(there's also the cost of refrigerating your own meals) even with rent and salary overhead, it still surprises me that some buffet-oriented system (which elimi

(there's also the cost of refrigerating your own meals) even with rent and salary overhead, it still surprises me that some buffet-oriented system (which eliminates the one-dish:one-person problem you described, and reduces staffing) hasn't made eating out vastly cheaper. the only thing cooking at home seems to have going for it is that most people are not otherwise productive with their time in the evening anyway. that and the "homemade" connotation - which i suppose translates to something real if you have a family, in terms of time spent together.