Restaurant Costs

[HawkeyeNFO]

Now that I am FIRE'd, Mrs Hawkeye and I like to go have a lunch date on days when she's not at her job.  One place we went cost nearly $80, once tax and tip was included.  FOR LUNCH!  That seems to me quite excessive.  We could probably feed our family of five 3 meals a day for many days at that price, instead of just a lunch.  Now in fairness, it was a micro-brewery type of place, and we split an appetizer and a dessert.  Their Belgian abbey-style beer was excellent, too.  But $80!  Even at the Indian buffet we went to a few weeks ago, the cost was only $22 for both of us. 

But think about it:  that's 2 meals, for 2 people, and $100 gone.  I long ago realized that eating at restaurants was expensive, especially if you include alcohol.  And that's why we really don't eat out that often, but I wonder how many meals Americans on average are eating at restaurants.  To me this seems like one of those "hidden" costs, that people keep paying even after they claim to be saving their money.  Even fast food isn't that cheap, and when I was working, the convenience factor caused me to eat at restaurants for lunch several times each week.

[HawkeyeNFO]

https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-american-eating-habits

https://www.fool.com/retirement/2017/01/01/heres-what-the-average-american-spends-on-restaura.aspx

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandratalty/2016/10/17/millennials-spend-44-percent-of-food-dollars-on-eating-out-says-food-institute/#91220f43ff68

[Bucksandreds]

Americans are eating out more and more. I love to eat out but almost always use coupons, groupons or go when the restaurant has a good special. We get great Mexican food at a local restaurant and spend less than $40 for 4 people. That same quality meal at home might be $15 but we have to prepare it, clean up afterwords and continue our routine. When planned correctly, I see real value in eating out. We did a local Japanese restaurant with a groupon all in for $45 for 5 people last week. We’ll go there again soon. There is value in (every now and then) breaking your routine and saving 1- 2 hours in preparation and clean up.

[DumpTruck]

Guys knows it's excessive, does the excessive thing, and then tells it how excessive it was.

Yes eating out is expensive.

I hate eating out, I hate everything about it. It's impossible no matter how much you pay, to equal the quality ingredients I use in my own food. 

A restaurant will never serve the same quality of ingredients that I do at home. Never. (I've been a professional server for 10 years and also 10 years in corporate restaurant supply chain)

[I'm a red panda]

My favorite place to eat out is our local Indian food restaurant.  But even with no alcohol, it costs us at least $65 to go there. As a result, we only go there once a year...

That's just way too much for us.

Our typical meal out will cost us closer to $20-35 for the two of us.

We've been tracking how much we eat out, for a gauntlet, and thus far it is about 22 times so far this year.  That includes meals with family after having a baby, as well as 2 weeks of vacation (where most meals were eaten in, but only once a day still really adds up!).   

[zinnie]

Yeah eating out costs are ridiculous! I like a good brewery as much as the next person, but one thing we do is that we either go out for drinks OR for food. Rarely both. You can eat at home then go to a brewery for drinks, or go out for dinner and have the alcohol at home before or after. (And if you're starving, and too drunk to make good rational decisions, plain fries are rarely more than $5, even at the fanciest of breweries!)

I agree with DumpTruck about ingredient quality, too. When you get good at cooking for yourself you start to notice how low-quality most restaurant ingredients are. A little basic cooking knowledge goes a long way. We are pretty frugal but feel like we eat like kings at home!

[lizzzi]

One thing I've noticed since I've consciously been using Aldi a lot and doing most of my cooking at home is how much better my home-cooked meals are than restaurant meals--and how even my batch cooking and freezing in small containers makes better meals than I used to have when buying prepared foods or fast food. A big plus is that I know exactly what is in my food, and that my kitchen is clean. I'm not obsessed or a purist--of course I'll buy meals "out" sometimes--certainly when traveling--but for the most part, home food is better. And waaaaay cheaper.

[nereo]

The final cost of $80 for two people eating lunch doesn't surprise me, and goes a long way toward explaining why we have as much wealth as we've ever had yet feel much poorer than our parents and grandparents did.  Eating out has become 'normalized' both in frequency and cost, with couples often eating out several times per week at a cost of a few grand per month.

$80 is also becoming pretty standard; for example 2 main courses @$19 each, drinks at $8 each, shared $10 appetizer + tax and tip ~=$80.  That's "normal" for sit down service in most metropolitan areas, lunch or not.

what's striking to me is how much the price-point for the finest establishments have changed.  Places like Saison, The French Laundry, Mesa, Per Se, etc. can easily run a couple $800-$1,000 once you factor in alcohol, taxes and tip.
It's trickled down, too - the trendy spots that may be a tier below now routinely offer $15 cocktails paired with $40 main courses. Toss in some apps and a dessert or coffee and you can easily reach $300 for places that aren't "worthy" of national attention.

makes my head spin.

[mathlete]

Eating out is one of those things that I've found that I don't really miss after cutting it out.

I used to be good for like, 2 or 3 dinners out a week and 2-3 lunches out at work. Now I prep my lunch religiously, and we have a date night maybe once a week. Now, going out to eat is like, a big and exciting event. And since we still do it once a week, I feel like we barely have time to miss it after it has passed.

The best part though, is feeling better. On the rare, rare occasion that I leave my lunch at home, I'll have to compensate by either eating at a drive thru and feeling like trash, or paying $10 to eat something where I don't feel like trash. I can't believe I used to live like that!

[DumpTruck]

I guess one other thing for some perspective, is I've eaten at all the best restaurants in the country. As a food buyer, I am constantly wined and dined by the sales guys, but even at even at 100% free, I still am not a huge fan going out. The food doesn't make me feel good afterwards, it may taste great going down but I always "feel" the amount of salt every chef has to employ to keep up with the joneses. They are going for high optics, the first initial hit, the absolute exploitation of every biological feedback mechanism.

[spokey doke]

Guys knows it's excessive, does the excessive thing, and then tells it how excessive it was.

or...expensive things are expensive...go figure

[undercover]

As someone who cooks for themselves, there's no way I'm doing it every day. Yeah there's batch cooking, which is sometimes useful, but I'm not eating the same thing everyday. Much easier to save on eating out when there's 2+ people and you share in the responsibility of everything cooking involves.

[nereo]

As someone who cooks for themselves, there's no way I'm doing it every day. Yeah there's batch cooking, which is sometimes useful, but I'm not eating the same thing everyday. Much easier to save on eating out when there's 2+ people and you share in the responsibility of everything cooking involves.

I'm not quite following - are you saying that single cooks have to eat the same thing every day (due to portion sizes)?  If so I strongly recommend you check out any of the excellent cookbooks geared at cooking for singles and/or cooking for university students.
Even for 1 person households you can have a new meal every night at a fraction of what a restaurant meal costs (often ~$3 per serving or so).

[DumpTruck]

As someone who cooks for themselves, there's no way I'm doing it every day. Yeah there's batch cooking, which is sometimes useful, but I'm not eating the same thing everyday. Much easier to save on eating out when there's 2+ people and you share in the responsibility of everything cooking involves.

I'm single... and get it done.  I'll cook big bases for different meals on the weekends and then build from there. For instance, I'll make a big batch of black beans and garbanzo beans. That's base for wraps, tacos, avo toasts, hummus, it can go in salads to buff them up. That's one of the weekend days. Part of that will go into a vegetable chili or stew.

Now I've got stew, chili, and bean bases. I can make mushroom tacos with beans, rice and beans, vegetable bowls with peanut sauce toppings. Or cheat a little bit with a store bought goyza sauce or something. Many ways to do it. But I myself am just fine with eating the same thing multiple days in a row.

[Slee_stack]

We average once per week.  Its about $30 all-in for the two of us.  No alcohol.

Its all about where you choose to go and what you budget for.


We do get drinks out on occasion.  That's also about $15pp...maybe once a month or so.

$40 pp is definitely 'high' to me.  We might blow that once per year on a silly restaurant.  That's still OK.

Again...all what you are comfortable with.  if you are aware of it and plan for it, enjoy!

[ketchup]

As someone who cooks for themselves, there's no way I'm doing it every day. Yeah there's batch cooking, which is sometimes useful, but I'm not eating the same thing everyday. Much easier to save on eating out when there's 2+ people and you share in the responsibility of everything cooking involves.

I'm single... and get it done.  I'll cook big bases for different meals on the weekends and then build from there. For instance, I'll make a big batch of black beans and garbanzo beans. That's base for wraps, tacos, avo toasts, hummus, it can go in salads to buff them up. That's one of the weekend days. Part of that will go into a vegetable chili or stew.

Now I've got stew, chili, and bean bases. I can make mushroom tacos with beans, rice and beans, vegetable bowls with peanut sauce toppings. Or cheat a little bit with a store bought goyza sauce or something. Many ways to do it. But I myself am just fine with eating the same thing multiple days in a row.

Yeah, I'm confused by this too.  I'm the primary cook in my household of two.  My GF travels a lot for work and whenever she's out of town my cooking gets way simpler since I'm cooking about 1/3 less food and my own taste standards are basically bachelor-chow level so I can make do with no plan and whatever's already lying around.

[ReadySetMillionaire]

...one thing we do is that we either go out for drinks OR for food. Rarely both. You can eat at home then go to a brewery for drinks, or go out for dinner and have the alcohol at home before or after...

I guess I've recently subconsciously tried to do this, but now that it's been articulated well, I'm going to adopt it as a rule. Great insight.

[undercover]

As someone who cooks for themselves, there's no way I'm doing it every day. Yeah there's batch cooking, which is sometimes useful, but I'm not eating the same thing everyday. Much easier to save on eating out when there's 2+ people and you share in the responsibility of everything cooking involves.

I'm not quite following - are you saying that single cooks have to eat the same thing every day (due to portion sizes)?  If so I strongly recommend you check out any of the excellent cookbooks geared at cooking for singles and/or cooking for university students.
Even for 1 person households you can have a new meal every night at a fraction of what a restaurant meal costs (often ~$3 per serving or so).

I'm just saying in general that I prefer minimizing time in a kitchen. One way to do that is batch cooking - which obviously leads to more homogenous meals. Variety and quality are functions of time. Increase either one and you're increasing time. I am about 50/50 on kitchen/eating out. More than willing to make the tradeoff for time to focus on other things. Just like humans no longer have to worry about farming or hunting, I'm quite sure that in the future hardly anyone will be cooking.

Different strokes I guess. I'm FI and don't travel or do anything really besides read and do what I want around the house. I just don't want to spend my time in a kitchen these days.

[nereo]

I'm just saying in general that I prefer minimizing time in a kitchen. One way to do that is batch cooking - which obviously leads to more homogenous meals. Variety and quality are functions of time. Increase either one and you're increasing time. I am about 50/50 on kitchen/eating out. More than willing to make the tradeoff for time to focus on other things. Just like humans no longer have to worry about farming or hunting, I'm quite sure that in the future hardly anyone will be cooking.

In that case I'd urge you to check out the genre of cookbooks which focus on how to make multiple meals from the same basic base steps.  In short they allow you to do what you seek - get a variety of meals with a minimum amount of time spent in the kitchen.  Interestingly, using this approach results in a net reduction in time in the kitchen, as one evening's prep (effort) can be paid forward the following few evenings: the time spent per meal goes down considerably.

I disagree with your prediction that no one will be (home) cooking in the future.  Restaurants have been around for millennia, and yet the kitchen and dining rooms remain the focus of homes across all cultures. Of course I have my own biases as cooking is one of my favorite past-times, and I'm basically un-interested in eliminating it, even if I could get meals of the same quality for the same cost in a restaurant (which of course I can't).

[Gin1984]

Guys knows it's excessive, does the excessive thing, and then tells it how excessive it was.

Yes eating out is expensive.

I hate eating out, I hate everything about it. It's impossible no matter how much you pay, to equal the quality ingredients I use in my own food. 

A restaurant will never serve the same quality of ingredients that I do at home. Never. (I've been a professional server for 10 years and also 10 years in corporate restaurant supply chain)

I can't get the same freshness of fish here in Iowa as I can at the sushi restaurant nor do I make sushi very well.  So, basically YMMV.

[partgypsy]

Last year me or my ex would take our youngest child to a fast food place both to have breakfast and have her homework done before her private school. It was the routine. I averaged eating out 14x a month, more than half being that fast food restaurant breakfast, with average cost around $10 for the 2 of us. There were some people I saw every single time I was there. That meant they ate there every day.
Last 2 months, we have a different routine for her and pack her lunch instead, I now average eating out 5x a month. For the amount of money I spent on restaurants (last 2 months around 100/ month, before around 230 a month), it is worth the money to avoid food prep and clean up and give myself a break as a single working Mom.   

[Noodle]

If the OP is trying to make the point that restaurant eating can be very expensive compared to home cooking and also very easy to go from "mindful" to habit without anyone noticing, then sure.

Once you admit that eating out is a luxury, not a necessity, then it's just a matter of whether you value it more than the money it costs which is a whole different discussion.

Some people here value the opportunity to eat food that's too complicated to make at home, or to support a local business, or for the "chef" to have a night off. Other people would rather spend their money elsewhere, or put it in savings.

As with everything, it's about mindfulness...

[quinndannen]

You've got to look at special deals for each day of the week. I go out to lunch everyday, and budget accordingly for these 5 weekly meals. I try to keep each meal under $7 dollars, and researched all the local places around me (Iowa City) that will give me the most filling meal for that cost. Bo James Mondays for their french dip special, then DC's for their chicken sandwich. Wednesdays I'm back in Bo James for a burger, and finish off the week at Summit Thursday and Friday. Summit has drink deals those days, so those are the only day I'll purchase a nice draft beer. The last two days usually put me around $9 dollars, but that sure as hell beats $80!

[EnjoyIt]

I used to have 1-2 drinks at every restaurant meal.  Then I rationalized why I am buying those drinks. 1-2 drinks does not give me a buzz and for the price of those 2 drinks I can go out and get another dinner.  Today I almost exclusively get water and cut our restaurant expenses by at least 30%. 

[nereo]

I used to have 1-2 drinks at every restaurant meal.  Then I rationalized why I am buying those drinks. 1-2 drinks does not give me a buzz and for the price of those 2 drinks I can go out and get another dinner.  Today I almost exclusively get water and cut our restaurant expenses by at least 30%.

This is one place where I'm annoyed by my own metabolism and body (i'm 6'5" and athletic). My wife can get buzzed on a single cocktail, whereas it would take me at least 4.  No way am I spending that coin at restaurant prices.  Ergo, like you I just get water.  She'll occasionally get a drink and I wind up the designated driver.  c'est la vie!

[DumpTruck]

Yes for fish, it can be tricky, but you can open a business account with the same distributor the sushi place does, and start a neighborly coop to share that fish once a week when you pick it up from the will-call.

You're bad at making sushi? It does take practice. Have you tried it enough? not trying to make you defensive but being a badass takes a little practice...

But I do get your point, certain specialized cuisine may be less feasible to create yourself at home. A nice sushi dinner is a true treat but you most certainly still get higher quality ingredients at home. They are using soybean oil based everything at a sushi restaurant. Like that creamy thing on top of your roll? Soybean oil mayo. not my cup of tea.


And I don't think cooking will ever go out of style. No one can make me food exactly how I like it better than myself, and then I have no one to complain too either.

[I'm a red panda]

We have a great Asian market near us (also in Iowa) where I can get decent tuna for sushi- actually there are two across the street from each other, so they have really competitive prices.  I haven't asked about other sushi grade fish.
We often have sushi nights at home. We limit it to rolls of various types with shrimp, crab, and tuna and tamago nigiri.

Sushi nights are our favorite party get together though. (Pulled pork also makes great sushi, which is what we do for our shellfish allergic friends; oh, and teriyaki mushrooms.)

The cost of hosting sushi night is usually about the same as DH and I going out for sushi, but we feed 8-10 adults and have a great party.

[undercover]

In that case I'd urge you to check out the genre of cookbooks which focus on how to make multiple meals from the same basic base steps.  In short they allow you to do what you seek - get a variety of meals with a minimum amount of time spent in the kitchen.  Interestingly, using this approach results in a net reduction in time in the kitchen, as one evening's prep (effort) can be paid forward the following few evenings: the time spent per meal goes down considerably.

Are you referring to modular cooking? I do need to learn more about techniques and what ingredients pair well in order to make consistently good meals. I agree that that would definitely save time and may re-ignite my passion for cooking.

I disagree with your prediction that no one will be (home) cooking in the future.  Restaurants have been around for millennia, and yet the kitchen and dining rooms remain the focus of homes across all cultures. Of course I have my own biases as cooking is one of my favorite past-times, and I'm basically un-interested in eliminating it, even if I could get meals of the same quality for the same cost in a restaurant (which of course I can't).

Restaurants/prepared food and the means in which they have to reach customers (easier/faster/cheaper) have evolved over the years. I don't see the declining trend over the past however many years of families making their own dinners reversing itself anytime soon. There also just seems to be no end with the number of new options popping up all the time.

Early retirement wasn't even on the radar for all but the elite of people 100 years ago. It's been attainable for a lot of people within the past ten years. Presumably the concept will be applicable to more and more people even without a change in their lifestyle. The grocery store hasn't been around that long. Before that most people were most definitely involved in some part of their own food production. And now we're replacing going the store with fast and affordable delivery services. I just don't see the trend reversing anytime soon and I think it will inevitably lead to a world where quality prepared food is readily and affordably available.

[nereo]

In that case I'd urge you to check out the genre of cookbooks which focus on how to make multiple meals from the same basic base steps.  In short they allow you to do what you seek - get a variety of meals with a minimum amount of time spent in the kitchen.  Interestingly, using this approach results in a net reduction in time in the kitchen, as one evening's prep (effort) can be paid forward the following few evenings: the time spent per meal goes down considerably.

Are you referring to modular cooking? I do need to learn more about techniques and what ingredients pair well in order to make consistently good meals. I agree that that would definitely save time and may re-ignite my passion for cooking.

I've heard it called many different things by many different authors and cooks: modular cooking, base-prep cooking, riffs, weekday planning, etc.  Early on it was called "reusing leftovers" but that admittedly gave it a bad rap, as people associated
'leftovers' with 'food already cooked and finished'.
They're all based on prepping multiple meals from the same basic ingredients and steps.  When you are next browsing through cookbooks look for ones that focus on the type of cuisine you like to eat but will walk you through how to shift the prep for one meal into3 or 4 different meals.
If you tell me what you like to eat I might be able to suggest a few titles.

[undercover]

Most of what I've made revolves around casseroles or one pot meals (stuff I can eat over days or freeze). I like anything Italian or Mexican - spicy, cheesy, meat, peppers, tomato-y. I'll try about anything though. Everything I've found recipe or technique wise has always been online which could be where I'm going wrong - even though I've seen some great one-pot meal books/magazines that I should have bought.

[Just Joe]

Steak for 1 at a nice restaurant, or steak for the whole family from the grocery store. Plus something sweet afterwards (homemade).

Felt bad for wanting a kayak until the obvious smacked me in the face: bring lunch and in a month or so I'll pay for that used kayak and maybe save some money as well.

Do it all year (well, most of the time) and we're way ahead.

Also, less wear and tear on the car. And lunches are more leisurely.

Imagine two working spouses and both go out for lunch every day plus taking the family out multiple times per week.

How would anyone get ahead that way?

[nereo]

Most of what I've made revolves around casseroles or one pot meals (stuff I can eat over days or freeze). I like anything Italian or Mexican - spicy, cheesy, meat, peppers, tomato-y. I'll try about anything though. Everything I've found recipe or technique wise has always been online which could be where I'm going wrong - even though I've seen some great one-pot meal books/magazines that I should have bought.

Rick Bayless does a good job providing 'riffs' for all his recipes, so you can make 3-4 different salsas using the same core ingredients (e.g. Everyday Mexican).  With mexican dishes its the salsas and cooking that differentiate most of the dishes.  braised meat and 3 different salsas can yield tacos (day 1), enchilladas (day 2) and flautas (day 3), each with its own salsa.
Theres a lot of similar flexibilty with italian recipes as well, and tomato-based sauces freeze particularly well. We keep bolognese and tomato-based sauces in our freezer (frozen in zip-lock bags) whever we need.  Both can be used for cassaroles, and the latter doubles for pizza and the base for more meaty dishes (e.g. parmegiana). 

My roommate is actively pushing "Ready of Not!" &  "Nom Nom Paleo" (both by: Tam & Fong) no experince with them personally but flipping through the former it seems both instructive and able to give you a variety of meals from the same "blocks" (as they call them in the book).  Cute 'graphic-novel' style delivery which some might like (and otehrs maybe less-so)

...just a few thoughts off the top of my head.  Might add to it later (or others may chime in)
Soups are another one where making stocks and freezing them allows you to quickly make dozens of different varieties and makes you seem a wizard in the kitchen. I make mine in the crockpot then freeze in large blocks.  From that I can whip up a tasty bowl of ramen OR minestrone OR Avgolemono OR... all in ~10 minutes.

[Gone_fishing]

Yeah restaurant costs can get out of hand, especially in a place like sf Bay Area where I live now.  There are temptations around every corner.  What helps us is a rule of eating out only for the foods that we cannot/aren’t wiling to make at home, like dim sum, Ethiopian food, Indian chaat, etc.  Most of the time, expensive stuff is easily made at home.  For example, steak. Just a piece of meat on the grill!  We have scheduled vegetable and grass fed meat deliveries that kind of fixes our grocery costs ($300/mo for meat and veggies)  So we have grass fed beef all the time at home so dont feel like eating it outside.  For some fancy occasion we head to the Asian grocery store, knock ourselves out with seafood and make chioppino.yum!

[Zikoris]

Yeah, it's nuts. We mostly stopped going years ago. Our not-home food spending has been between $250-$300/year for a long time now. Checking Mint, it looks like we've had four restaurant meals this year, two with friends, one for our anniversary, and one for my birthday. That's pretty normal for us.

[skekses]

I used to buy my lunch every day plus probably had a few dinners out each week. That stopped after I found MMM, but I still probably spend $100-150 on restaurants each month depending on social obligations. These days my bigger challenge is accepting the price tag that comes with socializing.

For example, I was busy at work so I let a guy that I was meeting for the first time pick where we would go. He picks a restaurant that I know is on the pricey side, however I had a pretty big lunch planned for that same day (work social obligation), so all I was intending to order was one drink to limit the damage. Turns out he has a coupon that is getting ready to expire and in order to use it, food has to be ordered. We end up splitting an entree even though I wasn't hungry. He has a couple of drinks to use up the value of the coupon. As it turns out, the coupon is only good at a different location. I felt bad for him because he seemed very embarrassed and he offered to pay the whole thing, but I didn't want him to have to do that so we split the bill. My portion came out to $35 which is about the amount I might be willing to pay for a "fancy" meal and also about $30 more than I would normally want to pay to meet someone for the first time. Sometimes I hate that I break down an otherwise pleasant evening in this way.

 

[Gin1984]

We have a great Asian market near us (also in Iowa) where I can get decent tuna for sushi- actually there are two across the street from each other, so they have really competitive prices.  I haven't asked about other sushi grade fish.
We often have sushi nights at home. We limit it to rolls of various types with shrimp, crab, and tuna and tamago nigiri.

Sushi nights are our favorite party get together though. (Pulled pork also makes great sushi, which is what we do for our shellfish allergic friends; oh, and teriyaki mushrooms.)

The cost of hosting sushi night is usually about the same as DH and I going out for sushi, but we feed 8-10 adults and have a great party.

OMG, where in Iowa?

[Gin1984]

Yes for fish, it can be tricky, but you can open a business account with the same distributor the sushi place does, and start a neighborly coop to share that fish once a week when you pick it up from the will-call.

You're bad at making sushi? It does take practice. Have you tried it enough? not trying to make you defensive but being a badass takes a little practice...

But I do get your point, certain specialized cuisine may be less feasible to create yourself at home. A nice sushi dinner is a true treat but you most certainly still get higher quality ingredients at home. They are using soybean oil based everything at a sushi restaurant. Like that creamy thing on top of your roll? Soybean oil mayo. not my cup of tea.


And I don't think cooking will ever go out of style. No one can make me food exactly how I like it better than myself, and then I have no one to complain too either.

Not the rolling, something tastes off.  I think it is the rice but there are a ton of recipes that are slightly different. But again, I can't get the fish as fresh.  And the co-op idea is great but the restaurant is an hour from me so I doubt I'll find enough locals but if I get a job in that city, I'll keep it in mind

[MrsPete]

Now that I am FIRE'd, Mrs Hawkeye and I like to go have a lunch date on days when she's not at her job.  One place we went cost nearly $80, once tax and tip was included.  FOR LUNCH!  That seems to me quite excessive. 

Extremely excessive.  An $80 meal for us would be a splurge for our anniversary -- not a weekday lunch. 

[MrsTuxedocat]

Ugh, I know restaurant costs really add up. I try my best to be mindful of spending like asking myself -- do I actually want an alcoholic drink or dessert. I enjoy going out for meals, my approach is to have meals at nice-ish places that it absolutely feels special.

I probably go out about 1-2 times per week spilt between vacation dining, out with friends/family and date nights. I could do better, but do I want to???

[ACyclist]

That is quite high. 

We cook so well at home that I am often disappointed at the quality of my meal. It's been a long time, since I paid that kind of money and was happy with my food.  To me it's just not worth it.

My only exception is this local taqueria.  I can't make food like they do.  It seems to always taste perfect.  For $20 for a large meal for two, I'm happy with just going there.

[Mikila]

Think about what you're getting when you eat at a restaurant.
The cost of the food.
Hiring of servants to cook said food.
Hiring of servers to wait upon you during your meal.
Hiring of servants to clean up after you finish your meal.

Cooking at home is a no-brainer.  Eating out is LUXURY. 

[FallenTimber]

My wife and I both work from home, so we use eating out as an excuse to get out. We always split a meal, and our tab is rarely more than $15- $20 with tax and 25% tip (we tip extra since we split). We like to go out for the experience, the atmosphere, and the quality time together. She loves to get dressed up, and I love to show her off. Filling my stomach is rarely a priority, as I know I can make more food at home afterwards.

Sushi is our only real eating out weakness. We find Groupons and eat ourselves into food comas. The closest sushi to our home is over 110 miles away, so we make the most of it.

[Metta]

Now that I am FIRE'd, Mrs Hawkeye and I like to go have a lunch date on days when she's not at her job.  One place we went cost nearly $80, once tax and tip was included.  FOR LUNCH!  That seems to me quite excessive.  We could probably feed our family of five 3 meals a day for many days at that price, instead of just a lunch.  Now in fairness, it was a micro-brewery type of place, and we split an appetizer and a dessert.  Their Belgian abbey-style beer was excellent, too.  But $80!  Even at the Indian buffet we went to a few weeks ago, the cost was only $22 for both of us. 

But think about it:  that's 2 meals, for 2 people, and $100 gone.  I long ago realized that eating at restaurants was expensive, especially if you include alcohol.  And that's why we really don't eat out that often, but I wonder how many meals Americans on average are eating at restaurants.  To me this seems like one of those "hidden" costs, that people keep paying even after they claim to be saving their money.  Even fast food isn't that cheap, and when I was working, the convenience factor caused me to eat at restaurants for lunch several times each week.

Since I FIREd I am finding that I am in restaurants quite a bit more than I used to be when I worked. My husband and I still eat out together about 6-8 times a year, but if I am to see my friends, I'm finding that I need to meet them at restaurants because lunch is the only time they have. (Work is eating their lives just as it used to eat mine.) So now I am in restaurants two or three times a month. The prices are not as high here as you are seeing, but it jolts me to spend $12 on lunch when I know my normal lunch at home of homemade lentil soup, homemade bread, and a big bowl of cauliflower costs me less than $2. Plus it is delicious and guaranteed vegan with no problems dealing with servers.

...one thing we do is that we either go out for drinks OR for food. Rarely both. You can eat at home then go to a brewery for drinks, or go out for dinner and have the alcohol at home before or after...

I guess I've recently subconsciously tried to do this, but now that it's been articulated well, I'm going to adopt it as a rule. Great insight.

We love fine wine and we know how much it costs (because my husband is a spendypants wine collector), which makes it impossible to order wine in restaurants. We look at the wine list and then look at the prices, realize we could buy a bottle of wine for what they are charging for a glass, then shudder. It ruins the experience for us to know we are overpaying by that much. We thought we would know what to order in restaurants if we undertook to educate ourselves on wine. What we learned instead was to drink wine at home.

[partgypsy]

Now that I am FIRE'd, Mrs Hawkeye and I like to go have a lunch date on days when she's not at her job.  One place we went cost nearly $80, once tax and tip was included.  FOR LUNCH!  That seems to me quite excessive.  We could probably feed our family of five 3 meals a day for many days at that price, instead of just a lunch.  Now in fairness, it was a micro-brewery type of place, and we split an appetizer and a dessert.  Their Belgian abbey-style beer was excellent, too.  But $80!  Even at the Indian buffet we went to a few weeks ago, the cost was only $22 for both of us. 

But think about it:  that's 2 meals, for 2 people, and $100 gone.  I long ago realized that eating at restaurants was expensive, especially if you include alcohol.  And that's why we really don't eat out that often, but I wonder how many meals Americans on average are eating at restaurants.  To me this seems like one of those "hidden" costs, that people keep paying even after they claim to be saving their money.  Even fast food isn't that cheap, and when I was working, the convenience factor caused me to eat at restaurants for lunch several times each week.

Since I FIREd I am finding that I am in restaurants quite a bit more than I used to be when I worked. My husband and I still eat out together about 6-8 times a year, but if I am to see my friends, I'm finding that I need to meet them at restaurants because lunch is the only time they have. (Work is eating their lives just as it used to eat mine.) So now I am in restaurants two or three times a month. The prices are not as high here as you are seeing, but it jolts me to spend $12 on lunch when I know my normal lunch at home of homemade lentil soup, homemade bread, and a big bowl of cauliflower costs me less than $2. Plus it is delicious and guaranteed vegan with no problems dealing with servers.

...one thing we do is that we either go out for drinks OR for food. Rarely both. You can eat at home then go to a brewery for drinks, or go out for dinner and have the alcohol at home before or after...

I guess I've recently subconsciously tried to do this, but now that it's been articulated well, I'm going to adopt it as a rule. Great insight.

We love fine wine and we know how much it costs (because my husband is a spendypants wine collector), which makes it impossible to order wine in restaurants. We look at the wine list and then look at the prices, realize we could buy a bottle of wine for what they are charging for a glass, then shudder. It ruins the experience for us to know we are overpaying by that much. We thought we would know what to order in restaurants if we undertook to educate ourselves on wine. What we learned instead was to drink wine at home.

Yeah I get you about that too. It literally is, like a glass at a restaurant =bottle retail. Most of the time, I'm like, nope.

[gggggg]

Think about what you're getting when you eat at a restaurant.
The cost of the food.
Hiring of servants to cook said food.
Hiring of servers to wait upon you during your meal.
Hiring of servants to clean up after you finish your meal.

Cooking at home is a no-brainer.  Eating out is LUXURY.

Not to mention the tax. Prepared food is taxed extra in some jurisdictions (like mine). Then add tip as well.

[DumpTruck]

[/quote]

Are we really bragging about eating lunch everyday???
Sorry but you deserve a few FACEPUNCHES.
[/quote]

Take a step back from you jumping-to-conclusions mat! lol

I didnt' take it that they were bragging, they were just saying. And if someone was bragging that certainly doesn't warrant physical violence or even thought of or talk of physical violence. Anyway, I'm sure there is some joke I'm just missing. Carry on

[nereo]

You've got to look at special deals for each day of the week. I go out to lunch everyday, and budget accordingly for these 5 weekly meals. I try to keep each meal under $7 dollars, and researched all the local places around me (Iowa City) that will give me the most filling meal for that cost. Bo James Mondays for their french dip special, then DC's for their chicken sandwich. Wednesdays I'm back in Bo James for a burger, and finish off the week at Summit Thursday and Friday. Summit has drink deals those days, so those are the only day I'll purchase a nice draft beer. The last two days usually put me around $9 dollars, but that sure as hell beats $80!

Are we really bragging about eating out for lunch everyday???   Sorry but you deserve a few FACEPUNCHES.

Take a step back from you jumping-to-conclusions mat! lol

I didnt' take it that they were bragging, they were just saying. And if someone was bragging that certainly doesn't warrant physical violence or even thought of or talk of physical violence. Anyway, I'm sure there is some joke I'm just missing. Carry on

Just a big of background, the term "Facepunch" as used here is metaphorical and one of the preferred analogies of Mr. MM in his blog posts for when a person is wasting their money (often without much regard to the true costs).
There has been a fair bit of discussion about the term itself on another thread.
Craigiepaige was not suggesting actual physical violence (nor is tha tpossible through a virtual forum), though to newer forum members it can be confusing.

see here for the forum thread (now locked) and here for MMM's use of 'Facepunch' in his early blog entries.

[DumpTruck]

ah yes, i do acknowledge the reference. We don't know if they person being facepunched knows that facepunching is just a term either. So it could be perceived as something different to someone who hasn't read every blog entry like I have.

But ya, I mean obviously I want everyone to save their money and not be a consumer-centric as well. If we truly to want to convert consumers then one must approach them in a way that does not evoke an emotional defensive response. Saying someone deserves something sounds judgmental (as I sound judgmental for someone sounding to my perception as judgmental.. jeez can't escape the judge!)

Perhaps one can thoughtfully suggest they punch themselves in the face instead. But also maybe that individual has their wasteful lunch plan built into their plan and it's going to work out great. Some people will only adobt certain parts of this lifestyle and be happy about it. Why am I still rambling, sorry!!!

[soccerluvof4]

I think the thing that really hit me a few years back was when I went to Noodles and company and got basically a bowl of Macaroni and cheese with some chicken breast on it for around 10$.  The gap between eating out and eating home (and no I dont have any data for this) seems to be just way to much other than for a treat now and again. Like others mentioned we will do it if we have coupons, or there is a good deal. We allow the kids to order non-soda drinks if free refills and we barely ever order alcohol. I have a hard time ordering 2 Beers for what I could get a 12 pack for.  I also find it fun to cook and the kids prefer it over eating out.  We travel alot for sports and a weekend of that you come home feeling like crap and you can just taste all the extra salt etc..

[RFAAOATB]

I have much and make much more money than I used to but am bothered by restaurant prices more.   All this talk of high prices for food, service, and alcohol is putting me in a poverty mind set.  Would restaurants be more enjoyable if they were slightly cheaper than grocery store ingredients with still keeping premium level service?

If I got a $30,000 raise, could I enjoy spending $15,000 more on restaurants and bars?  I would be getting ahead, but the prices would still bother me because of this poverty mindset.

Restaurants are expensive, but not unaffordably expensive for frequent use by the majority of people.

Compare that to first class airplane tickets which are unaffordably expensive for frequent use by the majority of people.

If we cut our restaurant budget to the bone we could afford to fly first class instead of coach, but our convenience food addiction is killing our budget.

How many hours of labor is a restaurant meal worth?  What percentage of your income pie chart is going to restaurants?  How much money would you have to make until you could decide if eating out is what you want without worrying about money?