I don't have any numbers to back this up, but historically going out to a restaurant or eating outside the home was a big deal. As a child I can recall we only

I don't have any numbers to back this up, but historically going out to a restaurant or eating outside the home was a big deal. As a child I can recall we only went out to eat if it was a very special occasion. For (both sets of) my depression-era grandparents it was a darn big deal to get to go even to the local greasy spoon - it just wasn't done as it was considered an enormous expense. Even when we travelled in the summer, we always carried a picnic rather than stopping for fast food etc. The trend of the past decade+ toward people ordering takeout nightly is not normal in the majority of places. Perhaps in metro areas where there is a high density of restaurants competing for your dollar, but not elsewhere.