How often do you go out to eat, including fast food etc?

[Blackmore Fan]

I can cook what I need to consume. But I choose not to. I'm not a food snob--a lot of what I eat is fast food. But my time is valuable.

 

[Milspec]

As a party of one these days, I no longer dine out unless on a vacation trip. Even fast food is drive through only and that is only about once per week at the most.

 

[Mongo Park]

I admire the not very often group, don’t eat out much but it has been increasing over time. And it becomes less of an experience and more of a convenience
It is expensive and more importantly bad nutritionally. It is looking like present inflationary pressures will hit the restaurants harder than the grocery store which will shift me back to eating out less I feel for the people owing and working in the restaurant business Maybe this is not what this thread is about.

 

[Blackmore Fan]

Used to be a couple times a month. But ever since I started a pretty strict keto diet I don't both anymore. Just not enough options available in most places.

I lost a LOT of weight back in the day eating Burger King double meat Whoppers--I threw away the bread.

 

[Blackmore Fan]

Retired chef and the wife and I love comfort food. Short ribs in wine sauce over pasta. View attachment 1087185

That looks great!

 

[Colo Springs E]

I admire the not very often group, don’t eat out much but it has been increasing over time. And it becomes less of an experience and more of a convenience
It is expensive and more importantly bad nutritionally. It is looking like present inflationary pressures will hit the restaurants harder than the grocery store which will shift me back to eating out less I feel for the people owing and working in the restaurant business Maybe this is not what this thread is about.

Oh, that's been happening for a year or more.

I know a guy pretty well who has a highly regarded restaurant/brew pub here in town. Very popular, does very well all the time, and particularly during tourist season. He said that right now, their hamburger and fries entree is sold at a fairly significant loss--he doesn't feel he can price it any higher. Fortunately for him and his partners, being a brew pub, they sell massive amounts of alcohol with good mark-up--that's what sustains them.

We eat out often enough that we have certainly seen how much prices have gone up over time. One local restaurant we like used to have two steak entrees with sides--one was upper $20s, the other $30. Now one is $38, the other is $45 and bread is no longer complimentary.

I know a few servers around town. What I've heard is that some people tip better than ever-- probably sympathetic to the fact it's been a bit of a hardship on service industry the last few years. However, they say a lot of customers--though the prices have gone up--are actually tipping less. Their logic seems to be 'well if the price is higher, I can't afford to tip the same percentage I used to.'

 

[Festofish]

My guy was all hooked up and ready to get wheeled to the OR for spinal surgery(not the first or last unfortunately). The doc came out and said they wer3nt going to do it because of his sugars. So we’ve not been eating out except subway once a week or so. We used to do the burger shuffle 2-3 times a week. Eating better at home helps.

 

[Bob M]

I cook and since I retired I really enjoy it. I’ve recently met someone who enjoys going out. Thankfully where I live (Rhode Island) we are blessed with hundreds of dining out options. It’s still a pricey proposition. Last week, for a “special occasion” we went out to eat and spent $180 for 2 people. It was a good experience, but it was more than I like to spend. Just a note-despite the current economic times this place was packed on a Thursday evening! Normally we stick to lunch dates. More reasonable but still easy to run up a good size bill at some places. I still love to cook and my new friend likes to eat. All good!

 

[Colo Springs E]

I cook and since I retired I really enjoy it. I’ve recently met someone who enjoys going out. Thankfully where I live (Rhode Island) we are blessed with hundreds of dining out options. It’s still a pricey proposition. Last week, for a “special occasion” we went out to eat and spent $180 for 2 people. It was a good experience, but it was more than I like to spend. Just a note-despite the current economic times this place was packed on a Thursday evening! Normally we stick to lunch dates. More reasonable but still easy to run up a good size bill at some places. I still love to cook and my new friend likes to eat. All good!

Yeah there was a place we used to go for special occasions, and to get out of there with a drink each and dessert and tip, was approaching 3 bills. We decided that was just ridiculous and haven't been back in a few years. The food isn't even necessarily better than many other places in town we can eat at for a third of the price.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

We do go out to eat but from reading other replies here I realise that we almost never have fast food, like it's a last resort. It's because both my wife and I feel gross after eating it. Does anyone else feel this way, like a bit nauseous from fast food? Maybe it's the grease.

 

[Colo Springs E]

We do go out to eat but from reading other replies here I realise that we almost never have fast food, like it's a last resort. It's because both my wife and I feel gross after eating it. Does anyone else feel this way, like a bit nauseous from fast food? Maybe it's the grease.

I do sometimes, but also depends what it is.

I almost always feel 'thick' and like I should make myself throw up after McD's, Wendy's, BK, etc. Might be the fries as much as anything--if I eat a couple chicken tacos or something like that, I don't feel as bad.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

I do sometimes, but also depends what it is.

I almost always feel 'thick' and like I should make myself throw up after McD's, Wendy's, BK, etc. Might be the fries as much as anything--if I eat a couple chicken tacos or something like that, I don't feel as bad.

I've given up on Mexican food. Maybe we're so far from Mexico up here, but I don't think I ever had good Mexican food, and after realising this, I stopped buying it.

 

[P Thought]

I seek out the best (and enjoy most of the rest) of a few particular menu items: fish tacos; chicken-fried steak; Mongolian beef; enchiladas. We eat out probably 2-4 times a month.

 

[stratoman1]

I order out on Friday night. Other than I do my own cooking

 

[Donny Osmond fan]

My wife and I love to eat out. It's a frivolous expense, but we enjoy it. My thoughts have usually been, 'screw it--it's something we like doing and you can't take it with ya.'

But then I got to actually thinking about how much we (I, mostly haha) spend on eating out, and the fact we both would like to retire in 5-6 years.

I probably grab lunch once or twice a week, and on average, my wife and I go out to eat maybe one night a week. I also might grab something from a food truck once or twice a month while enjoying a beer with a friend.

When I consider the amount of times I eat out... All told, that is easily $400 I spend on eating out monthly. Taking my wife out alone, probably accounts for $3-400, as it seldom comes in less than a benjamin if it's an evening meal w/a drink each. (granted, sometimes we do something cheaper and sometimes we don't have alcohol)

And when you think of that in annual terms, that's probably about five grand a year I spend on eating out-- our ten day trip to Spain several years ago was just a little more than that! That amount of money can't be sustained. We celebrated Valentines on Monday night (wife had dental work done Tuesday) and we had a great time. But we agreed that going forward, we're going to limit "going out" (ie, an evening meal) to two times a month. And individually, each of us grab lunch no more than once a week.

So how often do you pay someone to prepare your food (eat in, carry out, fast food, all of it combined)?

EDIT: I added "Almost never" if anyone wants to change their vote.

3 times a week. My father gets me Arby's on Thursdays. And Pizza every Saturday 2 of them. 1 for Sunday.

Me and him go out to eat every Friday at the Buffett. He started that when he retired. We did that together with mom when I was a kid twice every weekend. Saturday and Sunday.

Now we go once a week. He pays for it. Sometimes we go to the pizza buffet, Olive Garden, Cheddar's. Most of the time we eat at Austin buffet. They have chicken, steak, rice, potatoes, salad bar, and everything else.

I am retired too. I am 47 with health issues. I retired in my family really young. Way before anyone else did.

 

[Flyboy]

I'll have a chippy maybe once a week; pizza once a month; and a curry twice a month!

 

[Colo Springs E]

^^mmmm, that looks good!

 

[Flyboy]

^^mmmm, that looks good!

Trust me, it is!

Tandoori King Prawn marinated in turmeric yoghurt and spices; pilau rice; mild curry sauce; salad; mint and coriander raita.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

Trust me, it is!

Tandoori King Prawn marinated in turmeric yoghurt and spices; pilau rice; mild curry sauce; salad; mint and coriander raita.

I gotta flex. I can buy all three of these chutneys: coriander, mint and chili:

... but if I open all three at the same time they go bad before I can finish them all.

SoOOoo... I bought all three, mixed them together in a bowl (I end up mixing them on my plate anyway), refilled the three jars and put one jar in the fridge and two in the chest freezer. Genius!!!

 

[Harry Styron]

I remember my first jobs in tall buildings in the 1970s and early 1980s, when lunch was a cup of soup and a half sandwich for $2, then $3, then $5, then $10 now $15!.

My business partner and I go out for lunch most Mondays (the only day I go to the office). We often split an entree (pork tenderloin or chicken-fried steak) and get an extra vegetable serving. Both of us eat plenty for about $13, plus tip.

I'm not yet retired, but generally eat at home and work in the basement, rather than a tall building. I'm fortunate to be able to eat free at a couple of Asian restaurants owned by a client, so I eat sashimi or bibimbap once every week or two.