@Maskless
I used to think it was great and spent vast amounts of my income on eating out.
Gradually I came to my senses. Instead of wasting (say) £15 to £30 for a substandard meal (per person) in a restaurant, which isn't quite what I wanted, is cold, maybe bland, small portions etc, I push the boat out and buy pricey things like prawns, smoked salmon and steak in a supermarket and eat them at home.
It still works out cheaper! Even eating a whole £5 pack of smoked salmon to myself is cheaper than fish and chips from a chippy!
It's also the environment. In a restaurant I often find chairs are uncomfortable, you are overheard, you can hear other people's convos, sometimes people bash into your chair, the waiters are sometimes intrusively attentive, the music too loud or just not to my taste, the list goes on forever.
At home I can sit on a comfy chair or on the sofa, have the temperature I like, the food I like in the amounts I like, speak freely, play the music I prefer.
I'm now amazed at anyone enjoying eating out. Especially pizza - the biggest con going! About 50p worth of protein items, dotted thinly over a base that cost a penny, and you pay £15 for it. Huh.
@Maskless
Pretty much exactly what I think. I used to go out for meals with DH and DC that cost £30 a head, 20-25 years ago. (That's probably £55-£60 a head now.) Not including drinks.
Not a posh place either, or in the middle of London or Manchester or Birmingham or Brighton. Average place in an average town, that was often all fur coat and no knickers. Had a swanky name, little pods for people to sit it, and dim lighting, and thought it was something special and ramped up the prices.
I also think pizza from Pizza Hut, Pizza Express, Dominoes etc, is extortionate. DH and I get a Goodfellas frozen one from Morrisons for £3, and it takes 15 minutes to cook, and feeds both of us. £3! instead of £20 between us! It's a no-brainer.
Ditto fish and chips. Last time me and DH went to the chippy, (summer 2021,) we had a mini fish each, a bag of chips, and a large curry sauce. Cost £11. Cost around £7.50 about 2 years ago, but like everything, it has gone up massively. From Aldi we get 4 battered cod for £2.25, and a bag of chips that has 10 portions for £1.25, and Iceland does the 'chip shop curry sauce' for £1 for two. (and each one has enough in it for both of us.) So for about £4.50 we get 4 meals. The chippy would cost us £22 for the same.
And as you say, it's cosy at home, you can have what music you like on, or you can have a movie on, and you can have the temperature how you want it (I ALWAYS find restaurants HOT!) And you don't have loud obnoxious gits around, and annoying, naughty children.
As I said, I would rather pop out to a carvery at lunchtime for an hour and a half, and pay £5.99, and have a pint of coke for £2. Then tootle around the shops, and go home around 3pm. I HATE going out for meals in the evenings. Plus, the food sits on me something chronic if I fill my belly with a 3 course meal after 7.30pm! I don't know how people do it.