What will happen to restaurants / cafes

[LaCouleurDeMonCiel]

Pre Covid / COL increase we would eat out as a family 1-2 a week. Eating out would often be spontaneous, places like Bills, Rosas Thai, pizzeria, etc. when we passed one while shopping or because we didn’t fancy cooking.

Now we have stopped the spontaneous meals because the prices are ridiculous. We still go out when we want to go to a specific restaurant or celebrate something but we don’t visit the casual low/mid range places because £100+ is too expensive for a quick ‘not that special’ meal.

Are we the only ones?
Will we see a change in the type of restaurants on the high streets? High end restaurants + cheap fast food ones but nothing in between?

Why would they?

Mist places used to be dog free and managed fine. Even if it was before Covid. It would still recover.

I just like to eat out sometimes, even if it is a bit mediocre, just for a change of scene really and not cooking myself. Or to meet up with someone at lunch when having a mediocre sandwich too is part of the deal so you can get back to work.

I could 50% of the time make something better....but you know. don't want to.

I don’t actually think dogs are unhygienic (provided they are toilet trained) - dog owners are not ill more often as far as I can see. Not washing hands is gross though.

@JonVoightBaddyWhoGrowls

I think I misunderstood what you were saying there and please accept my apologies.

I agree that some places are taking the proverbial with it, not just in hospitality, and they've seen an opportunity to increase profit.

There's quite a few threads recently about it and I experience people wanting more because they're now paying more and although asking me if I've heard of the cost of living crisis (no mate, as a hospitality worker it's well known I'm on an utterly fabulous wage 🙄) they don't seem to connect the dots - more just want someone to moan at.
In long run it could very well put my job at risk if people have been priced out of hospitality and leisure, it's not what I'm seeing at the moment, but I guess time will tell.

I agree, dogs stay on the floor (all the ones I’ve seen) so are no more unhygienic than shoes. I don’t lick the floors or put my hands on them so don’t care that there’s either dogs or shoes.

Yep, you definitely don’t live in Surrey 😁

Or in the north near me 🤷‍♀️😁. I went out with friends for lunch last weekend. 4 of us had sandwiches, a soft drink each and a cake and coffee and was £25 each. I can’t imagine 8 people eating and drinking for £130 inc service charge. I couldn’t eat in Pizza Hut that cheaply.

I am a decent cook, but I'm home alone dogsitting for a week. I will buy a semi-posh sourdough pizza base and finish/dress it to be what I want (which is more special than Pizza Express frankly).

Went out to a pub tonight. Home made mains all £14 and £15 each. Delicious.

But expensive. I'm vegetarian, so used to mains being cheaper. But even those are 15/16 quid now. Multiply by family of 4 (2×teens). Add 4 drinks. Probably 2× puddings for kids. That's 100quid just blown in an hour. That's 2 weeks' petrol money!

After 20 odd years in my career, I'm earning the most money I've ever earned, yet am spending less on fun stuff, because the basics suck it all away.

We have cut back drastically on eating out. It feels like you’re paying the price of something special for something very mediocre, especially the chain places. Would rather have a decent rib-eye from Aldi, or even the eat in ready meals they taste the same as the chain places but 1/4 the price and we can both drink! (The much cheaper booze!)

@Midnightrunners sorry we met some friends who are skint and insisted on it last Saturday night. Weatherspoons are incredibly variable and all I can say here -well it was cheap- very cheap and tasted like it too- felt like an Iceland frozen ready meal at best. Not only that but there were heavies on the door, crushed nachos all over the floor, totally uncleared tables and beer spilled everywhere - reminded me of a bad Butlins cafe- it's only redeeming feature was it was cheap ! Mind you it was only £22 for 2 - with a drink of extremely nasty wine .

@Squidlette £14 or £15 for a delicious home made main meal with all the sides really is not expensive. I know it might be too expensive for you, but in terms of costs to produce it is cheap.

If we go out for birthdays or wedding anniversary etc I tend to go to the Ivy here in Bath. Lovely meal , nice varied venue- around £100 for 2 for bottle of nice wine, 2 mains, shared starter plus some zucchini fritters(love em) including service- it's lovely decor, always nice service, beautifully set table, warm and feels special and always busy .

Deliveroo and just eat also do grocery deliveries, perhaps not all takeaway food?

@Crikeyalmighty I thought I remembered some sort of tipping controversy concerning the ivy. Mind you, I know of one independent at least that doesn't pass any ties on to their staff locally, so I've stopped using them.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/jul/08/ivy-staff-anger-after-restaurant-chain-cuts-their-share-of-service-charge

It won't let me edit the post above, but @LadyBird1973 you should read the aBove article if you still think chains are fair when it comes to money. The owner of the group who owns the ivy chain is a billionaire.
Billion.
I don't know any small restaurant owners who are millionaires, let alone billionaires.

Especially when a whopping 20% of the cost goes to HMRC as VAT!!

@Seaside3 yep I don't approve of that either- however I believe a new law is coming in - says so in that post. They all it seems get a set commission paid at the moment .

@Seaside3 I think our last bill there was£112 but we were there the whole evening, had a decent bottle of wine - 10 days before Xmas and it was lovely, great service too .

I've spent £75 on an hour long very mediocre Sunday lunch in a pub for 2 with indifferent service for just a main, glass of wine each, water and service charge. We stopped anything like that as it's not exactly hard to make and just stick now to the odd nice night out on special days and far more £30 for 2 brunch type things at good local cafes.

I don't want not to do it as I like a town/city that has 'life' and we can afford it within reason especially as I don't have to factor kids in these days - but I don't like feeling that I'm being somewhat ripped off and a lot of places these days do feel like that.

As a bargain by the way can I recommend Giraffes breakfast sausage or bacon on a roll , comes with 2 nice hash browns £5.90 and the one here is lovely, always warm, always clean, never packed

I don't remember saying that all chain owners are fair with money - there are obviously issues with how some of the super rich have financed their businesses/tax avoidance etc, but obviously chain owners are going to make much more money than a person who owns a single business. My point is that everyone is in business to make money - independents aren't a public service and therefore better from a moral or ethical pov. The issue for me re chains is the state ensuring they pay proper tax. I did say that chain shops/cafes, even British Gas do all employ people local to where they are situated and I therefore didn't see an independent as necessarily more worthy of support than a chain, in all areas of retail - the guy in Waterstones or Costa needs to earn a living too.

And I don't believe you always get better goods/services at independents - I think there is a value in knowing exactly what you are going to get, as anyone who's ever stayed in a dodgy B&B could tell you!

And there's something to be said for working in a place with formal written policies and an HR dept. I could tell you some shocking tales of local business owners I know and their treatment of staff, so it isn't always a better work environment.
But I do think many independent restaurants are brilliant and things like butchers/grocers where produce really is local. Cafes and generic businesses, not so much.

A lot of places offer discounts now, much more than used to. I'll order Pizza Hut takeaway as it's 50% off, or I'll go to Bills/Turtle Bay/TGIs/Zizzis over other places as it's 20% off full price. It can be a shame as local places can be more unaffordable, the amount of independents that have shut down locally is phenomenonal but they're just not affordable.

Posts about dogs tickled me. I took my cat to the vets recently, walked home with her in a carrier and stopped a "pet friendly" cafe on the way back. I was told cats weren't allowed. Why does it say pet friendly then?!

I almost never eat out. Only when a special occasion.

Last week two of us ate out at a mid range restaurant chain. Two very average main courses, two puddings – also average by +3 alcoholic drinks each and a coffee each. Total came to £180.

I don’t resent it, as such. Restaurants have to pay for staff, rent, tax and overheads.

But it really is expensive and outside my range except for the most special occasions. I can cook something nicer, eg. a Marks & Spencer’s ready meal plus vegetables so I don’t have to cook, plus alcohol, probably for around £30.

Even these days if I eat out it’s costing no more than £20, usually around £16, for me alone (I have a £15 evening meal allowance if I need to eat out for work) - main course plus a soft drink. If you’re spending £100+ you’re either a family with 3 or more older children who eat off the adult menu, going to more expensive places or having alcohol or more than one course.

£20 for 2 adults, plus £15 for 2 kids (though lots of kids menus are cheaper) is £65. It’s still not cheap if your budget is stretched, but I’m not sure why it would have to cost £100+.

Then there are cheaper places, also, where you can get a main course plus drink for an adult for £15.

That being said, the cost of living impacts restaurants too.

£180 for 2 people? There’s lots of cheaper options out there.