IIRC, ElJee lives in (northern) Thailand. It’s possible to eat out at least once a day there.
2 Likes
That’d alternatively explain it, other than the significant wealth I’d assumed.
Depends on what you think of as eating out. I go to work at the office pretty much every day so in theory I eat “out” for lunch every day even if that means most days I’m picking up lunch at Sweet Green or Shake Shack and eating at my desk. But I do have dinner at a restaurant normally 2-4 times a week. On weekends we may eat all meals out from Friday evening until Sunday other than a light breakfast at home. What we do isn’t unusual here. Just seems to be the urban NY lifestyle. Obviously you need to have the income to support it. Lifestyles of the merely affluent and mostly unknown in NYC.
2 Likes
I know very few people who eat dinner out 2-4 times a week. Maybe once. It’s only a small-ish subset of the urban population who can afford the time or the money to do this.
ETA: I’m only thinking of a “real” dinner out, not grabbing something from a fast food place.
1 Like
I wouldnt regard that as “eating out”. Buying a sandwich to take back to work to eat is not really any different from bringing a sandwich from home.
2 Likes
We are in central NJ and used to eat out 5-6 times a week. But not dinner–we always ate out at lunchtime (which was our big meal of the day). And sometimes that consisted of pizza and hot dogs at Costco, which was under $10 for the two of us. Were we the sort of HOers that spent $200 on a meal for two, then obviously 5-6 times a week would imply we had just won the Powerball lottery. 
Lunch doesn’t count, because lots of people don’t have a choice, since they’re at work. I usually bring food to work, but only because the takeout options in the area are pathetic.
December 18th
Actually the 24th.
You are correct! Thanks for being my memory.
I know not everyone in NYC can eat out regularly but it seems to me that there is a sizable group of professionals that can and do. Maybe it’s just the people I know but at least among them, eating out a couple of times a week at a sit down place is not unusual. It’s mostly hard working professional couples that work long hours and enjoy going out to dinner to relax. DINKS, HENRYs and such. Not aware of anyone who eats out 7 days. That would not be something I aspire to.
1 Like
Of course there are plenty of people like you. But there are also a lot of people who are not like you, which is why I objected to the term “urban NY lifestyle.” There’s a lot of diversity in that giant category.
1 Like
Fair point. Can I change the phrase to a certain urban NY lifestyle?
1 Like
Of course! I 
qualifiers.
1 Like
I know DINKS, but who or what are HENRYS?
Living in Thailand you get spoiled by great food, and there are inexpensive places everywhere. My favorite Khao Soi place in Chiang Mai recently raised their price to 50Baht a bowl! Ouch!
And a super cold Coke is 15Baht more. Which comes out to a princely 65Baht or $2US… 
1 Like
I turned 30 this past summer and have been contributing on HO since I was 26 or 27. I may have been the youngest member on here, though I’m not sure about that anymore.
My generation does not really do the whole “forum” thing. I had been on a bunch when I was a teenager through early 20’s (some hockey and history ones) but they would shut down or move to Facebook Groups, or become inactive and I did not bother for many years. It was actually @corvette_johnny who invited me to join HO after he read one of my restaurant reviews.
I’m very glad to have joined this community. I’ve made a lot of friends, learned new types of dishes and techniques, been inspired, and since the NJ board is very active, can look for a heads-up before trying a new restaurant. I don’t think I’ve had a single issue with anyone here in four years. HO is typically a polite bunch, and I enjoy visiting several times a day. I use my phone for most of my posts and reading. When I saved HO to my favorites, my phone actually created an app as a shortcut (the cute little onion logo).
I’m sure this is the same for many: this forum was a real saving grace when everything was in lockdown. Cooking and posting here became the highlight of my day!
Pre-Covid, we cooked five nights, ate out once, and ordered takeout once. Now we cook six nights and usually do takeout the other night. Restaurant visits are getting fewer, both to save money and also because my BF and I have really increased our kitchen arsenal and skill-level (mainly due to being home more).
15 Likes
Both partners working, long hours, galley kitchens, shopping limitations, family size…lots of factors contribute to the dining out lifestyle.
“Afford” is an interesting word. It refers more to mindset than to ability to pay. People with quite ample/substantial disposable income allocate it in different expenditures.
2 Likes
In the days before HO, quite a number of us played on Chowhound. If I go back a decade, my companion in life was very unwell for many months, including barely eating and having absolutely no wider interest in food. I regularly posted to their “what’s for dinner” threads and I doubt whether many folk appreciated just how important it was to me to be able to escape the medical difficulties and just chat about meals folk were enjoying.
8 Likes
A fair point. One couple of friends certainly fit into that. They have similar incomes to ours and do eat out periodically but nowhere near as regularly as us, nor at necessarily at the same cost of meals. They choose to drive regularly changed BMWs, while we choose to drive Skodas and keep them for years
3 Likes
Lunch counts when you’re retired and lunch is your big meal of the day.
