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 eat out much more often than before and most of our friends eat out very regularly. Those who don't never did before anyway. A lot of the pubs and restaurants we like need booking quite far in advance as well because they're so busy. They will definitely be impacted by the CoL crisis but there's also loads of new restaurants opening in our nearest city, so I guess a lot of people are doing okay.

M&S cafe today was much busier than pre Covid.

A cafe though is a relatively cheap treat.

Interestingly we had a mobile home in France for over a decade in a French tourist town, hardly any other nationalities went. We couldn't figure out for ages where everyone went in the middle of the day. Turns out they were going out for lunch as you'd get a good prix fix menu, and then it was all about aperitif in the evening. I think we are moving more towards that culture.

lunch for 2 in Zizzis, a salad each with a side of goats cheese, a raspberry drink with mint leaves in it and LOADS of ice so hardly any actual drink, a dessert each and two hot drinks with a tip - just under £70 - silly price, I do begrudge it but only 4 people in the restaurant! more staff than customers between 12.30 and 2.30 in a SE market town.

apart from one Pret and a couple of Joe & juice in my area I don’t see the usual Starbucks /Mcs/ pizza express.
Trends for healthy /artisan foods will slowly push these places out of business.

McDonalds isn’t going anywhere!

We’ve definitely cut down on eating out which is mainly down to the decline in quality and increase in prices. We got sick of having so many mediocre expensive meals that we just got used to cooking at home. I’d rather buy a £20 piece of beef from the butcher and cook a Sunday roast than pay £80 for two of us to eat a bog standard one at the local pub.

We have a high income and no children so previously would have had at least 1-2 meals out every weekend. Since the start of the year we’ve only had 1 but that was a gorgeous meal at a lovely restaurant which cost £150 and I enjoyed that much more than 3 £50 mediocre meals.

Same here. Breakfast at our local independent used to be £15 each, now it’s closer to £25.

It’s interesting what a pp said about restaurants being filled with 20 somethings. Our office is roughly split between those 30+ that own their own homes and those in their 20s still living at home with their parents. Although I could easily afford to buy lunch every day, that’s just not my priority so I always make sure to bring in leftovers and so do most of my colleagues that are in the 30+ category with mortgages and bills to pay. However it’s the 20 somethings living at home with lots of disposable income that come in with a coffee they’ve bought on the way to the office, go out and buy their lunch every day, visit the vending machine in the afternoon etc.

We are the same, we eat out far less than we used to pre-pandemic. To be honest, it’s not that we can’t afford it, it’s that the price of eating out has escalated to such an extent that VFM has gone out of the window & we can’t justify it other than on special occasions. We often used to go to a restaurant after a day out, now it’s much more likely to be a meal deal & a bottle of wine from M&S.

It is difficult to relax & enjoy a night out when what you’re really thinking is ‘this is a rip-off’, and you leave the restaurant feeling like you have been mugged. And don’t get me started on ‘optional’ service charges…

Don’t forget the 20 somethings living at home will be using it as a way to socialise. It’s harder having grown up friends round to your parents, so it’s easier to meet out for dinner

Too expensive, small portions of not very good food, lacklustre service, cold, half empty rooms and a queue of people in motor bike helmets picking up takeaway orders. This was Zizzis and Bills recently.

Having a coffee out used to be a treat but two coffees and a cake to share and you're waving goodbye to £15.

Fish and chips for four at our local chip shop is £46 now.

It's all a bit crap really and eating at home seems more of a treat and less like you're being ripped off.

The last recession their where vouchers sent out all the time
And deals.

I've Noticed this starting to be a thing again. Those that play the game Well will survive.

After just refixing my mortgage deal and realising I will now have no money to eat out or little treats, I've been thinking about this.
One minute it's endless credit lending and encouraging spending, supporting businesses
Now we have no money to spend what's gonna happen to shops and bars etc..
I walk past lots every day and always empty.

Another stick to punish low income people while the well off can still enjoy life

The "restaurant era" is over. If they charged the prices necessary to make them a viable business, nobody would use them, the service they provide simply isn't worth the price they would have to charge to make a profit.

I think the vast majority will go to the wall before the year is out. I wouldn't want to be employed in the restaurant/food business right now.

Lots of once popular services no longer exist, so it's not such a leap of imagination to visualise a world without physical restaurants or cafes. In the past we lost photo labs, cinemas, Internet cafes, parking attendants, telephone boxes, record shops. Cafes and restaurants wil go the same way as any other outdated service.

Maybe they will morph into a gourmet home delivery service?

A KFC with a Michelin Star?

Yes, I've noticed that as a trend too, so I tend to stick to main course only and appreciate it more.
Drinks prices are staggering though. Just a simple lemonade or other soft drink can be nudging £5.

Agree the prices are criminal in the uk now

We Haven’t changed our eating out habits,
still go out together just the two of us, as a family, or just me meeting friends and restaurants always seem busy.
Still get takeaways too.
So from what I see the restaurants I go to aren’t struggling to get people in through the door.

DS said he ate out a lot in January, lots of half price offers apparently.

That's ridiculous, I really couldn't justify spending that on breakfast😯

either that or a big weed habit!

I eat out a lot.. with a family member.. we are on our own and sometimes works out cheaper.. if we want a roast cavery.. rather than buying a joint of meat.
We can't eat big meals so we will share a curry and nann... or a pizza.

I do tend to eat out a lot, but not at chains (except for my breakfast pret), but because it’s more expensive, I have become more discerning. I’m no longer willing to go to places that are too cold, too noisy, places that give you a time limit for your table, or places with uncomfortable chairs. Or places with dogs (sorry, dog lovers). As a result, the pool of places I go is smaller and I have a relationship with the staff and owners now, and I really enjoy that personal element of eating out. Restaurants/cafes that want to survive will need to up their game.

we Still eat out out regularly but look for good set menus or offers eg excellent French restaurant near us £26 for three courses at lunchtime. We don’t have takeaways as they are not good value for money imo.
one of Rick stein’s restaurants does a three course set lunch for 17.95 in the winter months, no choice but excellent value. He also offers another set menu for about £26 which does offer choices/vegetarian options etc.

Yep, a lovely little care in town used to be £3.50 for a breakfast roll, now it's £5.75 and a latte is £3.10!

Nearly a tenner for a quick bite to eat just isn't worth it.

It's a shame, I used to go there most weekends, haven eaten there since their prices went up just before Christmas.