I do delivery often. But I always buy DoorDash/uber eats/instacart gift cards at usually 20 % discount. that typically covers the extra fees and inflated prices they tack on. So my tip is really what I’m paying for delivery. $5 is worth it to have more time for me and my family. I have apparatuses to heat things up and I’m not dumb enough to order a frosty delivered. I’m not expecting perfect food and I’m okay with it.
Just now I ordered two chipotle bowls from Uber eats for $27 before tip. Would cost me $23 in store after taxes. That $27 is discounted 20% so it’s a wash. I threw in a $5 tip. I just saved myself 30 minutes of time gas and getting mad at bad drivers. My time is worth far make than $10/hour. But that’s just where I’m at in life.
Younger me would probably go pick it up. Meet a friend to eat. Flirt with the staff and make fun out of the trip. 40 year old me not so interested in going and a lot less fun in it for me.
Also restaurants aren’t that bad if you get water. Keep eye out for promos and discount gift cards. Usually I’m not paying much more than I would to get ingredients at store. In that case the tip is just my cost to get it served to me and not have to cleanup. I don’t take an issue with it as many do here.
While I agree that many people are financially choosing to be foolish and don't know or understand (or at least practice) adult-like financial discipline.
To say people going out to spend $100 on two dinners and drinks is irresponsible is a bit too broad of a statement. If a person, family, couple has set a budget that includes saving for retirement, saving and investing in general, covering all of their needs and then allocating portions of their funds to various desires/wants - which for some people may include expensive dinners at restaurants, i don't think that's irresponsible at all - assuming the prior items and responsibilities have already been addressed and accounted for.
Since this thread is under tipping, I think tipping for good and exceptional service at a bar or sit-down restaurant is highly warranted to the tune of 15-18% for really good service. It will take exemplary service to justify a 20% tip in my mind.
With rising menu prices due to inflation and greed, combined with the expectation of tipping increasing from 15% to 20%, a lot of people cannot afford eating out anymore. The restaurant industry shoots itself in the foot.
To be fair, most restaurants want to be exclusive to rich people so they can profit the most from the whales and fuck everyone else who takes up a seat and picks everything with the worst ROI.
Rising food price from inflation is automatically addressed with tips at the same level (percentage). There is no need or justification from a high inflation perspective to tip at a higher rate while also experiencing higher food costs - the higher tip is built in as a result of the higher food costs.
15% is and should be pretty standard for very good service. Exceptional service (rare) and awful service (hopefully also rare) can warrant changes to the rate of the tip, IMO.
Honestly couldn't agree more. People really need to reel things in. Every fun thing you do in life is frivolous. Buck up and work another 20 hours! Disgusting.
I cannot drive and rely on my family for transportation and I have only ordered off a delivery app once when my mother was hospitalized. I think it is nuts because you pay for your order plus a few, taxes and then a tip to have someone drive your food to you. Crazy!
If we do go out, we go out and don’t fool with delivery. Gotten too expensive and you never know what the service will be like. Also avoid alcohol, appetizers, and dessert. Especially the alcohol.
I used to have the attitude "I don't care how poor I am, I deserve to go out to eat and a bar every once in awhile" but I don't think that way anymore because I feel like a sucker every time I go out.
I have been sharing this sentiment with my girlfriend recently. I tell her, “I love going out to dinner with you, but can we find something cheaper? We seem to spend $100 on ‘normal’ dinners, not even special occasions”.
2 sodas, 1 appetizer and 2 entrees is not worthy of $100 at a majority of restaurants. This shouldn’t be normal and yet it is.
Only restaurants I eat at anymore are Mexican places. Food is great, portions are huge, and meals are around $10-15. I can take my family of five there and my wife and I split a half pitcher of margs and the total is only like $75ish.
My ex used to call me a cheapskate when I would say things like that. We'd be eating at the restaurant next door and I'd say "do we really need to get drinks? We live *right there*". I have so much more money now that she's my ex.
I'm finally seeing a modicum of relief. Some restaraunts are starting to lower prices and/or offer deeper discounts on specials. They got greedy and now they're trying to walk it back.
No. If you want to use decent quality ingredients, everything went up over the last three years. If as the owner of a restaurant, you’re trying to maintain a 30% food cost a point or so below that, you have to set the prices that allow you to do that. And those prices are driven by the vendors. The beef purveyors. The local farms , in our case. The wine vendors. The beer vendors. The dairy and egg purveyors. You had to pay fuel surcharges on top of the increased raw ingredient prices. Nobody was trying to raise the prices because they were greedy. Or at least nobody that wanted to stay busy. Do you think that you’re the only one that went to the grocery store and saw that prices had gone up?
Add to that the issue of having to pay higher hourly rates just to stay competitive. In our case, we pay a living wage of at least $22 an hour to all full-time employees. And this is in the south, not California or New York.
Dude, I went to Sbux for the first time in a couple years the other day when I wanted a coffee before hopping a flight. (I stopped in my hometown before leaving for the airport...) I know they want to be a premium brand... but the price was WILD. WTF are they thinking?
Tipping at Starbucks for a coffee is wild. I was shocked when I went in there, expecting it to be like Tim Hortons where I could order a "two milk two sugar" and they told me I made it myself, they simply poured the coffee into a cup.
Whats even wilder and more wasteful... the people that order a single coffee and maybe a bagel for delivery. I can't imagine something more wasteful..
I think you have a skewed look at how often Americans dine out. Id say I am an ordinary Californian couple that's making near 6 figures. Going out is usually a lower-tier restaurant (Applebee's, Chili's, maybe a sushi spot once every month or two) or getting 2 pints or so at one of the brewhouses. We know it isnt a good use of money longterm, but it's nice to every once in a while go have fun without worrying about shopping, or cleaning, or prepping etc.
I think you’re the one with the skewed look (respectfully), you make near 6 figures so you’re probably not to stressed about bills… I think this more so was referring to people living lower income but still paying for unnecessary luxuries… I have friends that don’t have money for gas in their car and have to go through all sorts of hurdles to get a ride to work, but then will spend $20 on ice cream, or $60 for a video game… this is referring to people who can’t separate luxury and necessity… if your necessities are covered then yes go ahead get your luxuries, if not don’t…
If you are two people making less than 6 figures in California, it's entirely possible they cannot 'afford their bills' any more than someone in a LCOL area making less.
2 people living in the Bay area, the central coast, much of LA, south to the border making less than 100k total is not doing well, and would need to live in much less desirable area to make it work. Consider the much less desirable areas in cities you're familiar with, and consider your opinion if their income. That's a more appropriate comparison.
It's no mystery that this generation isn't exactly good with money. I see so many young people saying "what, I'm just supposed to pull up my bootstraps and not eat *avocado toast*?"
Basically, yeah.. if you didn't eat out and have a 1800 food bill per month and drive a car you can't afford, you maybe could save up a down payment in several years.
Our parents didn't eat out a dozen times a week. Obviously the economy is fucked and I'll be the first to say that, but I'm shocked at how my broke-ish friends always are playing the new game on release night. I'll wait for the steam sale, sorry. And the worst part? They never fucking finish them. It's really frustrating to me as a completionist, they tell me to buy a game then I finally do and then they move on a few days later, spending another 70 or 80 bucks Canadian on another game they'll get halfway through before starting a new save file.
I would never skip tipping when I eat out, but I refuse to pay the increased costs and fees for delivery unless I’m on vacation at a hotel without food or transportation. The frequency with which people Doordash and Instacart astounds me.
Door dash is crazy because a huge user base is like my old coworkers..... We got a 1 hour lunch and they'd order McDonald's even though the McDonald's is literally 3 minutes away.
I'll admit I've used instacart with some regularity but my job has me work from home and I get paid by the hour so I figure it's cheaper to just work rather than go buy the groceries.
How often do people actually eat out?
I’ll do a proper restaurant maybe twice per year and fast food type maybe 5 times per year. Even that feels a bit much to me.
Every day but I’m entertaining clients every day, so those meals are reimbursed.
The wife and I try to do a dinner out at least once a week if not every other week. We enjoy food and experiences.
i travel for work and a lot of the guys i’m with go to a sit down meal every single lunch/dinner of the 10-day trip. we get like $70ish a day for food. i usually try to just spend the $70 at walmart the first day and have it last me the whole time but these guys are blowing through that $700 check easily. people eat out like crazy.
it sure is tempting. usually on the last day of my trip i’ll try to find a longhorn and sit at the bar with a beer and a ribeye. kinda depressing eating by yourself at a restaurant lol
Nothing wrong eating by yourself at a restaurant. Tons of people travel for work and have to eat. Not much else to do either while on an expense report either. What's crazy to me is when I traveled, $5 at Kroger's would get flagged by our finance department, but $60 dinner for one was perfectly fine...
Same here! I went to a Publix to get a sub and soup and got flagged since it was a grocery store. I didn’t keep the receipt so to avoid the hassle I just ended up charging it as a personal expense and took the hit. We have no per diem/price restrictions so after that it was steak, lobster, and booze on their dime.
Many people eat restaurant food for every meal, whether dine in, carry out, or delivered. They literally won't even carry a sandwich to work for lunch. I don't eat out but maybe once a month but I am in the minority for sure.
I do delivery often. But I always buy DoorDash/uber eats/instacart gift cards at usually 20 % discount. that typically covers the extra fees and inflated prices they tack on. So my tip is really what I’m paying for delivery. $5 is worth it to have more time for me and my family. I have apparatuses to heat things up and I’m not dumb enough to order a frosty delivered. I’m not expecting perfect food and I’m okay with it. Just now I ordered two chipotle bowls from Uber eats for $27 before tip. Would cost me $23 in store after taxes. That $27 is discounted 20% so it’s a wash. I threw in a $5 tip. I just saved myself 30 minutes of time gas and getting mad at bad drivers. My time is worth far make than $10/hour. But that’s just where I’m at in life. Younger me would probably go pick it up. Meet a friend to eat. Flirt with the staff and make fun out of the trip. 40 year old me not so interested in going and a lot less fun in it for me. Also restaurants aren’t that bad if you get water. Keep eye out for promos and discount gift cards. Usually I’m not paying much more than I would to get ingredients at store. In that case the tip is just my cost to get it served to me and not have to cleanup. I don’t take an issue with it as many do here.
While I agree that many people are financially choosing to be foolish and don't know or understand (or at least practice) adult-like financial discipline. To say people going out to spend $100 on two dinners and drinks is irresponsible is a bit too broad of a statement. If a person, family, couple has set a budget that includes saving for retirement, saving and investing in general, covering all of their needs and then allocating portions of their funds to various desires/wants - which for some people may include expensive dinners at restaurants, i don't think that's irresponsible at all - assuming the prior items and responsibilities have already been addressed and accounted for. Since this thread is under tipping, I think tipping for good and exceptional service at a bar or sit-down restaurant is highly warranted to the tune of 15-18% for really good service. It will take exemplary service to justify a 20% tip in my mind.
With rising menu prices due to inflation and greed, combined with the expectation of tipping increasing from 15% to 20%, a lot of people cannot afford eating out anymore. The restaurant industry shoots itself in the foot.
To be fair, most restaurants want to be exclusive to rich people so they can profit the most from the whales and fuck everyone else who takes up a seat and picks everything with the worst ROI.
Rising food price from inflation is automatically addressed with tips at the same level (percentage). There is no need or justification from a high inflation perspective to tip at a higher rate while also experiencing higher food costs - the higher tip is built in as a result of the higher food costs. 15% is and should be pretty standard for very good service. Exceptional service (rare) and awful service (hopefully also rare) can warrant changes to the rate of the tip, IMO.
Honestly couldn't agree more. People really need to reel things in. Every fun thing you do in life is frivolous. Buck up and work another 20 hours! Disgusting.
I never tip though. And tipping should never ever be expected. Anyone who think that will get a reality check.
I cannot drive and rely on my family for transportation and I have only ordered off a delivery app once when my mother was hospitalized. I think it is nuts because you pay for your order plus a few, taxes and then a tip to have someone drive your food to you. Crazy!
Why pay $100 for dinner out? Because I can afford too!
If we do go out, we go out and don’t fool with delivery. Gotten too expensive and you never know what the service will be like. Also avoid alcohol, appetizers, and dessert. Especially the alcohol.
I used to have the attitude "I don't care how poor I am, I deserve to go out to eat and a bar every once in awhile" but I don't think that way anymore because I feel like a sucker every time I go out.
Only a sucker if you tip!
There will come a time when the Piper has to be be paid. It's not gonna be fun....
What do you mean by this?
I have been sharing this sentiment with my girlfriend recently. I tell her, “I love going out to dinner with you, but can we find something cheaper? We seem to spend $100 on ‘normal’ dinners, not even special occasions”. 2 sodas, 1 appetizer and 2 entrees is not worthy of $100 at a majority of restaurants. This shouldn’t be normal and yet it is.
Only restaurants I eat at anymore are Mexican places. Food is great, portions are huge, and meals are around $10-15. I can take my family of five there and my wife and I split a half pitcher of margs and the total is only like $75ish.
My ex used to call me a cheapskate when I would say things like that. We'd be eating at the restaurant next door and I'd say "do we really need to get drinks? We live *right there*". I have so much more money now that she's my ex.
I'm finally seeing a modicum of relief. Some restaraunts are starting to lower prices and/or offer deeper discounts on specials. They got greedy and now they're trying to walk it back.
No. If you want to use decent quality ingredients, everything went up over the last three years. If as the owner of a restaurant, you’re trying to maintain a 30% food cost a point or so below that, you have to set the prices that allow you to do that. And those prices are driven by the vendors. The beef purveyors. The local farms , in our case. The wine vendors. The beer vendors. The dairy and egg purveyors. You had to pay fuel surcharges on top of the increased raw ingredient prices. Nobody was trying to raise the prices because they were greedy. Or at least nobody that wanted to stay busy. Do you think that you’re the only one that went to the grocery store and saw that prices had gone up? Add to that the issue of having to pay higher hourly rates just to stay competitive. In our case, we pay a living wage of at least $22 an hour to all full-time employees. And this is in the south, not California or New York.
True. But some restaurants now are throwing in automatic gratuity when you pick up food to go. I won’t order from them anymore.
For me, it's how much people pay for coffee. Only time I get Starbucks is at an airport. And I don't tip because I get a large black coffee.
Dude, I went to Sbux for the first time in a couple years the other day when I wanted a coffee before hopping a flight. (I stopped in my hometown before leaving for the airport...) I know they want to be a premium brand... but the price was WILD. WTF are they thinking?
A 12 ounce black coffee is $3.25... hardly wild.
Tipping at Starbucks for a coffee is wild. I was shocked when I went in there, expecting it to be like Tim Hortons where I could order a "two milk two sugar" and they told me I made it myself, they simply poured the coffee into a cup. Whats even wilder and more wasteful... the people that order a single coffee and maybe a bagel for delivery. I can't imagine something more wasteful..
I can afford to have food delivered but I'm not dumb enough to pay those ridiculous fees just to sit and wait for cold food. I can go get my own food.
I have deleted all those apps. \* If i am too lazy to get up and get it, then i clearly don't want it enough,
I bartend at a hotel. People are always traveling and eating out on the company's dime. Just have to make sure to separate the food and alcohol lol.
That kind of service warrants a tip
I think you have a skewed look at how often Americans dine out. Id say I am an ordinary Californian couple that's making near 6 figures. Going out is usually a lower-tier restaurant (Applebee's, Chili's, maybe a sushi spot once every month or two) or getting 2 pints or so at one of the brewhouses. We know it isnt a good use of money longterm, but it's nice to every once in a while go have fun without worrying about shopping, or cleaning, or prepping etc.
I think you’re the one with the skewed look (respectfully), you make near 6 figures so you’re probably not to stressed about bills… I think this more so was referring to people living lower income but still paying for unnecessary luxuries… I have friends that don’t have money for gas in their car and have to go through all sorts of hurdles to get a ride to work, but then will spend $20 on ice cream, or $60 for a video game… this is referring to people who can’t separate luxury and necessity… if your necessities are covered then yes go ahead get your luxuries, if not don’t…
If you are two people making less than 6 figures in California, it's entirely possible they cannot 'afford their bills' any more than someone in a LCOL area making less. 2 people living in the Bay area, the central coast, much of LA, south to the border making less than 100k total is not doing well, and would need to live in much less desirable area to make it work. Consider the much less desirable areas in cities you're familiar with, and consider your opinion if their income. That's a more appropriate comparison.
It's no mystery that this generation isn't exactly good with money. I see so many young people saying "what, I'm just supposed to pull up my bootstraps and not eat *avocado toast*?" Basically, yeah.. if you didn't eat out and have a 1800 food bill per month and drive a car you can't afford, you maybe could save up a down payment in several years. Our parents didn't eat out a dozen times a week. Obviously the economy is fucked and I'll be the first to say that, but I'm shocked at how my broke-ish friends always are playing the new game on release night. I'll wait for the steam sale, sorry. And the worst part? They never fucking finish them. It's really frustrating to me as a completionist, they tell me to buy a game then I finally do and then they move on a few days later, spending another 70 or 80 bucks Canadian on another game they'll get halfway through before starting a new save file.
And then you have my cousin, always complaining about money, yet using Uber Eats almost daily for coffee and lunch.
I would never skip tipping when I eat out, but I refuse to pay the increased costs and fees for delivery unless I’m on vacation at a hotel without food or transportation. The frequency with which people Doordash and Instacart astounds me.
Door dash is crazy because a huge user base is like my old coworkers..... We got a 1 hour lunch and they'd order McDonald's even though the McDonald's is literally 3 minutes away. I'll admit I've used instacart with some regularity but my job has me work from home and I get paid by the hour so I figure it's cheaper to just work rather than go buy the groceries.
How often do people actually eat out? I’ll do a proper restaurant maybe twice per year and fast food type maybe 5 times per year. Even that feels a bit much to me.
my poor ass cousins literally eat out every. single. night. they have no savings and a bare ass house but eat out every night.
Yeah, I truly don't understand this type of thing. I'm pretty well off by most objective standards and I consider eating out unaffordable.
Every day but I’m entertaining clients every day, so those meals are reimbursed. The wife and I try to do a dinner out at least once a week if not every other week. We enjoy food and experiences.
i travel for work and a lot of the guys i’m with go to a sit down meal every single lunch/dinner of the 10-day trip. we get like $70ish a day for food. i usually try to just spend the $70 at walmart the first day and have it last me the whole time but these guys are blowing through that $700 check easily. people eat out like crazy.
I'm one of those that blows through the money. I'll go and get a filet mignon every single night.
it sure is tempting. usually on the last day of my trip i’ll try to find a longhorn and sit at the bar with a beer and a ribeye. kinda depressing eating by yourself at a restaurant lol
Nothing wrong eating by yourself at a restaurant. Tons of people travel for work and have to eat. Not much else to do either while on an expense report either. What's crazy to me is when I traveled, $5 at Kroger's would get flagged by our finance department, but $60 dinner for one was perfectly fine...
Same here! I went to a Publix to get a sub and soup and got flagged since it was a grocery store. I didn’t keep the receipt so to avoid the hassle I just ended up charging it as a personal expense and took the hit. We have no per diem/price restrictions so after that it was steak, lobster, and booze on their dime.
Many people eat restaurant food for every meal, whether dine in, carry out, or delivered. They literally won't even carry a sandwich to work for lunch. I don't eat out but maybe once a month but I am in the minority for sure.
Someone in another thread said 3-4 times a week with a family of 4
Ha yeah that seems like a lot, especially given how expensive even fast food has become.