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With friends, we often patronise a place where I always choose the liver and onion dish (I love a well-cooked liver dish!) It is literally two pieces of the liver, each as big as the plate itself and a load of French fries that come on a separate plate. The liver is covered with almost one whole big sweet onion sauteed to perfection. Cost 12.50 bucks. You guess how many meals I eat from that dish! From the left-over liver, I make something else the next days!
We have a place here, called Rolls and Bowls. Order a Pho there and you get almost half a gallon worth of soup base plus a giant oval plate of other "stuff" to add to your soup... (12 bucks enough for a whole family...!)
Liver isn't very popular in the USA. It's not my cup of tea. When we are in Italy, my husband has tripe in a tomato sauce. He loves it, but again, it's not my cup of tea.
My daughter said the pre-made food in London were far better than USA pre-made supermarket food. It's not surprising as Pret a Manger is far better than anything USA has - especially on parkway service stops. It's healthy and low sodium.
There is a considerable difference between foods that are tasty vs food that are healthy. I read every single food label for cholesterol, fat and sodium. It's hard to find healthy fast food or frozen prepared food.
I loved Chick-A-Fil's kale salad. I had it once before looking up the nutritional information. Sadly it's a full days worth of sodium. Panda Express is seriously worse. Cheesecake Factory is so bad it's radioactive and toxic.
This is information is extremely important for seniors. My mother needed a low sodium diet for her blood pressure and COPD. Fast food and 99% of restaurant food have unacceptable sodium levels.
Once in awhile a fast food/restaurant food is a nice treat. Not on a regular basis.
IMHO, the real question is what are the generational differences in eating out and it's less about EU vs USA
It seems that people who grew up during the 1950/60 (when moms cooked dinners on a regular basis) are more likely to cook.
People who grew up during the 1980/90 (when mom were more likely to work full-time and less likely to cook) are likely to eat out.
It's only a guess on my part.
As I get older, I make less elaborate dinner for my hubby and I. If I was alone, I look live on cereal and plain yogurt with fresh fruit
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Quote:
Originally Posted by YorktownGal
Liver isn't very popular in the USA. It's not my cup of tea.
I agree. A long time ago when our kids were still little, our oldest was sitting in the shopping cart. My wife was standing at the meat counter and my son blurts out: "Mom, when can we have liver and onions?" You should have seen the reaction of the other shoppers!...
Quote:
Originally Posted by YorktownGal
It seems that people who grew up during the 1950/60 (when moms cooked dinners on a regular basis) are more likely to cook.
I grew up a decade earlier and in our marriage, I was the cook on weekends, so the wife had a break from her weekly chores. I also took care of our kids during that period. It was the deal I made to make sure she was and stayed a full-time Mom. She learned to cook "my way" (more South Asian type), and so did my children later on. My wife never looked like the regular overweight housewife and none of our kids or grandkids is overweight...
Quote:
Originally Posted by YorktownGal
Sadly it's a full days worth of sodium. Panda Express is seriously worse.
I eat from Panda Express maybe once a quarter or so, more times even less. I used the reference as an example for the cost comparison. When I want Asian Food, I go the take-out route from the 'All you can eat' places and use the Mongolian Griddle stuff. YOU control the salt content when they cook it.
By the way, I know about the high salt content, so I have this thing about draining the Panda dishes from their sauces... That is where all the salt is! An interesting fact is that very few Americans realise the tremendous amount of salt in "ketchup"... If I have a dinner meal that contains Fench Fries, I always specify "Salt Free". Bonus: You get a fresh batch!
Quote:
Originally Posted by YorktownGal
Once in awhile a fast food/restaurant food is a nice treat. Not on a regular basis.
I never liked the regular well known fast food places, usually hamburger joints.
My wife makes a much better hamburger so why buy one from those places?
Quote:
Originally Posted by YorktownGal
If I was alone, I look live on cereal and plain yogurt with fresh fruit
I assume you mean: I could live on cereal and plain yoghurt with fresh fruit.
I am not sure if that would be a healthy diet... Would that be a monotonous diet?
I have to admit, that I have one serious problem, which is that I love the fish from a truck here in my town. They make this killer wild-caught Pacific cod deep-fried dish. Using a pun expression... It is to die for...
Not really a fast-food category. You wait in line for at least 15 minutes when you order your food!
The only food they pre-make is the "house fries". They are pre-cooked!
I am not aware of where you live, Orbiter, but if you Google for Rolls and Bowls in Salt Lake City, you will notice that none of their dishes is as much as the prices on your links for daily specials...
Also, Google for KOU BBQ in Salt Lake city and none of their choices are more than 10 bucks.
Back to the original question if eating out is more affordable in Europe...
I think it is a toss-up, because it all depends on where and what you like to eat.
There are definitively hoyty toity places here (Utah people think so... A New Yorker may think otherwise!), but I never patronise them! Instead, I frequent places where they know me by my first name! https://www.yelp.com/search?find_des...ake+City%2C+UT
To be frank about this whole subject, I still wonder how people can run a restaurant here in Utah at such low prices!
You can get a really cheap meal at "Panda" for instance for less than 9 dollars.
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I don't think such food will be very useful. There are no miracles.. if you use good quality foodstuff, then it cannot be a priori cheap... Personally, I can't be sure of the quality of such food.. I'd rather cook myself than I will eat food for 9$ every day.. And if on the merits of the issue, I think that certain cultural traditions still influence here..
I am not aware of where you live, Orbiter, but if you Google for Rolls and Bowls in Salt Lake City, you will notice that none of their dishes is as much as the prices on your links for daily specials...
Also, Google for KOU BBQ in Salt Lake city and none of their choices are more than 10 bucks.
Back to the original question if eating out is more affordable in Europe... I think it is a toss-up, because it all depends on where and what you like to eat.
There are definitively hoyty toity places here (Utah people think so... A New Yorker may think otherwise!), but I never patronise them! Instead, I frequent places where they know me by my first name! https://www.yelp.com/search?find_des...ake+City%2C+UT
To be frank about this whole subject, I still wonder how people can run a restaurant here in Utah at such low prices!
The cost of real estate is way out of line here!
There are so many different types of restaurants and price ranges, that going out to eat can cover an array of experiences.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zimogor
I don't think such food will be very useful. There are no miracles.. if you use good quality foodstuff, then it cannot be a priori cheap... Personally, I can't be sure of the quality of such food.. I'd rather cook myself than I will eat food for 9$ every day.. And if on the merits of the issue, I think that certain cultural traditions still influence here..
I fully agree. I used "Panda" as an example.
The original question was is eating out more affordable in Europe (sic generally)
The question of the food being good or healthy was not mentioned...
I have lived and worked in Europe for many years and I remember both ends of the spectrum of food being cheap and expensive and being good and bad. I remember a long time ago, eating in Barcelona in some "hole in the wall" place (literally!!) We had fish and it was incredibly delish. I also remember waiting for the train and had a snack, It was horrible. One bite and I threw it in the trash. It all depends!
If one is concerned about quality food prepared with care as one would do himself, then "I" would never eat out... I did mention in another post that I frequent restaurants where the owners know me by my first name. I also know the owners rather well. I trust that the food they prepare for me is of decent quality and prepared properly. Their food does taste good in "my" opinion! Most of these places I frequent are more than often "Family run", and often when I am with them, somebody from their family sits with us at the table and visits. I have even eaten a meal with them in the kitchen, at no cost to me!
In my posts, I used the words "imagine". I am not a cheapskate and live as frugal as I can. I watch my spending habits. I am not "in the market" for hoyty-toyty places! To each his own! My time to "woo" a Lady at some swanky place is long gone. I rather impress a loved one with my own capabilities as a cook!
So, in the end, is eating out in the USA (I am only speaking of the USA!) more affordable? The answer is yes. It can be more affordable, depending on what your expectations are.
Is it more common? Again, it depends. I think eating out is more common today, and not even comparing to other countries but to previous times.
I am probably different from most people in the US as far as my eating preferences. I rarely eat meals from a restaurant/take-out, extremely rarely at a sit down restaurant. I think restaurant meals are exorbitantly priced compared to what I can make myself at home. Also, the portions are insane, I don’t like paying for a meal that is two or three times what I can eat at one sitting. My boyfriend and I both have similar feelings about this so we mostly shop for groceries and then cook at home. Exceptions of course for when I meet him for lunch during the day, as we both work, usually it is last-minute and there isn’t much else we can do other than to eat at a dine-in spot. Also I have no issues with having a nice meal out somewhere, for a special occasion… Certainly I have done that plenty of times over the years. But it is not anything I do frequently - not by any stretch of the imagination.
I am probably different from most people in the US as far as my eating preferences. I rarely eat meals from a restaurant/take-out, extremely rarely at a sit down restaurant. I think restaurant meals are exorbitantly priced compared to what I can make myself at home. Also, the portions are insane, I don’t like paying for a meal that is two or three times what I can eat at one sitting. My boyfriend and I both have similar feelings about this so we mostly shop for groceries and then cook at home. Exceptions of course for when I meet him for lunch during the day, as we both work, usually it is last-minute and there isn’t much else we can do other than to eat at a dine-in spot.
Same over here. DH and I usually split a meal. We only eat out maybe once month? Sit down meal? Rare, especially right now. I HATE how huge the portions are, I feel bad wasting food, and I'm not usually fond of leftovers.
Generally speaking, our food is better at home, and I like learning how to cook different things.
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Dining out in Europe is significantly less expensive than in the US when comparing like restaurants. In general it's probably 30% less. Add alcohol and it's even less expensive in Europe.
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There are no miracles.. 
if you use good quality foodstuff, then it cannot be a priori cheap... Personally, I can't be sure of the quality of such food.. I'd rather cook myself than I will eat food for 9$ every day.. And if on the merits of the issue, I think that certain cultural traditions still influence here..
