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Original poster

Would you eat out now (inside dining)?

251 replies

Featherstep · 10/10/2020 22:11

I really miss going out for a weekend cafe or pub lunch with my family but my husband thinks it's not worth the risk eating inside now that the virus is spreading again like wildfire. He's probably right - the last time we sat inside for a pub lunch (in August), I felt very uncomfortable being so close to the people at the next table.

Most outdoor seating gets booked up really quickly. I feel like for almost every outing since March we've brought packed picnic lunches. I am SO sick of packed sandwiches and would just love to sit down somewhere with warm food for once, just like pre-Covid times!

So just that really, are you comfortable going to lunch if it's going to be inside?

OP posts:
ScaramoucheFandango · 10/10/2020 23:03

And I'd long since moved on from the idea of buffet dining!

somewhereovertherainbutt · 10/10/2020 23:04

I think it's really important to monitor the increasing amount of evidence about airborne transmission. Being in the same (stale) air as others talking and laughing for any length of time would be riskier than a transient meeting in a shopping centre. It's all about viral load in the end.

gradetoolisted · 10/10/2020 23:04

Yes. Just been tonight.

However- I don’t have any high risk contacts, elderly relatives etc and work from home.

JeanClaudeVanDammit · 10/10/2020 23:07

Yes I’ve eaten out with DH and/or SD somewhere approx once a week since the summer. Dinner at a restaurant or lunch at a cafe or coffee shop in my local area, haven’t felt unsafe anywhere yet. They’ll probably all be forced to close next week so I’m glad we did while we could.

There’s no one high risk in my household and we’re not allowed to see anyone else anyway. If you think you’ll be uncomfortable then I wouldn’t do it, might as well leave the space for someone who’s going to enjoy it.

whattodooooooo · 10/10/2020 23:07

Yes we did the eat out scheme every week, numerous times a week and have continued to go out at least three times a week. I live in a low case area which is why I'm comfortable to do this.

Oliversmumsarmy · 10/10/2020 23:07

We have no problem eating out.
Dp shielded for months and was nearly losing the plot.
He would rather do stuff he enjoys than turn into the wreck he was staying in doors.

Frappuccinofan · 10/10/2020 23:07

Yes. I would and have done so.

Twillow · 10/10/2020 23:08

Haven't done it since lockdown started. I work in retail, have worn a mask since the beginning and am not interested in taking chances.

MrsMcMuffins · 10/10/2020 23:08

We have eaten out but we are stopping it now as cases on the rise.

redrab · 10/10/2020 23:08

Yes. Went away last weekend and ate out for all meals. But I'm not too concerned about getting infected; my family aren't in any high risk categories and we don't in contact with anyone who is.

katy1213 · 10/10/2020 23:10

Went yesterday, queued about 10 mins to get in and it was thronged. Lovely food, really buzzy and normal - it was great! I'm fully expecting to survive!

ScaramoucheFandango · 10/10/2020 23:10

We did eat indoors with the eat out scheme come I think of it. Cases were very low at that point in our area.

I don't linger in the supermarket or chat. It's a very different situation from sitting for a leisurely meal in a room with stale air.

Prettybluepigeons · 10/10/2020 23:12

Yes.
I would rather live a life and catch it than spend years protecting myself and going mad from lack of social contact and boredom.

ScaramoucheFandango · 10/10/2020 23:13

I'm wrapping up and going out midday when I can.

Lilybet1980 · 10/10/2020 23:16

@ceeveebee

That slide doesn’t show where people caught it, it shows where people have been in the week before they got symptoms. And funny, household is very low (despite the fact that we have been told constantly that this is where most transmission happens) and also excludes educational settings, care homes workplaces (which account for the vast majority of reported outbreaks per the PHE reports. The data is being twisted to justify the fact that they are about to decimate the entire hospitality industry in the north
This.

Shock horror that many people under 30 have been to some sort of hospitality establishment.

They are only closing bars/pubs/placing restrictions on hospitality because that’s basically the only lever they can pull unless they close schools.

Busybrain2020 · 10/10/2020 23:24

No. I don't get the appeal at all. It's just food. Eat at home.

ArtieFufkinPolymerRecords · 10/10/2020 23:36

@Busybrain2020

No. I don't get the appeal at all. It's just food. Eat at home.
I like to eat out with friends that I don't live with - it's a social thing rather than just having my dinner.
AllDayHappyHour · 10/10/2020 23:37

We go out for dinner at least once a week, I feel totally fine about it and I'm the lady who wiped down her shopping during the peak(so glad I stopped that...what a ball ache!)

One place I wasn't happy with recently was a bowling alley (yes you Hollywood Bowl!). They were all 'we're doing the one metre rule and masks must be worn'. Even their own idiot staff were wearing their masks under their noses.

Oliversmumsarmy · 10/10/2020 23:39

No. I don't get the appeal at all. It's just food. Eat at home

But I don’t like cooking and if you had tasted my burnt offerings then you too would see the attraction to eating out.

Eating out isn’t just about food. It is about being with other people, sitting round a table and have someone else cook and serve you whilst you can chat with friends and get out of the house for an evening.

Giningit · 10/10/2020 23:40

Yes probably eaten out about 20ish times since March. The last time was a couple of days ago. This virus will be with us for the foreseeable, no vaccine until end end of next year?, so as long as I’m being careful, i.e. SD, washing hands etc then I just crack on. I have far more important things to be worrying about.

HowFastIsTooFast · 10/10/2020 23:40

Yes, and often. Next weekend is my birthday and we'll have at least 3 meals out over the weekend. We live in a low-case area with controlled borders, don't have any vulnerable family/friends and to be quite honest at this stage barely even think about it anymore.

Those saying they'll wait to eat out in better times; you do realise there'll be no restaurants left if people don't support them now?

Scarby9 · 10/10/2020 23:41

I think it might be helpful if people said where they were. I suspect that eating out inside where my brother lives (6 cases per 100000) could feel rather different to doing so where my parents are (over 300).
I have eaten outside only - 48 per 100000).

Oliversmumsarmy · 10/10/2020 23:46

My favourite restaurant is in an area that has about 70 per 100,000 infection rate that has gone up massively over the last week.

Prettybluepigeons · 10/10/2020 23:47

I live in the north west

Titsywoo · 10/10/2020 23:53

Yes. I live just outside London and eat out most weeks. Was in town tonight for dinner and drinks. Don't even think twice about it.