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We've been buying the bag or box salad greens for a couple of years now and find they fit our needs perfectly.
We've just discovered that the looseleaf lettuces (mesclun, field greens, baby spinach etc) at our grocery store are much cheaper than the pre-bagged/boxed stuff. Plus, the leaves don't get bruised - I HATE how the bags are shoved onto the shelves, leaving a mushy mess of bruised leaves.
We can fill 2 of the plastic produce bags for less than the cost of 2 pre-packaged bags - we get more, we can pick out the better leaves, AND the loose stuff is organic (not why we buy it, but kind of nice anyways). If your grocery store has the looseleaf stuff, I'd suggest comparing them - it definitely works out cheaper/better for us!
I cut back on eating out a lot and boy have I saved money. Once a month, BF and I go out to a mid priced resturant ($60-80 for food only). Sometimes we go the chain route, but we mostly go to independent resturants. Other than that, dinner is made at home. I also keep 1 or two frozen dinners in the freezer for those times when I can't cook. At $3 a pop, you're still saving money.
But servers are different, they actually, well, serve you. I waited tables too, and eat at cheap places, but trip 30%-50% sometimes. Tipping the guy who brings you the food pre-made is like tipping the Starbucks employee who made your drink. Or maybe you do that too? I guess I'm old skool.
My daughter has worked the carryout before. Actually what they do is take someone who is normally the host/hostess and have them do the carryout. She made $7 hour, so more than a server gets, but she (like they do at Outback) packaged the food and brought it out to the car. She was always tipped and she appreciated those tips, as $7 is not much...
I felt totally ripped off. DH called the restaurant and complained; they said they would send us some coupons in the mail to compensate and the manager apologized. I don't know what he was apologizing for, though, because I have a feeling this is their normal size since the salad was in a plastic bowl with a lid that I assume is their regular salad. I dunno.
As someone who has been a veteran in the customer service industry, I sincerely hope that your dear husband was level-headed and reasonable with his complaint. I can't tell you how many occasions I've nearly been led to tears on the phone by people screaming at me for something that was beyond my realm of control. In this scenario I can most certainly understand your frustrations, and the manager did the right thing by trying to appease you any way he could and by offering you coupons to keep you as a customer (even though you don't seem like you'll be hitting up Outback again any time soon).
What you have to realize with these large chains is that often times a branch manager is little more than a figurehead for store employees to look up to for guidance. Corporate controls portion sizes, pricing, decor, etc. Why? Well, what if there happened to by chance be more than one Outback Steakhouse within 5 miles of your home. You decide to go out one Friday to the one 2.5 miles to your east and the next Friday to the one 2.5 miles to your west. You are shocked that the second location has smaller portions for a higher price, and you tell all of your friends and relatives about your negative experience. Soon word spreads, and the latter restaurant location fails. Chains require uniformity and conformity, so in this sense your local manager may have been in 100% agreement with your dear husband that corporate was cheating consumers by offering such small portion sizes for such exorbitant prices, but his hands are obviously tied by corporate, lest he be "disciplined" for taking it upon himself to try to provide a better value for his patrons.
I'm not trying to attack you here. It has just been my experience that far too many Americans are far too short-sighted and air their grievances very unprofessionally and at the wrong target. It would have been more fruitful if your dear husband had sent an e-mail (or perhaps even a hand-written letter for greater emphasis) to corporate, as they are the ones who can ultimately affect policy changes. I recommend doing this even if you have a compliment. I can't tell you how rewarding it felt to have had a store manager come over to me to shake my hand and congratulate me after they had received an e-mail from our corporate office praising me for receiving a compliment from a customer. It's nice if you go to a restaurant manager to compliment a good waitress or in my case to the Lowe's manager to give me an "atta boy," but to be REALLY effective you need to notify corporate. I firmly believe that all of the positive commendations that customers had sent to corporate on my behalf resulted in me enjoying a rather substantial raise after my annual review whereas other less motivated co-workers begrudged their "pitiful" raises.
In the long-term it is always best to "go to the top" to air a complaint or to commend someone. Yelling at the low guy on the total pole just to make you feel better about yourself just makes YOU look like a horse's ass, and I actually had one customer tell that to another customer once when he was observing someone chiding me for something beyond my control. He received applause from several other bystanders for becoming involved, and I was very grateful for his intervention, as the offending party left in an embarrassed huff muttering profanities inaudibly.
My daughter has worked the carryout before. Actually what they do is take someone who is normally the host/hostess and have them do the carryout. She made $7 hour, so more than a server gets, but she (like they do at Outback) packaged the food and brought it out to the car. She was always tipped and she appreciated those tips, as $7 is not much...
OK that makes sense, which is what I thought they did, and why I don't tip for that. It would be like tipping the grocery cashier for checking you out. Tipping is out of control in this country IMO.
No offense to your daughter, I worked in food service in HS as well, I know it pays crap. One of those rites of passages as a teen I think .
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by younglisa7
I really think most restaurants are a big waste of money. ...Needless to say we won't be wasting our money anytime soon at a restaurant. It will be many months before we eat at a restaurant again. At least when I cook our food I know what we are getting.
good source for a special meal, here and there (very rarely eat out, but when I do I try to use local places to keep profit in the community)
Where We Eat: The Splendid Table (http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/index.shtml - broken link)
I do like the Rotisserie Chickens though. They make a great meal plus leftovers.
This is my treat! one week / month. One of these feeds me for at least a week
1) Chicken and fixins
2) chicken burrito
3) Chicken salad
4) BBQ shredded chicken
5) Chicken tostada
6) chicken pot pie
7) Chicken soup
If a 'boomerang' kid shows up to do laundry and eats my chicken, I'm not a happy camper (Costco is 20+ miles away). But I just go hungry the days I run out, as I'm packing plenty of 'reserve'
I really think most restaurants are a big waste of money. My DH and I will occasionally go out to eat as a treat. The last time we went to Applebee's for lunch and it was $20.00 for a small soup and salad, a plain burger for my DH, and 2 soda's. It was a complete waste of money. For less than $5.00 I could have made a much better meal at home and I usually do.
I do like the Rotisserie Chickens though. They make a great meal plus leftovers.
I feel the same way, Lisa. I love Pizza Hut, but it easily runs to $30 if a couple people order a side salad and drink with their pizza, so its more of a treat than something we expect on a regular basis.
For $10 a person at home, I can easily make ribeyes that melt in your mouth with a wonderful salad, sides of garlic mashed potatoes and corn with a glass of milk. That's really my idea of a treat.
I feel the same way, Lisa. I love Pizza Hut, but it easily runs to $30 if a couple people order a side salad and drink with their pizza, so its more of a treat than something we expect on a regular basis.
For $10 a person at home, I can easily make ribeyes that melt in your mouth with a wonderful salad, sides of garlic mashed potatoes and corn with a glass of milk. That's really my idea of a treat.
As someone who has been a veteran in the customer service industry, I sincerely hope that your dear husband was level-headed and reasonable with his complaint. I can't tell you how many occasions I've nearly been led to tears on the phone by people screaming at me for something that was beyond my realm of control. In this scenario I can most certainly understand your frustrations, and the manager did the right thing by trying to appease you any way he could and by offering you coupons to keep you as a customer (even though you don't seem like you'll be hitting up Outback again any time soon).
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Yes, he was level-headed. I REMINDED him to be when he was dialing the phone. He told the manager that he realized it wasn't his fault, but that for the price he expected the salads to be three times the size they were. And actually, the reason we ordered those salads is that one time when we were eating in the restaurant, we saw customers at the next table order salads they were huge. I think you should get the same size whether you are eating it in the restaurant or taking it out. The reason we picked Outback instead of Applebee's is that we had already experienced very chintzy portions with Applebee's and didn't want more of the same. We thought Outback would be different.
Anyway, he was very nice to the manager, just told him that he thought the portion sizes were way too small for the price paid.
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(Costco is 20+ miles away). But I just go hungry the days I run out, as I'm packing plenty of 'reserve' 
