The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
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The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
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Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
#2i'm not sure how this is anything to do with productivity
surely that's when the same product or service is delivered more cheaply
the starting question must have been more like 'why are restaurants more profitable now'
and it's because restaurants are now selling more take-out meals; essentially a different product, which has lower overheads
Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
#3This is a strong argument that habits formed during covid stuck around until today, as it was long enough to reshape the baseline.
Unfortunately these habits seem to affect the sociability of everyone, and I think we still underestimate what a terrible burden staying locked in was on the population.
Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
#4My take away is that the overall labor per customer decreases because workers are spending less time on non-cooking/serving tasks. The paper implies the efficiency gain is in how labor is used rather than production or serving efficiency. This seems like an anticlimactic conclusion.
Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
#5I don't have to deal with racist waiters by ordering through an app and having it delivered. This is a win-win where the restaurant is more "productive" and I don't have to deal with the staff guessing my race so they know how badly to treat me.
Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
#6My favorite ~75 year old BBQ place here in Pasadena has half the bar (where you'd sit and eat and socialize if you were eating alone) reserved to give space for all the take-out orders and uber-eats pickups flowing through. I see single people come in and, without a space at the bar, take a seat at a booth alone.
I don't blame restaurants for this at all, it's a tough business, but I do think it's about time we apply just an ounce of shame to people who uber-eats every meal they eat from restaurants clearly designed for eating-in. Not to rant, but take out is for the pizza place, the Indian grocery store with no seating, the tiny hole-in-the-wall Chinese place, etc. If you order a southern fried chicken plate from a nice neighborhood restaurant for delivery, shame on you. Delivery sushi? Boo and hiss!
Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
#7My take away is that the overall labor per customer decreases because workers are spending less time on non-cooking/serving tasks. The paper implies the efficiency gain is in how labor is used rather than production or serving efficiency. This seems like an anticlimactic conclusion.
It feels worth measuring formally so that the scientific community can basically treat this as a known, citable fact and have some numbers to work with.
I do wonder if the somewhat elliptical, high academic writing (“take-out” in quotes as if it’s an exotic term) and talk of a mystery being solved is to deflect criticism that this feels obvious or like a WSJ story.
Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
#8Friedmanite economists lauding the "productivity increases" of restaurants, meanwhile I have stopped eating anywhere except food trucks because mid-tier dining is so bad now due to cost-cutting and loss of expertise.
Yeah that tracks for Chicago School economics.
Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
#9My favorite ~75 year old BBQ place here in Pasadena has half the bar (where you'd sit and eat and socialize if you were eating alone) reserved to give space for all the take-out orders and uber-eats pickups flowing through. I see single people come in and, without a space at the bar, take a seat at a booth alone. I don't blame restaurants for this at all, it's a tough business, but I do think it's about time we apply…
Ridiculous, you can't force user behavior like that. Have the restaurants and what not entice you to stay.
Re: The curious surge of productivity in U.S. restaurants
#10My favorite ~75 year old BBQ place here in Pasadena has half the bar (where you'd sit and eat and socialize if you were eating alone) reserved to give space for all the take-out orders and uber-eats pickups flowing through. I see single people come in and, without a space at the bar, take a seat at a booth alone. I don't blame restaurants for this at all, it's a tough business, but I do think it's about time we apply…
Ridiculous, you can't force user behavior like that. Have the restaurants and what not entice you to stay.
The fact that sitting in at a nice cozy almost 100 year old bar and talking to your neighbors does not entice you is the problem I'm attempting to fix with a little good ol' fashion social shaming.