Anyone notice less services at your preferred travel destinations?

[PcflEZFlng]

I can't give examples as we don't really have them up my way in NY so I only saw them a lot in San Diego area and now in Louisiana and Tennessee. They look like (from a google maps search) a competitor to Chilis, but then you get there and there's a line to order, and they then give you a number stand to put on the table you find open. It's a different feel than Five Guys or Chipotle for sure. For one thing many of them had alcohol options for beverages.

I think the main thing is there's no server to tip, and it seems easy to me to not tip on the little payment pad when paying in advance. That makes a 20%+ difference now. It's basically IMHO what fast food used to be, in that the food is actually good and not really slower than how bad many many "fast food" chains have gotten.

I live in the San Diego area, and that is indeed fairly common here. And the food is generally much better than fast food. One that comes to mind is Burger Lounge, which is a regional chain. But even for those types of places, we usually just order online, and then I go pick it up and bring it home. The ambience at home is much better than just about any restaurant, other than fine dining.

 

[dioxide45]

I can't give examples as we don't really have them up my way in NY so I only saw them a lot in San Diego area and now in Louisiana and Tennessee. They look like (from a google maps search) a competitor to Chilis, but then you get there and there's a line to order, and they then give you a number stand to put on the table you find open. It's a different feel than Five Guys or Chipotle for sure. For one thing many of them had alcohol options for beverages.

I think the main thing is there's no server to tip, and it seems easy to me to not tip on the little payment pad when paying in advance. That makes a 20%+ difference now. It's basically IMHO what fast food used to be, in that the food is actually good and not really slower than how bad many many "fast food" chains have gotten.

I seem to recall Habit Burger being like this. Though we got carry out but I think they handed me a pager. I don't remember alcohol.

 

[PcflEZFlng]

It's been quite awhile since I was last there, so it may have recently changed, but Habit Burger gives you a pager and then you go to the counter to pick up your order, whether for dine-in or carryout. No alcohol there. Burger Lounge and other similar places do sell alcohol.

 

[heathpack]

We rarely dine out since moving to Alabama. A large piece of that is we live in the country now and it’s 30 min to a restaurant. But the other piece is that it doesn’t feel worth it. For us it’s a combo of lower food quality + worse (understaffed) service. I understand the signs restaurants put up nowadays asking people not to yell at their staff, but it’s another turn off- because if you do have a problem and try to bring it up, the vibe is that management will just tell you there’s nothing they could do, they’re understaffed, and you won’t even get heard. It just feels like an expensive hassle now. No thanks.

The upside is we realize that we were spending too much dining out anyway!

 

[jp10558]

We rarely dine out since moving to Alabama. A large piece of that is we live in the country now and it’s 30 min to a restaurant.

Growing up in the country, it's such a mind bender to me that people think 30 minutes is "a long drive" to get somewhere. We generally see up to 45 minutes as a normal "reasonably quick" drive time. Welcome to the country. (And TBH if you've got a specific place to go, when I was out in San Diego traffic often made it 30-45 minutes to get there even if the distance was only 6 miles or so).

But the other piece is that it doesn’t feel worth it. For us it’s a combo of lower food quality + worse (understaffed) service. I understand the signs restaurants put up nowadays asking people not to yell at their staff, but it’s another turn off- because if you do have a problem and try to bring it up, the vibe is that management will just tell you there’s nothing they could do, they’re understaffed, and you won’t even get heard. It just feels like an expensive hassle now. No thanks.

This is 100%. I also don't get the people above who prefer takeout - I mean, sure I don't disagree about some benefits, but by the time I've gotten delivery, or brought something home, it's always significantly less good from cooling or just not traveling well than eating fresh at the location. Adding in the additional time / gas / delivery costs I find it's often even less appealing. Not always - pizza usually travels well enough and can reheat in the oven well enough that it's fine.

However, I really agree with the food quality being so disappointing so often that when traveling I'm regularly feeling the quality isn't worth the cost. Fast food is so bad so often up here that when I'm driving through PA we've basically replaced a fast food stop with a combined bathroom,gas,food break at a Sheetz or WaWa depending on where we are. At home we have some places we like to go, but now getting takeout Pizza + Wings + Salad costs over $110 much of the time, that it's not a regular deal. (Granted, this is 4 people and no one likes the same stuff so that means it's as expensive as going out to eat as everyone gets their own thing).

The upside is we realize that we were spending too much dining out anyway!

Yup.

 

[klpca]

We rarely dine out since moving to Alabama. A large piece of that is we live in the country now and it’s 30 min to a restaurant. But the other piece is that it doesn’t feel worth it. For us it’s a combo of lower food quality + worse (understaffed) service. I understand the signs restaurants put up nowadays asking people not to yell at their staff, but it’s another turn off- because if you do have a problem and try to bring it up, the vibe is that management will just tell you there’s nothing they could do, they’re understaffed, and you won’t even get heard. It just feels like an expensive hassle now. No thanks.

The upside is we realize that we were spending too much dining out anyway!

We haven't moved and we have also made this change, for most of the same reasons. In my mind there is some kind of mental math going on and when the cost doesn't equal what has been received, it just isn't worth it. Over the past 5 years we've gotten better at all kinds of cooking, to the point where when we go out I find myself thinking that we could have made that at home and it would taste a lot better. So we're now at the point where we have to decide if it's worth it to pay $$$ for the privilege of having someone else cook and do the dishes. With the way that things are going, the answer is usually *no*. We have even found a source for really tasty carne asada meat (Stater Brothers Carne Asada - Ranchera) so we can even do a great job on Mexican food. We used to go out once or twice a week and now it is no more than once a week, if that.

The biggest area where I see service issues is in medical care. There are long wait times to see a doctor, every possible service that can be pushed out to the app has become self-serve, there are long lead times for routine diagnostics, and the errors that happen with billing and the difficulty of speaking to a person who 1, understands the issue and 2, has the authority to fix the error is also on the list. Additionally, my mom had a complication with her hip replacement earlier this year and spent 2.5 weeks in the hospital/skilled nursing facility so I was able to see the service issues first hand. Talk about staffing shortages! A hospital stay has become kind of a DIY thing now because there isn't always enough staff to take care of small things, especially at night. Obviously the facility was within legal guidelines for staffing but in order to do that, they had empty beds. It's a mess in the medical space and I can't see how we're going to get out of it. Stay healthy and be prepared to have someone stay with you at the hospital to take care of the little things like getting more water or getting to the bathroom or be prepared to be patient.

 

[dioxide45]

This is 100%. I also don't get the people above who prefer takeout - I mean, sure I don't disagree about some benefits, but by the time I've gotten delivery, or brought something home, it's always significantly less good from cooling or just not traveling well than eating fresh at the location. Adding in the additional time / gas / delivery costs I find it's often even less appealing. Not always - pizza usually travels well enough and can reheat in the oven well enough that it's fine.

I find the same issues with carry-out and then additional problems. Reheated in the microwave just isn't as good. Even driving food a short distance seems to reduce the quality compared to delivered to the table.

Then you have the situation of value of carry out vs. dining in. When I dine in I can get loads of chips and salsa or bread. Extra sauces are usually no charge when dining in but carry-out they want to charge for anything extra. It also make zero sense to order a beverage as carry out. Your paying the same money with no refills vs. unlimited refills at the table.

I've also often found that with carry out on quick service, they don't put as much effort into the product than when you are standing there watching them assemble your entree in line. Just compare a Chipotle bowl from when you go in vs. carry out. I noticed similar problems at Jersey Mike's subs. They seem to cheap out when you aren't there to see the product made and you walk out without seeing it.

 

[Superchief]

Brewery/restaurants are popular in our area. Many micro-brewery have food that is decent, but not elegant. In most of them, you pick up your beer at the bar and order food from another counter in the restaurant. There are large seating areas, but it is primarily self service. This eliminates the staffing issues and keep food and beverages more reasonably priced. The beer is usually excellent as long as you know which ones to order. We've shifted our dinners with friends to this type of restaurant due to the high wine prices and often poor service at other restaurants.

 

[jp10558]

Brewery/restaurants are popular in our area. Many micro-brewery have food that is decent, but not elegant. In most of them, you pick up your beer at the bar and order food from another counter in the restaurant. There are large seating areas, but it is primarily self service. This eliminates the staffing issues and keep food and beverages more reasonably priced. The beer is usually excellent as long as you know which ones to order. We've shifted our dinners with friends to this type of restaurant due to the high wine prices and often poor service at other restaurants.

Yea, my main issue is my mom who insists on "sit down" restaurants and complains about anywhere else. Of course 30 years ago that worked OK, especially if you'd take a chain as a last resort. Today, it usually is extra expensive and at best 50/50 on being happy at the end. But she's set in her ways (at 65 mind you). I think it causes all sorts of issues TBH - has the last gasp of the boomers "the world ought to work this way" and "I refuse to change my mind". And then just bitches and bitches that the rest of the world doesn't agree.

Some of it I understand - I too think it's scandalous that we've decided percents for tips don't scale sufficiently with raising food costs, the percent size needs to go up as well. I think it's scandalous the prices some of these "restaurants" want to charge for poor service and bad food, forget about drip pricing in credit card surcharges and convenience fees and "service fees" and whatever else they throw in.

Where I differ is I eventually will change my behavior instead of beating my head against the wall and complain. I'll deal with different styles of food, I'll learn about TS and "long stay hotels" and cook myself on trips. I'll drop stores and brands that get sucky and I'll hunt out whatever the current "good" brand is at least by my standards. In the worst case I'll "do without" rather than keep spending money and complaining.

I really hope as I age I don't get so stuck in my ways that it actively makes my life more of a living hell. I don't care about antiquated norms, I'm not banging my head against walls. I'm not changing the world, I'm getting taken advantage of, or at least making my time less enjoyable.

 

[chapjim]

Perhaps I don't know the difference between casual, fast casual and quick service. I consider the half fast food / half sit down is considered quick service. Though I don't know many that bring the food to your table. That is a McDonalds thing. I am thinking like Chipotle, Five Guys, Blaze kinda places as quick service. I think they can also be referred to as fast casual.

Quick service or fast casual, whatever they call them, I'd say their prices aren't much more than fast food. In fact the lower end casual like Chili's, Red Robin and Applebees are not much more, or even cheaper, than fast food. At least when you are comparing similar meals like a hamburger to a hamburger. I can't believe how much a taco meal costs these days in a sit down restaurant.

Gotta look out for those half fast food places!

(I couldn't resist!)

 

[Ken555]

I paid $87 today after tax and tip for lunch for two people at a sit down restaurant (no alcohol, and only ice tea… one of us just had water). It felt expensive, but it also had good food and service.

 

[WinniWoman]

We rarely dine out since moving to Alabama. A large piece of that is we live in the country now and it’s 30 min to a restaurant. But the other piece is that it doesn’t feel worth it. For us it’s a combo of lower food quality + worse (understaffed) service. I understand the signs restaurants put up nowadays asking people not to yell at their staff, but it’s another turn off- because if you do have a problem and try to bring it up, the vibe is that management will just tell you there’s nothing they could do, they’re understaffed, and you won’t even get heard. It just feels like an expensive hassle now. No thanks.

The upside is we realize that we were spending too much dining out anyway!

We rarely if ever eat out. We will only every couple of months visit the brewery where our son works and have lunch and a beer. And then once in a while I’ll have lunch or an ice cream out with a friend and once per month we have Mexican lunch with a group we associate with.
It’s so expensive even for that.

We’ve got restaurants all around here but like you said it’s not really worth it and heaven forbid if you want a drink! As it is I refuse to order wine because you get like a 1/4 of a glass. You’re better off with a cocktail.

 

[WinniWoman]

We haven't moved and we have also made this change, for most of the same reasons. In my mind there is some kind of mental math going on and when the cost doesn't equal what has been received, it just isn't worth it. Over the past 5 years we've gotten better at all kinds of cooking, to the point where when we go out I find myself thinking that we could have made that at home and it would taste a lot better. So we're now at the point where we have to decide if it's worth it to pay $$$ for the privilege of having someone else cook and do the dishes. With the way that things are going, the answer is usually *no*. We have even found a source for really tasty carne asada meat (Stater Brothers Carne Asada - Ranchera) so we can even do a great job on Mexican food. We used to go out once or twice a week and now it is no more than once a week, if that.

The biggest area where I see service issues is in medical care. There are long wait times to see a doctor, every possible service that can be pushed out to the app has become self-serve, there are long lead times for routine diagnostics, and the errors that happen with billing and the difficulty of speaking to a person who 1, understands the issue and 2, has the authority to fix the error is also on the list. Additionally, my mom had a complication with her hip replacement earlier this year and spent 2.5 weeks in the hospital/skilled nursing facility so I was able to see the service issues first hand. Talk about staffing shortages! A hospital stay has become kind of a DIY thing now because there isn't always enough staff to take care of small things, especially at night. Obviously the facility was within legal guidelines for staffing but in order to do that, they had empty beds. It's a mess in the medical space and I can't see how we're going to get out of it. Stay healthy and be prepared to have someone stay with you at the hospital to take care of the little things like getting more water or getting to the bathroom or be prepared to be patient.

This scares me a lot as we are experiencing this right now. Husband and I are on waiting lists to just get calls to set up actual appointments that will be months away! That’s for specialists! Cataracts, dental, ENT.

We’ve already been waiting a couple of weeks for those calls and so far, crickets.

And it’s also one reason I tolerate the pain I have as a result of spine surgery 2 years ago rather then enter into that medical maze again.

I’ve even resorted to using GRoK (AI) for advice but of course GROK can’t actually treat you! .

Heck now rather than make a phone call we have to ask a question through a patient portal if we expect an answer! I kid you not!

Our primary doc along with some others were let go last fall do the hospital could bring in H1B visa docs from India for less salary and even a couple of them have left and I’ve been reassigned for a second time to one who is just finishing up his residency and my annual appt is in August so who knows if that will change again.

I was seen recently by one that was actually a hospitalist filling in in the internal medicine practice. He’s left now also.

Heck- we have to wait a few weeks to get our cars inspected and my husband’s car might need brakes. Who knows how long it will take to fix them!

Don’t get sick or old I guess. I can’t imagine how this is for very elderly and sick people!

 

[WinniWoman]

I whined about the same things in a post about New Orleans in the Central USA Timesharing forum. The date of the post is November 30, 2022.

Also, I used to be Operations Director and later President of a neighborhood pool. We hired only lifeguards through a private company. When they were not in the chair, they were at the front desk, checking on cleanliness and supplies in the restrooms/showers, doing walkabouts for trash, etc. The company was responsible for pool water quality, maintenance of pumps and filters, etc.

Since the pandemic none of our state parks have life guards. And actually there’s been no safety issues. We do have new life guard chairs that were installed at our lake beach two years ago. Why- who knows?

 

[PcflEZFlng]

half fast food / half sit down

Gotta look out for those half fast food places!

(I couldn't resist!)

I'm even MORE wary of the places that make you sit only half-way down!

 

[heathpack]

Today- Friday- Mr H had to run into town late in the day. I thought “it would be nice not to cook tonight, let’s get some takeout”.

I put together the online order and reminded Mr H to check it before he leaves. The place has good food but not great attention to detail.

He checked the order and two items were missing. He called that to the restaurant’s attention and the person at the register disappeared to the back to get the missing items.

Five minutes later she comes back with the missing items. No apology for or even recognition of the issues with the order.

Mr H is Mr Mellow but now he’s irritated. He explains he unpacked the bag and checked the order because we’ve has issues in the past. She responds, “that’s ok!”.

Lol now you poked the bear. “No, it’s NOT okay!!”.

She asked if he wanted to speak to a manager. Zero understanding was that he wanted her to show an ounce of courtesy about the inconvenience of the errors.

So my point of several days ago is made: eating out ain’t worth the hassle!

 

[geist1223]

But you did not eat out. You ate in with Take-a-Way. I bet if you ate in the Restaurant all the Food would have been delivered to the Table.

 

[dioxide45]

But you did not eat out. You ate in with Take-a-Way. I bet if you ate in the Restaurant all the Food would have been delivered to the Table.

But why shouldn't all the food items be included in the bag? Why does it matter how they opted to order? The restaurant seems to offer take-a-way as an ordering option. I have the same problem about 50% of the time at drive through. Something is missing. Maybe a sauce, maybe no cheese when I ordered cheese. They have very low rates of fulfilling an order correctly.

 

[heathpack]

But why shouldn't all the food items be included in the bag? Why does it matter how they opted to order? The restaurant seems to offer take-a-way as an ordering option. I have the same problem about 50% of the time at drive through. Something is missing. Maybe a sauce, maybe no cheese when I ordered cheese. They have very low rates of fulfilling an order correctly.

I think what @geist1223 was saying was: there should be no expectation of a relationship between what you paid for and what you receive with takeout, these two things are only related if you dine at a table in a restaurant.

Or something like that.

Makes sense!