NY Times describes Long Island as an area in rapid decline! (New York: buying, luxury)
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Ok here is my beef with this article. Ok I understand completely how cost of living is high on LI and housing/taxes go up while wages are stagnant. Blah, Blah, BLAH.
Yet... stores at RF mall are packed to the gills, waiting lines at places like Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden and Red Lobster, even more "pricier" restaurants like Ruth Chris' steakhouse are packed with long waiting times; lines at Walmart and Target are long 90% of the time. People of all ages and income levels are dining with no problems paying food bills of over $30-100 a pop. Hmm... Yea, no recession there.
I have a hunch that people like to complain about some of these things because if people really had trouble paying their mortgages or unable to buy a decent starter house due to 'low' income on Long Island, they wouldn't be going out to eat every weekend at Outback steakhouse or leasing that 2015 Lexus SUV. This is just my observation.
Who eats at Outback Steakhouse that can afford a Lexus?
Or come to think of it, who would voluntarily eat at an Outback Steakhouse at all?
BTW, I wouldn't put Outback (or any other place advertising "All you can eat" of anything) up there as fine dining, or leasing a car as a sign of wealth. So those lines at Red Lobster may be at the cost of lines at restaurants that server, let's say, better cuisine.
The industry phrase for those restaurants is "casual dining"
Fast Food: McDonalds, Wendies, Subway, etc...
Casual Dining: California Pizza Kitchen, Olive Garden, etc..
Fine Dining: White table cloth restaurants
The industry phrase for those restaurants is "casual dining"
Fast Food: McDonalds, Wendies, Subway, etc...
Casual Dining: California Pizza Kitchen, Olive Garden, etc..
Fine Dining: White table cloth restaurants
All my food snob friends knock the Olive Garden. I love the place, and it always takes 90 minutes to be seated, so I'm guessing lots of others like it too.
People will line up to eat out until they can't, and then the drop is often sudden.
BTW, I wouldn't put Outback (or any other place advertising "All you can eat" of anything) up there as fine dining, or leasing a car as a sign of wealth. So those lines at Red Lobster may be at the cost of lines at restaurants that server, let's say, better cuisine.
Outback is not fine dining, never said it was. And we all can agree that any low income schlub can afford a Lexus via leasing CPO or financing a new model for 4-5 years just so the monthly payment is affordable. My point being that casual dining places are constantly busy and you see all income levels at these places (yes I can afford a Lexus on my 6 fig income and have dined at Outback and dont find their food terrible, believe it or not) but that people continue to spend, spend, spend on crap they dont need to- then turn around and cry poverty. I wish some of these morons read the book "The Millionaire Next Door" and realize how much their daily Mocha Lite Cappucino from Starbucks costs them in lost savings...
Who eats at Outback Steakhouse that can afford a Lexus?
Or come to think of it, who would voluntarily eat at an Outback Steakhouse at all?
Im going to go out on a limb and say millions nationwide judging by the size and success of the chain. I'm also sure if go any outback in your average middle class area you will find plenty of Lexus, BMWs and other luxury cars in the lot. Get real.
I used to enjoy Outback quite a bit, but down here at least Outback has taken a big turn for the worse as they've decided to go for more down market clientele.
We have a lot of good local eateries to frequent so we've moved on and mostly stick with those.
Outback is not fine dining, never said it was. And we all can agree that any low income schlub can afford a Lexus via leasing CPO or financing a new model for 4-5 years just so the monthly payment is affordable. My point being that casual dining places are constantly busy and you see all income levels at these places (yes I can afford a Lexus on my 6 fig income and have dined at Outback and dont find their food terrible, believe it or not) but that people continue to spend, spend, spend on crap they dont need to- then turn around and cry poverty. I wish some of these morons read the book "The Millionaire Next Door" and realize how much their daily Mocha Lite Cappucino from Starbucks costs them in lost savings...
My bad, I missed your original point.
To be honest I don't really see all income levels at the casual dining places here, but that may be regional given the access to some excellent non-chain restaurants we have. Though we are also up to our necks in chain casual dining places.
Outback is not fine dining, never said it was. And we all can agree that any low income schlub can afford a Lexus via leasing CPO or financing a new model for 4-5 years just so the monthly payment is affordable. My point being that casual dining places are constantly busy and you see all income levels at these places (yes I can afford a Lexus on my 6 fig income and have dined at Outback and dont find their food terrible, believe it or not) but that people continue to spend, spend, spend on crap they dont need to- then turn around and cry poverty. I wish some of these morons read the book "The Millionaire Next Door" and realize how much their daily Mocha Lite Cappucino from Starbucks costs them in lost savings...
When you have two people working full time going out to eat for casual dining is not a luxury as much as away of maintaining your sanity. We do eat out or order in occasionally when we're both too exhausted to cook another breakfast, lunch or dinner. Doesn't mean we are whiners and deserve to pay 4x the median taxes than the rest of the country. That's just a little insulting IMO. We work hard, don't have any new cars or luxury items and are not big spenders in any sense, and still can't save. It's just not right....
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This is just my observation.
) but that people continue to spend, spend, spend on crap they dont need to- then turn around and cry poverty. I wish some of these morons read the book "The Millionaire Next Door" and realize how much their daily Mocha Lite Cappucino from Starbucks costs them in lost savings...
