Dining out...Do you?

[Capt Steve]

The posts regarding Arizona legalizing concealed carry in bars and restaurants (Hooray for my new home state), got me to wondering about everyone's opinion on dining out. Being on somewhat of a limited budget, like most folks these days we seldom dine out. Economic considerations aside we choose not to for a number of other reasons: First, we are rarely satisfied with the overall experience. Poor service, screaming kids and just plain mediocre food seem to be the rule not the exception. I know the restaurant industry is struggling in this economy but prices have gone to the moon. Second, I am a very good cook and thoroughly enjoy cooking at home. Shop wisely and you can do better than any restaurant for a fraction of the cost.

Know if you go that the restaurant will make the majority of its money off of the drinks and add on's. Six dollars for a glass of wine that came out of a $3.99 bottle, a $1.50 for seventeen cents worth of soda or $3.50 for fifty cents worth of draft beer are all fairly typical. At the Olive garden the other night the waiter asked if we would like some marinara sauce to dunk our bread in. I thought "Cool, sounds good". He failed to mention that two ounces of tomato sauce was an additional $3.

We entertain lots of guests and I like to ask them what their favorite meal from their favorite restaurant is; and then prepare it for them here at home. By spending $30 to $50 dollars on first class ingredients and you can feed six guests a meal that would run hundreds of dollars in a restaurant.

I know that for a lot people, especially where both work, dining out is almost a necessity or at the least a real treat, but it is still quite a financial hit. It is nice to have the time, (I'm retired), as well as the inclination to entertain as we do and I hate to sound cheap...but I am. (o; So how about you folks???

 

[jkc]

I usually leave my in-home office for lunch, just for a break, but usually fix my own evening meals. I do a lot of camping, generally 2-3 weekends/month, which of course involves DIY meal prep to one degree or another. In these tough times, I've cut back on the frequency of restaurant dinners, but still splurge a couple times a month, especially on dishes it just isn't practical to fix for a bachelor. Fortunately, I also spend some time traveling for work, and occasionally eat out on an expense account, a nice perk. Tonite, it's shrimp on the grill...

 

[zercool]

MrsZ and I try to limit our meals out to once or twice a month; that's money we'd rather use on things that will last longer than 45 minutes. I used to get take-out food for work several times a week; I try to limit that to once a week now and bring food from home. Much cheaper and much healthier... and more interesting. Only so much Subway a guy can eat...

 

[Bob R]

We go out once a month, maybe.

My wife is one of those who eats several small meals a day, so going to a restaurant is a waste of money and food for her. She seldom eats half of what is served, and that is usually a 1/2 or 2/3 order.

I also find recipes for restaurant meals and do them at home. I found a chicken marsala recipe that is copied from the olive garden recipe and also a great marinade recipe to duplicate the El Pollo Loco taste for grilled chicken.

All it takes is a good search engine and a couple of minutes to find just about any recipe you want.

bob

 

[max]

We go out a couple of times per month. almost always to local pizza places, not chains but locals that have been here forever. Our last fancy meal out was at the SWCA meeting. The hotel had a very good, but expensive steakhouse.

 

[TXSWFAN]

We do most of our eating out when we're on vacation. Then we splurge and eat well. We like real good food. We take turns cooking here at the house. I love my wife's cooking, she likes mine.

We've also spent $180 on breakfast before (Sunday brunch at Brennan's) and $400 for a dinner (Burn's Steakhouse-Tampa).

 

[parallel]

I live near New Orleans... so.. yeah, I eat out A LOT!

I have two or three business lunches a week. We had gotten to the point where we ate out more than cooked. Part of that can be blamed on the same kitchen that we had to work with. We both love to cook, so now that we will be moving into a house with a nice big kitchen, we'll be cooking and eating at home a lot more than we used to. Even so, this being a great food town, we'll eat out at least one or twice a week.

Oh yeah, as for fast food. I haven't eaten fast food in years... well... unless you consider ball park/zoo hot dogs fast food.

 

[USAF385]

I usually take my girl out every other weekend. Usually not anywhere fancy though. Someplace where we can eat for under $30 (if we don't get alcohol).

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

More than I should though being a single guy it's easy to get into bad habits. I have been purchasing additional cookware at thrift shops, etc with an idea to expanding my cuisine and I have purchased several old waffle irons that have helped me become a waffle aficionado. When I eat out I try to get things like Chinese that are well beyond my cooking skills.
Fast food is OK now and then. One thing it is not is cheap anymore. I had breakfast at a
McDonald's 2weeks ago. An Egg McMuffin, 2 sausage biscuits and a large orange juice-$11.50!

 

[Airpark]

We've also spent $180 on breakfast before (Sunday brunch at Brennan's) and $400 for a dinner (Burn's Steakhouse-Tampa).


Sounds like some of the meals we have eaten at the hotel in Banff Springs, Alberta Canada...and I might add...worth EVERY cent.

Good food, good rooms......EXCELLENT VIEWS, friendly, capable staff. I highly recommend it.

Enjoy life while you can....it is not too long and they are all passing by looking down at you and saying, "Don't he look natural though."

Good Eating,

 

[K.38]

I get home earlier than the wife so I usually do the cooking. I'm getting better but on a scale from 1-10 I rate a 5 at best. We prefer to eat out but it is to expensive and only getting worse. What used to cost $20 is now pushing $40. Salida is a horrible little town for staying home and not eating out. For such a small town we have some of the best food.

If your passing through here are some of our favorites:

Breakfast or lunch: Patio Pancake hands down followed by the Eatery

Lunch: High Country Hogie, El Regenalds (spelled wrong)

Dinner: Quincy's for cheap but excellent steak, Great Wall Chinese (good for lunch too), Smoking Jacks BBQ or either Mexican place is very good. Almost forgot about My Gusta's (awesome). For pizza Moonlight Pizza is the place to go.

We have another excellent Pizza place here but the owner is a flaming, mean, nasty bitch of a liberal so I won't give her another dime of my money.

For excellent local wine go to the Mountain Spirit Winery. They always have a wine tasting going on.

I'm learning how to do better in the kitchen. Tonight for dinner I made a crock pot roast that turned out great. This morning I made pancakes from scratch and the daughter loved them. There my be hope after all.

 

[USAF385]

We've also spent $180 on breakfast before (Sunday brunch at Brennan's) and $400 for a dinner (Burn's Steakhouse-Tampa).

I sure hope at LEAST 10 people were at that dinner! No offense, but why? Unless youre going to die from starvation, no dinner is worth $400. JMO

 

[Crazy K38]

I like new guns better

 

[GatorFarmer]

I like eating out. Before I was married, I ate all my meals out. I didn't get food poisoning any more often than things I'd fix for myself (read into that what you will). Now that I'm married with two kids, I don't get to eat out as much as I'd like. When I do, it is a joy. It means that someone else has to clean up the boy's mess. Yay.

I did used to make friends with the staff to avoid being poisoned. In some respects, I like buffets. While the sanitation is sometimes lackluster, they'd have to tamper with everyone's food to get to mine. ("Poison" shouldn't be taken literally, perhaps "mess with" is a better term.)

My wife's cooking is worse than the food that the Navy serves and as I've said before, even an MRE is a delightful treat.

 

[lcdrdanr]

I also find recipes for restaurant meals and do them at home. I found a chicken marsala recipe that is copied from the olive garden recipe and also a great marinade recipe to duplicate the El Pollo Loco taste for grilled chicken. bob

Could you share that El Pollo Loco marinade ?? We don't have a Pollo Loco here, closest one is about 100 miles away across the river and I don't like going to California!

We used to dine out a lot until I retired, now it's really a treat. Although a resort type town, this is really a small place catering to the California jet ski and ski boat crowd, lots of fast food but no Olive Garden, Outback, Red Lobster, etc..

There is a small Mexican Restaurant in town, though, that runs a special 1/2 price for combo dinners on Wednesday night so we take advantage of that. Dinner for 3 of us, wife and I drink water and the boy has a soda, seldom runs over $20. I tip the Waitress based on the full price of the meal and generally get the same waitress every week. Makes for a much more pleasant experience !!

Thanks

Dan R

 

[BarbC]

Before I worked, I would go out to lunch at the bistros with the ladies.

Then I worked downtown full time and I would go out to lunch with the ladies.

Now I work part-time and have a retired husband, so there's no more brie and quiche at noon.

 

[7.62foryou]

We're leary about eating out these days. Most of the kitchen help these days come from places where they go to the bathroom in the water they drink and don't wash their hands afterward. I'm pretty hardy but I do draw the line around there.

 

[tyusclan]

We average eating out once or twice a month. The most expensive places we eat are Outback and Red Lobster, so we don't do anything too fancy.

 

[Bob R]

Could you share that El Pollo Loco marinade ?? We don't have a Pollo Loco here, closest one is about 100 miles away

You are a lot closer than I am, trust me.

El Pollo Loco Marinade (M, TNT)
[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]Source: Orange County Register
Serves: 6 [/FONT]

[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica]6 ounces pineapple juice
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon mild chili pepper (Anaheim or California), remove stem and seeds from chiles, finely minced
8 drops yellow food coloring, optional (but accurate)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 pounds frying chicken, cut up

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients except chicken, measure out 1/4 cup marinade and reserve for basting while grilling.
Place chicken in a shallow glass baking dish and cover with marinade. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight, turning at least once. Refrigerate reserved marinade.

Remove chicken from refrigerator 45 minutes before cooking time. Drain chicken and grill over medium coals for 25 to 35 minutes or until no traces of pink color remain, turning every 10 minutes. Baste frequently with the reserved 1/4 cup marinade while cooking.



Enjoy,

bob​

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[Texas Star]

I eat at a local Outback Steakhouse several times a month, and both the food and the service are good. (I have three favorite waitresses who I ask for, and one is usually available.) They remember a few special touches that I like, and know what dishes I order, so I don't even use a menu. I nearly always order the Victoria's Crown Fillet steak or Alice Springs chicken. My daughter likes a new sirloin they have, but I can't recall the name. It's very reasonably priced for a steak.

One waitress sits and talks if it's slow enough, a nice touch. She's pretty easy on the male eye. One of these girls has a degree in Psychology, and another is working to get her real estate license, and just qualified for her SCUBA license. They're a cut above most waitstaff today.

I take my daughter and her children in there fairly often, and they like the place, too. The Aborigine decorations, the sea turtle, and the mounted crocodile add to the appeal. The manager knows me and he or a sub-manager usually stops by to be sure that all's well. (One of these used to wait on me until she was promoted to asst. manager.)


There are a couple of other places where I eat, one being a Tex-Mex one in a chain called El Fenix. I've eaten there since childhood, and again, have a couple of waiters who make sure that I'm satisfied. There's another El Fenix location in the shopping center where my barber has her salon, and a waiter I know there also gives good service. I generally eat there when I get a haircut.

I almost never eat burgers or other fast food, but there's one burger place here called Snuffer's, on Greenville Ave. Some of you Dallas fellows may know it. They do good burgers and fries, but I don't think it's healthy to eat that stuff too often. The Burger Street by a nearby Kroger store (grocer) is also one of the very few places where I'll eat a hamburger. They also have a good chicken sandwich. I eat there mainly before I cross the parking lot to shop at the Kroger. It's been awhile since I was in Snuffer's. Maybe I'll go by there this week.

Oh: my granddaughter really likes Red Lobster. There's one by that Outback that I mentioned. We went there last week. I think it needs some menu changes or additions, and their coffee was terrible the last time I tried it. Their prices are also a little more than I like to spend for what they have. If they have any cute waitresses, I haven't seen them. They used to have a few...On the plus side, the haddock and cod are good, broiled. I avoid their salmon, which is probably farm-raised. My daughter was very impressed with the rainbow trout that she tried.

At the Outback, my usual girls will make fresh coffee for me, and they see that I get hot bread, and one makes a super limeade. (She's also a bartender. Alternates between that and waitressing.)

I've never spent $400 on a meal in my life. Maybe if I win a sweepstakes. But if the gentleman above thought it was worth it, I guess it was.

I love eating out, but also get deli chickens a lot at a nearby gourmet grocery. I especially like their Lemon Pepper, Provencal and Herb varieties. But lately, they have too many hot-flavored ones.

I forgot to mention that the Outback has added some cheaper, good meals, and they've brought Key Lime Pie back. But their cheesecake is also very good. The carrot cake is also nice, but a grocer called Tom Thumb has a better one, I think. So I may get that on the way home.

T-Star