and conditions might be different elsewhere? Or do you just not care about the *provinces*?

You must be new to DL. If you were a vet you would know that New Yorkers cannot conceive of any life outside their insular existence.

I just came back from a trip to Florida. My God, it's littered with fast food. Everywhere you turn is a new fastfood restaurants. By definition fast food is just crap food. It's amazing to me that many Americans don't know anything different from fast food.