4 ms·

It started with the pandemic but stayed because of inflation. Eating out is becoming expensive. Restaurants need to pay a lot more to attract workers which gets

It started with the pandemic but stayed because of inflation. Eating out is becoming expensive. Restaurants need to pay a lot more to attract workers which gets reflected in the food prices. Restaurants who were able to transition to a take out model are able to keep prices lower as compared to a full service restaurants and customers don’t want to pay more. My favorite brunch spot for some eggs and coffee used to cost $50 for 2 even during the pandemic shutdowns (they are fully outdoors). Now, it almost touched $100. But my favorite breakfast burrito place used to cost me $13 for a loaded burrito and it now costs me $15. Guess which one gets more business from me now? To make things work, the tip inflation has made it even worse. More tips for reduced service only encourages more people to order takeout. If I’m ordering at the counter, grabbing my order when it’s ready, eating it at a table and then cleaning up after myself when I’m done, if you ask for a 25-30% tip, I’m going to order takeout and tip 10% if I’m feeling generous.

ghaff 4y ago
You're probably right and as a sibling comment noted a lot of restaurants are short-staffed which has to make service worse on average. At the margins, also, people don't just automatically reset to all their previous behaviors. There's probably at least some subset of people who are like (to your example), "You know? Making brunch at home during the pandemic was really not a big deal. Why am I spending all that money to wait for a table at a crowded restaurant again?" ADDED: While there's something to be said for sitting at a table on a nice weekend morning and watching the world walk by in the city, throwing together a brunch at home is probably one of the easier and cheaper meals you can do.
occamrazor 4y ago
Do you tip for takeout (without delivery)?
- darth_avocado 4y ago
  Sometimes. I tip when I do it at the spots I frequent.
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  No. Tips are for service, attentiveness, and a nice dining experience. And often servers are paid a lower hourly wage in expectation that tips will make up the difference. Handing a bag of food across the counter does not qualify.
ethanbond 4y ago
Also rent. Up and up and up.
GenerWork 4y ago
>My favorite brunch spot for some eggs and coffee used to cost $50 for 2 even during the pandemic shutdowns Where on earth is this? This seems incredibly expensive even by East/West Coast standards.
- qbasic_forever 4y ago
  Definitely not outrageous for the west coast pre-pandemic prices. A nice breakfast plate in a popular city was easily $15/person. Add coffee, juice, etc. for two people and then gratuity and it's $50. I'm sure it's even worse now but I stopped going out years ago. I've heard you can't even get a burger and fries for less than $20 now.
- crazygringo 4y ago
  For NYC it seems right -- each person has a $15 plate and a $4 coffee, that's $38 which then adds 8.875% = $3.37 for sales tax and $7.60 for 20% tip, for a total of $48.97. Where they're getting $100 from though, I have no idea. Nobody's charging $30 for eggs or $8 for coffee unless you're at a top-end business hotel in Tokyo or something. Or the eggs come with caviar or they're accompanied with a small steak.
  - darth_avocado 4y ago
    I’m in the Bay Area. The math is close. Pre pandemic we’d do two plates, two coffees and a fifth item (side of bacon or a single pancake or something else). It was $17 for a plate, $5 for a coffee and a few bucks for the side. Came down to around $50-55 depending on whether we ordered the side. The same plate now costs $27, coffee is $7 and the sides are also similarly up priced. And that moves the needle up on the taxes and tips. This is a proper brunch spot, so it’s not just eggs.
    - noahtallen 4y ago
      Adding another anecdote for Seattle — a decent local breakfast spot (not upscale) has $15-$20 plates, with $4 for bottomless drip coffee (it’s not great). With 20% tip and 10% tax, it comes to around $30 a person. I think $30 a person is pretty normal at a lot of decent places. You can definitely still get a good lunch for $15. But just not that normal. I do find $50 a person to be way more common than it should be if you go order a side and a drink as well.
foob 4y ago
I think you're spot on about the role of tips and inflation. The article brings up patrons saving on marked up alcoholic beverages, but fails to mention the rise in expected tip percentages driven by larger defaults in point-of-sale systems. Tips are effectively a premium paid to eat in a restaurant instead of getting the food to go, and it's only natural that fewer people will be willing to pay that premium as it increases and is introduced in types of restaurants where it wouldn't have traditionally been charged. Couple that with inflation dwarfing wage growth over the last two years, and people are only going to be more sensitive to price differences.
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  Tips have inflated as well. When I was a kid a "good" tip was 15%. That became 18%, now 20% on top of the inflation in menu prices.
  - euroderf 4y ago
    A 10% tip is still OK if the service is no more than mediocre... or did I just date myself ?
    - xnyan 4y ago
      It varies a lot depending on location, but generally you can adjust by adding 5%. 15% is the new 10% and 20 is the new 15%.
jghn 4y ago
> Restaurants need to pay a lot more to attract workers There's also been a large uptick in restaurants' costs in terms of raw materials.
xwdv 4y ago
Tip nothing. Even if served. Others will tip more for your lack of tipping and things will even out.
- lozenge 4y ago
  Or even better, tip normally and post Internet comments about how you don't tip. Things will uneven out.
jaredhallen 4y ago
Even after the eggpocalypse, a dozen eggs is still $3.99 at the grocery store. And they only take a few minutes to fry up. Pot of coffee, maybe a buck. I like going out to brunch as much as the next person, but I've done a lot more cooking at home rather than either dine in or take out these days.
- darth_avocado 4y ago
  I definitely agree on cooking at home more myself. Though for eating out for me used to be more for meeting people or spending time with your partner. I still do that, but instead of meeting at a brunch spot, you do a takeout and hang out elsewhere.
TuringNYC 4y ago
Our family went to a restaurant yesterday, and they put on a 20% gratuity by default, and then presented a credit card bill with a line for a secondary tip and suggested amounts based on percentage (18%, 20%, 25%) -- effectively tips of 42%, 44%, and 50% The first tip (the default 20%) was hidden on the detailed receipt. The credit card receipt had no indication there was already a tip applied. I was struck by the dark pattern here. Further, the service was so-so. We had to ask for water three times before we got refills, kids screaming the entire time. Dinner out is meant to be relaxing and enjoyable, not a quest to demand something you're already paying for. When I spoke to a co-diner, the explanation was "well they are short on staff." OK, so if they are short on staff and couldn't refill glasses with water, how did that justify a 20% gratuity? Also, if they are short on staff, and the smaller set of staff are sharing a tip, doesn't that even out a lower tip? This has happened over and over and our default response is not to complain, or write bad reviews, but just to stop dining out. We cook at home, with high-quality ingredients, and enjoy the time together.
VancouverMan 4y ago
The inflation goes way beyond just an increase in the price. The portion sizes often seem to be simultaneously decreasing, too. The quality of the ingredients is also often noticeably less than it used to be. On top of all of that, the service from the staff is also often terrible these days. I end up paying far more, getting a much smaller quantity of food, what little I do get is inferior, and the overall experience is unpleasant. It's not just getting the same for more money. It's now about getting far less for more money.

ghaff 4y ago

You're probably right and as a sibling comment noted a lot of restaurants are short-staffed which has to make service worse on average. At the margins, also, people don't just automatically reset to all their previous behaviors. There's probably at least some subset of people who are like (to your example), "You know? Making brunch at home during the pandemic was really not a big deal. Why am I spending all that money to wait for a table at a crowded restaurant again?" ADDED: While there's something to be said for sitting at a table on a nice weekend morning and watching the world walk by in the city, throwing together a brunch at home is probably one of the easier and cheaper meals you can do.

occamrazor 4y ago

Do you tip for takeout (without delivery)?

darth_avocado 4y ago
Sometimes. I tip when I do it at the spots I frequent.
SoftTalker 4y ago
No. Tips are for service, attentiveness, and a nice dining experience. And often servers are paid a lower hourly wage in expectation that tips will make up the difference. Handing a bag of food across the counter does not qualify.

ethanbond 4y ago

Also rent. Up and up and up.

GenerWork 4y ago

>My favorite brunch spot for some eggs and coffee used to cost $50 for 2 even during the pandemic shutdowns Where on earth is this? This seems incredibly expensive even by East/West Coast standards.

qbasic_forever 4y ago
Definitely not outrageous for the west coast pre-pandemic prices. A nice breakfast plate in a popular city was easily $15/person. Add coffee, juice, etc. for two people and then gratuity and it's $50. I'm sure it's even worse now but I stopped going out years ago. I've heard you can't even get a burger and fries for less than $20 now.
crazygringo 4y ago
For NYC it seems right -- each person has a $15 plate and a $4 coffee, that's $38 which then adds 8.875% = $3.37 for sales tax and $7.60 for 20% tip, for a total of $48.97. Where they're getting $100 from though, I have no idea. Nobody's charging $30 for eggs or $8 for coffee unless you're at a top-end business hotel in Tokyo or something. Or the eggs come with caviar or they're accompanied with a small steak.
- darth_avocado 4y ago
  I’m in the Bay Area. The math is close. Pre pandemic we’d do two plates, two coffees and a fifth item (side of bacon or a single pancake or something else). It was $17 for a plate, $5 for a coffee and a few bucks for the side. Came down to around $50-55 depending on whether we ordered the side. The same plate now costs $27, coffee is $7 and the sides are also similarly up priced. And that moves the needle up on the taxes and tips. This is a proper brunch spot, so it’s not just eggs.
  - noahtallen 4y ago
    Adding another anecdote for Seattle — a decent local breakfast spot (not upscale) has $15-$20 plates, with $4 for bottomless drip coffee (it’s not great). With 20% tip and 10% tax, it comes to around $30 a person. I think $30 a person is pretty normal at a lot of decent places. You can definitely still get a good lunch for $15. But just not that normal. I do find $50 a person to be way more common than it should be if you go order a side and a drink as well.

foob 4y ago

I think you're spot on about the role of tips and inflation. The article brings up patrons saving on marked up alcoholic beverages, but fails to mention the rise in expected tip percentages driven by larger defaults in point-of-sale systems. Tips are effectively a premium paid to eat in a restaurant instead of getting the food to go, and it's only natural that fewer people will be willing to pay that premium as it increases and is introduced in types of restaurants where it wouldn't have traditionally been charged. Couple that with inflation dwarfing wage growth over the last two years, and people are only going to be more sensitive to price differences.

SoftTalker 4y ago
Tips have inflated as well. When I was a kid a "good" tip was 15%. That became 18%, now 20% on top of the inflation in menu prices.
- euroderf 4y ago
  A 10% tip is still OK if the service is no more than mediocre... or did I just date myself ?
  - xnyan 4y ago
    It varies a lot depending on location, but generally you can adjust by adding 5%. 15% is the new 10% and 20 is the new 15%.

jghn 4y ago

> Restaurants need to pay a lot more to attract workers There's also been a large uptick in restaurants' costs in terms of raw materials.

xwdv 4y ago

Tip nothing. Even if served. Others will tip more for your lack of tipping and things will even out.

lozenge 4y ago
Or even better, tip normally and post Internet comments about how you don't tip. Things will uneven out.

jaredhallen 4y ago

Even after the eggpocalypse, a dozen eggs is still $3.99 at the grocery store. And they only take a few minutes to fry up. Pot of coffee, maybe a buck. I like going out to brunch as much as the next person, but I've done a lot more cooking at home rather than either dine in or take out these days.

darth_avocado 4y ago
I definitely agree on cooking at home more myself. Though for eating out for me used to be more for meeting people or spending time with your partner. I still do that, but instead of meeting at a brunch spot, you do a takeout and hang out elsewhere.

TuringNYC 4y ago

Our family went to a restaurant yesterday, and they put on a 20% gratuity by default, and then presented a credit card bill with a line for a secondary tip and suggested amounts based on percentage (18%, 20%, 25%) -- effectively tips of 42%, 44%, and 50% The first tip (the default 20%) was hidden on the detailed receipt. The credit card receipt had no indication there was already a tip applied. I was struck by the dark pattern here. Further, the service was so-so. We had to ask for water three times before we got refills, kids screaming the entire time. Dinner out is meant to be relaxing and enjoyable, not a quest to demand something you're already paying for. When I spoke to a co-diner, the explanation was "well they are short on staff." OK, so if they are short on staff and couldn't refill glasses with water, how did that justify a 20% gratuity? Also, if they are short on staff, and the smaller set of staff are sharing a tip, doesn't that even out a lower tip? This has happened over and over and our default response is not to complain, or write bad reviews, but just to stop dining out. We cook at home, with high-quality ingredients, and enjoy the time together.

VancouverMan 4y ago

The inflation goes way beyond just an increase in the price. The portion sizes often seem to be simultaneously decreasing, too. The quality of the ingredients is also often noticeably less than it used to be. On top of all of that, the service from the staff is also often terrible these days. I end up paying far more, getting a much smaller quantity of food, what little I do get is inferior, and the overall experience is unpleasant. It's not just getting the same for more money. It's now about getting far less for more money.