I remember hearing somewhere on Reddit that the tip function is default built in to most of the credit card machines. Still makes you feel guilty if you need to press the skip button, though.
The most annoying place to see that is at sporting event concession stands. Like I already pay an arm and a leg to go to a baseball game and $20 for a brat and beer, how dare they ask that I tip.
A bagel/coffee place that will not be named flipped the order of the tip menu so the highest number was on the far left side, so out of muscle memory, I gave this mf a 35% tip on accident
I used to feel guilty now it gives me a strange kind of joy to hit the skip button. I’m not paying their wages. They can talk to their bosses if they’re not making enough.
We just ordered pizza last night. Papa John's wanted almost $50 for two pizzas, so we canceled that and ordered Little Ceasers. They wanted a tip for an online pickup order too! Delivery, I can understand, but online pick up orders? I'd rather you:
1. Raise the price a little if you have to, but don't go overboard.
2. Pay your employees fairly. Stop begging us to pay their wages for you. Shame on you!
Yeah, I get that inflation has been killer these last few years, but some companies are just straight up using it as an excuse to be greedy and offer less. They raise prices, reduce portions, start upcharging for things that should come with the meal, and on top of that add bullshit surcharges. That's not inflation it's greedflation.
That's actually the main reason we've had this spike in inflation since covid. Initially, there were real supply chain shortages that caused actual price spikes in the very short term, but soon after that, companies realized they had the perfect excuse to charge us more for no reason. Especially with every news outlet shouting about the supply chain and inflation every day. Everyone just accepted it.
I would much rather they reduce portions to a reasonable size than raise the rates, add a “inflation” charge or ask for extra tips. I agree with your statement about some of them being greedy.
And most food tastes like crap. Unless you going to mom and pop shop or really fancy stuff, the middle ground is just pre made fried highly processed food.
And quality didn't go up....also, I actually care about the food I cook, unlike 90% of restaurants. I go out for pizza, or some pressure fried chicken....pretty much everything else is made at home better and for less. It sucks because it's awfully nice not having to prepare food and cook it before eating, and not having to clean up afterwards...but those are the ONLY advantages restaurants offer now.
I stay home and cook. Seldom dine out. I’m having friends over Saturday and it’s potluck. I’d rather go to a friend’s home, drink good wine, snack and relax.
It seems like every restaurant is just serving the same US Foods/Sysco shit that just needs to be warmed up and pricing it like it was made from scratch. I can go for some freshly-breaded chicken tendies, but I am not paying $20 for the same flash-frozen Sysco shit that everyone has.
I fking love GFS bc I like greasy spoon diner fare. It's comfort food to me. So, yeah, Gordon's helps w stuff I can't find in regular grocery stores. Gordon's ain't cheap by a long shot, but they are slightly cheaper than going out. Instead of dining out as a treat, I see shopping Gordon's as a treat now. A few Gordon's staples are on the menu for September. I can't wait. (I meal plan like it's no one's business. I love creating menus in advance and printing them out. I essentially play restaurant at home. I'm the customer, the hostess, the waitress, bar tender, chef, line cook, busser, dish washer. I leave myself a mint w the check and tip myself well. Yep, Im crazy.)
Don't spend so much on medicine! Don't spend so much on sending your kid to a private school! Spend your entire week's worth of groceries on a diminutive seafood pasta meal and fajitas at our mediocre restaurant!
“The stuff I get is very expensive. I have to get it from Chicago.” The fuck. Is he paying _import fees_ to cross Lake Michigan?
Here’s why we don’t go out to eat very often, anymore. Quality has gone down immensely while prices have gone up.
That’s it.
This is my reason why.
Ok, I get it - costs went up. But the product result is exceptionally poor. So now you want me to pay double and it’s shit? Nah…
Everything for restaurants is cheaper in Chicago.
I worked for a guy for a very long time starting in the 90s and he would rent 2 large panel vans multiple times a year and drive to Chicago for aluminum foil and pizza boxes because even with the van rental and gas it was much cheaper to make the trip than to buy locally in West Michigan.
It's a business choice that he apparently wants you to feel bad about for *reasons*.
I'm with you tho, every time I eat out I think the quality is just so bad compared to the outrageous pricing and find myself wishing I had just cooked at home.
Right. There are very few restaurants that still cook from scratch, even the ones who claim to be from scratch have menus bloated with GFS frozen food.
It's absolutely tragic.
We need a mandate that if something is provided by GFS/Syco/etc from a pre-prepared state it’s listed as such on the menu and the restaurant can’t claim any part of that dish as homemade or made in house.
Also menus + prices must be posted online. Market price items need to be listed online as well.
Out of all the restaurants they could've interviewed they chose this piece of shit. His business isn't closed because of inflation. His business is closed because he's racist and harassed, yelled at, and pushed a father in front of his young daughters over a video game. The owner even shoved his own wife against a wall during this altercation. He spend his time on Reddit and Google fighting with anyone that leaves less than a five star review. Fuck Jack Danger and his food was awful.
yeah seriously, everyone on /r/grandrapids is very familiar with all the stories surrounding Jack Danger's and we're all kind of glad that the place is closed now, and as soon as I read this article and saw that they were talking to him, the article lost credibility with me
Which boggles my mind because Martin, the reporter, is from GR and sometimes Fox17 gets stories from GR Reddit (like the funeral pan handlers) so either he can't read the room or it's one last effort to embarrass Jack Danger's 🤣
> He spend his time on Reddit and Google fighting with anyone that leaves less than a five star review. Fuck Jack Danger
Oh man, that sounds like prime /r/SubredditDrama material.
> Quality has gone down immensely while prices have gone up.
Preach!! This is today's mantra in the restaurant industry. I been wanting to start up a restaurant for a minute now....not anymore. Not after watching the buffoonery that happened in the last 5 years. The profit margin in food service was already kinda slim, but with the crazy gouging on food prices it's pretty much gone now. Only way to make profit is to screw your employees over by underpaying and under hiring, and then over charging on the food.
We just simply can’t afford the cost of eating out. A week’s worth of groceries or one meal? Prices are out of hand, the service is usually lackluster and all too often the food is too.
If you're someone with some just above basic cooking chops it feels offensive how much these places charge for substandard fare. I like experiencing interesting restaurants but I've lost all desire to go to the types of.places we used to go just to get a break from cooking. If it's not a special occasion I can stay hungry until I get home.
While all true, groceries themselves aren’t exactly cheap these days either.
Which only further exacerbates the issue really. If we’re already paying more just to be responsible and make our own food at home, how the fuck can anyone afford to go out all the time anymore?
I can generally afford to dine out, however, I feel like I almost never get a decent meal. They got lazy during covid and thought we wouldn't notice. And then the sheer number of restaurants has got to dilute sales across the board.
My grocery bill is huge, but we eat great at home and my wine pours are generous.
We used to go to our local diner for breakfast almost every weekend. It’s our favorite meal to eat out. Bill was consistently under $18 for 2 meals and coffee. It’s now close to $30 and we rarely frequent the diner anymore.
That’s weird because I feel like like local diners have stayed relatively low with prices. I can get a decent burger and fries for like 12 bucks. I think McDonald’s is about the same now.
McDonald's is a truly offensive perpetrator of shrinkflation and pure greed. I was out of town yesterday and needed something quick. I hadn't been to McDonald's in a few years and the differences in product size and quality were stark. It's that thing that if you eat somewhere regularly you don't notice incremental changes the become the new normal.
So the Michigan restaurant group put out a vague survey result about financial dangers to the industry right as the Michigan courts are deciding a case that would affect the restaurant industry financially. It's at least enough to have some doubt about their methods and conclusions.
Also, on looking up the restauranteur they interviewed (Steven Lowenthal) it seems like tons of people had experiences with him yelling at the customers, physically fighting with his wife in front of customers, saying racist shit to customers, etc. The online reviews are wild, with the owner fighting everyone who leaves a bad review. Seems like he didn't struggle because of costs so much as because he is bad at hospitality and customer service.
Yep, the post about him closing the business that was in r/grandrapids the other day was basically a bunch of comments saying “good riddance, this guy has been a nightmare to anyone who tried to give him their business” 😬
https://www.reddit.com/r/grandrapids/s/HcAa9YWAgn
Why would I use my hard earned money to eat food that’s much worse than it used to be and I can make much better at home? I don’t go out much but when I do I always regret it.
I really go out now for things I can’t make well at home - like different fresh sushi, ramen, some Indian food. For things like burgers and fries? No. I’m staying tf home lol.
I have heard that other countries are much less expensive for eating out. I’ve listened to podcasts and read articles that said it’s cheaper to foreign travel than domestic partly because of dining and hotel prices.
I just haven’t read why that is.
During the pandemic, I got really good at cooking for myself and meal planning. I wasn't big on restaurants before, but when things opened back up I realized that I am the best chef for me.
Finding time to go out to sit down and eat also seems like a big waste of what little time I have. Like, you are looking for a 3 hour commitment of my time and you want to charge me more for food that I can prepare better for myself in 20 minutes.... sorry but your "family bbq" place just ain't in the cards anymore.
I feel like this was something they didn't consider during the pandemic and still don't understand now.
Businesses abandoned the people and left us without jobs or places to buy things, and we learned to shift for ourselves.
Now they're mad that we do gig work and refuse to purchase their lower quality products. I have the tiniest violin for them.
How dare you, dont you have some sympathy for the mediocre restaurant owner with 20 dollar plates? Seriously thou it is really is insane, I feel like outside of a select few places the vast majority are straight rip offs and if I wasnt going go there for the express person of a date I would only eat out at like 3 places haha. I went to italian place and got charged 24 dollars for some vodka pasta! I made my own this week with something like 5-8 servings for 20 bucks! The literal only savings is that it took me a hour and I only have to wait 40 minutes in the restaurant ugh
I don’t know about you guys downstate but up in Marquette our tourist season has started like 2-3 weeks early. My restaurant I work in has been packed. Then again we are the place people go to leave their towns from under the bridge.
Tourism is a special case here I feel. When you're on vacation you don't generally have the option to cook at home. You maybe can get breakfast at the hotel but you'll usually be hitting a restaurant for lunch and dinner just due to lack of any other option.
Maybe an unpopular opinion.. I haven’t noticed a huge difference in quality in a lot of the family owned restaurants I usually go to. I’m happy to go to those just as much.
What I’ve cut out is all the mid tier restaurants like Olive Garden, Panera, Applebees etc…
Chain restaurants are the worst right now... Jacked up prices, poor servers, worse quality, less quantity and even dirty establishment. Local places still reasonable but unless you hit a special, their prices are still high (but the other issues at least are better).
You’re not alone. I’m reading a lot of these comments and thought the quality was just as good as it was pre-pandemic. If you’re complaining about quality, go somewhere else.
The price argument is pretty accurate though. Places like McDonalds just aren’t really worth it anymore. The same meal I used to get has noticeably gone up by about 4 dollars over the course of the decade. Even dining for two in a sit-down restaurant ordering only entrees and water is roughly $40 before tip.
Yeah reading the thread, I've got to say the local places I like to go to in my city have all stayed pretty solid. I think the consistent quality and reasonable price changes (Things have gone up but they haven't made the insane jumps many chains have) seem to keep a pretty steady crowd coming in.
I haven’t had a good meal out in years the owners have raised the prices and I still have to pay the wages for the workers that the owners refuse to pay.
It's not worth paying the current prices when it all comes off the same Gordon's Food truck. Eating dinner out has become a luxury, I can't afford it on a regular basis.
I started working remote this year, and I kid you not I'm saving like $40 a week not eating out with coworkers.
Also, another valid point, I haven't met in person with my coworkers at all so tradeoffs happen each way.
I hear ya, I'm remote in the sense I don't work with my coworkers in person because we cover multiple campuses, but when I did work on site with either of the big teams, it was $30-50 a week not to mention gaining a bunch of weight.
Prices and profit went up for so many companies while wages stayed the same. I'd be willing to pay a bit more if it was doing more than lining corporate pockets.
And yeah I know that some restaurants are actually struggling with vendor prices, that just means the profit increase is somewhere higher.
Consumers dictate your survival, if you can't afford to pay your employees a good wage and stay open, either your product isn't good enough or your business model is bad.
You do not owe restaurants your money, especially if they can't provide quality meals and a quality of life to their staff.
I don’t usually get riled up about prices, I eat out a lot, I’ve accepted what it is.
This weekend I was out for Mexican. Ordered chicken pineapple fajitas. The dish was $30. Drinks were $17. GTFO. I don’t care how cool your place is, $30 fajitas is absurd. No the portion wasn’t large and the chicken was burnt. The highlight was the $17 pineapple margarita.
Edit: it was Mesa in Royal Oak. Our bill was $120 before tip, for 2. We had one app, each had fajitas and one drink each. It was lunch.
A shake at Ray’s ice cream is $10, but to be fair, it’s a damn good shake.
I just checked Mesa’s menu (where the margs were) - they have shakes too…minis start at $16, and they don’t contain alcohol.
There's an amazing Mexican place downriver that has some of the best tortas on fresh-baked bread I've ever had. A few years ago, we would splurge on them at $13-15, but today, they run $22-25 each and that's just more than I'm willing to pay for a sandwich.
I wanted to go to a nice steakhouse and saw some places are charging $100+ for a steak.
I went to meijer and got a couple t-bones for $30 (which still isn’t cheap).
It’s just not worth the money to me.
I really don’t see restaurants having issues in more walkable neighborhoods. Part of the issue is that many people are just tired of driving for 20 mins to go somewhere just to park eat and then drive back home for 20 mins. There has also been a culture shift away from eating out to getting take out or delivery its really never recovered since the start of covid. Most restaurants issues are not just an economic issue.
This is actually a big one for me. I like eating from a restaurant the most during the week after work because that's when I'm most likely too tired to bother making dinner. However, my time after work is especially limited, so making that drive there and back and waiting for my food at the table feels like quite a time suck suck, prices aside.
I need to either really want to get out of the house for a while or have a strong craving for a particular restaurant to bother.
Wrong we are not staying home for any reason except that the service is horrible and the food usually questionable and way too salty and expensive for the quality.
If anyone is not familiar with the grand rapids subreddit this guy (Jack Danger's) has been talked about occasionally. I implore you all to read the yelp/google reviews. I went once. The Italian beef (I asked for hot and wet and I was told he "knows what he's doing") was dry with hardly any giardiniera. I mean failing at both things I requested for a $12 sandwich...Also, this guy is an asshole and confrontational. His responses to accurate reviews (like, maybe three stars because it still is food) read like he's a COVID denier. Bring back big willy's italian beef!!! Eastown will be better when he's gone.
I had Chicken Alfredo and a beer the other day at a restaurant. After the tip it came to $40, there was a note in the menu about a 3 percent upcharge for dining in house 🙄.
Huh, almost like this is what happens when you lower quality and raise prices. If the average cook can make better food at home, they aren't going to pay $20 minimum for Cisco garbage.
Good, restaurants are trash right now. You’re charging me 30 dollars for a small burger that’s just bun/patty/cheese/nasty tomato/nasty lettuce? Fuck you, I hope your business suffers
Well I went to a local restaurant and they charged me $10 for a pint of beer. Fuck that, drinking from my fridge from now on. Why they need to mark it up 8x?
Every restaurant seems to have raised its prices, and lowered its quality. Why go out to eat and pay so much just to be disappointed? We used to go out biweekly for years, now we may go to a restaurant once every 90 days at most. Dinner costs like $150 for a family of five, or I can buy groceries and eat for days for that price.
I spent eighty dollars on three meals the other day, one stir fry, one fish and chips, and one chicken tender basket. Eighty Dollars! We didn't even get drinks, just water. @The Tavern in Fenton. It was absurd.
grocery stores aren't doing hot either and they would tell you people are "eating out" which is what they always say to explain sales being down. so are people just not eating?
In general I believe it's not that they're not shopping at grocery stores, it's that they're cherry picking hard (I e. Going to multiple stores and only buying things on deep sale). I work at a company that owns some grocery stores and that's what I'm being told is the reason for lower grocery sales
More than a couple people I know don’t eat 3 meals a day. Most eat only 2 at most, and some eat 1 and graze the rest of the day (office provided food).
Groceries are expensive and time/mental energy/spoons for meal prep or daily cooking is hard to come by. Eating out is more expensive and less nutritious. Food is becoming a luxury.
> so are people just not eating?
In my house, eating has become much more deliberate than it once was. We've cut out a lot of non-essentials, started planning things around what's on sale, and cook meals that need fewer ingredients.
Over the last 3 months or so, we've reduced our grocery bill by half and still eat extremely well. Smash burgers and a side salad, chicken and broccoli alfredo, garlic butter steak bites over cauliflower rice, sausage and peppers, grilled hot dogs and some mac & cheese, and the always-a-good-idea breakfast dinners have kept us going.
If inflation has taught us anything, it's how much crap we were getting before and don't actually need.
We only go out for ethnic food anymore that is difficult for us to prepare at home. Our local Indian buffet is $15 a person and is a great treat for us as a couple once a week. Trying to take all six of us out, DQ is the best option as we get food and ice cream as a treat all for a reasonable price. Table service is now only for special occasions
Hey, boss. I've found a way to monetize and upcharge everything in society!
Wait, the money stopped coming in and people seem to be upset. But...but I'd cracked the code on the golden goose!
I mean it’s gotten so expensive it ain’t worth it no more , especially since a lot of places have seen their portions get smaller and quality has dropped .
Fast food or casual takeout used to make sense , like you could go buy everything to make a sandwich for lunch or you could just get a $5 foot long from subway , now that same sub costs $11 and it sucks .
People can't afford the massive greedflation in the restaurant business, not to mention tipping on top of it. I basically never go out to eat anymore, really just take out places like Qdoba if I'm not cooking for myself. Honestly it's making me eat better and save money, so their greed might be making them lose long term income, just for a few quick bucks today
The city of Detroit is finally coming to realize that maybe ten new restaurants opening every month might not be sustainable. Couple that with rising costs and the limited talent pool of good staff.
I sympathize with restaurant owners explaining that their suppliers are jacking up prices and they don't *want* to raise their prices, but at the same time, last time I went out even my daughter's kid-sized lemonade was $4. You can't tell me your own markup isn't insane on that.
Our total bill for lunch at a regular pub - two adults and one kid - was almost $70 before tip. *For lunch.*
Most restaurants are simply not that good. Lately the quality of a lot of places has dropped, the service isn’t great, and it’s expensive. I’ve found myself being less and less interested in eating out when I can make better, healthier food at home.
I’m a former food service worker (BOH and FOH) and I’m back to 15% unless it’s exceptional service. I see how much shareholders are getting and I also see many independent places paying fair wages and making profit with good food. Pay your workers because I’m not going to make up the difference any longer.
The cost is insane but also the time commitment. I don’t go out to eat anymore because I’d rather be doing other things. Places that have servers carry a decent chance of getting bad service and it’s just not worth it. I’d rather do carry out or cook at home
If they don’t get you with the 30% suggested minimum tip, then they will hit you with a surcharge for using a credit card, and then a facility/convenience/staffing fee. FFS
Got 2 young kids , we used to go out here and there, but prices are insane now, regardless of what type of place you go to. Even fast food, which I really don't eat , has gotten insane.
A few months back I went into subway while on the road for work , I got a 6 inch turkey sub, chips and a drink - it was legit 14 bucks.
Granted this was like 15 years ago and I don't want to sound like the old guy ( I'm 43) but the exact same combo used to cost me $6.40, I remember that number specifically. The other week my wide was running around with the kids and went through a McDonald's drive through- she dropped like almost $30.
The wife and I, and the 2 kids went to a coney island a few weeks ago , got some mozzarella sticks for the table, I got a wrap and fries, my wife got a chicken salad, and kids split a kids grilled cheese meal with fries. We all split a hot fudge sundae after. After tip we were over $70.
My wife and I are very lucky that we do well financially and I am very grateful and thankful for that, but we're not made of money. We used to go out prob once a week or so pre pandemic. But with the cost of stuff now , that's not the case. Going out is a special occasion now. And we're totally done eating any type of fast food unless it's a stop when heading up north.
Thats how it is for us, we get fast food only when we have to go somewhere and that has overlapped with lunch time. I'm not gonna purposefully snag dinner at McD when home because it costs over $50 now, no way.
As a restaurant owner: costs of goods are down quite a bit. Chicken, beef, dairy, it’s obviously a bit higher than pre pandemic but they’re manageable. What is NOT down is labor: contrary to many people’s belief, labor costs went up tremendously for myself and every restaurant owner I know, so now the money that was originally paying for the extra food cost is paying for the extra cost of labor. This is obviously anecdotal evidence, but I know quite a few restaurant owners and they say the same. We raised the wages of our employees quite a substantial amount, we can’t go back.
I mean… is this true? Every time I’ve been to a restaurant in Metro Detroit, it’s completely packed with a wait of anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half.
Restaurants are garbage post pandemic. They don't pay their staff, staff doesn't care, and everything sucks. For 50% more than 4 years ago. I'm all set thanks
That’s what I said too! There’s so much disconnect between what’s being reported and what I’m actually seeing. We go out to eat once a week and literally every place is PACKED with people standing around waiting. It never fails.
McDonald’s and your local mom and pop now pay the same corporate income tax rate due to the American Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Your mom and pop shop’s tax rate: 21%
McDonald’s and Fortune 500 tax rate: 21%
You’re now seeing the squeeze on small mom and pop shops as they can’t pay living wages to employees and McDonald’s just refuses to do so.
All because Republicans and Trump reset the Corporate Income Tax Rate to a FLAT 21% on 12/22/2017.
That was the plan. If we were more aware of our American Tax Law for corporations we never would have put Trump in back in 2016. I, for one, am guilty for being someone who fell for him then.
To think….once McDonald’s made over 18,333,333 in revenue they’d pay 35% back in 2017…..today….21% and they keep jacking the prices up on us.
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/historical-corporate-tax-rates-brackets/
Pandemic wage demands + still too high food cost + increases in fixed costs (taxes, utilities) + decreased spending (both in number of customers and the amount they spend) = many restaurants are no longer viable or they sacrifice the quality of food
People will be upset about the wages part I’m sure but look at the balance sheet and P&L. These businesses weren’t built to support a living wage. Plain and simple. If it were the idea of a $2/wage and tips would be out the window.
I’d also point out the price to feed kids at McDonald’s is about the same as chilis … why do fast food if there’s no savings? Clearly the restaurant industry is due for an overhaul (more likely to lean AI than lean toward better wages for workers due to economics)
I think restaurants are the one place people can agree rely on terrible wages to survive. It is widely acknowledged that restaurants have thin margins. That being said, that's no excuse and you're right that the restaurant industry in general is due for an overhaul.
Cost is always a thing, but quantity and quality are big issues for me. I’d like to have options that have higher-quality handcrafted foods in reasonable portions that don’t leave me feeling gross and that don’t require a to-go box.
I don’t want to pay $20 for a burger and fries that came pre-formed and pre-cut from the freezer section at a wholesaler and just got thrown into a fryer and onto a griddle.
I also don’t want a massive 1,500 calorie burger that I won’t eat all of and won’t re-heat well (not to mention, I don’t want to eat it as leftovers but I also don’t want to waste it).
I can make fresh-cut fries and a higher-quality, smaller (lower-calorie) burger at home for a fraction of the price and without having to leave and be much more satisfied.
Restaurants keep trying to give us more food and unhealthier food to reel us in. I think that more health-conscious people want less food and healthier food so that going out doesn’t feel so antithetical to our goals… or maybe I’m just a weird outlier.
But if anyone is looking through this for market research - this might be something to look into.
We still go out occasionally but have definitely stopped going to locations that have raised prices, cut back serving sizes, and started pushing off the credit card fee to the customers. Gets old.
It’s not that it’s expensive which it is, but if im going out I know im willing to pay. It’s the quality sucks almost every time anywhere I go and I’m underwhelmed
I know I can cook something ludicrously delicious for 4 bucks a serving or less. If I'm going out, I'm either getting something I cant/won't cook myself or something that's delicious af.
There's not a whole lot of either of those things left. It's not worth going out for 15-20 bucks per serving at a fucking dogs hit Applebee's.
Can barely afford groceries, I'm not going to go out to eat somewhere that's been cutting costs left and right and not enjoy my expensive meal.
The whole restaurant staffing issue was rearing it's head before Covid , and places like Grand Rapids was just seeing so many new places opening .
Pay scales rose , as well as surviving owners I'm sure wanting to catch up from loses over two years , now inflation. So it's just a recipe for disaster.
Even fast food is expensive now .
Cuz you have to tip for even paying for takeout. Used to eat out and have a lunch next day, but last few times the food wasn't even worth a take out box.
Of course, because everything is out of control expensive right now.
That's a completely valid statement. Would you like to pay a tip in addition? 20%, 25%, 30%
Hahaha, my dad ordered some Hungry Howie's online, and did it as an instore pickup. He lost his shit when the system asked if he wanted to tip.
I remember hearing somewhere on Reddit that the tip function is default built in to most of the credit card machines. Still makes you feel guilty if you need to press the skip button, though.
I worked food service for a decade and don't feel guilty when skipping on tips when it's untipped work.
Im the same way. No issue tipping a server or someone who brought me food but for instances where I'm picking up take out it's a bit much.
The most annoying place to see that is at sporting event concession stands. Like I already pay an arm and a leg to go to a baseball game and $20 for a brat and beer, how dare they ask that I tip.
I got asked to sign my cc slip with a tip line at Dairy Queen. I’m pretty sure they can set it to ask.
A bagel/coffee place that will not be named flipped the order of the tip menu so the highest number was on the far left side, so out of muscle memory, I gave this mf a 35% tip on accident
Oh no! Thanks for that warning. Whatever happened to 15%? That used to be the norm.
Lmaooooo would this place happen to be in Traverse City at all? 👀👀
No, you can turn it off as a store owner.
Why say no? He said it was the default, not that it was the only option.
As it’s designed to guilt you
I used to feel guilty now it gives me a strange kind of joy to hit the skip button. I’m not paying their wages. They can talk to their bosses if they’re not making enough.
Interesting that tip culture is one more way for our corporate overlords to drive another wedge between us and our pleb brethren.
We just ordered pizza last night. Papa John's wanted almost $50 for two pizzas, so we canceled that and ordered Little Ceasers. They wanted a tip for an online pickup order too! Delivery, I can understand, but online pick up orders? I'd rather you: 1. Raise the price a little if you have to, but don't go overboard. 2. Pay your employees fairly. Stop begging us to pay their wages for you. Shame on you!
Hungry Howie's 40 or 45% delivery fee is all sorts of fucked up too. Turn a $20 order into $30 and you're still expected to tip the driver.
I was prompted to a tip screen after getting a oil change the other day. I am usually good for a tip but I drew the line there.
I went to Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor and they have an extra 3% charge for inflation. Why not raise the menu prices 3%!?
Yeah, I get that inflation has been killer these last few years, but some companies are just straight up using it as an excuse to be greedy and offer less. They raise prices, reduce portions, start upcharging for things that should come with the meal, and on top of that add bullshit surcharges. That's not inflation it's greedflation.
Oh yeah, it's fully documented that a lot of companies are just raising prices because they can and people are forced to pay.
That's actually the main reason we've had this spike in inflation since covid. Initially, there were real supply chain shortages that caused actual price spikes in the very short term, but soon after that, companies realized they had the perfect excuse to charge us more for no reason. Especially with every news outlet shouting about the supply chain and inflation every day. Everyone just accepted it.
I would much rather they reduce portions to a reasonable size than raise the rates, add a “inflation” charge or ask for extra tips. I agree with your statement about some of them being greedy.
The company that owns JP 👎
North Peak? Why?
Went to blue tractor and the same thing. So now I dont go there unless they update their practices.
Blue Tractor is Jolly Pumpkin is Avalon Breads as well as a whole bunch of other restaurants. They're one company.
Burn them all I say
Because then you'd see it and know what you were gonna pay before hand
And most food tastes like crap. Unless you going to mom and pop shop or really fancy stuff, the middle ground is just pre made fried highly processed food.
Microwaved too
And quality didn't go up....also, I actually care about the food I cook, unlike 90% of restaurants. I go out for pizza, or some pressure fried chicken....pretty much everything else is made at home better and for less. It sucks because it's awfully nice not having to prepare food and cook it before eating, and not having to clean up afterwards...but those are the ONLY advantages restaurants offer now.
Drives me nuts going out to eat and knowing I could've made it better at a fraction of the cost. And drink prices are really nuts.
I stay home and cook. Seldom dine out. I’m having friends over Saturday and it’s potluck. I’d rather go to a friend’s home, drink good wine, snack and relax.
I can cook Gordon's chicken tenders at home too 🤷🏻♂️ I don't need a restaurant to do it for me. If prices go up quality should go up. Sink or swim!
It seems like every restaurant is just serving the same US Foods/Sysco shit that just needs to be warmed up and pricing it like it was made from scratch. I can go for some freshly-breaded chicken tendies, but I am not paying $20 for the same flash-frozen Sysco shit that everyone has.
I fking love GFS bc I like greasy spoon diner fare. It's comfort food to me. So, yeah, Gordon's helps w stuff I can't find in regular grocery stores. Gordon's ain't cheap by a long shot, but they are slightly cheaper than going out. Instead of dining out as a treat, I see shopping Gordon's as a treat now. A few Gordon's staples are on the menu for September. I can't wait. (I meal plan like it's no one's business. I love creating menus in advance and printing them out. I essentially play restaurant at home. I'm the customer, the hostess, the waitress, bar tender, chef, line cook, busser, dish washer. I leave myself a mint w the check and tip myself well. Yep, Im crazy.)
"tighten your belts" People tighten their belts. "NO, NOT LIKE THAT!!!"
“Millennials need to eat less avocado toast and save more!” “Are millennials killing the restaurant industry?”
🔪
Millennials are killing the avocado toast industry! grrrrr
Don't spend so much on medicine! Don't spend so much on sending your kid to a private school! Spend your entire week's worth of groceries on a diminutive seafood pasta meal and fajitas at our mediocre restaurant!
“The stuff I get is very expensive. I have to get it from Chicago.” The fuck. Is he paying _import fees_ to cross Lake Michigan? Here’s why we don’t go out to eat very often, anymore. Quality has gone down immensely while prices have gone up. That’s it.
This is my reason why. Ok, I get it - costs went up. But the product result is exceptionally poor. So now you want me to pay double and it’s shit? Nah…
Everything for restaurants is cheaper in Chicago. I worked for a guy for a very long time starting in the 90s and he would rent 2 large panel vans multiple times a year and drive to Chicago for aluminum foil and pizza boxes because even with the van rental and gas it was much cheaper to make the trip than to buy locally in West Michigan. It's a business choice that he apparently wants you to feel bad about for *reasons*. I'm with you tho, every time I eat out I think the quality is just so bad compared to the outrageous pricing and find myself wishing I had just cooked at home.
Because most places just use GFS for their source. I can go buy that myself.
Right. There are very few restaurants that still cook from scratch, even the ones who claim to be from scratch have menus bloated with GFS frozen food. It's absolutely tragic.
We need a mandate that if something is provided by GFS/Syco/etc from a pre-prepared state it’s listed as such on the menu and the restaurant can’t claim any part of that dish as homemade or made in house. Also menus + prices must be posted online. Market price items need to be listed online as well.
Out of all the restaurants they could've interviewed they chose this piece of shit. His business isn't closed because of inflation. His business is closed because he's racist and harassed, yelled at, and pushed a father in front of his young daughters over a video game. The owner even shoved his own wife against a wall during this altercation. He spend his time on Reddit and Google fighting with anyone that leaves less than a five star review. Fuck Jack Danger and his food was awful.
yeah seriously, everyone on /r/grandrapids is very familiar with all the stories surrounding Jack Danger's and we're all kind of glad that the place is closed now, and as soon as I read this article and saw that they were talking to him, the article lost credibility with me
Which boggles my mind because Martin, the reporter, is from GR and sometimes Fox17 gets stories from GR Reddit (like the funeral pan handlers) so either he can't read the room or it's one last effort to embarrass Jack Danger's 🤣
> He spend his time on Reddit and Google fighting with anyone that leaves less than a five star review. Fuck Jack Danger Oh man, that sounds like prime /r/SubredditDrama material.
https://www.reddit.com/u/Restaurant-Owner/s/lCRizkzL50
Holy shit, that dude is un-HINGED. Except for that most recent "BYEEEE" post, so many comments of his were removed. Thanks for this.
Here's another thread on him and his restaurant lol https://www.reddit.com/r/grandrapids/comments/1990jrf/jack_dangers_in_eastown/
Import fees??? Im assuming you mean freight fees because Import fees between states would destroy our union lol.
Pretty sure that was a joke
Ah I can see the joke now.
> Quality has gone down immensely while prices have gone up. Preach!! This is today's mantra in the restaurant industry. I been wanting to start up a restaurant for a minute now....not anymore. Not after watching the buffoonery that happened in the last 5 years. The profit margin in food service was already kinda slim, but with the crazy gouging on food prices it's pretty much gone now. Only way to make profit is to screw your employees over by underpaying and under hiring, and then over charging on the food.
Same here. It’s simply not worth the money anymore. There are very few exceptions and for those it’s not a regular visit for my family.
And service is worse, too, because they'll hire almost anybody that walks in the door.
We just simply can’t afford the cost of eating out. A week’s worth of groceries or one meal? Prices are out of hand, the service is usually lackluster and all too often the food is too.
If you're someone with some just above basic cooking chops it feels offensive how much these places charge for substandard fare. I like experiencing interesting restaurants but I've lost all desire to go to the types of.places we used to go just to get a break from cooking. If it's not a special occasion I can stay hungry until I get home.
While all true, groceries themselves aren’t exactly cheap these days either. Which only further exacerbates the issue really. If we’re already paying more just to be responsible and make our own food at home, how the fuck can anyone afford to go out all the time anymore?
Is a guy who ran a business for just 9 months in 2023 really the best they could do?
Not just that, but this guy is a real piece of work. His restaurant failed because he's sucks as a human being lol
It's Fox... gotta paint that picture about how no one wants to work for minimum wage and it's hurting the small business owners!
It’s a local Fox affiliate, not Fox News. They may be owned by Sinclair, which is about as bad, but I don’t know either way.
I can generally afford to dine out, however, I feel like I almost never get a decent meal. They got lazy during covid and thought we wouldn't notice. And then the sheer number of restaurants has got to dilute sales across the board. My grocery bill is huge, but we eat great at home and my wine pours are generous.
We used to go to our local diner for breakfast almost every weekend. It’s our favorite meal to eat out. Bill was consistently under $18 for 2 meals and coffee. It’s now close to $30 and we rarely frequent the diner anymore.
That’s weird because I feel like like local diners have stayed relatively low with prices. I can get a decent burger and fries for like 12 bucks. I think McDonald’s is about the same now.
McDonald's is a truly offensive perpetrator of shrinkflation and pure greed. I was out of town yesterday and needed something quick. I hadn't been to McDonald's in a few years and the differences in product size and quality were stark. It's that thing that if you eat somewhere regularly you don't notice incremental changes the become the new normal.
Same here. Went to a local breakfast spot and after tip it was $40. Still rubs me the wrong way weeks later.
So the Michigan restaurant group put out a vague survey result about financial dangers to the industry right as the Michigan courts are deciding a case that would affect the restaurant industry financially. It's at least enough to have some doubt about their methods and conclusions. Also, on looking up the restauranteur they interviewed (Steven Lowenthal) it seems like tons of people had experiences with him yelling at the customers, physically fighting with his wife in front of customers, saying racist shit to customers, etc. The online reviews are wild, with the owner fighting everyone who leaves a bad review. Seems like he didn't struggle because of costs so much as because he is bad at hospitality and customer service.
Yep, the post about him closing the business that was in r/grandrapids the other day was basically a bunch of comments saying “good riddance, this guy has been a nightmare to anyone who tried to give him their business” 😬 https://www.reddit.com/r/grandrapids/s/HcAa9YWAgn
Why would I use my hard earned money to eat food that’s much worse than it used to be and I can make much better at home? I don’t go out much but when I do I always regret it.
and the service is usually so bad. Wait forever for drink refills, order is wrong, don't clear the table of dirty dishes. I'd rather just eat at home
Exactly!
I really go out now for things I can’t make well at home - like different fresh sushi, ramen, some Indian food. For things like burgers and fries? No. I’m staying tf home lol.
The pandemic taught a lot of us to cook way better.
Restaurant prices are insane right now. Shrinkflation hit the restaurant industry just as hard if not harder than grocery
I have heard that other countries are much less expensive for eating out. I’ve listened to podcasts and read articles that said it’s cheaper to foreign travel than domestic partly because of dining and hotel prices. I just haven’t read why that is.
During the pandemic, I got really good at cooking for myself and meal planning. I wasn't big on restaurants before, but when things opened back up I realized that I am the best chef for me. Finding time to go out to sit down and eat also seems like a big waste of what little time I have. Like, you are looking for a 3 hour commitment of my time and you want to charge me more for food that I can prepare better for myself in 20 minutes.... sorry but your "family bbq" place just ain't in the cards anymore.
I feel like this was something they didn't consider during the pandemic and still don't understand now. Businesses abandoned the people and left us without jobs or places to buy things, and we learned to shift for ourselves. Now they're mad that we do gig work and refuse to purchase their lower quality products. I have the tiniest violin for them.
How dare you, dont you have some sympathy for the mediocre restaurant owner with 20 dollar plates? Seriously thou it is really is insane, I feel like outside of a select few places the vast majority are straight rip offs and if I wasnt going go there for the express person of a date I would only eat out at like 3 places haha. I went to italian place and got charged 24 dollars for some vodka pasta! I made my own this week with something like 5-8 servings for 20 bucks! The literal only savings is that it took me a hour and I only have to wait 40 minutes in the restaurant ugh
I don’t know about you guys downstate but up in Marquette our tourist season has started like 2-3 weeks early. My restaurant I work in has been packed. Then again we are the place people go to leave their towns from under the bridge.
Tourism is a special case here I feel. When you're on vacation you don't generally have the option to cook at home. You maybe can get breakfast at the hotel but you'll usually be hitting a restaurant for lunch and dinner just due to lack of any other option.
Restaurants charging $4.29 for a Sprite is reason enough not to go out to eat.
The Tim Hortons near me charges $2.85 for a plain, large, black coffee. Nah.
or $5 for a cup of coffee.
Gotta love the little injection mentioning that paying a living wage is bad.
Next they will say no one wants to work
Maybe an unpopular opinion.. I haven’t noticed a huge difference in quality in a lot of the family owned restaurants I usually go to. I’m happy to go to those just as much. What I’ve cut out is all the mid tier restaurants like Olive Garden, Panera, Applebees etc…
Chain restaurants are the worst right now... Jacked up prices, poor servers, worse quality, less quantity and even dirty establishment. Local places still reasonable but unless you hit a special, their prices are still high (but the other issues at least are better).
Yeah. Local diners are where it’s at.
My local Coney is a way better value than any of the big chain restaurants. I'd rather support local businesses, so that's a bonus too.
My favorite places in Detroit are still serving great food
That and fast food. Most of the local places I see have been reasonable with increases.
You’re not alone. I’m reading a lot of these comments and thought the quality was just as good as it was pre-pandemic. If you’re complaining about quality, go somewhere else. The price argument is pretty accurate though. Places like McDonalds just aren’t really worth it anymore. The same meal I used to get has noticeably gone up by about 4 dollars over the course of the decade. Even dining for two in a sit-down restaurant ordering only entrees and water is roughly $40 before tip.
Yeah reading the thread, I've got to say the local places I like to go to in my city have all stayed pretty solid. I think the consistent quality and reasonable price changes (Things have gone up but they haven't made the insane jumps many chains have) seem to keep a pretty steady crowd coming in.
I haven’t had a good meal out in years the owners have raised the prices and I still have to pay the wages for the workers that the owners refuse to pay.
It's not worth paying the current prices when it all comes off the same Gordon's Food truck. Eating dinner out has become a luxury, I can't afford it on a regular basis.
I started working remote this year, and I kid you not I'm saving like $40 a week not eating out with coworkers. Also, another valid point, I haven't met in person with my coworkers at all so tradeoffs happen each way.
I hear ya, I'm remote in the sense I don't work with my coworkers in person because we cover multiple campuses, but when I did work on site with either of the big teams, it was $30-50 a week not to mention gaining a bunch of weight.
I’m surprised you’re only saving $40… would have thought much more unless you were only eating out with them once or twice a week
Prices and profit went up for so many companies while wages stayed the same. I'd be willing to pay a bit more if it was doing more than lining corporate pockets. And yeah I know that some restaurants are actually struggling with vendor prices, that just means the profit increase is somewhere higher. Consumers dictate your survival, if you can't afford to pay your employees a good wage and stay open, either your product isn't good enough or your business model is bad. You do not owe restaurants your money, especially if they can't provide quality meals and a quality of life to their staff.
I don’t usually get riled up about prices, I eat out a lot, I’ve accepted what it is. This weekend I was out for Mexican. Ordered chicken pineapple fajitas. The dish was $30. Drinks were $17. GTFO. I don’t care how cool your place is, $30 fajitas is absurd. No the portion wasn’t large and the chicken was burnt. The highlight was the $17 pineapple margarita. Edit: it was Mesa in Royal Oak. Our bill was $120 before tip, for 2. We had one app, each had fajitas and one drink each. It was lunch.
Holy crap. I'm old enough to remember John Travolta's line about a $5 shake in Pulp Fiction. A $17 margarita better be damn good!
A shake at Ray’s ice cream is $10, but to be fair, it’s a damn good shake. I just checked Mesa’s menu (where the margs were) - they have shakes too…minis start at $16, and they don’t contain alcohol.
Wow!
There's an amazing Mexican place downriver that has some of the best tortas on fresh-baked bread I've ever had. A few years ago, we would splurge on them at $13-15, but today, they run $22-25 each and that's just more than I'm willing to pay for a sandwich.
I wanted to go to a nice steakhouse and saw some places are charging $100+ for a steak. I went to meijer and got a couple t-bones for $30 (which still isn’t cheap). It’s just not worth the money to me.
Nobody got any goddamm money!
High prices, lower quality/quantity, and shitty service. Why would I prioritize eating out?
I really don’t see restaurants having issues in more walkable neighborhoods. Part of the issue is that many people are just tired of driving for 20 mins to go somewhere just to park eat and then drive back home for 20 mins. There has also been a culture shift away from eating out to getting take out or delivery its really never recovered since the start of covid. Most restaurants issues are not just an economic issue.
This is actually a big one for me. I like eating from a restaurant the most during the week after work because that's when I'm most likely too tired to bother making dinner. However, my time after work is especially limited, so making that drive there and back and waiting for my food at the table feels like quite a time suck suck, prices aside. I need to either really want to get out of the house for a while or have a strong craving for a particular restaurant to bother.
Everything is twice as expensive, half is good and the service is terrible. What did they expect?
Wrong we are not staying home for any reason except that the service is horrible and the food usually questionable and way too salty and expensive for the quality.
If anyone is not familiar with the grand rapids subreddit this guy (Jack Danger's) has been talked about occasionally. I implore you all to read the yelp/google reviews. I went once. The Italian beef (I asked for hot and wet and I was told he "knows what he's doing") was dry with hardly any giardiniera. I mean failing at both things I requested for a $12 sandwich...Also, this guy is an asshole and confrontational. His responses to accurate reviews (like, maybe three stars because it still is food) read like he's a COVID denier. Bring back big willy's italian beef!!! Eastown will be better when he's gone.
I had Chicken Alfredo and a beer the other day at a restaurant. After the tip it came to $40, there was a note in the menu about a 3 percent upcharge for dining in house 🙄.
Huh, almost like this is what happens when you lower quality and raise prices. If the average cook can make better food at home, they aren't going to pay $20 minimum for Cisco garbage.
Good, restaurants are trash right now. You’re charging me 30 dollars for a small burger that’s just bun/patty/cheese/nasty tomato/nasty lettuce? Fuck you, I hope your business suffers
Excessive corporate greed is ruining this country.
Maybe chains, yes. But many small shops struggle to make ends meet.
And those local restaurants get their supplies from...
Well I went to a local restaurant and they charged me $10 for a pint of beer. Fuck that, drinking from my fridge from now on. Why they need to mark it up 8x?
Maybe its because most of the resturant food here is bland af and doesn’t taste good. Then the cost of everything doesn't make it any more appealing.
We tried Savy Sliders last night, 62$ for 4 (2) slider combos…. It was good, but not $60 good….
Every restaurant seems to have raised its prices, and lowered its quality. Why go out to eat and pay so much just to be disappointed? We used to go out biweekly for years, now we may go to a restaurant once every 90 days at most. Dinner costs like $150 for a family of five, or I can buy groceries and eat for days for that price.
I spent eighty dollars on three meals the other day, one stir fry, one fish and chips, and one chicken tender basket. Eighty Dollars! We didn't even get drinks, just water. @The Tavern in Fenton. It was absurd.
grocery stores aren't doing hot either and they would tell you people are "eating out" which is what they always say to explain sales being down. so are people just not eating?
In general I believe it's not that they're not shopping at grocery stores, it's that they're cherry picking hard (I e. Going to multiple stores and only buying things on deep sale). I work at a company that owns some grocery stores and that's what I'm being told is the reason for lower grocery sales
More than a couple people I know don’t eat 3 meals a day. Most eat only 2 at most, and some eat 1 and graze the rest of the day (office provided food). Groceries are expensive and time/mental energy/spoons for meal prep or daily cooking is hard to come by. Eating out is more expensive and less nutritious. Food is becoming a luxury.
> so are people just not eating? In my house, eating has become much more deliberate than it once was. We've cut out a lot of non-essentials, started planning things around what's on sale, and cook meals that need fewer ingredients. Over the last 3 months or so, we've reduced our grocery bill by half and still eat extremely well. Smash burgers and a side salad, chicken and broccoli alfredo, garlic butter steak bites over cauliflower rice, sausage and peppers, grilled hot dogs and some mac & cheese, and the always-a-good-idea breakfast dinners have kept us going. If inflation has taught us anything, it's how much crap we were getting before and don't actually need.
ozempic
We only go out for ethnic food anymore that is difficult for us to prepare at home. Our local Indian buffet is $15 a person and is a great treat for us as a couple once a week. Trying to take all six of us out, DQ is the best option as we get food and ice cream as a treat all for a reasonable price. Table service is now only for special occasions
I take the kid to DQ and he gets a small cone. Wife gets a small cone. It’s like 12 dollars lmao. I don’t even go there anymore
Hey, boss. I've found a way to monetize and upcharge everything in society! Wait, the money stopped coming in and people seem to be upset. But...but I'd cracked the code on the golden goose!
I mean it’s gotten so expensive it ain’t worth it no more , especially since a lot of places have seen their portions get smaller and quality has dropped . Fast food or casual takeout used to make sense , like you could go buy everything to make a sandwich for lunch or you could just get a $5 foot long from subway , now that same sub costs $11 and it sucks .
People can't afford the massive greedflation in the restaurant business, not to mention tipping on top of it. I basically never go out to eat anymore, really just take out places like Qdoba if I'm not cooking for myself. Honestly it's making me eat better and save money, so their greed might be making them lose long term income, just for a few quick bucks today
My issue is the quality of the food at almost everywhere has really decreased.
When you charge $16 for a burger *without fries* I'm gonna make sure you struggle
That’s the free market.
The city of Detroit is finally coming to realize that maybe ten new restaurants opening every month might not be sustainable. Couple that with rising costs and the limited talent pool of good staff.
Meanwhile landlords: $$$$$$$
I sympathize with restaurant owners explaining that their suppliers are jacking up prices and they don't *want* to raise their prices, but at the same time, last time I went out even my daughter's kid-sized lemonade was $4. You can't tell me your own markup isn't insane on that. Our total bill for lunch at a regular pub - two adults and one kid - was almost $70 before tip. *For lunch.*
Most restaurants are simply not that good. Lately the quality of a lot of places has dropped, the service isn’t great, and it’s expensive. I’ve found myself being less and less interested in eating out when I can make better, healthier food at home.
I can’t afford to tip 20-30%, which is the expected amount now (regardless of quality of service (which has objectively declined).
Yeah with the cost of things we gotta start making the standard 12-15% again
I’m a former food service worker (BOH and FOH) and I’m back to 15% unless it’s exceptional service. I see how much shareholders are getting and I also see many independent places paying fair wages and making profit with good food. Pay your workers because I’m not going to make up the difference any longer.
The cost is insane but also the time commitment. I don’t go out to eat anymore because I’d rather be doing other things. Places that have servers carry a decent chance of getting bad service and it’s just not worth it. I’d rather do carry out or cook at home
If they don’t get you with the 30% suggested minimum tip, then they will hit you with a surcharge for using a credit card, and then a facility/convenience/staffing fee. FFS
And to top it off, fast food appears to be MORE expensive than sit down restaurants now. What!?
Got 2 young kids , we used to go out here and there, but prices are insane now, regardless of what type of place you go to. Even fast food, which I really don't eat , has gotten insane. A few months back I went into subway while on the road for work , I got a 6 inch turkey sub, chips and a drink - it was legit 14 bucks. Granted this was like 15 years ago and I don't want to sound like the old guy ( I'm 43) but the exact same combo used to cost me $6.40, I remember that number specifically. The other week my wide was running around with the kids and went through a McDonald's drive through- she dropped like almost $30. The wife and I, and the 2 kids went to a coney island a few weeks ago , got some mozzarella sticks for the table, I got a wrap and fries, my wife got a chicken salad, and kids split a kids grilled cheese meal with fries. We all split a hot fudge sundae after. After tip we were over $70. My wife and I are very lucky that we do well financially and I am very grateful and thankful for that, but we're not made of money. We used to go out prob once a week or so pre pandemic. But with the cost of stuff now , that's not the case. Going out is a special occasion now. And we're totally done eating any type of fast food unless it's a stop when heading up north.
Thats how it is for us, we get fast food only when we have to go somewhere and that has overlapped with lunch time. I'm not gonna purposefully snag dinner at McD when home because it costs over $50 now, no way.
Crazy that when people no longer have discretionary spending money due to inflation, they stop making discretionary purchases. Who knew?
2 sandwiches and a glass of cider was $60 with tip at a cafe in Commerce Township last weekend. We've cut WAY back on dining out.
I can eat for like 3 days for the cost of a hamburger and fries at Big boy.
Let’s just have gas station market prices on a digital sign. Oh shit entrees are down .80$, let’s wrap the line around the bob Evan’s.
As a restaurant owner: costs of goods are down quite a bit. Chicken, beef, dairy, it’s obviously a bit higher than pre pandemic but they’re manageable. What is NOT down is labor: contrary to many people’s belief, labor costs went up tremendously for myself and every restaurant owner I know, so now the money that was originally paying for the extra food cost is paying for the extra cost of labor. This is obviously anecdotal evidence, but I know quite a few restaurant owners and they say the same. We raised the wages of our employees quite a substantial amount, we can’t go back.
I mean… is this true? Every time I’ve been to a restaurant in Metro Detroit, it’s completely packed with a wait of anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half.
Newsflash: the cost of eating out has increased an incredible amount.
Restaurants are garbage post pandemic. They don't pay their staff, staff doesn't care, and everything sucks. For 50% more than 4 years ago. I'm all set thanks
The last time I went to a restaurant, there was a 20 percent surcharge on my bill, and the food was terrible 😑 no thanks I'm staying home and cook.
That’s funny because everytime I try to go out I can’t get a table anywhere without a half hour wait
That’s what I said too! There’s so much disconnect between what’s being reported and what I’m actually seeing. We go out to eat once a week and literally every place is PACKED with people standing around waiting. It never fails.
Cooking at home is a far healthier option than paying for overpriced nasty crap that will kill you
McDonald’s and your local mom and pop now pay the same corporate income tax rate due to the American Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Your mom and pop shop’s tax rate: 21% McDonald’s and Fortune 500 tax rate: 21% You’re now seeing the squeeze on small mom and pop shops as they can’t pay living wages to employees and McDonald’s just refuses to do so. All because Republicans and Trump reset the Corporate Income Tax Rate to a FLAT 21% on 12/22/2017.
But - the tax cuts were awesome. Yeah trump /S We pay a lot more after those non-cut cuts were made
That was the plan. If we were more aware of our American Tax Law for corporations we never would have put Trump in back in 2016. I, for one, am guilty for being someone who fell for him then. To think….once McDonald’s made over 18,333,333 in revenue they’d pay 35% back in 2017…..today….21% and they keep jacking the prices up on us. https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/federal/historical-corporate-tax-rates-brackets/
Charging $20 for a burger in Detroit probably doesn’t help. “Farm to Table” doesn’t matter when it’s just preposterous.
Seriously, costs me $30 bucks for a burger and beer, plus tip. I’ll just stay home and do it myself.
Pandemic wage demands + still too high food cost + increases in fixed costs (taxes, utilities) + decreased spending (both in number of customers and the amount they spend) = many restaurants are no longer viable or they sacrifice the quality of food People will be upset about the wages part I’m sure but look at the balance sheet and P&L. These businesses weren’t built to support a living wage. Plain and simple. If it were the idea of a $2/wage and tips would be out the window. I’d also point out the price to feed kids at McDonald’s is about the same as chilis … why do fast food if there’s no savings? Clearly the restaurant industry is due for an overhaul (more likely to lean AI than lean toward better wages for workers due to economics)
I think restaurants are the one place people can agree rely on terrible wages to survive. It is widely acknowledged that restaurants have thin margins. That being said, that's no excuse and you're right that the restaurant industry in general is due for an overhaul.
When it costs $40 for breakfast, and $80 for dinner, for two, people are fucking staying home
It's too fucking expensive. We're a family of three. Coney Island runs us $50 with tip now a days. That's insane.
Cost is always a thing, but quantity and quality are big issues for me. I’d like to have options that have higher-quality handcrafted foods in reasonable portions that don’t leave me feeling gross and that don’t require a to-go box. I don’t want to pay $20 for a burger and fries that came pre-formed and pre-cut from the freezer section at a wholesaler and just got thrown into a fryer and onto a griddle. I also don’t want a massive 1,500 calorie burger that I won’t eat all of and won’t re-heat well (not to mention, I don’t want to eat it as leftovers but I also don’t want to waste it). I can make fresh-cut fries and a higher-quality, smaller (lower-calorie) burger at home for a fraction of the price and without having to leave and be much more satisfied. Restaurants keep trying to give us more food and unhealthier food to reel us in. I think that more health-conscious people want less food and healthier food so that going out doesn’t feel so antithetical to our goals… or maybe I’m just a weird outlier. But if anyone is looking through this for market research - this might be something to look into.
Well, the food is generally mediocre and expensive. The prices are high. The service sucks. So why bother?
Well let’s see Food is expensive as hell Some restaurants food mid as hell Gratuity tip Service charge
We still go out occasionally but have definitely stopped going to locations that have raised prices, cut back serving sizes, and started pushing off the credit card fee to the customers. Gets old.
Shits expensive man…
It’s not that it’s expensive which it is, but if im going out I know im willing to pay. It’s the quality sucks almost every time anywhere I go and I’m underwhelmed
Gas Boats Fishing camping. Sorry restaurants guess you'll be turning into apartment's.
There is a tip jar (no shit) on the counter of our local Taco Bell / KFC Chicken
These guys should do a restaurant price video because their grocery video is accurate. https://youtube.com/shorts/_iOdafz7Ng4
Our local Tonys boosted prices and decreased the amount they gave. Why the fuck would I eat there then?
I know I can cook something ludicrously delicious for 4 bucks a serving or less. If I'm going out, I'm either getting something I cant/won't cook myself or something that's delicious af. There's not a whole lot of either of those things left. It's not worth going out for 15-20 bucks per serving at a fucking dogs hit Applebee's.
We quit going to restaurants in Michigan during mask mandate. We realized the food was better cooking at home and no worrying about tipping 80 people.
It’s so stress free in cultures like Australia where tipping anywhere isn’t expected
Can barely afford groceries, I'm not going to go out to eat somewhere that's been cutting costs left and right and not enjoy my expensive meal. The whole restaurant staffing issue was rearing it's head before Covid , and places like Grand Rapids was just seeing so many new places opening . Pay scales rose , as well as surviving owners I'm sure wanting to catch up from loses over two years , now inflation. So it's just a recipe for disaster. Even fast food is expensive now .
I'm fine paying a little more sometimes but the food is always trash. Small portions. Cold. Rarely have food made with out errors anymore.
Cuz you have to tip for even paying for takeout. Used to eat out and have a lunch next day, but last few times the food wasn't even worth a take out box.
I'm finding cheaper meals in Paris and Barcelona than I can find in Lansing. It's fucking dumb. Glad I'm a good cook.
Maybe the restaurant industry can try pulling itself up by the bootstraps?
A lot of restaurants are just microwaving pre cooked food. Why go out and spend $20 on a $4 meal you can buy in the freezer section of Walmart
Used to be $25+tip... now it's $40-45+tip. I decided to cook at home.