I appreciate everyone’s perspectives - been keeping quiet since I laid it all out there in the beginning.
I get all the pressures influencing price - I guess for me, right now, the negatives far outweigh the positives. Hopefully something in there will give at some point, I do - did - enjoy going out.
Like others have mentioned, there are some small, much more casual, one-off/family run places in my neighborhood that I do still enjoy and will continue to support. But the others are on their own for a while.
Wow I hope someone comes up with a solution to help relieve some pressure and businesses adjust accordingly!!!
I haven’t chimed because I’ve had an ongoing conversation with the brain trust in my head – what is my stance?
For us, dining out is a privilege. As GBA Onions may know, we don’t have sophisticated meals in GBA or when traveling. We try to patronize locally-owned places as much as possible (more often than not, it’s a pub); when our expectations are exceeded or met food-wise, we’re happy which happens more often at the “low” end than one might expect. We’re fortunate that if a meal is pricier than expected, we might grumble about in the moment but we still tip well, (I can’t think of the last time we had bad service), and we leave thinking, let’s try something else next time, and it’s not a hardship. We don’t perseverate about the fiddly fees but again, we don’t eat at places where that’s even on the table (although I do hope we can some day).
My brain trust tells me, eating out should be fun. If it’s not, move on.
“The few places we’ve eaten that have felt “worth it” lately are usually lower priced, often ethnic and making a cuisine we can’t really replicate at home, and not places where drinks or alcohol are much of a focus. I think the mid-range restaurants where you order a couple pastas, maybe a fish dish and a pork chop, a few apps to share, and a glass of wine and a mocktail, then leave with a bill of $400 for the family, are the ones that are really pushing us away from dining out.”
What Parsnipity said, in spades, doubled.
The lower-priced ethnic places with less emphasis on alcohol are also more family-friendly, less likely to have a rowdy party disturbing everyone’s meal, and easier for those wishing to avoid alcohol or the temptation thereof. (Presenting an alcoholic with a giant drinks menu cannot make their life easier.)
Going out a fair amount (still), i only eat at restaurants where i can’t do better myself, or times when i am just tired. And it isn’t that hard to find (near me).
This usually means slow roasted well seasoned meats, or spice mixtures that are hard to come by, or dishes with a lot of complexity, in cuisines i am not familiar with. Like a good al pastor, like that strange uigher soup, like those sour Northern thai sausages, like the sour tang of injeera. going to an ‘american’ restaurant, nope. We did go to a favored italian restaurant, i dont have a 550 degree wood oven, nor do i have that touch with dough. tonight was a Spanish place, and they have one dish a crave, i think i will have to replicate it, and get a source of anchovies. earlier this week it was a burger not as good as i make, but they have my favorite beer in the bay area, nice to get it fresh, i can’t make beer that good. No reservations anywhere.
when you go out as often as i still do, i don’t think twice about reservations, primarily because i am going to small places, and i know what parts of town are busy at what hour. i do have a fancy dinner reservation next week (lazy bear in sf), but most of my eating is not special occasion.
Regarding BOH surcharges : take it out of your tip. 2 percent is a small amount of bucks, shift it. I circle fees like that, take down the tip a little. I know the complexity of this, but i am not stiffing the waitstaff, just moving a few bucks over.
I noticed that the Contessa dinner menu lists “Contori”, which is the Italian word for “accountants”. Contorni is the word for side dishes. Maybe they are being slyly subversive, commenting on their menu prices or the rent they pay?
Nothing in Boston is worth the price. Simple as that. Keep a stocked pantry, if you don’t feel like cooking you should have enough to pull something together.
Jumping in late here, but I feel all sides and perspectives of this thread. I too die a little inside when I see the total prices of things (and don’t even get me on the constantly begging for tips practices now) and I admittedly have dined out way less because of it. I hate the surcharge and fees that folks add - if it all ultimately is the same, why not just raise the prices to cover cost of supplies, rent and labor and whatever margin you feel is right and just call it a day? I would even get rid of tipping as a practice for all waitstaff and make it truly optional for anyone who receives outstanding, drop-the-mike level of service.
At least then all of us can make our choice of dining there with our eyes wide open. Don’t bury fees only on the menu when you come in person, or make the print so small at the bottom or top of the menu. As to what the cause of this is, I think it’s a combination of the things already mentioned. Yes, this will drive some people to say I will no longer dine at X. It’s more of a problem when restaurants do the same thing, but differently, so that your average consumer doesn’t know that they are in fact paying similar rates everywhere. If everyone committed to doing this the same way, at some point the sticker shock is no longer shocking, and you might start to see some consistency in the ebb and flow of diners coming in. Those who will not cook at home more, will come back if they can afford to.
I cook often and am pretty good at it. I will never have the skills of a trained itamae. Or the decades of experience of top trained chefs. Sure, I can feed myself but dining out is more than that to me.
When I am in the GBA I am travelling, not a resident. Though often I have a kitchen – no access to a stocked pantry.
One of my favorite places has a note on their menu that they are adding some % to their prices (can’r remember the exact number). The also have signs posted around the restaurant that let you about the extra charge and that their pricing hadn’t changed since they opened in early 2022. I asked the owner why not just raise the prices. Her answer - getting new menus is so expensive!
Google shows that restaurant as being permanently closed - not sure if that’s true - the main website is still active. But she does have two other restaurants - Table Caffé and Table Mercato. Another Reddit thread about this IG post has responders saying this about the owner:
“I’ve been watching her flip her shit on Twitter for years. She publicly attacks every bad review, cancellation, etc. I’ve worked for some unstable restaurant owners, but even the craziest among them had the business sense and maturity NOT to get into internet pissing matches like this.”
and
" The owner, Jen Royle, has a history of attacking and doxxing customers who are even remotely critical of her restaurant. She will find customers from their reservations and DM them on social media to attack them for leaving negative reviews, even if it seems justified.
Royle just seems like an awful person that doesn’t understand what the hospitality is all about. I’m not going to pretend that the customer is always right, because they most definitely aren’t, but doxxing and attacking customers who cancel reservations due to medical issues is certainly not the way.
Edit: Here are screenshots of Jen posting on her personal IG a “boo hoo” for the customer who was hospitalized. This is after she already tracked him down and DM’d him to scold him."
and
“She’s a known loon.” … “I think it’s one of those “if you know, you know,” but I also think she’s fooled a lot of people into believing that she’s the victim.” … “She’s a textbook narcissist and a sociopath. SHE believes she is the victim.”
Yelp reviews (I know, I know!) have been bashing her for harassing customers who had to cancel or give her less than stellar reviews. And it looks like she set her Twitter account to private.
I was reading some of this thread last night too. I’d never even heard of this place, but the owner seems like a total ass in some of the responses that were shared. There are two sides to every story, but those responses are insane, and I can’t imagine any circumstance that would ever make those appropriate.
Edit: I think I read that the owner of the business can change the status on those google review sites. They thought this was done to avoid getting bombed by negative reviews and blowback because of this.
She’s completely crackers. She HARASSED and derided a potential customer. Pretty sure her “legal team” is going to say “Yeah, that’s a no-go, lady. Oh - and BTW -see ya, bye! We’re dropping you as a client.” (If she even HAS a “legal team”.)
Oh man. Chiming in to add whatever may be happening between that diner and that restaurant, that stuff is not representative of what happens in our regional dining scene.
Exactly - Jen Royle is an anomaly, IMO. The fact that many have said she was bonkers way before owning restaurants points to her individually as the problem, not the diners.
