3 ms·

I'm sorry. What's the lesson here? "People ate out in restaurants less during and immediately after a global pandemic"? "It got darker after the sun set, and w

I'm sorry. What's the lesson here? "People ate out in restaurants less during and immediately after a global pandemic"? "It got darker after the sun set, and will therefore never be light again."

ghaff 3y ago
In general, it seems reasonable to ask whether there are long-term patterns of change. And the article makes the case that overall sales were still down in Q4 last year in addition to the percentage of takeout still being higher than pre-pandemic. I'm a bit surprised to be honest. Restaurants seem as busy as ever but I admittedly don't eat out a lot unless I'm traveling and obviously don't personally have hard data other than what's in articles like this. There seems to be a pretty consistent pattern that the "new normal" is mostly not radically different from the "old normal" but there are definitely some shifts at the margins.
- CrazyStat 3y ago
  > in addition to the percentage of takeout still being higher than pre-pandemic. There's an interesting game theory problem here. At least in my area, higher-end restaurants didn't offer takeout pre-pandemic. If you wanted to eat their food you had to go sit at their table. But having started offering takeout during the pandemic, it's hard for any one restaurant to stop offering takeout and risk losing business to competitors that continue to offer takeout.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    I must say that I don't really understand takeout for higher-end restaurants for the most part. The food is probably on its way to getting cold by the time you get it home and the recipes weren't really designed with takeout in mind. But I generally don't mind cooking; I understand that's not true of a lot of people.
    - akiselev 3y ago
      For that reason most of the high end restaurants in my area have separate menus for take out. Usually it's just their regular menu limited to the dishes that travel best, but often times they'll have dishes that are exclusively for their takeout menu (you can still ask for them when dining in)
    - CrazyStat 3y ago
      We have three young kids, so getting a babysitter and going out to a nice restaurant requires advance planning and adds a fair bit to the cost. With takeout we can enjoy an almost-as-nice meal with much less trouble. I also generally don't mind cooking, but it's a lot harder to prepare a nice meal while also taking care of kids.
- Larrikin 3y ago
  In the US, tipping culture needs to die instead of the current increase to try and make up for down sales. Any time I can, I do take out so I don't have any expectation to tip for somebody bringing my food to the table.

I'm sorry. What's the lesson here? "People ate out in restaurants less during and immediately after a global pandemic"? "It got darker after the sun set, and will therefore never be light again."

ghaff 3y ago

In general, it seems reasonable to ask whether there are long-term patterns of change. And the article makes the case that overall sales were still down in Q4 last year in addition to the percentage of takeout still being higher than pre-pandemic. I'm a bit surprised to be honest. Restaurants seem as busy as ever but I admittedly don't eat out a lot unless I'm traveling and obviously don't personally have hard data other than what's in articles like this. There seems to be a pretty consistent pattern that the "new normal" is mostly not radically different from the "old normal" but there are definitely some shifts at the margins.

CrazyStat 3y ago
> in addition to the percentage of takeout still being higher than pre-pandemic. There's an interesting game theory problem here. At least in my area, higher-end restaurants didn't offer takeout pre-pandemic. If you wanted to eat their food you had to go sit at their table. But having started offering takeout during the pandemic, it's hard for any one restaurant to stop offering takeout and risk losing business to competitors that continue to offer takeout.
- ghaff 3y ago
  I must say that I don't really understand takeout for higher-end restaurants for the most part. The food is probably on its way to getting cold by the time you get it home and the recipes weren't really designed with takeout in mind. But I generally don't mind cooking; I understand that's not true of a lot of people.
  - akiselev 3y ago
    For that reason most of the high end restaurants in my area have separate menus for take out. Usually it's just their regular menu limited to the dishes that travel best, but often times they'll have dishes that are exclusively for their takeout menu (you can still ask for them when dining in)
  - CrazyStat 3y ago
    We have three young kids, so getting a babysitter and going out to a nice restaurant requires advance planning and adds a fair bit to the cost. With takeout we can enjoy an almost-as-nice meal with much less trouble. I also generally don't mind cooking, but it's a lot harder to prepare a nice meal while also taking care of kids.
Larrikin 3y ago
In the US, tipping culture needs to die instead of the current increase to try and make up for down sales. Any time I can, I do take out so I don't have any expectation to tip for somebody bringing my food to the table.