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Restaurants are dying because most Americans want value instead of quality. It's too difficult to cater to a wide variety of tastes and preferences so fast casuals have just a limited selection that covers most preferences and make them fast. The other choice are big buffets that let you pick and choose your own.
I don't like any of them, if I can choose I would go with a proper restaurant with fresh food. There's nothing like a properly seared steak compare to the stale meats at Chipotles.
The sad part is that any place that makes good fresh food pops up on Yelp and then it gets flooded by millennials and I have to listen to some millennial demands the chef to make food their way.
I think it's because going out to eat has become so expensive. I don't know is anyone else has experienced this, but even though my wife and I are more financially stable than in our younger years, eating out is proportionally more costly that it was ten or 20 years ago, much more than our better financial means account for. We have made changes in our dining habits to make it more affordable. We rarely order drinks, we go out to lunch instead of dinner when it's cheaper, we go out on weekdays, when we get cocktails, we only go during Happy Hour, and we buy Groupons to make our restaurant monies go further. We don't go to buffets; the food isn't good anymore.
I think it's because going out to eat has become so expensive. I don't know is anyone else has experienced this, but even though my wife and I are more financially stable than in our younger years, eating out is proportionally more costly that it was ten or 20 years ago, much more than our better financial means account for. We have made changes in our dining habits to make it more affordable. We rarely order drinks, we go out to lunch instead of dinner when it's cheaper, we go out on weekdays, when we get cocktails, we only go during Happy Hour, and we buy Groupons to make our restaurant monies go further. We don't go to buffets; the food isn't good anymore.
manybe it is cause we are aging but I agree with you on most of what you say. We too use coupons or gift cards given to us for Christmas. We are more inclined to go out for lunch and do not enjoy buffets at all anymore. We went to a Asian buffet the other day for lunch. I had wanted to go there for years cause I had heard so many positive things about it. Yes, it was good as buffets go, but I doubt we will hurry back. We just don't eat that much and buffet food all seems to taste the same. I have to admit I still like my glass of wine, but if I am not ordering wine I stick with water.
I like fresh, and I like casual, BUT I do like to be waited on in restaurants.
At home, I cook frequently, and I am a full-service one-stop shop, so to speak. I love doing all the work, including clean-up (probably because I'm a control freak). It feels so good to "take care" of people that way.
So I guess when I eat out, I enjoy being taken care of.
That being said, a couple of my favorite places in town are "order at the counter" even though they are not chain restaurants. The places I'm thinking of are also dog friendly, which is nice!
As for tipping, I always leave a generous tip in the jar at the counter matter what. You never know the difference a few extra dollars might make to someone that day.
Taste of food trumps serving method/environment for me.
If there is great food, I would not even care if servers are rude.
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