Community Chat

[winamac1]

I go out to lunch most days of the week and occasionally on weekends with my BFF. DH and I eat out at lunch once a week but only go out to dinner a few times a month. I'm picky about where I'll eat and prefer to make my fish/veggies at home for dinner. Plus, wine is far cheaper at home, LOL. I hate paying $10 to $12 a glass at a restaurant.

[winamac1]

On 2/28/2014 boby said:

I agree there's eating out and then there's eating out. If you go to a white tablecloth place and order cocktails and wine, that alone will set you back $50.

On the other hand, there are lots of good mom-and-pop diners that offer senior menus, early bird menus, dinner specials, etc. A person could have dinner every night in that kind of restaurant and not spend $100 all week. If you have a light breakfast and skip lunch, you'd be spending less than a decent trip to the supermarket.

$50? ? ? Try $150 for white tablecloth and wine!

[madcity411]

Why do they even bother to have kitchens in houses they build? People are just getting too lazy to cook, or just don't know how!! With all the "cooking" shows, and cookware being sold, what are they doing with it? DH and I love cooking, and don't even care to go out for production kitchen, warmed up meals. That's what is being serviced at a lot of these chain places. No thanks! Some of the local family owned restaurants are better choices IMO!

[Mominohio]

On 2/27/2014 PinkSugar said:

I eat out & find it cheaper than buying groceries. I will usually opt for a sandwich or salad around 2:00, then have fruit at home that evening. There are lots of small mom & pop places with good home cooked food, salads, bar-b-q, & sandwiches in my small town. I'm not a steak or Olive Garden type person.

Many people will argue with you about the idea that eating out is cheaper than groceries, but if you are a small/light eater, choose restaurants that have good prices, and it is your main meal for the day, it really can be cheaper than throwing away a lot of food because you live alone and don't get it eaten up. It allows you a little variety, and if you have to eat alone at home, you at least get to have others around when you dine.

For families, you can prepare at home so much cheaper, but for one, it can be just as economical.

[sunshine45]

On 2/28/2014 winamac1 said:

On 2/28/2014 boby said:

I agree there's eating out and then there's eating out. If you go to a white tablecloth place and order cocktails and wine, that alone will set you back $50.

On the other hand, there are lots of good mom-and-pop diners that offer senior menus, early bird menus, dinner specials, etc. A person could have dinner every night in that kind of restaurant and not spend $100 all week. If you have a light breakfast and skip lunch, you'd be spending less than a decent trip to the supermarket.

$50? ? ? Try $150 for white tablecloth and wine!

yup.....the only place we can go out for 2 people at 50 dollars are the chains......other than that we hit the 100+ dollar mark pretty easily.

[JustJazzmom]

Alcohol is a restaurant's biggest money maker so if you want to economize on a meal, don't drink any alcohol. We prefer bottled sparkling water when we eat out or you can drink the iced tap water offered.

Portions are so large at most restaurants that I end up most times taking half of it home for a lunch or dinner later on in the week.

Restaurant prices of non franchised restaurants are commensurate with the area I live in.

We support the locally owned businesses here when we eat out.

[Mominohio]

We ate out more when we lived in town, but when it is a 25 minute drive to the restaurant zone, it is less appealing. We probably only eat out once or so a month. It is so expensive to eat out, around here, even buffet or homestyle restaurants run about $10 minimum per person, and that is with no appetizer, no dessert, no drinks (water only) and before tip.

The $30+ we would spend in a restaurant for one meal, can make three or more at home, with leftovers for my husband's lunch.

The more news reports you see about the disgusting things that people are doing in the kitchens of these restaurants, the less appealing they become as well.

[winamac1]

If DH and I go out to a nice restaurant, and if I have 2 glasses of wine and he has a beer and perhaps one glass of wine, it's $150 minimum. I eat seafood, shrimp, and I won't drink cheap wine. We've spent over $200 for 2 people at a nice restaurant. Wine is their biggest money maker. I can buy a whole bottle of KJ Chardonnay for $11 and it's $10 to $11 a glass at most restaurants. I always get what I want and won't scrimp on food/wine so we don't eat out at expensive restaurants often. WE more often go to lunch at Jason's Deli for $20.

[DustyPink]

DH and I eat out a few times a month too. Like tonight, we had chinese food and I'm ready to take a nap, lol.

[sunshine45]

On 2/28/2014 winamac1 said:

If DH and I go out to a nice restaurant, and if I have 2 glasses of wine and he has a beer and perhaps one glass of wine, it's $150 minimum. I eat seafood, shrimp, and I won't drink cheap wine. We've spent over $200 for 2 people at a nice restaurant. Wine is their biggest money maker. I can buy a whole bottle of KJ Chardonnay for $11 and it's $10 to $11 a glass at most restaurants. I always get what I want and won't scrimp on food/wine so we don't eat out at expensive restaurants often. WE more often go to lunch at Jason's Deli for $20.

winamac, we go to one of our favorite places and they charge 12 for a glass of kj.....AND we have a liquor tax of 9% on top of that!