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?

We also stopped going out. We are very very lucky we could afford it, but it seems such a huge waste of money. It's not just prices went up, but quality of food that has not changed or gone down.
Basically, we really don't fancy spending £100 for 3 people to eat frozen/pre-prepared cheap food, which is what normally restaurant chains serve.
We do however still go to nice independent restaurants for special occasions.

We replaced the weekly eating out experience with nicer food from the supermarket and we cook it at home. We also entertain more.

Many places will just shut down. In 2023 6000 hospitality venues closed down. It’s just not sustainable for many people because lots of people have less disposable income so are eating out less frequently and ordering less when they do. Energy prices are up, rent is up, insurance is up, wages are up and food prices are up. On top of that VAT is 20% of turnover (less the VAT paid on stock which is close to zero as food bought in is zero rated, the finished dish is rated at 20%). It’s harder for people to use their own delivery drivers as the drivers can work more flexibly with deliveroo/uber/justeats so there is an additional 25-30% . If somewhere is turning over £10k a week, £2k goes to VAT straight away, maybe £1000 to delivery platforms and £500 in rent and £3000 on ingredients. Take another £500 for energy, equipment, servicing, insurance etc.
The remainder allows 262 hours paid at minimum wage - 37 hours a day - 4 people working an 9 hour shift 7 days a week, which is not enough given you need more than that to generate £10k and some staff need to be on above minimum (plus holiday pay, sickness etc). If there is anything left (unlikely) then 20% goes in corporation tax. The VAT is almost as much as the wages. Lots of places are operating on reduced hours to try and get almost as much turnover with reduced energy and staffing costs but it’s not really a good way to run an economy imo.

You got a refund and gave them a bad review? aren't you a delight 🙄

So a refund fixes all? I would be more interested in the appalling lack of hygiene rather than the fact they got their money back.

I'd have done the same. Doing something unhygienic like that tends to suggest they don't care about one of the most important things in catering and food handling, i.e. awareness of germs and importance of hand washing etc.

I used to eat out a lot, at a varied number of places, but now i seldom go out to eat. I have a new kitchen and so try to keep cooking things i want at home. But i genuinely feel that eating out is sooo much more expensive, that i cannot rationalise it to myself anymore!

I used to love Steak at Goodmans, but now cook steak at home
I actually think ive gone off food, because of how costly it is!

Its funny people saying places are busy. We are going out tonight to eat because I got a 40% off voucher for food emailed to me by a local chain. Do not assume places being busy means they are doing okay. There are a lot of discounts around at the moment.

I was just thinking the same. There used to be loads of places in town that I just stop by & get a good meal (lunch or dinner) for a tenner or so. After work, on my way to college, while out shopping. Some of the places are still there, but the prices are double what they were even five years ago… Even going for coffee & cake is a so expensive now. And much of it is crap, anyway. Don’t mind paying for good cake!

I go out with friends every week for lunch. We go to independent type places and no discounts on offer. We pay £20 ish for lunch. Everywhere we go is packed. Our favourite place you can’t book and people are queuing to get in.

We're now facing the true cost of food and meals out. IMO we'd got used to low paid staff ( that's probably not changed much), low food costs and utilities.

That's changed and people don't have as much disposable income. Eating out isn't a right and people have to choose where they want to spend their income.

Where I live, the good places are hanging there, and the crap ones are the ones that are going under. That's not new, it just happens sooner rather than later.

We hardly eat out any more. Much prefer a cheap lunch than a £60 plus dinner.

Everywhere still looks busy. One of those "I thought there was a COL crisis!" Comments when you see who is buying what. We are cutting back, I'm doubtful everyone is in our boat.

Thing is, I find it harder to go back to things once things pick up. Eg covid bought about a culture and mind shift in my friends then you fall out of the habit. Like eating out because you can't justify the cost. Will I ever pick that back up when I can spend less going to the theatre than eating in a pizza chain?

Before Covid we enjoyed eating out occasionally, but now it’s more expensive and the food is mediocre so don’t bother as much. The menus are dull and don’t vary much from one place to another. Heavy emphasis on burgers-I can make a pretty decent one at home so that’s no great excitement.
We got into a monthly habit of a roast dinner at a local garden centre for a while but when it topped £50 with a glass of wine each we went back to cooking at home and last week I made beef roast with a bottle of red for a tenner! No brainer really.
We do still really enjoy getting together with family and eating out but it is definitely less often and will be a more high end place.

We eat out or get takeaway a fair bit as I can't be bothered to cook at home after doing it all day, but I was shocked when I ordered Chinese from our local takeaway the other night as they have put up their prices by around 20% and our normal £40 dinner is now £50. We live in a very small town though and its the only Chinese takeaway so they won't lose too much business as its always rammed. They don't even deliver.

ZsaZsa, I made really great burgers at home on Sunday!

The other thing is that there’s no money left after food shopping anymore. I’m spending a lot more in the supermarket.

Still busy around here, never ceases to amaze me. Small town and need reservations even on Thursdays

I think there are definitely a lot of people not affected. My gym costs £140 a month, I wondered if membership would drop off but it’s busier than ever. People come to the members lounge with their kids after school and eat tea.

ive just ordered a catio for my cats, a small one is just under 1k. He can’t fit me in for four months as he’s so busy

I’d have done the same, that is disgusting.

Pre-covid we’d eat out weekly, and every day on holiday, but no more.

It is the establishment’s choice to allow dogs, it is our choice to eat in a hygienic environment.

I have been put off after eating at TGI Friday's last week. SO overpriced. I go in because there's a particular dish they do that I like but never again. I can pay not much more at a fine dining type restaurant-and I don't have to sit at a table the size of a large barstool then either.

I go to chains mostly because of dietary choices (vegan)-the family ran local ones just don't tend to cater. It is a shame as I would love to support them.
I agree with a PP about some restaurants who thrived during the pandemic doing deliveries just don't seem to value 'dine in' customers now. I almost went and got my own drink not so long ago, it had been sitting on the bar for so long. Not even assigned a server just whoever.

I think I am going to do a lot more cooking and staying in from now on.

We’ve gone from eating out every week, to maybe once every couple of months. Partly down to priorities, but we didn’t need to prioritise or not prioritise discretionary spending a couple of years ago- we didn’t have to think about it. Obviously if a significant portion of people are doing the same, the hospitality industry is going to shrink.

I love eating out but we hardly go now. Too much of a rip off and too many dogs - no thanks.

This. I know you can get it removed, but the onus shouldn't be on the customer to point out extra charges and have the extra step of getting them removed. At least if you don't have the exact change in coins for your meal. It's just unpleasant and really makes me feel like I'm being cheated. At least in shops when I encounter an item that's scanned as more than on the shelf or the person on the till's given me the wrong change, I can assume that it's just human error, and it probably is.

Apart from that, there are rarely places that I feel are worth it. If I do go out to restaurants or cafes, it's almost always as a social thing. Mostly I end up with something where I could have cooked something I would have liked a lot better at home. The main exception is that some Indian restaurants do make very good curry.

I don’t know how things will pan out but we’re exactly the same. We eat out less now than we used to and now just for special occasions. I don’t mind spending £££ on a really excellent meal for a special treat now and then, but I do resent spending £100+ for a family of four at places like Pizza Express or Nandos so we never go to places like that anymore whereas we used to sometimes go just for a midweek treat if we couldn’t be bothered to cook. 5 years ago you could do that pretty cheaply.

The way my family uses restaurants now is actually a lot like I remember things in the late 80s/early 90s when I was a child/teen. Going to a restaurant was an infrequent treat for a special occasion.

I live in two very contrasting areas of the UK but both have a thriving selection of eating out venues.
It seems that breakfast/brunch is extremely popular, as someone said previously, most of these artisanal cafes need booking to get a slot between 9am and 10.30am.
In the evening, I notice diners seem to eat earlier since Covid and restaurants are pretty cleared by 9.30pm.
Chain restaurants do seem less popular but some, eg Miller&Carter, Nando's look packed as I pass by. Also chain coffee shops are always packed, in addition to stand alone cafes.
I find myself saying "What COL crisis?" when I'm struggling to find seats.

Oh dear, that’s hard in somewhere like the Lakes where everywhere is so dog friendly. Someone once in the most dog friendly cafe in the Lakes shouted at me for “having a dog near my wife”. My dog was asleep under my chair. He told me to put my dog at the other side of the table 🙈

We've stopped just getting food out too.

For a variety of reasons.

1 - the cost. I agree it's so expensive now to just have a meal out (even pizza)

2 - the cheaper fast food is no longer fast! I waited 35 minutes in Mc Donald's car park once for a chicken burger and chips for my ds who was starving after swim training. Actually takes as long to drive home and cook it on the air fryer. Mostly this is due to the deliveroo etc. So those posters who say it's still busy are correct and I agree with those say h business models have changed and so I don't think they'll make less money - they'll adapt to how and where they make it.

Eating out has always been a birthday/holiday treat for us so no change really