quote:

Originally posted by nukeandpave:
The cost going up bothers me less than the fact that as prices went up, the quality of the food went down and menu options shrank.

I feel the same way. The quality of the food, and service, have gone downhill, and the prices have gone uphill ever since the covid crap.

Whenever I make a nice breakfast for me and my wife and she compliments what a good meal it was, I come back with "That will be $17 please".

quote:

Originally posted by sandman76:
Whenever I make a nice breakfast for me and my wife and she compliments what a good meal it was, I come back with "That will be $17 please".

You need to raise your prices.

local place stopped breakfast, said the cost of eggs went up too much,

truthfully tho, it was due to no labor available,

they are open for lunch and dinner, close at like 8 or 9pm,

adding the AM shift made things too difficult, or too long of a day for them,

shame too, since they always got a great crowd in for breakfast



someone commented on taxes, Richmond City (VA) has a few add on's that have hurt some of the smaller foodie joints,

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:


truthfully tho, it was due to no labor available,

That's true. I never went to Denny's in CA for at least 20 years. When I got to AZ, there's not much choices, so I tried the local Denny's and I liked the food. For the last 3 1/2 years, at least every Sunday, we would eat breakfast at Denny's. We asked for a specific waitress; she liked us.

Start of this year, I started noticing it was taking a while to get the food out to us. And, they would even have a wait list at the lobby when I can see there were tables open.

It got to be at least 45 minutes before we got our breakfast orders. I stopped going and wrote corporate that they could check their sales from 3 years back for Sunday mornings and they could check their receipts were significantly lower.

I got an email back and a call from the store manager. Turned out the store was sold to another franchisee and the store manager just started July. I'll try them again in December. Meanwhile, we went to a small place where the owner knows us and lets us order from the weekly early bird special even though it's Sunday. They have been hiding the small menu since it's like $11 for breakfast with coffee included while the regular menu is about $15.

$5 for a bowl? Next time ask them if they’ll sell you the other pieces so you can complete the set.

Been expensive to eat out here for awhile. A few place are around $20 for a lunch and that's the cheapest I've found; they're about a step up from chain fast food places in quality. For breakfast, I've found I can make the same if not better than what I can get dining out around here. Can't remember the last time I ate a dinner out; it's something I either make myself or skip altogether.

As for saving a few bucks, I always pay in cash and avoid the surcharge.
I also bring my own tea bags and just request a pot or cup of hot water and two glasses of ice; I make my own ice tea that way. They haven't started charging me for water, yet...

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:


truthfully tho, it was due to no labor available,

That's true. I never went to Denny's in CA for at least 20 years. When I got to AZ, there's not much choices, so I tried the local Denny's and I liked the food. For the last 3 1/2 years, at least every Sunday, we would eat breakfast at Denny's. We asked for a specific waitress; she liked us.

Start of this year, I started noticing it was taking a while to get the food out to us. And, they would even have a wait list at the lobby when I can see there were tables open.

It got to be at least 45 minutes before we got our breakfast orders. I stopped going and wrote corporate that they could check their sales from 3 years back for Sunday mornings and they could check their receipts were significantly lower.

I got an email back and a call from the store manager. Turned out the store was sold to another franchisee and the store manager just started July. I'll try them again in December. Meanwhile, we went to a small place where the owner knows us and lets us order from the weekly early bird special even though it's Sunday. They have been hiding the small menu since it's like $11 for breakfast with coffee included while the regular menu is about $15.

Some decent local places are blue hills cafe Dewey, waffle express Prescott valley by the hospital, sally b’s by Safeway- all good locally owned places!

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
Used to eat out a lot. The one thing COVID did was show us the money we waste. We eat out only about once a week, usually on the weekends.

We got home late and didn’t want to cook one night and went to a Mexican joint. $45 for two. We didn’t eat anything fancy or big.

Wasn’t too long ago that two could eat the same meal for $17

My dining out is usually limited to my weekly Friday night dinner at my VFW post ( wife and I are usually providing volunteer labor there to serve dinner anyway) good meal fair price. Supports a good cause.

A lot of organizations like VFW, legion, elks moose etc serve meals and often cheaper than local restaurants without tips and surcharges.

Funny thing a couple months ago the wife and I vacationed in Italy, and I predicted dining was going to cost and arm and leg. Turned out mostof our meals were about the same or less in cost than in the states, and quality was great

Several of my favorite restaurants around this area have gone down the crapper. Dishes are more expensive, with less amounts, and quality sucks. Freddy’s and Willie’s are still excellent.

And then, there’s this one pho restaurant that used to taste not so good that I, by chance, gave another try recently, and I’m glad I did. Pho tastes wonderful, portions larger than the competitions and prices are lower. Don’t know how they do it, but they’ve got my repeat business.

quote:

Originally posted by captain127:

Some decent local places are blue hills cafe Dewey, waffle express Prescott valley by the hospital, sally b’s by Safeway- all good locally owned places!

Mondays are breakfasts with a good friend John at Blue Hills. He always gets the special which I should know by heart now that's swiss omelet; I don't know what meat goes in it. I know about all the others and have gone to them regularly. Jenny's is good except I hate waiting outside if I'm with a group. There's also Back Burner and they give you a free cinnamon roll on your birthday.

I've been going to Maggie's Kitchen more often than the others now. We know her from when she was a waitress at Sally B's. We've gotten to know her children and her husband as well, especially her two daughters as they also help. I think the younger one is 10 and the older one just graduated out of high school and is going to nursing school. Oh, and Maggie hired the cook from Jamie's Waffles on the other side and the waffles are outstanding whenever I get a taste for them.

Prices can't be too bad.
I see people leaving so much food on their plate when they leave.
If I don't eat the whole meal the left overs go home with me.

Burger, fries and 2 beers. With tax and tip $46. A fellow could go broke pretty quick.

Spoke with a couple in their 30's that just got back from a nine day trip to Hawaii.

The had three lunches over $80.00 and three suppers over $150.00


Double what they pay for the same meals in Chicago.

quote:

Originally posted by bendable:
Spoke with a couple in their 30's that just got back from a nine day trip to Hawaii.

The had three lunches over $80.00 and three suppers over $150.00


Double what they pay for the same meals in Chicago.

That is vacation/tourist dining. Locals aren't going to those places six times in nine days. I would also argue that they aren't "the same meals."

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by captain127:

Some decent local places are blue hills cafe Dewey, waffle express Prescott valley by the hospital, sally b’s by Safeway- all good locally owned places!

Mondays are breakfasts with a good friend John at Blue Hills. He always gets the special which I should know by heart now that's swiss omelet; I don't know what meat goes in it. I know about all the others and have gone to them regularly. Jenny's is good except I hate waiting outside if I'm with a group. There's also Back Burner and they give you a free cinnamon roll on your birthday.

I've been going to Maggie's Kitchen more often than the others now. We know her from when she was a waitress at Sally B's. We've gotten to know her children and her husband as well, especially her two daughters as they also help. I think the younger one is 10 and the older one just graduated out of high school and is going to nursing school. Oh, and Maggie hired the cook from Jamie's Waffles on the other side and the waffles are outstanding whenever I get a taste for them.

Where is Maggie’s? Sounds like a place I would like to throw my money at!

Some of the ways restaurants charge is shocking. Around here a soda is over $4 at a restaurant!!! But everything costs a lot more these days. I tend to eat out a lot but at lunch time now instead of dinner. A lot of places near me still have pretty good lunch specials and I find the lunch specials have more variety.

I live in an upscale town. I have 30 restaurants within 4 blocks of my house. When I hit Main Street it’s easily $50 - $85 a head. If you’re in the mood for more than a couple of drinks it’s easy to go over $100…

Food and services are great.

I find myself doing BBQ at home more often these days…

Barb and I have been going out most Thursday evenings to a cafe that hosts some local bluegrass pickers. Their food is limited, mostly sandwiches and soups, but usually pretty good. A sandwich with a side such as beet salad is now $17-$18, it wasn't that long ago it was $11. I drink water but Barb gets a glass of locally brewed beer that is normally $8 but $5 since it's happy hour. We place our order at the counter where there's a tip jar, they do bring the food but we bus our table so I just drop $2-$3 in the jar. Total bill with 7% tax costs around $43 plus "tip" so around $46 which crazy for two sandwiches and a beer. Thankfully the music is free.

But like when people complain about the high price of a new pick up, tractor, etc., it's because our money has been devalued so much as to be semi-worthless. I jokingly refer to dollars as pesos, only it's not funny.

I was at a gathering a couple weeks ago talking with a man who retired from Morgan Stanley and he said hold on to your hat because things are going to get bad in the next couple years, saying food is expected to double within 2 years. When I told him I'm calling BS to that he "ok said wait and see". I sure hope he's wrong.

We had a local Mom and Pop diner very near us. We probably ate there at least once a week. First name basis with the owners and most of the servers . Husband died during the Covid thing and Wife kept it going until a couple of months ago. Competition , high cost of food , and personnel issues finally did her in.